The Augean stables in need of a flush !
You may recall how Heracles undertook the task of cleaning the stables of king Augeas in one day. Augeas was king of Elis, and extremely rich in cattle. Heracles, went to Augeas, offering in one day to clean his stables, if he would give him the tenth part of the cattle herd for his efforts. Augeas, believing that Heracles could not possibly accomplish what he promised, agreed, and Heracles took Phyleus, the son of Augeas, as his witness as he commenced his task.
Heracles had thought this through and he diverted the rivers Alpheius and Peneius through the stables, which were thus cleaned in the time fixed upon.
So what has this got to do with the price of eggs you may be saying. Well, nothing but it has a lot to do with the way Newscorp one of the world’s biggest news organisations is run. For some considerable time this media empire has attracted the sort of creatures that swarm on piles of excrement. It was clear that the old ‘coffin-dodger’ who built the empire was not going to clean his own stables so it has been left to the prodigal son (s). It was said a few years ago when James Murdoch was still in the game and after the News of the World phone tapping scandals that the young Murdochs were trying to convince their Dad that they had to get away from the perception that they only employed ‘lecherous old white dudes’ to run their business.
A case in point, Fox News in the US where the two sons combined to flush out the ailing Roger Ailes, a proven serial misogynist (to put it nicely) who exploited young women in his employ and in his thrall.
Fox News a pay TV channel in America was created by Murdoch senior in 1996 to appeal to a conservative audience, hiring former Republican media consultant and CNBC executive Roger Ailes as its founding CEO. Depending on your viewpoint, Ailes was a pioneer in providing a platform for right-wing disaffected Republicans or he was the worst thing ever to happen to impartial and objective journalism in the US. Despite their father’s objections the Murdoch boys conspired to get rid of Ailes and they succeeded but it cost a reputed forty million dollars to get rid of that lecherous old dude.
Then there was Bill O’Reilly a FOX anchor and a thoroughly nasty piece of work. Numerous allegations and an internal investigation at FOX found that multiple women had reported inappropriate behaviour by O’Reilly and he too was flushed but not before advertisers had started to withdraw their support, something that will always get the attention of Rupert : O’Reilly was sent packing after collecting a reported exit fee of some $US 30million.
Back home in Australia, it’s not clear what actually occurred to bring on the hasty exit of Chris Dore, Editor in Chief at The Australian. Reports suggest that senior executives at Newscorp had witnessed highly inappropriate, drunken behaviour by Dore on several occasions, including most recently at a Newscorp function in California which appears to have been the catalyst for him to be shown the door (or as they usually say, the opportunity for him to spend more time with his family).
Meanwhile we had the depressing report of Sky News right-wing presenter and Courier-Mail columnist Peter Gleeson who left News Corp after multiple instances of plagiarism were uncovered. The Courier-Mail announced that after thirty four years with Newscorp he was gone, also it seems with an overwhelming desire to spend more time with his family, although they may not have shared that ambition. Gleeson had his own program on Sky-after-Dark and will not be missed.
His stablemate Chris Smith was next to go. Smith was a broadcaster with 2GB and Sky after dark where he had his own program, Chris Smith Tonight where he conducted predictable right-wing rants and forgettable echo-chamber ‘interviews’ with the usual right-wing suspects.
Smith was sacked by Sky News Australia as well as 2GB after alleged drunken behaviour and “serious misconduct” involving the treatment of women at a Sydney venue after a Sky News Christmas party. Allegedly Smith is a serial offender . In 1998 he was fired from his role as chief of staff at A Current Affair for allegedly exposing himself to four women at a Nine farewell party. Then in 2009 he was suspended by the Macquarie Radio Network (now Nine Entertainment) for allegedly exposing himself to several women at a 2GB function, attempting to kiss a female colleague and allegedly groping a female weather presenter. Both Andrew Bolt at Sky and Ray Hadley at 2GB showed no sympathy for their former colleague as he was flushed away to the reluctant embrace of his family .
Why are so many of these old white dudes getting the DCM (don’t come Monday) in the Murdoch media empire ? Is it something to do with the quality of people Murdoch has attracted and promoted over the years ? Is it only now that Lachlan has taken over that action is finally being taken ? Who knows, suffice to say that young Murdoch still has a way to go until these stables are free of excrement !
Most references to these shenanigans come from sources other than Newscorp and that could be part of the problem, that a news organisation refuses to recognise or record its own failings :
Chris Dore’s exit from News Corp lifts lid on behaviour at governor general’s residence
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6 comments
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Phil Pryor
Return to home pageGood luck in removing the huge fossilised piece of excrement in the u-bend of the media toilet.
Tinsel town. Appearances are everything for the shallow Hals of Tinsel town, or in this case, Junknews town. Form over substance. Replacing one set of message delivery agents with another set of same-mindset propagandists, ones who however exhibit more normative behaviours, says nothing about the agenda being driven. The oligarchs are simply being more politically correct, that’s all. Young Murdoch is a product of his environment, he knows where they want the story sailed, and he’s onboard with the destination. If you believe certain sections of MSM are suddenly going to turn a corner and advocate in the interest of the public, what proof is there of that?
The photo of a fossilised dinosaur anus is revolting, especially as the article appears to feature a foreign media maggot of some notoriety. We should be polite, and so, smile at our enemies, the ignorant destroyers of our planet, of civilised behaviour, the notion of decency, moral and ethical rectitude, all things desirable. Yes. Political perverted profiteers are modern nobility, the parasites.
The men and women, at the grass roots, of the lnp know god did not make women equal. In recent years there is a switch to some women being the exception to this natural order.
One day the pope will break the nexus and appoint a woman cardinal but till then, despite the contrary, women are not equal.
The lnp politicians will remain wedded to women who are copies of themselves.
ps
Always been partial to greek myths over jewish and christian myths with heracles, son of zeus, being jesus, son of god, with balls.
Uhm ….. there has already been a woman Pope. She was exposed when she gave birth in the street while horse riding. Naturally she was murdered immediately to protect ”the good name of the (Roman) Church”.
We are getting no telstra inputs now, the incompetent traitors, and no email arrived since Monday. My wife complained to a high up who said it would not be fixed or replaced, had happened before, took months to rectify. We must join others in seeking an alternative. Meanwhile.., today there is news of findings on the ABC exposure of Merde Dog’s Muck in the Trump Lie case. It is absurd, ridiculous, to imagine people saw any program without some knowledge, attitude, position. All those who watched, say, Fox spews in the USA and its reptilian spruikers, came with prejudices, attitudes, slants, rumours, suspicions and dogmatic views. Each day there would be a fraction of one percent of new and totally unspoiled, uncommitted people joining for the first time. So, who would be unfairly pushed somewhere by a propaganda charge? Nobody. Merde Dog’s Muck is repulsive, evil, untrue in spirit and character. That’s that, and his support for the orange orifice proves it, backing a huge turd of a deficient dark hole. Murdoch is a skidmark in the undies of world media, and cannot yet be cleaned. UUUGGGHHH! Meanwhile our planet goes down and back and under.