SUCKING UP TO DICTATORS….All this talk about Eason Jordan’s confession that CNN eased up on some of its coverage from Iraq in order to keep its Baghdad bureau open reminded me that conservatives have their own embarrassment in this regard: Rupert Murdoch.
Murdoch has been trying to build his media business in China for over a decade but only met with success after he began soft pedaling any criticism of the regime. Here is Time Asia’s capsule summary from last month:
Hoping to leapfrog this roadblock, Murdoch has been currying favor with Beijing ever since his Star satellite network, which runs nine channels in China, got a foothold on the mainland. The relationship got off to a rocky start in 1993, after Murdoch offended authorities by declaring that satellite broadcasting threatens “totalitarian regimes everywhere.” Since then, Murdoch has chosen not to irritate the Communist Party
In 1999 he ordered HarperCollins, News Corp.’s publishing arm, to drop a book by former Hong Kong Governor Chris Patten because it was critical of Beijing and, shortly after, dismissed the Dalai Lama as an old monk “shuffling around in Gucci shoes.”….Making sure that censors are mollified and production values are maintained is an ongoing struggle.
And Falun Gong, the peaceful religious movement that terrifies the Chinese government? A “dangerous” and “apocalyptic cult” that “clearly does not have the success of China at heart,” according to Murdoch’s son, James. You can get the whole story here, along with plenty of links.
Surely conservatives are horrified at this, and will shortly be calling for a boycott of the New York Post. Right?
