Thursday, July 7, 2011

Is It Wrong For Me To Enjoy The Fall Of Rupert Murdoch?


I ask that because I am enjoying this summer story immensely. The guy (Rupert Murdoch) behind the most vile of tabloid journalism (News of the World) and the elevation of the conservative ideology (via Fox News) has finally had all the negative karma he put out into the Universe come at him full force. At a time in his life when he should be celebrating his legacy, he is watching his empire crumble before his eyes.

It couldn't happen to a bigger asshole.

Who would have ever thought that a story about the newspaper hacking the phone messages of a dead girl, (and also ERASING some messages to make the stories in their paper more lurid) would upset so many people? Well not media baron Rupert Murdoch. He thought this scandal would go as many of his other scandals had gone away and he would come out the other end richer and more powerfully influential than he had ever been.


I have this vision of him in meetings with his newspaper staff where he rubs his hands gleefully at every evil scheme he thinks of. Just like Mr. Burns.

This is hubris of the highest order. To believe in your own invincibility and then to act on your worst instincts says all I need to say about the man and his ethics and his character.

I am especially proud of England, a place where tabloid journalism is as British as a cup of tea. The have a finely tuned celebrity/tabloid culture that is very good at creating sensations and drama. The more lurid the subject matter the more people can't read enough about the story.

But as with anything that is mass consumed, you need to keep coming up with fresh stories to cover if you are going to keep your readership. If necessary, you have to create the stories yourself. That is why no-talents like Paris Hilton and the Kardashian clan are so famous. The tabloid world needs poster children and is very good at creating them. They also are good at orchestrating their fall. You can always count on a good Lindsey Lohan story when it's a slow news day. I wonder how many people at that paper cover JUST Lohan.


What we are saw today is that many people are sick and tired of the brand of 'journalism' that Murdoch subscribes to and practices. They are sick of attack pieces against only one side in the political divide. They are tired of the homophobia, the fear mongering and the out and out refusal to accept facts without resorting to making up untrue statements just to support a side of the argument that is just wrong. They are tired of any opposition to gay marriage. In truth, people are tired of everything these days.

It's good to see something in this world can actually be so out of line that it makes the public rise up en mass to see that the people involved in this scandal get what is coming to them. It's about fucking time.

People may say that Murdoch has lots of media under his control even with 'News of the World' shutting down and he won't be adversely affected by the closure. That is just not true. 'News of the World is Murdoch's baby - the first of many dominoes that are sure to fall in the near future.


Have the British people risen up to protect the 168 year legacy of 'News of the World'? No. Instead they gleefully watched the fall of Rupert Murdoch in the same way they gleefully watched someone like Tiger Woods being outed as a serial cheater.

I like how Murdoch is being killed by a monster that he created - a monster that was so hungry that it ate it's own tail on the way to consuming itself. That is brilliant. The whole story is very Mary Shelly (Frankenstein) isn't it?

Now I have something to say directly to Mr. Murdoch if he is reading this post. (WHAT? He may be the devil but he knows a quality blog when he sees one)

"I know you had a really shitty time this week Rupert. I know you thought the attacks were over. They are not. I now have to heap more misery upon you.

If you think about it, this award may be a way to eliminate not only your misery but the misery of every other human on the planet who has been hurt by the crap you produce. I am giving you a choice to take one for the team even though we revoked your membership card to the human race a long time ago.

So, for displaying unbelievable hubris in the face of truth, for pandering to the worst in people instead of their best and for just being a general, all-around, old school prick, I am happy to award you the Cal's Canadian Cave Of Cool Silver Bullet Award.


I so hope you use these gifts and take the cowards way out. I hope you do the deed in your office so that we can preserve it like a museum. Use it to teach the next generation why it's bad to let any one person have too much power.

4 comments:

DrGoat said...

He is a disgusting example of a human being. unfortunetly, in a month or two, it will all blow over with a few insincere apologies. People that rich and eveil never get touched. Kinda like Dick Cheney.

DrGoat said...

That's evil, not eveil, which I think is a skin cream.

Kal said...

Evil skin cream? With a name like that no wonder it doesn't sell very well.

DrGoat said...

I think Eveil would be a best seller, considering the American market.