Brave New Films

The story of News Corps ever unraveling corruption is still far from over. This week’s revelations in the News Corp drama highlights the lies in the Murdochs’ prior testimony to parliament, and demands that more questions be answered regarding who knew what and did what. At this point the level of criminal activity and cover-up exceeds anything seen in recent history. And all signs continue to point to a need to replace Joel Klein with an independent entity that can conduct a thorough and unbiased internal investigation.

Let’s review the latest. There’s Clive Goodman’s letter from 2007, in which he made clear that high level News International executives were aware of the use of wire tapping. As Goodman wrote, “This practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the editor.”

And then there’s the fact that, directly after Goodman sent this letter to News Corp, following his release from prison, News International paid him nearly a quarter of a million pounds. This payout being strikingly larger than what was previously claimed by the company.

On top of all of this, one of the Murdochs’ hired law firms, Harbottle & Lewis, has come out and claimed that some of the evidence the Murdochs presented was “hard to credit”, “self-serving” and “inaccurate and misleading”. When your own lawyers come out against you, you know you have a serious problem.

While all this news was breaking, it was also learned that Rupert’s daughter, Elisabeth, has been given $214 million plus in payment for the sale of her company to her father’s company.

And then, as I write this, news comes in that another News of the World reporter has been arrested. James Desborough was arrested today on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications. What’s particularly significant is that after the hacking incident the British police suspect him of, he moved to the US to continue to work for the company out of Los Angeles. This raises the question of whether he continued hacking practices while in the US, and, if so, how widespread this practice was among other News of the World journalists’ in the US.

All of this new documentation was released this week by either British law enforcement or by the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, and it should have a devastating impact upon the Murdoch investigation.

The Murdochs, without question, should be forced to reappear in front of the committee to account for the lies they presented in their last appearance, and to address this new information.

But more than that, all this new information coming from outside investigations highlights how inadequate it is to have Joel Klein continue to lead the internal News Corp investigation. There is clearly a lot of details of corruption that remain to be exposed, and Klein as a hired inside guy is by no means the person able to do that. It is important that the outside investigations continue to shine a light on the facts of the scandal, but the internal investigation must also have at least some potential for true accountability. By which, I mean accountability to the truth, and not to providing further protection to Murdoch. Joel Klein must be replaced.

As Outfoxed exposed seven years ago, the Murdochs run a company based on conglomerate control, corruption and a full lack of ethics. Rigorous investigation into their history and present practices needs to continue. The Murdochs must be called forward to answer for their crimes. Father and son both need to resign. And Joel Klein needs to be replaced. The only way to move forward from such a web of corruption is to cut off the sources of it, and to create true accountability for our journalistic structures.

Seven years ago, Brave New Films and I exposed Rupert Murdoch’s top down journalism at FOX News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public’s right to know. As recent news makes clear, Murdoch only has continued to lead a legacy of corrupting journalism and harming the public interest. The latest information released reveals how widespread internal knowledge and support was around wiretapping practices. We’ve learned that the Murdochs lied before parliament, and this story is far from over.

In the wake of Murdoch’s NewsCorp scandal, it is more pertinent than ever to revisit Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism and work to restore integrity in journalism. As we’ve seen in the last seven years, Murdoch’s empire won’t stop their corruption without the eyes of the world demanding they be held accountable.

In order to celebrate the anniversary of Outfoxed, I thought it would be most fitting to host an anniversary event that features clips from Outfoxed, as well as timely commentary from notable media and public figures.

Gathering some of the brightest minds out there, the event included Cenk Uygur (The Young Turks; former MSNBC host), Janeane Garofalo (Actor/Comedian), Katrina vanden Heuvel (The Nation), Eli Pariser (MoveOn.org), James Rucker (ColorofChange.org), Ilyse Hogue (Media Matters) and Ellen Brodsky (News Hounds). I also answered live and previously submitted questions from the audience.

The current Murdoch investigation continues to unveil the criminality, corruption, distortion and overall unethical behavior woven through the NewsCorp fabric. Seeing that Brave New Films has thoroughly examined how NewsCorp has long blurred the line between corporate interests and journalistic integrity, the Outfoxed 7th anniversary event was a great opportunity to inform and inspire people across the spectrum.

Janeane Garofalo shared her memories of appearing on Fox News, and the form of bullying they would regular engage in with their progressive guests. Her thoughts follow a montage of the “shut up” O’Reilly clips — which are, as you might guess, where he tells his guests to “Shut Up.”

Katrina vanden Heuvel weighed in on her thoughts around the need for journalistic integrity. After watching a series of Fox clips where the anchors cite “some people say,” as a way to present unjournalistic perspectives, Katrina reminds us of the importance of having media by the people, for the people.

Cenk Uygur provides additional detailed analysis on how Fox News refuses to uphold any journalistic integrity. His thoughts are shared after watching one of the most important clips from Outfoxed, a segment where we expose internal Fox News memos which outline political messaging strategies the network is told to follow throughout a given news day.

In addition to the above great clips, James Rucker spoke on the history of Fox News attacking African Americans. Ilyse Hogue spoke about the role of Outfoxed in laying the groundwork for the present look into News Corp practices. Eli Pariser additionally speaks to how Outfoxed is influencing the present debate. And Ellen Brodsky weighs in on the need that remains for Fox News to continue to be monitored.

As more revelations start to come out about how widespread wiretapping practices have been at News Corp, we need to continue rigorous examination into where journalistic standards have not been upheld, and what can be done to stop News Corp’s spread of ethicless action.

If you’d like to get more information on Fox News, check out Outfoxed: Special Edition FOX Attacks DVD.

The work continues with all of us. We at Brave New Films look forward to watching as Fox News and News Corp continue to be exposed, and as integrity in journalism can be restored.

Seven years ago, Outfoxed exposed Rupert Murdoch’s top down journalism at FOX News, and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public’s right to know.

In the wake of Murdoch’s NewsCorp scandal, and as we witness the widening impact of corporate dominance on media practices, it is even clearer that we need to continue the discussion around how we can restore integrity in journalism.

What has changed over these seven years?

The story keeps unraveling before our eyes, and yet no true accountability has caused the Murdochs to change their behavior. One of the latest pieces of news in this story is that 11 people have now been arrested in the News of the World hacking scandal, yet both James and Rupert stand to receive several million dollars in bonuses, supposedly due to their job performance. We’ve also recently learned that BSkyB is keeping James Murdoch on their board. At this point, it seems as if the Murdochs are getting away with their criminal and unethical behavior with barely even a slap on the wrist.

If the level of corruption involved in this scandal doesn’t bring about serious conversation and a push for a change in how things work, there might be no hope for fighting the evil that comes from such corporate conglomerate control. That is why Brave New Films has decided to celebrate the anniversary of Outfoxed by holding an event with some of the smartest minds in our country.

I invite you to join a live and online discussion that will take place Tuesday, August 9th at 5 pm PST/8 pm PST at bravenewfilms.org/outfoxed.

This one-hour anniversary event will feature clips from Outfoxed and Fox Attacks, along with commentary from such notable media and public figures as Cenk Uygur (The Young Turks; former MSNBC host), Janeane Garofalo (Actor/Comedian), Katrina vanden Heuvel (The Nation), James Rucker (ColorofChange.org) and Ilyse Hogue (Media Matters). I will also use the opportunity to answer live and previously submitted questions from the audience. (I encourage you to send your questions in advance.)

Outfoxed heeded numerous warning signs on the dangers of ethic-less journalism. Seven years later, the world is witnessing what happens when corporate conglomerate power runs unregulated and lacks the checks and balances required for there to be any accountability. As a company, NewsCorp, with FOX often leading the way, has led an imaginary war in which it sees itself as “against the world.”

Over the last year, Brave New Foundation has continued to expose the corruption that comes from consolidated power that runs unchecked. Our Koch Brothers Exposed campaign has revealed how the wealth and political power of the Koch brothers echoes some of the lessons we’ve learned from Outfoxed. When conglomerate profit increases and is allowed to drive any agenda unchecked, the health of our democracy and our journalistic institutions pays the price.

The current Murdoch investigation continues to unveil the criminality, corruption, distortion and overall unethical behavior woven through the NewsCorp fabric. And yet, over these last seven years, not much seems to change about the level of accountability to which we hold the Murdochs’ actions. This coming Tuesday we will discuss what this accountability should look like, and what can be done to stop this pattern of corruption from spreading.

For additional details about the event, or to submit a question in advance, visit: bravenewfilms.org/outfoxed/

I look forward to having you join the conversation.

Originally appeared on the Guardian.

What is the main lesson learned in the Murdoch scandal?

That corporate conglomerate power run unregulated causes great public harm and lacks the checks and balances required for there to be any accountability. Given this, what would be the best way to investigate the criminal wrongdoings of such a conglomerate?

News Corp would have you believe that the answer to that question is: have the guilty and obscuring conglomerate examine itself and then report to the rest of the world the level of information it chooses to publish.

Let me be blunt: this is the definition of insanity.

Former New York City school Chancellor Joel Klein, now News Corp’s executive vice president, has been tapped to lead the investigation of the company that pays him $4.5m a year and gives him stock awards. What could potentially be a conflict of interest around that?

And who does Klein report to? Viet Dinh. Viet Dinh’s prior work experience? Authoring the USA Patriot Act, a law that greatly increased the government’s use of wiretapping and other forms of eavesdropping on citizens.

We also have already seen how such internal News Corps investigations turn out. There is the precedent of Les Hinton’s prior internal investigation, which revealed no phone hacking beyond the “bad apple” who had already gone to prison. Eventually, that failed investigation caught up with Hinton, who resigned from his post as chief executive of Dow Jones, publisher of the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal. But this example further highlights the point: there is no incentive for a senior executive to do anything other than minimise the issue they are investigating.

This act of News Corp supposedly investigating itself is a clear and raging sign of why consolidated power cannot be left in complete and unchecked control – particularly of their own investigation. As my 2004 documentary Outfoxed highlighted, in examining the unethical behaviour of Fox News, the News Corp problem of distorting the truth has long existed. As a company, News Corp, with Fox often leading the way, has led an imaginary war in which it sees itself as “against the world”. Nothing from its corporate practices suggests that a self-investigation would reveal actual information.

This is not how things have to be. News Corp could follow the lead from dozens of prior companies and hire outside legal counsel to oversee the investigation. What News Corp is doing, once more, goes beyond standard practice and refuses to cede any control, presumably fearing that it might stop it from doing whatever it is it wants to do. Charles M Elson, an expert on corporate governance at the University of Delaware, was recently quoted in The New York Times on this matter, saying clearly, “You cannot be seen as objective if you are inside.”

Let me summarise what has been learned by this whole parade of corruption. Corporate conglomerates run without regulation do not work in the service of society, and run reckless and unchecked whenever possible. Self-investigation of such malfeisance is not the standard, and should not be the situation in this case. This whole phone hacking story has been nothing but an absurd example of how power run unchecked responds by claiming more power when attempted to be reined in.

News Corp should not be allowed to continue this charade of a self-investigation. Meanwhile, the United States Senate and the department of justice should use all the power they have to push for a complete and thorough investigation into News Corp’s US dealings. We all deserve real answers to how much criminal activity occurred, and where the related responsibility and accountability failed.

Those answers will never come from News Corp itself.

Originally posted on the Guardian.

In 2004, I created Outfoxed to expose Rupert Murdoch’s war on journalism. Focusing on Fox News, we examined how NewsCorp has long blurred the line between corporate interests and journalistic integrity. The film presented an in-depth look at the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public’s right to know. Those dangers were shown to include ethic-less journalism, as well as the role of public relations spin in replacing the honest presentation of facts.

Yesterday, as Rupert and James Murdoch appeared before parliament, this theme was repeated. Their testimony was less about true and honest answers and more about the script of a public relations firm, and an attempt to spin the public debate on issues of corporate disgrace.

If their testimonies presented any information at all, it would be how much the Murdochs want to promote the spin of willful ignorance. For two incredibly involved businessmen, their testimonies would lead you to believe that they have long had absolutely no idea about what happens within their company.

James Murdoch claimed to be “shocked and surprised” to learn about the payment of legal fees for the jailed phone-hacking investigator, Glenn Mulcaire. Rupert Murdoch claimed to be unaware of out-of-court settlements made with hacking victims.

This portrayed ignorance leads to the Murdochs shifting blame to anyone but themselves. Asked about whether he should resign, Rupert responded: “No, because I feel that the people I trusted, I don’t know at what level, let me down and I think they behaved disgracefully, betrayed the company and me and it’s for them to pay.”

It, apparently, in Murdoch’s mind, is not at all true that he was responsible for the company that behaved disgracefully and, in fact, betrayed the public and let the public down.

As has been recently reported, the Murdochs have hired Edelman Public Relations to help them try to weather this crisis. The same Edelman Public Relations firm that previously defended Walmart, in part by funding a pro-Walmart blog called Walmarting Across America, purported to be run by two regular individuals, who later were revealed to be hired PR hacks, spinning in the name of PR goals.

Since Edelman has been brought on, the Murdochs have apologised in various forms, introduced the word “humble” into their lexicon, and have yet equally strengthened their resolve to say they did nothing wrong, had no idea anyone else did anything wrong and that they definitely should bear no responsibility.

If this scandal makes one thing abundantly clear, it is the importance of honest information being presented to the public truthfully – a trend far too rare in the storyline of this corruption. We have no need for a further parade of public relations spinning, meant only to distract the public from facts and the truth. What we need right now is a thorough, just, legal and strong investigation into wrongdoings. The type of honest reporting NewsCorp has shown themselves incapable of doing. Outfoxed was the canary in the coal mine years ago. This recent scandal has been a loud siren of clear corruption.

It is time for the truth to come out. And it is time for the Murdochs and NewsCorp to stop their habitual addiction to spin and lies. The Murdochs bear responsibility for what occurred in their company, and the public deserves accountability around their failed and corrupt leadership. As increased revelations of corruption endlessly emerge within this scandal, the only way for justice and journalistic integrity to win out is for both Murdochs to resign. At that point, their public relations firm can spin all they want, without causing further harm to the public interest.

The Rupert Murdoch NewsCorp scandal is a loud and overdue warning bell about what has long been Murdoch’s standard for professional ethics in journalism.

In 2004, I created Outfoxed to expose Rupert Murdoch’s war on journalism. Outfoxed examined how media empires, led by Murdoch’s Fox News, have long been running a “race to the bottom” in news delivery. The film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public’s right to know. Through exploring Murdoch’s burgeoning media kingdom, the film examined the negative impact had on society when one person controls a broad swath of media. Clearly, the story didn’t end there.

We’ve moved far beyond only hearing from the canary in the coalmine. As we now see layer upon layer of corruption exposed, the full extent of the story remains unknown. News of the World is shuttered. BSkyB is temporarily no longer in play for full Murdoch takeover. There are questions about how deep and how complicated the corruption spreads. We know that the voicemail of a murdered thirteen-year-old was hacked. We know bribes were paid to police. We know that soldiers killed in action and their families were also targeted for illegal spying. And now US senators have moved to call for a Department of Justice investigation into whether American citizens were additionally targeted; including whether 9-11 victims too had their phones hacked.

As I follow the unfolding story, it reminds me not only of the warning call of Outfoxed, but also of Brave New Foundation’s latest project, an expose of the corruption and power of the Koch brothers. The conglomeration of too much power in the hands of ethic-less ideologues is a shared theme. When this happens in the world of journalism, and when this happens in the world of politics, the public inevitably pays the highest price.

A recent segment of Koch Brothers Exposed examined the intricate right-wing echo chamber the brothers fund in order to propagate policy lies into the mainstream debate. Unsurprisingly, Fox News was a key outlet through which they could accomplish this.

Such pooling of power and control has caused our political and journalistic institutions to lose integrity and to move away from the service they should provide to society. At what point do we say enough to such ideological conglomerate control of journalism and democracy? If the rash of stories this week isn’t enough for us to seriously reconsider the role of corporate control of our society, I don’t know what will be.

The ever-exposed corruption of Murdoch’s empire, along with the ever-exposed corruption the Kochs cause our democracy, can no longer run unchecked. With clear eyes we need to examine the power distribution such entities have, and what must be done to bring ethics and standards back into our public sphere. We need to do this now and with the seriousness a fight for the survival of democracy requires.

There’s nothing funny about Sarah Palin or her influence on our democracy, but together we can use satire to make an impact and undermine her aura of authenticity and altruism.

Brave New Films is out today with a People’s Cut of Palin’s upcoming movie, and you won’t believe what she’s saying right now about her film.

Satire is an effective tool to take the conservative opposition’s perceived strengths and use it against them, which is what we’re doing here with Palin’s movie. This is not a film, but our best chance to redirect the nonstop media attention she’s getting with her bus tour and upcoming film.

It feels like every time Sarah Palin blinks she’s written up in the news, and we don’t intend to give her more media attention. We can’t stop the presses from covering her every move, but we can help focus, undercut and change the Palin narrative.

Her film is likely coming to a theater near you, and we’ve all been carpet-bombed by the film’s plot, importance and potential. Thank you news media, but you don’t need to be a film critic or TV anchor to know the film misses the truth.

That’s why we’re giving everyone a chance to tell Sarah what’s missing from her film. We’re going to take the best submissions and put them to a vote. The winner receives a Sarah Palin collectable bobblehead doll.

Her movie isn’t out yet, but there’s plenty of ammunition when considering things the film’s missing. Early reviews focus on the films omission of the Troopergate scandal, when Palin fired an aide who declined to retaliate against a state trooper who went through a bitter divorce with Palin’s sister.

The film also fails to acknowledge or ‘refudiate’ the smorgasbord of liberal, independent and conservative criticisms of Palin, preferring instead to portray celebrities like Bill Maher, David Letterman and Matt Damon as political clairvoyants.

The film’s flawed on its most basic Film Production 101 levels too. Even the New York Post, never to be misidentified as a liberal rag, panned the film because music was awful and the plot would contradict earlier scenes. Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, certainly no fan of my work, was also disappointed a two-hour movie relied on so many quick cuts.

“I’d guess the average shot length has to be somewhere around three or four seconds,” Morrissey wrote. “It reminded me of the cable-TV series Dream On, and not in a good way. Like the soundtrack, the overall effect is decidedly unpleasant.”

Media pundits won’t stop talking about Sarah Palin’s move, bus tour and her potential to shake up the 2012 election. Let’s grab the microphone, speak truth to power and tell everyone what’s missing from Palin’s movie.

“With a $1.6 trillion deficit,” Sen. Bernie Sanders told Jon Stewart recently, “it is insane to think that the only way you’re going to move toward a balanced budget is by slashing college Pell grants, by cutting Medicaid, by converting Medicare into a voucher program, by cutting programs that working class and middle class people desperately need.”

The Senator on social security: “Social Security has a $2.6 trillion surplus. It could pay out every benefit owed for the next 26 years. It is not going bankrupt. It’s not going broke.”

On income inequality: “You have so few who have so much and so many that have so little. Those are themes not usually discussed here in Washington, for kind of obvious reasons.”

Senator Sanders is a bold voice, and one that’s missing every Sunday. He’s a passionate advocate for the middle class and yet his last morning show appearance came late last year.

Compare that to Sen. John McCain, who leads everyone with 10 appearances this year alone. His friends and ideological allies, Sens. Lindsay Graham and Joe Lieberman, round out the top seven interviewees this year, with six and five appearances each.

The Sunday shows often set the tone for the upcoming political week. As the same voices drone on, the Senator’s absence means the political and media elites are overlooking the forces squeezing working and middle class Americans.

Will you call or write the network producers and tell them to Bring Senator Sanders On? (Their contact information is at bottom.)

Senator Sanders waves during a Memorial Day parade. (Photo by sanders.senate.gov)

You’ve probably heard the Senator’s zingers and social philosophy picked up despite the shows’ pattern of interviewing the same half-dozen politicos each week. It’s not rocket science. It’s because what the Senator says is popular and widespread that it shines through the media muzzle.

“Medicare for all” is something the Senator’s pushed for years. More fundamentally, Senator Sanders is one of the few leaders who understands that political debates exist in terms of individuals and lives.

“I would not support Medicaid cuts when you have 50 million Americans who have no health insurance today at all,” the Senator said.

As GOPers coalesce around the plan to end Medicare, the Senator speaks for millions of Americans when he reminds us about the 45 million Americans who will die this year because they don’t have health insurance.

“It is morally obscene to cut programs for the most vulnerable people in this country,” he says.
Why is Senator Sanders being kept off the Sunday shows? It must be ideological discrimination because nothing else explains how the same tired trope of alleged newsmakers is trotted out each week.

Like McCain, Graham and Lieberman, the Tea Party is overrepresented on the shows too. Rep. Michele Bachmann, Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee all have far more appearances on Sunday shows than Senator Sanders. It doesn’t take much when the Senator has never been interviewed in 2011.

These conventional wisdom weather vanes are, as you’d expect, all the same. They are for spending cuts of different sizes, for interventions of different scopes and favor radical changes like dismantling the Federal Reserve or Education Department for different reasons. Many Democrats aren’t so different either, but Senator Sanders is one of a kind.

The Senate’s only self-styled socialist, Senator Sanders is passionate, outspoken, and offers a unique worldview among the elected American political spectrum and news media elite.

He has a wide following across the country and around the world, which is partly due to his uniqueness in contemporary American politics. He has an incredibly engaged Facebook community of 66,300 individuals, a Twitter following of more than 38,000 and an email list that reaches thousands upon thousands more.

The Senator can make the mundane policy differences engaging and catch fire. In a committee hearing about access to health care, Sen. Rand Paul equated “a right to health care” to enslaving medical professionals. Senator Sanders was able to transform Paul’s talking point into inspiration for his supporters and common sense reasonableness to his critics.

“My profound question to the [doctor] is, do you, as an employee at a federally qualified health center, consider yourself a slave?”

Even Paul had to laugh off his absurd question.

With Bernie absent from the Sunday shows, and their trend toward booking the same politicians each week, there exists an echo chamber within an echo chamber. With a lack of diversity each week, the Sunday shows move further away from their historical origins in American broadcasting.

They were conceived as a way to justify using public airwaves. The Federal Communications Commission licenses networks the right to use public radio waves because it’s a public service. That’s been precedent since the very beginning of American broadcasting.

Ideological discrimination is bad for ratings and worse for our democracy. As the Sunday shows move away from their historical moorings, our democracy suffers from a dearth of journalistic public service.

All the while, the “crooks on Wall Street [who] caused the recession” and politicians “who go after the middle-class, working families, low-income people” – in Bernie’s words – will be wearing television makeup and living comfortably in the networks’ green rooms this Sunday.

Will you call or write producers for Face the Nation, This Week, Meet the Press and State of the Union and respectfully ask them to bring Bernie on?

Face the Nation: Carin Pratt, (202) 457-4481, ftn@cbsnews.com

Meet the Press: Iliana Drimmer, (202) 885-4598, ilana.drimmer@nbcuni.com

This Week: (212) 456-7777 (push 5 and address your message to Rick Kaplan, executive producer of This Week)

State of the Union: Michelle Jaconi, (404) 827-1500, michelle.jaconi@turner.com