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[devEcon]

The Simpsons has been biting the hand that feeds them. At least twice in the past few seasons The Simpsons has poked fun at the Murdoch and his partisan-news network: FoxNews.

Last year The Simpsons had a fake news crawl:

The parody included a political debate hosted by Fox News, described by the moderator as "your voice for evil." Fox News's main beef was with the mock "news crawl" featured at the bottom of the screen during the debate, which Fox argued might confuse viewers. The crawl featured the following headlines:

"Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at Foxnews.com. ... Rupert Murdoch: Terrific Dancer. ... Dow down 5000 points. ... Study: 92 percent of Democrats are gay. ... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party. ... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple. ... Dan Quayle: Awesome."

This past Sunday (23 may 04) the criticism of the TV wing of the republican machine was taken to the next level in a episode called "Fraudcast News".

Mr. Burns has taken control of all the media outlets in Springfield, except one, [lisa's] newspaper. Mr. Burns tries to seduce Lisa into selling out but she won't give up.

Now Mr. Burns starts to play hardball, he cuts the power to the Simpson home. Principal Skinner offers Lisa the use of an old mimeograph machine, which gets her latest issue out. Mr. Burns talks with Homer to get the dirt on Lisa, that Homer readily supplies and Burns uses this information against her.

Lisa is ready to give up and Homer realizing what he's done responds by printing a newspaper of his own. Homer's paper inspires others to think to begin to think for themselves and soon everyone is printing their own newspaper.

The episode ends with Burns lamenting his failure to permanently and completely control public opinion and thought. I can't find the quote, but he said something like "I could only do that if I were Rupert Murdoch".

Many, even supposedly impartial, sources believe that Murdoch has been trying to influence our politics even before he launched FoxNews.

News Corporation has been masterful in utilizing its various properties for cross-promotional purposes, and at using its media power to curry influence with public officials worldwide. "Murdoch seems to have Washington in his back pocket," observed one industry analyst after News Corporation received another favorable ruling (New York Times, 7/26/96). The only media sector in which News Corporation lacks a major presence is music, but it has a half-interest in the Channel V music television channel in Asia.

Murdoch is not alone, but he is the top dog. He even sits on the board of the Cato Institute, since about the time he launched FoxNews.

[In 1997], when News Corporation owner Rupert Murdoch joined the board of directors at the Cato Institute, the announcement went unreported in major media. Perhaps it seemed routine for one of the world's most powerful media moguls to take a leadership post at one of the most influential think tanks in Washington.

[…] Now the heads of both firms are formally helping to run a think tank which boasts that it has "actively promoted the deregulation of the television and telephone industries."

In recent years, the Cato Institute has neared the top tier of think tanks in the United States—on Capitol Hill and in the nation's news media. In the 1996 book No Mercy: How Conservative Think Tanks and Foundations Changed America's Social Agenda, Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado write that the Cato Institute "played a key role in forming the ideas and policies of the new Republican majority in Congress."

I guess we don't know if Murdoch is promoting the Republican ideas, or if the Republicans are promoting Murdoch's ideas. Former employees of Murdoch have even claimed that, with his upper staff, he is open about using his media holdings to change politics to his liking & profit.

Part of The Simpson's contract with Fox is that they will not take what is euphemistically called "executive notes": suggestions from the studio that are really thinly veiled dictatorial commands. Fox/Murdoch has no way to directly control The Simpsons. This has let the show take on issues from illegal aliens (bear patrol), to gun control, to ADD drugs.

The Simpson's ratings have been falling fast in the past season. I used to always know when a new Simpsons was going to be on, but now I don't. Instead, we all know about when then next "American Idol" will be on. Fox can't make the Simpsons stop working against Murdoch politically, so it appears that they are no longer promoting the show in an effort to lower its ratings.

To state my idea simply: reduced promotion is retribution for content & lower ratings stem from reduced promotion.


Question One: Are new Simpson's episodes getting the same level of promotion that they used to get?

Question Two: Can you think of something else that could be hurting the ratings?

Question Three: In "Fraudcast News" last Sunday, were they trying to make fun of Murdoch, or were they trying to make fun of people (like me) who believe that Murdoch is trying to mettle in American politics?


Links (Simpsons):
http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/news/news.php?id=708
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/Guide...46/epid-325918/
http://simpsonschannel.com/

Links (FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting):
http://www.fair.org/extra/9711/giants-murdoch.html
http://www.fair.org/extra/9801/cato-media-moguls.html
http://www.fair.org/media-outlets/newscorp-fox.html