With the scandal around Rupert Murdoch growing by the day, a full-fledged boycott of News Corp. has been launched on the internet. According to the Washington Post:
Boycottmurdoch.com was registered Sunday, with a plan to convince readers “that Murdoch’s tabloid news media … propagate a false image of the world, exaggerate news stories, and spin an agenda which fits Murdoch’s business interests and highly conservative political outlook.”
Boycott Murdoch Facebook and Twitter pages sprung up, garnering hundreds of followers within days.
While the boycott has recieved coverage on many mainstream news outlets, it has yet to gain much traction. The Facebook page has less than 700 fans and the Twitter page is approaching only 1,000 followers. To make even a small dent in Murdoch’s bottom line, the boycott will need to metastasize and quickly.
One thing that makes a complete boycott of all things Murdoch difficult, is the breadth of his holdings. As NPR explains, if you don’t want any of your money going to Murdoch, here are a few things that would be off limits:
- You couldn’t go see Brad Pitt and Terence Malick’s new, critically acclaimed art house film The Tree of Life. It’s distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, a subsidiary of Fox Filmed Entertainment and NewsCorp. (That means you couldn’t watch Natalie Portman in Black Swan either.)
- You couldn’t watch any of your favorite sitcoms on the online video site Hulu.com, which is a NewsCorp joint venture with NBC Universal and Disney.
- You couldn’t watch Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. (Fox owns a majority share of the network.)
- You couldn’t read the Wall Street Journal or the New York Post.
- You couldn’t attend a Los Angeles Lakers or New York Rangers game, since Murdoch has partial ownership in both of those major league sports teams. (He also owns parts of the Staples Center and Madison Square Garden; so no Lady Gaga concerts in the Big Apple either.)
- You couldn’t watch American Idol on Fox or buy any albums or singles by the winners and contestants of the show. That means you, Crystal Bowersox fans.
- You couldn’t buy any book published by HarperCollins since NewsCorp owns that company as well. So forget picking up an extra copy of a J.R.R. Tolkien book.
- If you’re Australian, you couldn’t attend a National Rugby League game, or read GQ Australia.
While this list is only partial, boycotting Murdoch’s empire is far from impossible. It simply would mean making some sacrifices, which is necessary for all nonviolent action, and choosing more carefully which news, entertainment and sports to watch or read.
Amy Goodman also recited a mighty list of News Corp. holdings today on Democracy Now!. Pretty astonishing.
I wonder how much effort is being made in these protests to separate distaste for Murdoch’s political views from the fact of his company’s unacceptable actions. This seems really important if the boycott is going to have a major effect. If it is made too much to be a matter of political views, those who agree with him are going to feel themselves targeted by the movement and won’t want to join it—and they, after all, are the ones who are the most important partners if you’re trying to put a dent in his viewership.
Fox does not make any money off of any Idol talent after the show ends. They are not involved, not benefit from their music careers.
Phew! What a relief.
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This is the same man who stupidly sold his share of Ansett to Air New Zealand who in the end could not afford it and therefore killed an Icon.He put 16,000 Australians out of work and many loyal Frequent Flyers had to start over elsewhere.