rupertmurdoch1_thumb1.jpgThe Charlie Hebdo massacre naturally involves writers, magazines, and publishers everywhere, touching as it does on issues of free speech, free expression, and the right to publish. It also gives those same communities the chance to condemn themselves out of their own mouths. And one Big Five figurehead – no surprise to some, maybe – has gone ahead and done just that.

Yes, it’s Rupert Murdoch, whose tweet after the massacre read: “Maybe most Moslems peaceful, but until they recognize and destroy their growing jihadist cancer they must be held responsible.” And he continued, “Big jihadist danger looming everywhere from Philippines to Africa to Europe to US. Political correctness makes for denial and hypocrisy.”

And as a reminder, this is the Rupert Murdoch who recently resigned as a director of News International over the criminal activities of journalists under his aegis. This is the Rupert Murdoch who bought up Harper Collins in 1989. This is also the Rupert Murdoch who has been directly implicated  in involvement in UK and U.S. politics. Are his views likely to impact on, or echo, the politicians who courted him, let alone the wider public?

J.K. Rowling nailed it beautifull  in her tweeted response: “I was born Christian. If that makes Rupert Murdoch my responsibility, I’ll auto-excommunicate.” And as another reminder, this is an author who built her status on a story arc all about a heroic battle against a despotism built on prejudice. But she definitely wasn’t the only one. As the UK Independent noted, one respondent, Clayton Ravine, pointed out that: “Rupert Murdoch holds all of Islam responsible for the madness of the few. This is the man who more or less controls 20m of our electorate.” So clearly some don’t think that Murdoch is out of the opinion-forming game, despite his public retirement.

Is that likely to affect HarperCollins? Probably not – after all, the shit-stirring Islam-baiting book of the hour, Michel Houellebecq’s Soumission (Submission), has been picked up by Penguin Random House imprint William Heinemann in the UK and Macmillan imprint Farrar, Straus & Giroux in the U.S., so Harper is off the hook for that one at least. But Fox News, Murdoch’s personal creation, and another News International property, is busy pumping out unbelievably stupid and bigoted “reports” in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, which have succeeded in offending Brits as well as Muslims.

So, am I guilty of the same sin that I condemn Murdoch for, in implicating an entire innocent community with the sins of one or two evil men? And tarring the whole of HarperCollins and Big Five publishing with the brush of Murdoch’s hate speech? Maybe. But I’m not in the least surprised that the head of a media empire – including a book publishing division – built on pitching predominantly to the lowest common denominator, and on unscrupulous, and in some cases, criminally liable, scandal-mongering and rabble-rousing, continues to mouth prejudice and bigotry when commenting as a “private citizen.” And I would worry a lot about how far the book publishing divisions of conglomerates like News International are siloed and fenced off from the operations – and attitudes – of other divisions. Past experience argues otherwise. Plus, two other Big Five publishers have stepped up to push out a French Islamophobic novel in the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, for the edification of Anglo-Saxon readers. By their fruits shall ye know them.

 

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