Rear Window
Mark Di StefanoReporterAround the time of UK phone hacking scandal, a new verb emerged related to the Murdoch media empire. “Monstering” was the term British Labour MPs used to describe how Rupert’s tabloids would relentlessly cover people in the public eye.
Nick Davies, the British reporter who broke the hacking scandal, helped define the practice that he claimed was perfected by Murdoch favourites like Fox’s Roger Ailes and The Sun’s Kelvin McKenzie.
News Corp executive chairman Rupert Murdoch. AP
“They can keep it going for days,” Davies said. “A little distortion here, some fabrication there. The fact of the focus is itself a distortion: the relentless return to the same victim, the desire to destroy that corrupts normal editorial judgement.”
Think Yassmin Abdel Magied, the Sudanese-Australian activist who sent a sharp but innocuous Facebook post on Australia Day 2017 and was subjected to weeks of bizarre news coverage in the Murdoch tabloids. The coverage was so hounding, so relentless, Abdel Magied eventually moved to London, where she remains. Or of the treatment dished out to former human rights commissioner Gillian Triggs. More recently, Lisa Wilkinson and Brittany Higgins have been targets for a good ol’ Murdoch monstering.
And as is often the case, there is something fundamentally ridiculous and dishonest about News Corp’s latest obsession. For more than three weeks, the Holt St drooges have been publishing critical stories about ABC host Stan Grant’s sharp critique of the monarchy during the broadcaster’s coronation night coverage. After copping weeks of criticism and racist abuse online, Grant had enough, walking away from hosting Q&A.
He accused the media of lying and distorting what he actually said. The ABC would later apologise for not standing up for him, pointing a finger at News Corp for a “relentless campaign” against the journalist.
The ABC is certainly not blameless here. On multiple fronts the broadcaster failed to head-off the controversy. But the public broadcaster originally decided to feature Grant in its coronation coverage because he’d recently published a book on the same topic called The Queen is Dead.
And the publisher of Grant’s screed against the Queen, colonialism and the monarchy? That would be HarperCollins Australia, the book publishing arm of News Corp Australia.
In the never-ending media cycles about the journalist’s views about the monarchy, few (if any) have pointed out News Corp has been playing both sides of the ball. The Weekend Australian even ran a long excerpt from The Queen is Dead for its readers on April 21. The book itself was published on May 3, three days before the coronation, and no one called that disrespectful. It’s since become a bestseller.
In fact, as Grant was in the eye of the outrage, the journalist was flying around the country for HarperCollins to spruik the book. He has been interviewed for podcasts and attended writers’ festivals. We hear that at one event last week, the targeted harassment and death threats had become so bad that a security detail was needed. Let’s hope News Corp picked up that invoice.
When HarperCollins Australia acquired the book at the end of last year, publisher Catherine Milne said “a new book by Stan Grant is always an event” and “this book will be a privilege to publish”. “It will be a book that demands attention, response, and will provoke national conversation and debate”. Prescient words, though probably not in the way she intended.
"corp" - Google News
May 29, 2023 at 04:17PM
https://ift.tt/38wyfGg
The irony at the heart of News Corp's war on Stan - The Australian Financial Review
"corp" - Google News
https://ift.tt/37mtV2K
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "The irony at the heart of News Corp's war on Stan - The Australian Financial Review"
Post a Comment