For a short time in July, it looked as if media mogul Rupert Murdoch would go the way of Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Moammar Gadhafi of Libya — another dictatorial strong man forced into a shameful exit by a popular uprising. 
In my days as a reporter for the Boston Herald, a Murdoch-owned tabloid, that’s the good-versus-evil slant that I might have put on the story — the jowly, leering tyrant stooped like a vulture over the body of a saintly, murdered 13-year-old girl eagerly trading her blood for profits, an outraged nation mobilizing to demand truth and justice as the sordid details of the scandal spilled forth. After all, stark contrast sells. Given numerous flavor choices, people are least likely to buy the most vanilla of them. Months removed from its summertime peak, the News of the World drama holds leadership lessons for our profession regarding crisis and reputation management. You can read my take on the News Corp. saga in the latest issue of The Public Relations Strategist magazine.
Many intelligent people do not read the Wall Street Journal because they despise its owner (Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.), disagree with the paper’s editorial perspective, and/or get bored with hardcore business news. Politics aside, they should rethink their position. The news content in “Marketplace” and “Greater New York” offers excellent reporting, writing and analysis. The lifestyle and trend pieces in “Personal Journal” and “Review” are offbeat and intriguing. Joe Queenan’s column today (“Some Expert Advice: Get A Clue”) is just one example. Plus, reading the WSJ is a good way to monitor the conservative intelligentsia. 
Today’s New York Times features an interesting story about efforts to thaw the icy relationship between former President Bill Clinton and President Obama (“With New Book, Bill Clinton Makes New Bid to Bolster Obama.”) Clinton is intensely frustrated with the current administration’s obvious failure to effectively communicate the vision, principles and successes of its policies. So he wrote their narrative himself. (“Narrative” is a snotty word for “story.”) Ya gotta love Big Bill. If it wasn’t for a constitutional amendment, he could run for President right now and beat all comers, including the incumbent in his own party. Listen to him Mr. President. Yesterday’s Bending Light post mentioned Andrea Estes, a colleague during my time as an editor and reporter at the Boston Herald. She was vastly underappreciated there, despite excellent sources and clean writing. When the Boston Globe hired Andrea, she restarted her career back at the bottom of the caste system, covering suburban events. She is now one of the most respected (read: feared) journalists in the city. Take a look at this Google search. Her name has been on every big scandal story for the past five years. The best thing about Andrea? She is invisible. You won’t find her picture. She has no social media footprint. She is not a public speaker. But you’d be a fool to ignore her call or e-mail.
In my days as a reporter for the Boston Herald, a Murdoch-owned tabloid, that’s the good-versus-evil slant that I might have put on the story — the jowly, leering tyrant stooped like a vulture over the body of a saintly, murdered 13-year-old girl eagerly trading her blood for profits, an outraged nation mobilizing to demand truth and justice as the sordid details of the scandal spilled forth. 
