Murdoch's Moral Panic

As the strange and compelling tale of Murdoch's Missing Management continues to play out, we are waiting to see who in the News Corporation food chain will end up being thrown to the legal, political and media lions.

In the meantime, the stock market value of the Murdoch empire continues to rise, as shareholders support the idea that an explanatory conclusion is emerging. Once it does, stability will be restored along with profitability.

At the same time, questions about the continued suitability of the Murdoch family as stewards of the business also begin to surface.

One aspect that hasn't been discussed is how News Corporation overplayed its hand editorially speaking by its constant and obsessional playing of the story that Britain is being overrun by sexual predators and that the government must do something about this.

This is a classical example of creating an environment of moral panic.

Moral panic was first defined as by Stanley Cohen, in his work, Folk Devils and Moral Panics. (1987). He said that it is a sporadic episode which, as it occurs, subjects society to bouts of worry about the values and principles which society upholds and which may be in jeopardy. He describes its characteristics as "a condition, episode, person or group of persons [who] become defined as a threat to societal values and interests." 

The media often engages in bouts of moral panic when they go on crusades to clean up crime, government waste or other such concerns around which the public can rally. And not co-incidentally, see the media as their protectors. 


Murdoch's media outlets have been beating this drum around sexual predators in the UK for a number of years.This, in spite of the fact that the reported crime rate for sexual offenses has remained stable and even gone into a slight decline over the past ten years, according to Home Office statistics.

Other media in other countries have also indulged in this, including Australia and Canada where crime rates have fallen, yet crime reporting continues to climb.


News Corp has shown itself to be adept at manipulating public opinion, by needlessly hyping public concerns to drive up ratings and circulation. 

At the same time, media induced moral panic pushes public opinion to the right. It then is no accident that collusion between the media and government result in a position of mutual benefit: more crime reporting = more social anxiety = more conservative voters.


And in the UK, it worked pretty well, until the News of the World hacked into Milly Dowler's cell phone. 

How Mainstream Journalism Kept NOTW Going: Or Getting Away With Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch

Only second to the joys of a Pulitzer or a Peabody, is the delight journalists feel when the mighty get their comeuppance.

As News International and Rupert Murdoch get theirs, newsies everywhere are raising a glass of fine old Chateau Schadenfreude (2011 vintage).

It gets worse (or better, depending)...

Since News International is a US-registered corporation, it could be charged in America too.

If it can be proven that Murdoch executives allowed its journalists to bribe British police in pursuit of scoops, this would be in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. According to an interview on the BBC, this could put Rupert Murdoch in the dock in New York where News International has its headquarters.

It's being called British journalism's version of the "Arab Spring" - a powerful and once unassailable power has gone too far and is now paying a considerable price.

The phone hacking scandal, the complicity of senior managers and the encouragement of boards of directors and shareholders allowed this to continue for years.

But truth to tell, we are all complicit in these dubious practices. We hesitate to be critical of fellow scribes, even if we think their practices are silly or worse. Under the banner of free speech, we permit all sorts of practices to continue even if we silently disapprove.

And who among us didn't chuckle at the over-the-top headlines in The Sun, the NOTW, the New York Daily News or the New York Post. We admire them for their brass and their willingness to be shocking...something the rest of us wouldn't or couldn't do.

News International's journalism practices aren't confined to print. Fox News allows its hosts to express some of the most scurrilous rumors and remarks. The same values that corrupted Fleet Street tabs have also spread their disdain for responsible journalism on this side of the Atlantic as well. And we still don't say a word.

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As of last Friday, Denise Donlon is out as executive director of CBC Radio. Chris Boyce is Radio's program director and he will take over her responsibilities.

Donlon was appointed by former head of English service Richard Stursberg in 2008, but since he was fired last year, much of his management structure is slowly being changed by his replacement, Kirstine Stewart.

There are some similarities here with the recently removed President and CEO of NPR, Vivienne Schiller who was fired in March.

Schiller, like Donlon came into the job from the private sector. Both were expected to replicate the successes they achieved in their previous posts - Schiller at nytimes.com and Donlon at MuchMusic and Sony.

Both achieved those limited goals: Schiller made npr.org into one of the premier new media sites in the US; Donlon was less successful, but made controversial changes to CBC Radio's music offerings by downgrading classical music and accentuating Canadian pop and indie music. But both executives failed to see that NPR and CBC Radio are more than a website or a music playlist.

Those changes and others did not please CBC Radio's core audience. That displeasure has not been lost on the Canadian regulator, the CRTC, which has had more than an earful from angry listeners.

It is scheduled to hold license renewal hearings for the CBC this September.*

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Update: CRTC hearings for the CBC's license renewal have been postponed till June 2012. The ostensible reason is "impending budget cuts," according to Minister Jason Kenney and it would presumably unfair to hold hearings until the extent of the cuts is known.

Shock Horror: "News of the World" Shuts Down! "The Sun" Also Rises...

After weeks of media, political and legal attacks on the outrageous and unethical practices of the editors and reporters of the storied London tab, (aka "Screws of the World" for its constant interest in the prurient and the salacious), publisher James Murdoch announced that this Sunday would be the paper's last edition.

Murdoch is of course, the son of media press baron Rupert Murdoch and only the Murdoch family would have the brass to do this, claiming that the N.O.the W. newsroom was out of control (sic).

In a fit of public abasement, the Murdochs have announced that all (rapidly diminishing) advertising revenues from Sunday's paper will go to worthy charities.

However rumors abound that another paper in the Murdoch stable will quickly fill the gap. The daily paper "The Sun" is even now, being prepped to go seven days a week.  Yesterday the name "The Sun on Sunday" was copyrighted and journalists at "News of the World" have been told to get ready to apply for their jobs at the soon to be announced Sunday paper.

At the same time, the British government will announce two commissions of inquiry. One will look at the legal aspects of what the "News of the World" did, with possible criminal charges to follow.

The second commission will look at how well or poorly the British media are at self-regulatory journalism and whether the introduction of independent news ombudsmen will henceforth be a required for all media organizations. Now that would be a commission worth watching.

Meanwhile all eulogies for Murdoch and his empire are premature. He may have overstepped the bounds of decency in this case and his managerial minions are deserving of firing or worse.

But images of Rupert quietly retiring to Australia are highly suspect. Not with an American election just over a year away.

The Curious Case of DSK and French Intelligence

When this story broke in mid-May, I was attending the annual conference of the Organization of News Ombudsmen in Montreal.

It was grist for the journalistic mills of the attendees, naturally. Responses to the charges of sexual assault against an African chamber maid were fascinating and of course, culturally specific.

Our colleagues from France and Québec were openly skeptical of the charges, while Anglo-Americans saw it as another example of sexual politics and hypocrisy at their worst.

Having been in Guinea in June 2010 to do journalism training and consulting, I was aware that West Africa has a long and sometimes rocky relationship with French intelligence. I also saw first hand how French embassy staff actively engaged with journalistic and electoral outcomes.

The successful candidate in the first free elections since independence from France was Alpha Condé who also has had close relations with France throughout his political career. This did not stop various dictators from jailing Condé from time to time, despite whatever connections he maintained with France. His democratic bonafides appeared solid and his election was a logical outcome.

France has maintained a watchful eye on all of its former colonies in Africa, occasionally intervening militarily to oust dictators, rescue French nationals and always to defend its economic interests. A serious French politico-military presence is a fact of life in sub-Saharan Africa and it could be argued, done better than many similar attempts at influence by the Americans.

So in Montreal it came as no surprise to me to hear our French colleagues state that there must be a French intelligence link to the Guinean chamber maid. While the Anglos scoffed at the time, the idea has been revived today by a no less serious American journalist than Christopher Dickey writing in The Daily Beast.

It stretches credulity to think that the French president himself would try to undermine his most credible opponent from the Socialist Party in this way. But French politics have a rich history of conspiratorial thinking and activities going back to the 4th Republic (1947-1958) and beyond. Could the DGSE (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure) have been tasked to connect with Guinean expats in New York? Seems far-fetched but in these times, perhaps not.

And mid-level bureaucrats have a history in many countries (even in the US, Britain and Canada) of being "serviable," as the French say, while giving their masters "plausible deniability".