Day: 7/3/2013

Rupert Murdoch Was Secretly Recorded Admitting Violations Of American Law

Posted by on July 3, 2013 at 6:14 pm. 6 Comments :

MurdochalypseA recording of a board meeting of Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper in Britain has surfaced and it contains some rather damning evidence of Murdoch’s knowledge of illegal activity, including possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in the United States. Murdoch and his staff were discussing the fallout from the scandal wherein Murdoch’s newspapers were discovered to have been hacking into the phones, computers and email of politicians, royals, celebrities, and private citizens, including a kidnapped schoolgirl who was later found to have been murdered.

The tape was disclosed by a British investigative news service and broadcast on the UK’s Channel4. The transcript, published in part by the Columbia Journalism Review, revealed Murdoch admitting that he had prior knowledge of bribes paid to police officials, which he previously testified before parliament that he knew nothing about.

Murdoch: We’re talking about payments for news tips from cops: that’s been going on a hundred years, absolutely. You didn’t instigate it.

I remember when I first bought the News of the World, the first day I went to the office… and there was a big wall-safe… And I said, “What’s that for?” And they said, “We keep some cash in there.” And I said, “What for?” They said, “Well, sometimes the editor needs some on a Saturday night for powerful friends. And sometimes the chairman [the late Sir William Carr] is doing badly at the tables, (laughter) and he helps himself…”

There is a certain irony in Murdoch getting caught admitting to criminally eavesdropping on others by a secret recording made, most likely, by one of his own criminal reporters. But now that this has come out, Murdoch needs to be held accountable for his crimes in England and here in the U.S. The FCPA prohibits exactly the sort of bribery of government officials that Murdoch confesses to in this recording. And that may be why Murdoch once gave a million dollars to a lobbying group that was attempting to have the FCPA altered in a manner that would benefit Murdoch.

It is time for the Department of Justice to investigate Murdoch and bring charges against him if the evidence supports it. The FCC should also look into whether Murdoch still satisfies its criteria for owning a media enterprise. America must stop coddling its wealthy industrialists when there is reason to believe that they have broken the law.

Why Is The Fox Nation Rooting For George Zimmerman?

Posted by on July 3, 2013 at 2:38 pm. 107 Comments :

For the past week a murder trial in Florida has fixated the nation and the media. This sort of thing is not unusual as the past trials of Jodie Arias, Scott Peterson, Casey Anthony, and all the way back to O.J. Simpson have proved. What is unusual is the lengths to which Fox News has gone to cheerlead for the defendant.

From the very beginning Fox has sought to portray George Zimmerman as the victim who was only acting in his own defense. At the same time, they cast Trayvon Martin as a violent thug who must have been up to no good. Take a look at the graphic editorializing Fox engaged in early on:

Fox News Racism

In reporting on the court proceedings this week, Fox continued to demonstrate their overt prejudice in favor of Zimmerman. Nearly every commentator Fox put on the air found fault with the prosecution and managed to spin the witness testimony as beneficial to the defense. And the headlines at the Fox Nation Lie Factory tell the story that Fox is desperately trying to implant in the weak minds of their viewers:

  • Zimmerman Blockbuster: Witness Saw Man With ‘Lighter Skin Color’ Getting Pummeled ‘Ground And Pound’ Style
  • ZIMMERMAN PROSECUTION WITNESS IMPLODES
  • Zimmerman ‘Elated’ at Prospect That Trayvon Fight Was Recorded
  • Prosecutors ‘Must Have Had a Stroke’ Over Detective’s Testimony
  • AP: Trayvon Martin’s Legal Troubles Reportedly Covered Up By Police
  • GRETA: THE ZIMMERMAN PROSECUTION HAS A GIANT PROBLEM
  • Travyon Martin’s Friend Grilled By Defense

This parade of pro-Zimmerman analysis is reminiscent of last year’s election analysis on Fox, where every discussion leaned heavily in favor of a Romney victory. Fox irresponsibly led their audience to believe that President Obama was irredeemably unpopular and bound for defeat. Fox would only present disreputable polls that showed Romney ahead, while ignoring all the other surveys (including their own) that forecast an Obama victory. When reality set in on election day, Team Fox and the gullible dupes who watch the network, were dumbfounded at a result for which they were entirely unprepared.

The same thing is happening now with this trial. The obvious zeal that Fox is expressing for a Zimmerman acquittal is not incidental. It fits into their mission to demonize minorities. Try to imagine what Fox’s (or the rest of the media) reaction to this case would have been if the races were reversed. Do you think Fox would be defending a black man who had shot and killed an unarmed white kid walking home with Skittles and iced tea?

Zimmerman-Martin

The consequences of Fox’s disinformation could be troublesome. If Zimmerman is convicted, the response by the racially biased viewers of Fox will be shock and awe. Just like after the election, they will be unable to grasp how a jury had concluded that Zimmerman was guilty when everything they had seen on Fox News convinced them that he was innocent and that there was no chance of a conviction. Fox appears to be priming their viewers to rise up in outrage at a verdict they never saw as even a remote possibility.

On CNN and MSNBC there has been a much more balanced presentation of the court proceedings. When the prosecution flubbed an argument, it was reported as such, even on Al Sharpton’s show, despite the clear bias of the host. When a witness contradicted a defense assertion, that was reported as well. The reason for this is that unbiased journalists do not have a stake in the outcome. Liberals, from the outset, have only wanted justice to be done. They were appropriately disturbed at the start of this affair when Zimmerman was let off without an arrest or investigation. The protests that erupted were focused on those ends, not on railroading Zimmerman into jail.

Now that the people are getting their trial, the judgment of the jury ought to be respected. But That is not the tone that Fox is advancing. The hunger for absolution on Fox is palpable. They are convinced that a black youth with no record of violence or criminal activity initiated an unprovoked attack on a conscientious neighborhood watch captain. And until the jury rules, that is the position Fox is sticking with. If that isn’t racism, then what the hell is it?