Second Blog Assignment

Five Billion Lies
Is Rupert Murdoch destroying journalism?

There used to be a time when I turned on the news and never thought to question the information I was seeing. When I was younger, I viewed "the news" as just a way to find out what was going on. Thats it. Why question the news?

Whether it was watching local television coverage, or checking out a copy of the Boston Globe, I was blind to a critical concept. Bias. It's such a small word. But its a big problem.

What I didn't realize is that news is a business just like any other industry. The news is owned by corporations. And corporations lie. Alot. (see entry below) They have an income statement and a bottom line, just like the fast food and tobacco companies. They have to compete for ratings and for advertisers. They have a hierarchy - several powerful board members and executives sit at the top. None of this is good for journalism. Herein lies the problem.

At the heart of this problem sits one man: Rupert Murdoch.

Who is he? He owns all of Fox. He owns Myspace. He owns every major paper on the continent of Australia (and a few in America too.) He owns too much. And he controls the news.

Rupert Murdoch uses his media empire to support the republican party, conservative politics, and the war in Iraq. The documentary OutFoxed interviews both current and previous employees of Rupert Murdoch's networks. They have all been given directives and memos to 'spin' the story in a certain way - Fox's way. If you don't present the story they way they want it, you might get fired. Throw that whole "journalistic responsibility" thing out the window.

For example- lets say Fox news corp. is producing a piece on the war in Iraq. The news is particularly bad, with several American casualties. Rather than fully reporting the facts, like the news is supposed to, Fox "news" might:

1. Edit the video footage so that there are no images of any dead bodies.
2. Edit out any footage with blood in it.
3. Narrate the footage with a script that has been tailored to downplay facts.
4. Have a talk show with opinions from both sides of the political spectrum.
...But they don't tell you that they specifically choose a democratic guest who might appear slightly "dorkier," "weaker," and intimidated by the specific opposing guests.

These might be subtle things, but when you watch without an awareness, people simply learn to trust in what they see. Everyday millions of American citizens watch Fox news and continue to be deceived. Fox's Slogan is "Fair and Balanced," when in fact this could not be farther from the truth.

Rupert Murdoch is journalism's kryptonite.

And launching a cable business channel to compete with CNBC isn't the only thing making headlines recently. Murdoch offered five billion dollars to buy The Wall Street Journal.

Is it only a matter of time before all good publications are swept up?

-Chris Aversa
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Companies Rupert Murdoch Owns:

Filmed Entertainment - News Corporation
20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox Espanol
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox International
20th Century Fox Television
Blue Sky Studios
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Fox Studios Australia
Fox Studios LA
Fox Studios Baja
Fox Television Studios

Television - News Corporation
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Sports Australia
Fox Television Stations
FOXTEL
STAR

Cable Television owned by News Corporation
Fox Movie Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox Sports Digital
Fox Sports Enterprises
Fox Sports Espanol
Fox Sports Net
Fox Sports World
FUEL
FX
National Geographic Channel
SPEED Channel
Stats, Inc

Direct Broadcast & Satellite Television - News Corporation
BskyB
DIRECTV
FOXTEL
Sky Italia

Magazines - News Corporation
Inside Out
Donna Hay
News America Marketing
Smart Source
The Weekly Standard
Gemstar

Newspapers - News Corporation
Australasian region Newspapers:
Daily Telegraph
Fiji Times
Gold Coast Bulletin
Herald Sun
Newsphotos
Newspix
Newstext
NT News
Post Courier
Sunday Herald Sun
Sunday Mail
Sunday Tasmanian
Sunday Territorian
Sunday Times
The Advertiser
The Australian
The Courier Mail
The Mercury
The Sunday Mail
The Sunday Telegraph
Weekly Times
United Kingdom region Newspapers:
News International
News of the World
The Sun
The Sunday Times
The Times
Times Education Supplement
Times Higher Education Supplement
Times Literary Supplement
TSL Education
United States region Newspapers:
New York Post

Books - News Corporation
Harper Collins Publishers
- Australia
- Canada
- Childrens Books
- United States
- United Kingdom
Regan Books
Zondervan

Other Investments - News Corporation

Festival Records
Mushroom Records
National Rugby League - Australia
News Interactive
News Outdoor
Nursery World
MySpace.com

The Corporation

The Corporation was a pretty interesting documentary. In my opinion, it sought to explain what a firm is really like in the corporate world of America. Clearly, there is a stark difference between the public relations image a firm hand feeds the public, and what actually goes on.

Michael Moore spoke his opinion on corporations. His main point was that although capitalism produces valuable goods and services, the men and women behind the corporate name will do absolutely anything to reach the right "bottom line." It is this unrelenting greed which corrupts the system.

But before any of you gun-toting Bush votes start yelling about the doctrine of fairness, understand that the film also did a good job of introducing guests who were corporate supporters and explaining multiple different aspects of corporations. But still, it's a documentary. They had a message to get across.

The editing of the film was done well. In particular, it didn't put the class to sleep. It had an edgy, youthful feeling with lots of quick cuts and closeups. But it wasn't seizure-inducing like a rap video.

Most shocking was the piece about petrochemical misuse. The film showed graphic photos of mutated animals and people as a result of corporation's negligence. This is simply unacceptable, especially since the study linked corporate actions for the cancer epidemic we now find ourselves in.

In plain English, the movie showed simply how scummy a company can be. It is its own legal entity, rather than the people who make the decisions for it. It showed how this entity completely disregards any sense of ethics or moral judgment, and how the actions of corporate, legal entities have irrevocably harmed the earth and many of its inhabitants. If the chances of getting caught are low enough compared to the monetary return for a particular action, some companies will take actions with unthinkable consequences.

Will the next generation of corporate leaders follow the same path?
It starts with us.