Dear FRONTLINE:
Watching this program I came away with the old familiar feeling that given
enough money, anything is possible.
It seems to me that Mr. Murdoch has achieved his accomplishments by being
intelligent, cunning and most of all, having the financial support to
continue with his endeavors.
This particular program again reinforced for me the importance of having an
unbiased source of information, which is still possible with programs such
as yours.
Laura Fromm
Rockford, IL
Dear FRONTLINE:
Mr. Murdoch represents the ideal output of the Reagan/Thatcher/Kohl
conservative revolution of the eighties and its dire consequences to the
middle classes of the industrialized world.
The concentration of power into the hands of people like Rupert Murdock
allows the conservative revolutionaries to impose their ideas on our
politicians to the sole benefit of themselves and the class they serve by
reducing healthy societal debate to its lowest common denominator.
It is urgent these empires be broken up before it is too late and their
dominion over the media becomes absolute.
Unfortunately it may already be too late.
S.J.
Dear FRONTLINE:
I was dumbfounded your last program concluded short of Rupert
Murdoch's current frontline: the internet. He established a
beachhead with his purchase of Delphi, the fourth largest online
service based in Boston. MCI's recent $2 billion infusion into
Murdoch's News Corp. has enabled him to gobble talent to jazz up
Delphi, which will include providing subscribers the World Wide Web
with graphics, already offered by America OnLine, CompuServe and
Prodigy. You could have used another half hour about how Murdoch
is gearing up to make a splash on the internet.
S.M.R.
Dear FRONTLINE:
We can only hope that as Mr. Murdoch grows older and stares at
the face of mortality, he will use his power and wealth to become
a tireless philanthropist instead of capitalists. Carnagie,
Rockefeller and others were ruthless for most of their life but
they changed their ways when up against the unknown. Guilt has a
way of catching up with all of us. A lot of good could come of
his money.
M.M.
Chicago, IL
Dear Frontline:
Your characterization of Rupert Murdoch as "a Pirate" is wrong. Pirates
steal and are sadistic. Murdoch is clearly a total opportunist and is
perhaps amoral, but his success is a consequence of a historical period in
the "AngloSaxon" world where free markets are in the ascendency and supply
and demand determines right and wrong. Murdoch has time and again
demonstrably given the public what it wants and has taken unprecedented risks
in the process. One may find his methods journalistically impure and most
tasteless. Do remember, though, that Shakespeare's audience was also the
lowest common denominator.
B.W.
Burlington, MA
Dear Frontline:
Sad to see someone like Rupert Murdoch get so much attention. What has he
achieved that you or I would really care to have? The only thing I am afraid
of is that good old Rupert and others like him will continue to abuse our
resources, human and otherwise. A mature person would need far less to make a
product with more relevance to some actual human needs.
It was interesting to hear some of his justifications for the endless,
useless pursuits of his life. It is sad that he wasted his life that way; I
do not feel sorry for him. That would be a waste of my time.
Perhaps no one ever taught him how to paddle a whitewater canoe. Maybe then
he would have found a better fit in life. I do not envy others that sit
around worrying about such people either; So this will be short.
The world will still be full of people wasting valuable resources in the
pursuit of meaningless goals. Rupert must think himself as good being in a
famous and powerful person. What delusions; is He my hero? I think not.
Rupert will meet his own end, like the rest of us, and he will, if anything,
have even less to take with him on his final journey. It is my belief that
our Grandmothers and Grandfathers who precede us will not find Rupert amusing
or persuasive; absolutely without power or preferential treatment.
In the end, I thank you for informing me about the Misadventures Of Rupert.
What meaning has your piece on Rupert for me? I really do not know. Perhaps,
you expected to fulfill the function of buyer beware. If you feel some people
will need warning about Rupert, they were not watching. This show will not be
airing on the FOX network or printed in any trashy newspapers. You need to
reach the people who buy into Rupert's form of entertainment, not me. What
was YOUR agenda in presenting this piece? I cannot stop Rupert, nor his
customers, from supplying one another in their useless pursuits.
Thanks for the opportunity to contact Frontline & WHYY by email. It makes
commenting on your activities much easier.
Sincerely,
M.H.
Dear Frontline:
I just watched this week's Frontline on Rupert Murdoch. I was fascinated.
Clearly Auletta was leading up to the question that Americans have to ask: If
Murdoch can buy national elections in Australia, Britain, and the New York
City mayoral campaign, can he buy a national election here?
Why not explicitly ask that question since that clearly is the subtext? You may be keeping some conservative critics of Frontline happy by refusing to state the obvious, but that same policy makes those of us who follow the media and public policy issues awfully frustrated, while leaving the vast majority of the public, who is dependent on Mr. Murdoch's programming for news and information, in ignorance.
Must Frontline cower? Is this the best you can do? I noticed the same problem in the program on cyberspace. Only Howard Rheingold in the briefest bite at the very end of the program addressed the deep, potent, scary question: What impact will this have on democratic politics? And it wasn't picked up.
Please, the least you could do is include my letter at the end of your program as a kind of counterweight, if you don't feel you can be straightforward in the programs themselves.
Thanks.
Barbara Bliss Osborn
Los Angeles, CA
Mr. Murdock represents the ideal output of the Reagan/Thatcher/Kohl
conservative revolution of the eighties and its dire consequences to the
middle classes of the industrialized world.
The concentration of power into the hands of people like Rupert Murdock allows the conservative revolutionaries to impose their ideas on our politicians to the sole benefit of themselves and the class they serve by reducing healthy societal debate to its lowest common denominator.
It is urgent these empires be broken up before it is too late and their dominion over the media becomes absolute. Unfortunately it may already be too late.
Serge Jodoin
From: Hutchinson, Daniel
Your program slammed old Rupert pretty hard for influencing politics and I
had to chuckle. The "news" hasn't actually been the news for a long time
and PBS is certainly no exception. I NEVER believe a single source! If a
person doesn't search several different sources including TV, AM radio,
shortwave, newspapers, magazines and the Internet, they're not getting
ANYWHERE close to the truth about any given event.
Money and the quest for power dominate, and, the rule of thumb anymore is to eliminate the word "trust" out of one's vocabulary when dealing with media of ANY sort.
Have a good day...
Daniel Hutchinson
West Plains, Missouri
Dear Frontline:
Your characterization of Rupert Murdoch as "a Pirate" is wrong. Pirates
steal and are sadistic. Murdoch is clearly a total opportunist and is
perhaps amoral, but his success is a consequence of a historical period in
the "AngloSaxon" world where free markets are in the ascendency and supply
and demand determines right and wrong. Murdoch has time and again
demonstrably given the public what it wants and has taken unprecedented risks
in the process. One may find his methods journalistically impure and most
tasteless. Do remember, though, that Shakespeare's audience was also the
lowest common denominator.
Bob Wiley
Burlington, MA
From: Richard Lundquist
Your program, especially this season with your new email feedback, is one
of the few
reasons to have a television set. Keep up the good work with such
hard-hitting, on-the-edge programs
such as Waco, (a past season's) Expose on the Panama Invasion and the bio of Rupert Murdoch.
Richard Lundquist
Just got around to watching the end of "Who's Afraid of Rupert Murdoch?" If it weren't for people with money and a lot of guts, who WOULD launch sattelites? If Mr. Murdoch decided it would be a good idea to put a base on the Moon, I wonder who would bet against him? On the other hand, what will happen when he runs up against another tycoon--say Bill Gates, or more likely Ted Turner. Will it be "Godzilla vs. Guirion" (the blade-headed monster)? Thanks for your food for thought.
Yours,
Rich Gough
To Whom It May Concern:
I became aware of FRONTLINE after a recent Robert Krulwich
appearance on CHARLIE ROSE. I enjoyed Krulwich's piece "High Stakes In
Cyberspace," broadcast November 1, 1995.
However, I am writing primarily in response to last week's show, "Who's Afraid Of Rupert Murdoch?" Please forward word of my enthusiasm to writers Ken Auletta, Paul Judge and writer/producer Jim Gilmore for what I thought was an excellent, balanced, thorough, well-produced and well-written show.
Most noteworthy for this viewer was the fact that the show did not simply focus on who Murdoch is today and what he has done in the past, say, five years. The program gave added depth and meaning to Murdoch given the very interesting social, political and cultural context in which he was placed by describing his early rise to power through the acquisition of newspapers. I also thoroughly enjoyed the accounts of Murdoch's prep school and Oxford experiences, and how those experiences influence(d) his business acumen/strategy.
This is the kind of programming that makes me so fond of PBS.
Sincerely,
Paul R. Suarez
I have heard that the fall of the Berlin wall marked the end of the simple
days of dictators, that the new ones will have walls that cannot be seen.
It seems that R. Murdock highlights this notion. In our pompousness we in the
USA seem to think it couldn't happen here, so did the Germans before Hitler.
It points out all the more the need for an open government watching industry
and the need for a new and revised free press. PBS plays a major role in our
freedom, especially when the likes of Murdock have apparently found his way
into the in crowd of some of our most vocal politicans.....I hope they,
especially Mr. G, can remember who he really represents and from whom those in
office get their power....the citizens (not herein called consumers).
Thank you for your free press show,
Michael Filipiak
Milwaukee, WI
From: Susan Chacin--
Congratulations on covering the origins and development of this media
phenomenon! Owing to your and my time constraints, I only want to
comment on what was NOT in the coverage altho I appreciate what was
there. I hunger for, and look forward to future updates regarding:
1. A catalog of Murdoch's current media holdings of all types. How many newspapers in how many countries? What are their combined daily and weekly circulations? How many TV stations and additional viewer over the satellite systems? What about the book publishing realm?
2. Where do analysts think this man is going in business? Can anyone predict his next move? Nothing was said about Internet although it was mentioned in the promos.
3. What are his current political directions? What are the dimensions of his involvement with US and British conservatives?
4. And finally, what are the implications for our media? Someone said the other day that Murdoch had pioneered the kind of puffery that puts items on the evening "news" regarding the shows carried by the same network.
A particularly ridiculous example (and it happens EVERY night now) happened to coincide with your show: the sci fi mini series "The Invaders" first segment aired 8:00-10:00 pm on Fox and the evening news trailers ask "Do the stars of this mini series think there really are invaders among us? News at 11:00." This kind of bogus news is eating up the little bit of time left after sports, weather, and local gore: shootings/kidnappings/fires etc.
PLEASE continue to cover the media. I was heartened to see the Noam
Chomsky documentary "Manufacturing Consent" on PBS even though it was
aired in a very late slot. It is vital for word of all of this to get
out, and it can't hurt PBS's chances of surviving as one of our VERY
limited options for real information.
Susan Chacin
We can only hope that as Mr. Murdoch grows older and stares at the face of mortality, he will use his power and wealth to become a tireless philanthropist instead of capitalists. Carnagie, Rockefeller and others were ruthless for most of their life but they changed their ways when up against the unknown. Guilt has a way of catching up with all of us. A lot of good could come of his money.
Michael McGraths
Chicago, IL
FRONTLINE:
Rupert Murdoch is helping to seriously effect the ideals and virtues that
religions all over the world have helped to build and have, in turn,
built societies.
Never before in modern times has the base and vile behavior within
humanity been given so much emphasis. So we must ask ourselves what
POSITIVE advantages, if any, can be gained from this.
Personally, I sometimes believe it can be fortunate because it reminds me
of the darker, more primitve side in all of us, thus motivating me to
rise to a higher standard. However, for the unwitting, Murdoch and
others like him offer a lifestyle grounded in hollow titilation.
Jeff Loving