Rupert Murdoch and the Evils of Corporate Media

It’s been a running gag in many circles how evil Fox News is. This month, however, the laughter has stopped.

British Tabloid News of the World (where do you think the title of the Queen record came from?) printed its final edition this past Sunday after an amazing 168-year run. The paper was closed after accusations (please note the source...kinda odd, no?) that reporters and others associated with the paper had hacked the voicemails of over 4,000 potential victims ranging from family members of missing people to royal dignitaries, all in an effort to “get the scoop”.


The owner of News of the World? That’s right. Rupert Murdoch, owner of Fox News.

And it gets worse. US Senator Jay Rockefeller (D, WV) is now calling for an investigation as to whether or not Murdoch’s bastions of public trust employees have done the same on US soil. UK tabloid The Mirror has reported that 9/11 victims may have had their voicemails and other private communications hacked as well. The culprit here is pointed out to be The Sun tabloid, owned by...go ahead and guess...

I’m keeping this one brief because I still have a lot to get done before Nerdapalooza this weekend (ZOMG~!), but there’s no way to keep quiet about this. After all, the spirit of Count3rCu1ture is to stand up against corporate media and the garbage it feeds us on a daily basis. If the coverage of the Casey Anthony Trial showed us anything, it’s that corporate media can’t be trusted to do anything except poke a hornet’s nest with a sharp stick in the name of getting those ratings and that almighty dollar.

With the closing of News of the World and the potential investigation in to Murdoch’s practices in the US as well, it’s now known just how far corporate media will sink for ratings and money. And now you also know why none of them should be trusted.

Caylee’s Dead, Casey’s Free, and Ashton Profits

Consider this an addendum to ”Guilty Until proven Innocent: Casey Anthony and the Media”. In that piece, I decried how none of this media circus - much less the “outrage” expressed in the wake of the verdict - was about “Justice for Caylee” at all.

How do I know this? Simple observation.

Casey Anthony was sentenced earlier today (July 7, 2011) to 12 days in jail on four counts of Lying to Investigators. The State of Florida (probably looking to save face after such a bungle) is filing a motion to be able to pursue Anthony for costs incurred during the investigation due to being found guilty of the above charges. The State claims it is looking to recoup the costs of that investigation - including possibly suing Anthony, who may profit in the form of interviews, book deals, movie deals, you name it. Naturally, the State (as well as many other whom we’ll get to in a moment) are “outraged that Anthony would profit from the death of her little girl.

Meanwhile, lead prosecutor Jeff Ashton was not at the sentencing hearing this morning in the Orange County Courthouse. He announced his resignation after the acquittal on July 5, stating that he would remain on duty through July 7. Yet, he wasn’t in Orlando. So, where was Ashton during the sentencing hearing?

In New York. He had already appeared on The Today Show (NBC) and on Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell (HLN) on July 6. He appeared today on Good Morning America (ABC), Piers Morgan (CNN), Nancy Grace (HLN), and Joy Behar (HLN) making the media rounds. It’s safe to say that, just like Casey Anthony would be, that Ashton was paid for every one of those appearances.

So, if the State wants its investigation money back so bad, why doesn’t Ashton (still an employee of the State of Florida during his media appearances) donate his earnings to the state to recoup those costs? There is no plan to at the moment, leading to the conclusion that Ashton is profiting off of the death of Caylee Anthony just as much as Casey Anthony stands to. Those networks that had him on have had a fit with the idea of Anthony making money off of this ordeal, but have no qualms about paying Jeff Ashton, who skipped town the moment it was over to get his face on television. And yet, absolutely no one has called him on it.

The obvious hypocrisy is in the media and the State of Florida overlooking a State employee who failed to get the job done making money off of failing to provide “Justice for Caylee” while decrying Casey Anthony – who was found not guilty of any charges of murder or manslaughter, mind you – for doing the exact same thing. If the profiteer is one of the “good guys”, then it’s all good and fine, right?

That’s how I know that none of this entire ordeal was about “Justice for Caylee”. And, with that, I’m done dealing with it.