Truth-speaking is getting contagious. First Norman Ornstein - a long-time voice of reason on the terminally fair and balanced McNeill-Lehrer Newshour on PBS - declared, let's face it - the problem is the Republican Party. Now former Times Editor Bill Keller says it plainly: Fox News is no more fair and balanced than Rupert Murdoch is fit to run a major news organization.
Murdoch’s Pride Is America’s Poison - NYTimes.com:
by Bill Keller
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Murdoch’s Pride Is America’s Poison - NYTimes.com:
by Bill Keller
First the news: Murdoch Inc. sinks deeper and deeper into crisis. His newspapers hemorrhage money. The political clout that once justified all that red ink is waning, as exposés of illicit phone-hacking, police payoffs and possible lobbying improprieties make him unwelcome company in any politician’s photo op. Murdoch’s hopes of expanding his substantial foothold in British broadcasting have been dashed by the scandals. Last Tuesday, a parliamentary committee, voting on party lines, issued a verdict that Murdoch was “not a fit person” to run a major international corporation. Meanwhile, the acid rain of criminal charges and civil lawsuits continues.
In this beleaguered family of news enterprises, Fox is the good son. It is the most reliable profit center, expected to net a billion dollars this fiscal year. It is untainted so far by the metastasizing scandals. It is a source of political influence more durable than Murdoch’s serial romances with British prime ministers. This year the Fox News Primary probably did more to nominate Mitt Romney than New Hampshire or Michigan.
And yet I would argue that — at least for Americans — Fox News is Murdoch’s most toxic legacy.
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