President Obama: The View from Brazil: Your voice and the New York Post

quinta-feira, 26 de fevereiro de 2009

Your voice and the New York Post

Rupert Murdoch, the man behind The New York Post and Fox News Channel, hates to acknowledge public pressure. He never apologizes personally, no matter what his divisive news outlets do.¹ But he just did.²

It took almost a week after The Post published its sickening "chimp" cartoon, but after nearly 110,000 ColorOfChange.org members demanded a real public apology and the firing of the editor who approved the cartoon, Murdoch actually apologized. It's unprecedented. And it would not have happened without your voice. According to Murdoch's biographer, Murdoch will very likely fire Col Allan, The Post's editor in chief, once things have quieted down -- as he should.³

Let's be real about what we're up against. Murdoch has done nothing to address the root of this problem. There's a longstanding pattern of vicious attacks on Black America by Murdoch's media outlets^4,5. There's a lot more work to be done to stop the poison that constantly comes from Murdoch's media empire.

But this is an important victory. Forcing Murdoch into the public conversation around this cartoon has helped expose the connection between race-baiting at The Post and Fox News, and Murdoch's News Corp., which owns them both. The clearer it is who is ultimately behind this, the easier it is to put pressure where it counts -- on News Corp's profits. It sets the stage for stepped up activism and systemic change.

While we've got several strategies and tactics lined up, including creating overwhelming pressure on advertisers, we believe the timing isn't right. Murdoch's apology makes it much too easy for advertisers to justify supporting the paper -- at this point.

Still, every time we take collective action to confront Murdoch's media empire, we're building an army of people who are prepared to put real, long-term pressure on News Corp and its advertisers.

We will continue to let you know when we see moments where we can effectively challenge race-baiting at outlets like The Post and Fox News, diminish their influence, and create a healthier conversation about race in our media.

Thank you again for joining us in this fight, and stay tuned.

-- James, Gabriel, Clarissa, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
February 26th, 2009

Help support our work. ColorOfChange.org is powered by YOU--your energy and dollars. We take no money from lobbyists or corporations and our tiny staff ensures your contributions go a long way. You can contribute here:

https://secure.colorofchange.org/contribute/?id=2473-605038

References

1. "Murdoch apologizes for cartoon," Michael Wolff on Hardball with Chris Matthews, 2-24-2009
http://tinyurl.com/aavbm8

2. "Rupert Murdoch apologizes for cartoon: 'The buck stops with me,'" Huffington Post, 2-24-2009
http://tinyurl.com/b5zqxx

3. "Chimp writes NY Post editor's obit," Off the Grid, 2-23-2009
http://tinyurl.com/ce3qv6

4. "Fox Attacks: Black America" (video), Brave New Films, 3-13-2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY04gIruZ4E

5. "Fox News and its problem with African-Americans," ColorOfChange.org, 3-14-2007
http://colorofchange.org/fox/summary.html

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Quotes

“When I take that oath of office, there will be kids all over this country who don’t really think that all paths are open to them, who will believe they can be anything they want to be. And I think the world will look at America a little differently.” - Barack Obama, 2006
"I didn't come here to debate the past. I came here to deal with the future ... We must learn from history. But we can't be trapped by it." - Barack Obama, Summit of the Americas 2009
“To those who would tear the world down: we will defeat you. This is our moment. This is our time.” - Barack Obama
"Sasha and Malia, I love you both more than you can imagine, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House." - Barack Obama
"'I think people will see that I'm not afraid to have folks around me who complement my strengths and who are independent. I'm not a believer in a government of yes-men. I think one of the failures of the early Bush Administration was being surrounded by people who were unwilling to deliver bad news, or who were prone to simply feed the president information that confirmed his own preconceptions." - Barack Obama
"I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation - the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election." - Barack Obama
"The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice." - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Electing a black president says around the world that you can overcome old wounds. I’ve said in our case, We have a birth defect, but it can be overcome." - Condoleezza Rice
“Look what we did. Look what we did. He’s won. It’s over.” - Colin Powell
"Things do change. There is a God. They do get better." - David Dinkins
“I think that Senator Obama brings a fresh set of eyes, fresh set of ideas to the table. I think that Senator McCain, as gifted as he is, is essentially going to execute the Republican agenda, the orthodoxy of the Republican agenda with a new face and a maverick approach to it, and he’d be quite good at it, but I think we need more than that.” - Colin Powell (endorsing Obama on 19/10/08)
"I will vote for the individual I think that brings the best set of tools to the problems of 21st-century America and the 21st-century world regardless of party, regardless of anything else other than the most qualified candidate." - Colin Powell
"The United States of America is an extraordinary country. It is a country that has overcome many, many, now years, decades, actually a couple of centuries, of trying to make good on its principles. And I think what we are seeing is an extraordinary expression of the fact that 'We the People' is beginning to mean all of us." - Condoleezza Rice
"[Obama] is running for president of all Americans, not just African-Americans. [We] must be careful not to segregate Senator Obama and impose some litmus test that is unfair and unproductive." - Rev. Al Sharpton
"Welcome to the murky world of modern racism, where most of the open animus has been replaced by a shadowy bias that is difficult to measure. As Obama gently put it in his race speech, today's racial 'resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company.' However, they can be — and possibly will be — expressed in the privacy of the voting booth." - Charles M. Blow
"Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and pass them on to the next generation, because we want our children and all children in this nation to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them." - Michelle Obama

quinta-feira, 26 de fevereiro de 2009

Your voice and the New York Post

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President Obama: The View from Brazil

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