Getting Pied

Rupert Murdoch got pied today.

I do not advocate hitting someone in the face with a pie, no matter how odious or sinister they may seem. I do not think that this was a necessary action to bring attention to the scandal engulfing his media empire. I do not think that Murdoch should be physically humiliated in order to pay for what he has done.

I will tell you, though, that I wouldn’t trust that man. I hope I’m not being uncharitable, but any person who has amassed that much money and power has to have done it on the backs of other people. I just can’t see any way around it. It’s not like you wake up one day and are magically an unimaginably wealthy media tycoon who can do whatever you want with impunity.

Or, almost whatever you want. Of all things, a phone hacking scandal is what has finally tipped the balance of public opinion, making a pariah out of one of the most powerful men in the world. He and his conglomerates had corporate interests and politicians in their pockets. Even the people who disliked him based their dislike more on his right-wing political views (unsubtly promoted by Fox News) than on his media control.

Even if I agreed with them 100%, I wouldn’t be comfortable with anyone controlling as much of the media as News Corp and Disney do. I don’t want to say “I don’t like Rupert Murdoch” – I don’t know him. I’m certainly not happy to see him pied. But I am happy to see News Corp finally being taken to task for their actions, and not being treated like a sacred cow just because they control so much of the message.