Murdoch's "low tastes & trashy standards that wounded my newspaper in one of his drive-by shootings"

[GreenTea]

"It is therefore with a great deal of satisfaction that I observe the
Alien's (Murdoch) current troubles. This man has done more to harm journalism in
America and Britain than any other person. I cannot speak for Australia.
In the U.S., where his newspaper holdings are limited to the (actually
good) Wall Street Journal and New York Post, his damage has been done
with Fox News, the first deliberately and unapologetically biased and
partisan network in American history. You disagree? Be my guest.

Murdoch has been brought to bay by one great British newspaper, the
Guardian. It devoted two years to the task. It did what frightened
politicians and cowed opinion leaders dared not do -- it defied the
power and the money of the Alien. Ironic, that Murdoch seems about to
lose what would have been his crown jewel because he was never able to
restrain the low tastes and trashy standards that wounded my newspaper
in one of his drive-by shootings."

By The Great Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun-Times

(Read the whole insightful, informative & interesting blog)
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2011/07/the_dirty_digger.html

[hedgehog]

1. I have a question about the Wall Street Journal. In recent years,

several opinion articles in the Journal were the basis for a feeding frenzy on the right. For example - the death panel meme was based on an article in the Journal written by Former NYS Lt.Governor Besty McCall. Then there was this whopper

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346610120524166.html

repudiated by that left wing journal, Forbes:

http://blogs.forbes.com/kenrapoza/2011/03/17/dispelling-the-petrobras-loan-myth-as-obama-heads-to-rio/

How much of this is from Murdoch, and how much is in the DNA of the wall Street Journal?

[dionysus]

2. i heard the news section of the WSJ is good, it's the opinion pages that are hard RW.

i don't read it so i'm not sure.

[Blue_Tires]

3. The WSJ op-ed page was already a neo-Bircher manifesto most days

so I'd say it's 10-20% Murdoch and the rest just cultural DNA at the paper...

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, GreenTea.

[malaise]

5. Good Read

Rec

[dmr]

6. Excellent article. n/t

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Including the Fry & Laurie "If Murdoch hadn't been born" sketch

which is excellent, and I'd forgotten it. Thanks for the link, and, if you don't mind, I'll put the video up in Political Videos.

[tsuki]

8. Every one gives thanks to The Guardian, but The Independent was there also. nt

[checks-n-balances]

9. I remember the demise of The Chicago Sun-Times in '83

Read it religiously, daily, until one day I noticed immediately (not knowing about the sale to Murdoch) that it had turned to trash. The front looked tabloid-ish, but the biggest change was in the Op-Ed section. Used to read every word, now I saw columnists I'd never heard of writing a lot of right wing trash. It was literally an overnight change.

It was the beginning of my education and understanding about right wing propaganda and power.

Thanks for posting this. Kudos to Harper's and to Ebert for his timely article.

[LaPera]

10. Fox News, the first deliberately & unapologetically biased and partisan network in American history

Perfectly said! Fox Republican lies, smears, distortions & propaganda "news".

[JuniperLea]

11. POX News...

May the disease of Murdoch's Pox spread to all of his extremities!