That's how writer Mandy Miami described the diminutive Mathew Freud in a British magazine many years ago, long before he became the "most influential public relations executive in Britain" according to PR Week magazine. Freud is boss of Freud Communications: motto: "Sometimes we upset people.."
But what is this statement all about in the New York Times ?. According to the newspaper Freud says:
“I am by no means alone within the family or the company in being ashamed and sickened by Roger Ailes’s horrendous and sustained disregard of the journalistic standards that News Corporation, its founder and every other global media business aspires to,”
Oh really ?. Shurley shome mishtake as the English satirical magazine Private Eye would say. Freud is referring to the boss of the US cable network Fox News, Roger Ailes.
Rupert Murdoch had just heaped praise upon Ailes and his skilled management of Fox News and it's capture of every right-wing ratbag US viewer and it's slavish devotion to Republican Evangelism.
Mathew Freud is also married to Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth.
Mathew Freud is also married to Rupert Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth.
But what about his dad-in-law's UK publications The Sun or the News of The World which have been dragging journalistic standards down to gutter level for over 2 decades ?. Not that they had far to fall.
A little too close to home perhaps.
Murdoch's British rags dole out tosh by the tonne each week but who could forget some shining moments like the 'Gotcha' headline of The Sun front page in 1982, celebrating the horrible death of 323 young Argentinian sailors in a useless war for the sheep-shagging Falklands Islands begun by the Murdoch adored Margaret Thatcher.
And let's not even go near the once respectable Sunday Times which reached it's lowest point in 1983 when it published the hilarious Hitler Diaries which contained nonsense like ""Eva gave a glorious supper party tonight at the Bergdorf with boiled veggies. Hermann G. doped to the eyeballs as usual. Heinrich H. reports excellent results with Zyclon B (wife Margarete still an old cow).Tomorrow we take Poland. Dinner after with the Thyssens " or words to that effect.
Despite being informed the diaries were a hoax, Murdoch published anyway declaring "we're in the entertainment business".
Which is just what Fox News is. Entertaining to a point but with rather serious consequences. Along with Murdoch's worldwide media outlets it was a major drum beater for the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions.
Where was Freud at that time ?. Probably hosting wonderful PR events at his Notting Hill house with guests like Prime Minister Tony Blair who was declaring that Saddam Hussein's (non-existent) WMDs were "45 minutes from London", a line fed to him by perhaps the former most influential public relations executive in Britain, Alastair Campbell and possibly dreamed up by a gossiping London taxi driver according to the newspaper of alleged repute, the Times (which previously promoted the bogus "45 minute" claim without question-owner: R.Murdoch)
What is happening here ?.
Fox News is horrendous, as can be seen just recently in one small example when a group of Los Angeles fire fighters who had travelled to Haiti under their own steam and expense were pictured dragging a 70 year old lady from the earthquake rubble on one TV network while at the same time the atrocious pill popping lard bucket and radio host Rush Limbaugh was interviewed on Fox telling Americans not to donate to the various Haitian relief funds as a solemn Sean Hannity nodded in agreement.
The Sydney Morning Herald (article removed) speculates that Freud's statement is some sort of power ploy within the Murdoch family: "Authorised by the committee"as Murdoch biographer Michael Wolff puts it.. The committee being Lachlan Murdoch, Elisabeth and possibly presumptive heir James Murdoch. Or against James by the others. Wolff speculates that the statement has been released deliberately.
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| Mathew's great grand-dad Sigmund |
Forget it Mathew. News Corp is a teetering financial dinosaur riddled with cancer and when Rupert is called to account before his maker it will crumble like the deck of cards it is, currently superbly juggled with a magician's skill and sleight of hand that has bedazzled bankers and money lenders worldwide. Settle just for the News of The World, it's more your style.
(Roger Ailes suggested Freud see a psychiatrist ! )
