FT:Murdoch apologized to China, new book claims

Rupert Murdoch in 1997 wrote a personal letter to China’s top leaders apologizing for any “misunderstanding” caused by a speech four years earlier in which he said satellite television posed a threat to totalitarian regimes, according to a new book by a former News Corp executive.

The letter assuring Jiang Zemin, then Chinese president, and then-premier Li Peng that Mr Murdoch was “a good friend of China” highlights the lengths the News Corp chairman has gone to gain entry to the country’s vast but tightly controlled media market. …

In a book to be published next month, Bruce Dover, a former News Corp vice-president responsible for China, says the speech left Mr Li - who played a leading role in crushing Beijing’s student-led protests in 1989 - “incandescent with rage”.

After Mr Li banned ordinary Chinese from using satellite dishes and in effect barred News Corp from the media market, Mr Murdoch spent years trying to regain Beijing’s goodwill. Mr Dover says that in 1997, Mr Murdoch wrote to Mr Li and Mr Jiang saying he was “alarmed” to hear his comments on technology’s liberating effect had been interpreted as referring to China.

“This was never the case. I apologize for any misunderstanding this may have caused. I remain firmly committed to China and the development of the Chinese economy,” Mr Dover quotes Mr Murdoch as writing.

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STAFF CRISIS AT ALJAZEERA
Al-Jazeera English in ‘staffing crisis’

Al-Jazeera’s troubled English language news channel is facing a ‘serious staffing crisis’ after scores of journalists left or have not had contracts renewed amid claims of a revolt over working conditions. Staff at the Doha-based 24-hour news channel - which only reached its first birthday in November - have told MediaGuardian.co.uk of a series of issues including the removal of benefits and a lack of pay rises which have led many to resign or look to leave. The staff unrest comes amid speculation that al-Jazeera English is set to relaunch in the second quarter of this year with new schedules and new studios in Gaza and Nairobi.

According to insiders, resignations have occurred across the board, including the director of human resources, the director of operations, producers, senior camera operators and editors. There are also renewed reports of tensions between al-Jazeera’s Arabic language channel, which has been on air since 1996, and the more recently launched English outlet. Sources have added that executives on the main Arabic al-Jazeera network are trying to exert more control over the English language outlet, which is mainly staffed by western journalists. (Media Guardian)

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