Day: 5/29/2007

The Murdoch Family Resemblance

Posted by on May 29, 2007 at 11:53 pm. 2 Comments :

New York Post Kerry GephardtThis is just too much fun. Stroll with me down the serene avenues of yesteryear when the New York Post scooped out the still beating hearts of their media rivals by reporting that the newly minted Democratic nominee for president, John Kerry, had chosen Dick Gephardt to be his running mate. The headline bellowed the triumph of their proud accomplishment. Only one thing could mar this sweet moment of success – It wasn’t true. Kerry, of course, had selected John Edwards to share the ticket with him.

Now we learn that the bad tip may have come from the DNC and was swallowed whole by Rupert’s scion, Lachlan Murdoch, then publisher of the Post. According to former Post staffer, Ian Spiegelman, Lachlan bought the story wholesale and ordered his editorial team to run it. Says Spiegelman…

“Everyone at The Post, including [Editor in chief] Col Allan and his top deputies, knew the story had been planted with Lachlan by the Democratic National Committee to make him, and The Post, appear foolish on a national level.”

Everyone but Lachlan Murdoch. But that didn’t stop him from demanding that his more experienced underlings obey his tyrannical and ignorant decrees. Like father like son.

MySpace Seeks Peek Into Voting Booths

Posted by on May 29, 2007 at 10:00 pm. NO Comments :

In another assault on personal privacy by News Corp. and its progeny, MySpace has announced that they will begin offering a “viral fundraising tool” to candidates for president. The stated purpose of the tool is to allow members to make contributions to the candidates of their choice. On the surface this may not seem worthy of outrage or objection. It might even be considered a public service. The problem with the tool as proposed is that it will also be able to track the donation histories of MySpace members. Do you really want Rupert Murdoch to know to whom you contribute and how much? Do you think that information would be safe in those massive archives that already contain mountains of data about you and your personal life; your buying habits; your professional affairs, etc.?

I would feel a bit nervous permitting an enterprise that has had such a sordid history of privacy violations to be in control of such data. This may be a good time to remind everyone that when MySpace was acquired it was actually as a subsidiary of Intermix, which is the company News Corp. had purchased. Just weeks before the acquisition, Intermix settled a lawsuit with the State of New York with the payment of 7.5 million dollars. They were accused of clandestinely distributing spyware with many of the software and services they provided. I’m sot so sure that the integrity of MySpace’s new owner is any more trustworthy than their previous owners.

This announcement is just the latest escalation of the risk to privacy with regard to voting issues and MySpace. Earlier this year MySpace revealed plans for presidential “Town Halls” and a “virtual primary” to be held on the site next January. These initiatives would provide additional elements of members’ electoral preferences with which to shape sophisticated profiles of MySpace users.

The questions arising from these projects are serious. There is a real threat of the loss of the concept of a secret ballot. This is especially worrisome when the caretaker of the former secrets is a less than reputable mega-corporation. In addition, funds raised via resources provided by MySpace could be construed as bundled contributions. The impact of this fundraising, if successful, might potentially influence candidates’ positions and voting on matters related to News Corp. Is it really worth potentially sacrificing personal privacy and political principle just to participate in a statistically irrelevant exercise in election handicapping? I think not.

CNN’s Non-Apology To Chavez

Posted by on May 29, 2007 at 11:50 am. NO Comments :

The shutdown of Venezuela’s RCTV has incited a heated debate amongst political activists and free speech advocates. On one hand, the station has been accused of promoting disobedience and lawlessness directed at President Hugo Chavez’ government and affiliating with organizations that participated in a 2002 coup attempt of Chavez. It is also part of a corporatist media clique that controls much of Venezuela’s press. On the other hand, state clampdowns on private media should not be tolerated and Reporters Without Borders has condemned the action as a serious violation of freedom of expression.

I believe there is merit to both sides of this debate, but there is another side that is much more clear cut. CNN’s reporting of affairs in Venezuela has included some blatantly partisan coverage. In one instance, CNN aired footage identified as a protest in Venezuela, but was actually from an unrelated protest in Mexico. On another occasion they aired images of Chavez and Osama bin Laden closely together although there was no story linking the two.

In response to complaints from Venezuela’s Information Minister, William Lara, CNN said that they had already issued a “detailed apology” for the Mexican footage and played down any significance of the bin Laden juxtaposition. Their overall stance was that they had not engaged in any coordinated attempt to discredit Chavez or Venezuela. That response amounts to a statement that, “We’re sorry for denigrating your country that we deny having denigrated.”

That certainly clears things up.