Murdoch's World (49 page)
Authors: David Folkenflik
Page 40
This world welcomed Ken Chandler:
Ken Chandler, interview by author. Subsequent Chandler quotations from this chapter are also derived from that interview.
Page 40
Murdoch . . . promised in writing that he would keep faith:
Nissenson,
Lady Upstairs
, p. 403.
Page 41
Murdoch deployed:
Interviews by author with Chandler; and additionally a former senior
Post
editor; and a former midlevel
Post
editor; also as cited in Kiernan,
Citizen Murdoch
, pp. 208â209.
Page 41
how to take down Geraldine Ferraro:
As cited in Kiernan,
Citizen Murdoch
, pp. 289â290, invoking the reporting of Geoffrey Stokes in the (Murdoch-owned)
Village Voice
on Dunleavy memo.
Page 41
didn't think much of a woman:
As cited in Kiernan,
Citizen Murdoch
, p. 290.
Page 43
“What would Rupert think about this?”:
Viv Groskop, “David Yelland: âRupert Murdoch Is a Closet Liberal,'”
Evening Standard
, March 29, 2010.
Page 43
making the conservative case for war:
Julia Day, “Murdoch Praises Blair's âCourage',”
Guardian
, February 11, 2003.
Page 44
Murdoch called British prime minister Tony Blair:
“Rupert Murdoch Pressured Tony Blair over Iraq, Says Alastair Campbell,” Nicholas Watt,
Guardian
, June 15, 2012.
Page 44
Every now and then he'd invite a reporter up:
Former
New York Post
reporter Tim Arango, interview by author.
Page 44
periodically urinating in a sink:
As cited in Lloyd Grove, “Rupe's Attack Dog Gets Bitten, Keeps Barking,”
New York Magazine
, September 10, 2007.
Page 44
the tail that wagged the dog:
As cited in Corky Siemaszko, “For Sale: Page Six,”
New York Daily News
, May 19, 2007.
Page 45
it emerged in the Aussie press:
For example, Glenn Milne, “Rudd Admits to U.S. Strip Club Visit,”
Sydney Daily Telegraph
, August 19, 2007; “Strip Club Outing Will Hurt Me, Rudd says,” ABC (Australia), August 19, 2007.
Page 45
Sandra Guzman, a Latina journalist:
Allegations and quotations taken from original complaint in
Sandra Guzman v. News Corp et al
.
09-CV-9323. Admissions by
Post
editors on Steve Dunleavy's remarks to Robert George taken from depositions attached to the case.
Page 46
the
Post
endorsed her for Senate:
As cited in “Pataki's the One,” editorial,
New York Post
, November 6, 2004.
Page 46
Ruddy was speaking warmly:
Chris Ruddy, “Bill Clinton Interview: Hillary Will Make the Decisions,” NewsMax, October 31, 2007; Chris Ruddy, interview by author.
Page 46
yet the
New York Post
endorsed Barack Obama:
“Post Endorses Barack Obama,” editorial,
New York Post
, January 30, 2008.
Page 47
Fox News chairman Roger Ailes interceded:
David Carr and Tim Arango, “A Fox Chief at the Pinnacle of Media and Politics,”
New York Times
, January 9, 2010.
Page 47
Elisabeth Murdoch . . . had raised money:
Andrew Porter, “Elisabeth Murdoch Hosts Barack Obama Fundraiser,”
Telegraph
, May 14, 2008.
Page 47
the
Post
reverted to form:
“New York Post Endorses John McCain,” editorial,
New York Post
, September 8, 2008.
Page 47
Post
cartoonist Sean Delonas drew a chimpanzee:
“They'll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill,” Sean Delonas, editorial cartoon,
New York Post
, February 18, 2009.
Page 47
In an editorial headlined: New York Post,
“That Cartoon,” February 20, 2009.
Page 47
Allan also released a statement:
Nico Pitney, “New York Post Defends Cartoon, Slams Al Sharpton,” Huffington Post, February 21, 2009.
Page 48
Murdoch issued his own apology:
“Rupert Murdoch Apologizes for Chimp Cartoon,”
CNN.com
, February 24, 2009.
Page 48
“I don't understand the history”:
Allan's testimony as presented in
Guzman v. News Corp. et al
.
Page 48
Among Allan's critics:
Michael Wolff, interview by author. Former News Corp executive Gary Ginsberg told the author he did not remember the episode and otherwise declined to comment on it.
Page 49
Deng's story was one of astonishing ambition:
John Lippman, Leslie Chang, and Robert Frank, “Rupert Murdoch's Wife Wendi Wields Influence at News Corp,”
Wall Street Journal
, November 1, 2000.
Page 49
a Chinese Becky Sharp:
Eric Ellis, “Wendi Deng Murdoch,”
The Monthly
(Australia), June 2007.
Page 49
The divorce settlement was reported to have cost $1.7 billion:
For example, Paola Totaro, “The Reluctant Son: Lachlan Murdoch and News Corp,”
Monthly
, March 2012; Amy Chozick, “After 14 Years, Murdoch Files for Divorce from Third Wife,”
New York Times
, June 14, 2013.
Page 49
in reality she settled:
Author's interview with former senior News Corp executive, which accords with reporting by earlier Murdoch biographers Michael Wolff and Neil Chenoweth.
Page 49
The Man Who Owns the News
received scant coverage:
Database searches show no articles containing “Michael Wolff” or “
The Man Who Owns the News”
in any News Corp newspaper in the US or the UK in the period surrounding the publication of the book. The
Australian
published
a laudatory review by Stephen Loosley, “Making Murdoch,” on November 29, 2008. The paper also published a less flattering feature column calling the book gossip.
Page 49
the gossip website Cityfile:
Cityfile.com
is now defunct, but the article is cited in Owen Thomas, “Victoria Floethe, the New Media Ingenue,” February 26, 2009,
http://gawker.com/5161010/victoria-floethe-the-new-media-ingenue
. Not all observers credited Wolff's explanation for the coverage of his personal life. Foster Kamen, then of the
Village Voice
, wrote skeptically of Wolff's claims that the
Post
planted the story of his affair in blogs to give it cover: Kamen, “Shut Down: Michael Wolff's Rupert Murdoch/City File/Page Six Conspiracy Theory: Shut It Down!”
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2010/05/michael_wolffs.php
. Through public relations representatives, Col Allan and other
Post
executives would not comment for this book.
Page 49
a younger colleague:
Accounts of Wolff's interactions with
Post
reporters amid his marital travails drawn from Wolff, interview by author; and from Victoria Floethe, “How I Became the Femme Fatale of New York Gossip,”
Spectator
, April 1, 2009.
Page 49
another cartoon by Delonas:
“Oh, Mr. Wolff, your books are so moral and ethical. I hope your wife appreciates them,” Sean Delonas, cartoon,
New York Post
, March 3, 2009.
Page 49â50
the
Post
published seven pieces . . . the
Post'
s articles stopped cold:
Database searches by author.
Chapter 5
Page 51
Murdoch acquired six television stations:
Daniel Rosenheim and Charles Storch, “Murdoch Group to Buy Metromedia,”
Chicago Tribune
, May 7, 1985.
Page 51
bought out Marvin Davis's stake:
Background on deals drawn from Mark Seal, “The Man Who Ate Hollywood,”
Vanity Fair
, November 2005.
Page 52
Steve Dunleavy:
Description of Dunleavy and ensuing events inspired in part by Marc Fisher, “The King of Sleaze,”
GQ
, April 1990; Ken Chandler, interview by author; Freya Petersen, interview by author. Also, Shawcross,
Murdoch
, p. 54.
Page 52
“I hope it wasn't his writing foot”; the gunman was not the Son of Sam:
Jonathan Mahler, “What Rupert Wrought,”
New York Magazine
, May 21, 2005.
Page 52
“television was considered a foul little business”:
Tom Shales, “Fox's Ridiculous âReporters,'”
Washington Post
, July 30, 1988.
Page 53
“We're a network now”:
Steve Wulf, “Outfoxed,”
Sports Illustrated
, December 27, 1993.
Page 53
Neil told me:
Andrew Neil, interview by author.
Page 54
MSNBC launched at about the same time:
Characterizations based on author's interviews with MSNBC president Phil Griffin, former NBC News president Steve Capus, and former executives Rick Kaplan and Erik Sorenson, among others.
Page 54
“I'll tell you what television didn't do”:
Ailes, interview in
Esquire
, December 2010,
www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/roger-ailes-interview-5039254#ixzz2N9vteIqL
.
Page 55
“Cable news punches above its weight”:
Former Fox News vice president for news David Rhodes, interview by author, for “TV Network Expands Bloomberg News' Horizon,”
All Things Considered
, December 8, 2010.
Page 56
On the first day:
Some description of the Fox network's debut drawn from John Carmody, “The TV Column,”
Washington Post
, October 7, 1996.
Page 56
One of the most important new faces of Fox:
Material on Brit Hume derived from several author interviews with Hume; David Folkenflik, “The Voice of Reason,”
Baltimore Sun
, June 2, 2003; and Folkenflik, “Brit Hume to Step Down as Fox News Anchor,”
All Things Considered
, November 6, 2008.
Page 58
Time Warner's refusal to welcome Fox:
Harry Berkowitz, “Plug Is Pulled,”
Newsday
, October 12, 1996; Clifford J. Levy, “Lobbying at Murdoch Gala Ignited New York Cable Clash,”
New York Times
, October 13, 1996; Joel Siegel, Greg B. Smith, and Jere Hester, “Clobbered in Cable War,”
New York Daily News
, November 7, 1996.
Page 58
“Fox was the recipient of special advocacy”:
Portions of Judge Denise Cote's decision ran in the
New York Times
on November 7, 1996, under the headline: “Excerpts from Ruling.”
Page 59
Children of such prominent Democratic families:
Chafets,
Roger Ailes
, pp. 147â152.
Chapter 6
The events described in this chapter are based on the author's personal experiences and observations, extensive interviews over a period of years about disparate episodes, and interviews conducted purely for the purpose of this book. The chapter draws on interviews with five former Fox News public relations staffers, one current Fox News executive, one former Fox News executive, and two associates of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. In addition, it draws on a formal interview and an informal conversation I had with Ailes. All the events portrayed in this chapter that did not involve the author rely on accounts from at least two sources with contemporaneous knowledge of what occurred. Ailes declined to be interviewed for this book, through his chief publicity executive, Brian Lewis, who also declined to participate, citing Murdoch's position on the book.