I wasn't even aware of The Australian's media editor, Sharri Markson, until last week's media mugging of Fairfax columnist Mike Carlton. It was her journalistic high-fiving with colleague Darren Davidson over the matter that first brought her to my attention. (See my 8/8/14 post, The Australian: The Herald Buckles to the Bullies.)
Having recovered (one assumes) from this excess of schadenfreude, she's now taken it upon herself to hammer home the false allegation that the Glen Le Lievre cartoon which accompanied Carlton's July 26 piece on Gaza is anti-Semitic. It seems that we can now expect to see this smear repeated over and over again in the Murdoch press in the hope that, for the credulous and the uncritical, it will become received wisdom:
"In an exclusive interview, [former Fairfax chief executive] Mr McCarthy said it is 'obvious' recent events including publication of an anti-Semitic cartoon, columnist Mike Carlton's abuse of readers and the quality of editorial management, were a direct result of the loss of experience on the Fairfax board." (Fairfax board to blame: ex-CEO, Sharri Markson, 11/8/14)
"Former Fairfax directors agreed with ex-chief executive Brian McCarthy that a lack of leadership by Mr Corbett... was ultimately to blame for events of the past two weeks, where readers were abused by columnist Mike Carlton and were offended by the publication of an anti-Semitic cartoon, similar to imagery from 1930s Germany." (Corbett not competent, says Singleton, Sharri Markson, 11/8/14)
"It took 10 days for The SMH editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir to apologise for the publication of an anti-Semitic cartoon showing a Jewish man with a hooked-nose sitting on a chair with the Star of David, casually pressing a remote control to blow up Gaza." (ibid)
Sadly, those who should know better but, it seems, wouldn't know confected Zionist outrage if it hit them in the face, are retailing the smear:
"Right for SMH to apologise for Gaza cartoon. As a Jew it disturbed me. But those who claim SMH editors are anti-Semitic are wrong." (Jonathan Swan tweet, 3/8/14)
"As to the cartoon that ran with one of those columns, he had no more to do with that than I have to do with whatever cartoon Reg runs with this column. And the Herald was right to apologise for the offence and trauma that image caused." (Peter FitzSimons, The Fitz Files, The Sun-Herald, 10/8/14)
"Now we agree that that cartoon went too far..." (Paul Barry, Media Watch, 11/8/14)
"SMH cartoon racist and to be profoundly regretted; Calton not. If Carlton's a-Semitic, then I must be too, bec'se I opposed Gaza." (Thomas Keneally tweet, 12/8/14)
Mike Carlton really needs to come out in support of Le Lievre. His August 3 tweet "Chairs," which juxtaposed a photograph of the Sderot Cinema mob* watching the 'fireworks' in Gaza with a shot of a Palestinian youth sitting on a lounge chair surrounded by his ruined home is insufficient in light of the above.
As for Le Lievre's reaction to the smear, check out his July 27 tweets.
PS (6: 20pm):
"My last word. Pls don't desert the fine journalists @smh. That's exactly what the toxic sludge at News Corpse wants you to do. Thanks guys." Mike Carlton tweet today.
"Don't forget the fabulous cartoonist @MikeCarlton01@smh." Tony, Retweeted by Mike Carlton.
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2 comments:
Having not yet succeeded in obtaining Le Lievre's cartoon, it is interesting to note what happened at that other Murdoch Sydney paper where there was an item about Mike Carlton with a most obscene cartoon for which the editor later apologised and the cartoon is no longer available online - how pathetic are they all! I was busy putting together an item for my blog on the whole sorry saga leading up to Carlton resigning, but with the cartoons having vanished, half the interest in the story has subsided somewhat. There is still a lot to comment on, like the explosion after Carlton's responses to some of the emails he received - how about Fairfax giving publicity to the abuse that came in many of them for which Carlton was castigated and in effect lost his job.
Fairfax has been going downhill for the last 30 years and this just about hits rock bottom.
Mannie De Saxe
Mannie,
Your state/local library should have print editions of the SMH for the past few months.
How appalling that the cartoon should disappear online, leaving behind only endless repetitions of the smear that it's anti-Semitic.
To the extent that organised Zionist pressure (or self-censorship through fear of same) determines what we can and cannot read or see on the Middle East, we simply do not have a free press.
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