Rupert Murdoch

Latest Articles

Do the fight thing

Bostonians rising in anger -- and action -- against ableism, racism, Verizon, and Fox News
Union flags were flown, loud music roared, and fleets of motorcycles rumbled, as several thousand people marched for civil rights and human dignity, and, in at least one case, to scold moguls for banking gross salaries at the expense of workers.
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 10, 2011

Where’s the drumbeat?

Press releases
Last week's news was dominated by a larger-than-life figure whose cartoonishly confident self-image was battered by revelations that high-level staffers were engaging in questionable practices while trying to get their jobs done.
By JEFF INGLIS | July 27, 2011

Straddling deviancy

Letters to the Boston editor, July 22, 2011
I noticed a very interesting paragraph in your July 15 editorial, " Defining Deviancy "...
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | July 20, 2011

Murdoch & Son

A Scandal of Vatican Proportions
In little more than two weeks, Murdoch's News International (NI) division, the maker and breaker of British prime ministers, has been humbled, and — by extension — its US-based parent, News Corporation, humiliated.
By PETER KADZIS | July 20, 2011

Rupert Murdoch's Watergate

Defining deviancy
Murdoch is a tycoon of darkness. Aside from his handful of quality publications — the Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, the Times Literary Supplement, and the Australian — his News Corporation specializes in smears, sensationalism, and mendacity.
By EDITORIAL | July 13, 2011

From Morons to Assholes

Failure
A pyramid of political insults.
By KARL STEVENS | July 12, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

The year in tech

Private eyes are watching you
This year saw some tech wins (public information), some losses (privacy), and many more questions for the future of an increasingly wired world. (Example: Is anything secret anymore?) And there was the appearance of yet another grassroots David, and, as if a warning to future Davids, the epic collapse of a bloated Goliath.
By JEFF INGLIS AND NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | December 22, 2010

Not-so-United States

Divisive radicals vs. the moronization of America; postcard from Florida
The BeloJo had a story on Sunday that gave a rating of absolutely true to Senator Weldon Shitehouse's contention that "current US law permits companies that close down American factories and offices and move those jobs overseas to take a tax deduction for the costs associated with moving the jobs to China or India or wherever." Wow!
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | November 24, 2010

The view from the throne

Toilet humor; They do? They don't?; The GOP is ont he clock; Dubya returns
We think we're turning Japanese, we think we're turning Japanese, we really think so. The Japanese have a tremendous obsession with toilets. But the Narragansett Bay Commission, which oversees treatment of metropolitan Providence's sewage, are getting in the game with their upcoming celebration of World Toilet Day (no, we're not kidding).
By PHILLIPE AND JORGE | November 10, 2010

Could it happen here?

Press releases
The news a few years back that the Bush administration had convinced the big telecom companies to allow the authorities to spy on customers without warrants, in the name of fighting terrorism, caused a ruckus.
By JEFF INGLIS | September 22, 2010

On the Ground Zero 'Mosque'

Plus, Rupert Murdoch buys the GOP
So what's the big deal? Muslims already pray in the Pentagon, which along with the obliterated World Trade Towers was the other successful terrorist target on September 11, 2001.
By EDITORIAL | August 19, 2010

Considering Kagan

She’s weak on free speech, but doesn’t deserve her ‘Seinfeld moment’
Elena Kagan, onetime dean of Harvard Law School and current US solicitor general, is a less than perfect candidate to sit on the Supreme Court.
By EDITORIAL | May 12, 2010

Murdoch mishegoss

The new brand of gonzo journalism
Never mind that Rupert Murdoch is shelling out better than $2 billion to buy Metromedia’s seven TV stations. Never mind that he’s then turning around and reselling Boston’s WCVB-TV, Channel 5 to the Hearst Corporation for an astounding $450 million.
By DAVE O'BRIAN | May 06, 2010

Twilight of the superheroes

The ghost of Time Inc.’s Henry Luce haunts Bill Keller, Executive Editor of the New York Times
While riding the New York subway one warm night in 1922, Hotchkiss-schooled, Yale-educated Henry Robinson Luce conjured the name of his epoch-defining magazine after spotting an arresting advertising placard.
By PETER KADZIS | April 28, 2010

Is Murdoch’s WSJ being snubbed?

Pulitzers by the numbers
This year’s Pulitzer Prize box score has the Washington Post taking four prizes (international reporting, feature writing, commentary, and criticism) and the New York Times snagging three (explanatory, national, and investigative reporting).
By PETER KADZIS | April 14, 2010

Through a glass darkly

Forecasting the media year to come
Predicting a Super Bowl winner doesn't make you a genius: after all, given a pool of 32 teams, one of them is bound to capture the trophy. But predicting the future for an industry that's been buffeted by new technologies and economic vicissitudes, and sometimes seems to have all the substance and staying power of sea foam? That's an accomplishment.
By ADAM REILLY | January 08, 2010

News worth paying for?

The ProJo considers charging for access to its Web site
The Providence Journal , offering a rare window onto its own affairs, recently reported that the newspaper could start charging for access to large swaths of projo.com as early as the first quarter of next year.
By DAVID SCHARFENBERG | December 02, 2009

Burn, baby, burn

The Olympics, zipper-gate, stimulus money, and why Coakley must investigate City Hall
The Phoenix opposed President Barack Obama's efforts to help Chicago win the 2016 Summer Olympics on the grounds that doing business with the International Olympic Committee is always bad news for the host community.
By EDITORIAL | October 07, 2009

The end of the affair?

Mitt Romney's right-wing-media problem. Plus, Michael Bloomberg's blind spot.
During Mitt Romney's failed bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, he demonstrated a potent knack for wooing the conservative commentariat.
By ADAM REILLY | August 27, 2009

Mr. Respectable

What's behind Rupert Murdoch's paid-content push? Plus, the ambitions of BoMag's new editor.
Last Wednesday, oft-vilified media mogul Rupert Murdoch announced that News Corp. — parent company of (among others) the Times of London, the New York Post , and Fox News — will soon begin charging readers for access to all its news sites.
By ADAM REILLY | August 12, 2009

Sarah Palin, Inc.

The biggest brand name in conservative politics is about to enter the burgeoning right-wing marketplace — and she's perfect for it. Ka-ching!
Confused commenters have no clue as to the opportunities that await Palin — because few understand the extraordinary, multi-billion-dollar marketplace that has developed for movement conservatives.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | July 17, 2009

By | January 01, 0001

Dailies go Darwin

Reports of newspapers' death are exaggerated — but after the changes coming in 2009, will we still recognize them?
If you're a tree, you're probably feeling pretty good right now.
By ADAM REILLY | January 29, 2009

Fourth-estate follies!

Remembering the year in media malfeasance
Granted, other years have had flashier media embarrassments (Jayson Blair, Stephen Glass), but that doesn't mean that 2008 lacked for media misdeeds.
By ADAM REILLY | December 24, 2008

The Fox and the Wolff

How did a controversial media reporter get total access to the most — and perhaps most — newspaper man in the world? He just asked.
No point in looking for an explanation or asking "why" something was said or done; Murdoch has no demonstrated ability to do so.
By DANIEL MCCARTHY | December 18, 2008

By | January 01, 0001