<![CDATA[Gawker: the SUn]]> http://cache.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: the SUn]]> http://gawker.com/tag/the sun http://gawker.com/tag/the sun <![CDATA[ 'Sun' Throws Prince William's Black Friend Under the Boat ]]> Wills to the rescue! That means Britain's Prince William was pretending to rescue victims of a knife-wielding hurricane as part of a Royal Navy exercise. No one was actually rescued by anyone. Except the black guy on the far left of the boat, who was rescued from this photo op by the editors of Rupert Murdoch's Sun newspaper. Thanks to the magic of photoshop! As some commenter on Photoshop Disasters said, "you can take out the black man, but you can't take out the black man's lower torso." (And the Sun found fit to shine on the the guy in the online version of the story.) [Photoshop Disasters]

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Gawker-5027666 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:59:21 EDT Pareene http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5027666&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Murdoch Proclaims Obama 'The Real American Idol' ]]> The UK Sun is perhaps the paper that gives the best indication of Rupert Murdoch's schemes and aspirations. It's based almost entirely on unrepentant nativism, anti-Continental prejudice, breathless violent crime reportage, immigrant/pedophile fear-mongering, celebrity abuse, royal family adoration, and T&A. It has the highest circulation of any daily English-language newspaper in the world. And it loves Barack Obama! In a rapturous story published today under the header "The REAL American Idol," the Sun's political team all but deifies the Illinois Senator.

And last night Mr Obama promised Americans they could propel him into the White House on a wind of change in November.

He is now a step closer to realising the ambitions of Martin Luther King, the black civil rights leader assassinated in 1968.

It was in August 1963 that King famously declared on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’."

‘America, this is our moment ... tonight, we mark the end of one historic journey with the start of another’

Illinois senator Mr Obama finally swept to victory after pocketing an unstoppable majority in the number of nominations needed from Democrat supporters.

The last time the paper loved a liberal so much was 1997, when it suddenly supported Britain's Labour party for the first time since Murdoch took over the tabloid. Because ideology takes a back seat to power, and Murdoch does not like to be seen backing losers. Once the liberal's in power, Murdoch can hopefully use the power of the press to encourage a little political realignment. Say, fighting the Euro and backing Iraq, in the case of Tony Blair. And would you look at that, the portion of Obama's speech that the Sun seemed to like the most was the saber-rattling against Iran:

He vowed that as President he would do "everything" in his powers to stop Tehran getting its hands on a nuclear bomb.

He told a 7,000-strong crowd: "The danger from Iran is grave and my goal will be to eliminate this threat. I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

He added: "I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself in the United Nations and around the world." Mr Obama has already vowed to pull US soldiers out of war-torn Iraq.

And last night he insisted it was right to force the country’s own military to take charge there.

He went on: "Keeping all of our troops tied down indefinitely in Iraq isn’t the way to weaken Iran, it’s precisely what strengthened it."

Murdoch still isn't quite as influential in the States as he is in Great Britain, but what a difference four years could make!

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Gawker-5013447 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:05:48 EDT Pareene http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5013447&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Moby the Only One Who Prefers 'Fat Britney' ]]> moby.jpgTeabagging musician Moby has announced that he wants to marry Britney Spears. It's a revelation that comes a year too late in our opinion. (Can you imagine the bald wedding photos and horrible double-header jokes on Leno?) "She's like this Tennessee Williams tragic figure," he tells The Sun. "The fatter she gets, the weirder she gets, the more I love her. I found her moderately appealing in the late 90s, but now I would marry her in a heartbeat."

Oh, and before the hate comments start pouring in, Moby said it! We don't think that Britney's fat. She's just looks like your average American girl now. Your average American girl who doesn't live in New York, L.A. or Miami.


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Gawker-378396 Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:44:26 EDT noelle_hancock http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=378396&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ 'The Sun' Doesn't Shine For Rupert Murdoch ]]> Rupert Murdoch, the man in whose soft pillow hands the world's largest media empire rests, is none too pleased with one of his minions, the British tabloid The Sun. According to The Guardian's Owen Gibson, the crinkle-faced mogul is "'dismayed' at the volume of the paper's showbiz coverage and the acres of space regularly given over to reality TV stars." Today for instance, headlines read: "Eddie: I'm Not Weddie", "Ronson a Brit Dodgy" and "Jordan Wins Boobie Prize." But, according to Rebekah Wade, Sun EIC, Rupert does enjoy Pop Idol (UK's version of American Idol, see they don't have American Idol here because well, obviously). Also, like my boss, Rupert Murdoch calls his underlings at 1:30am to criticize/advise/criticize! Quotes after jump.
Wade said she spoke to Murdoch on a regular basis and hugely valued his "exemplary" advice, revealing how he had called at 1.30am on the day of the New Hampshire primaries to warn her that the exit polls were wrong and to discuss the US election. "Like any editor, you get praise and criticism from your proprietor," she said. But she denied that he explicitly influenced her day-to-day decisions. "I can't remember one occasion when we have discussed tomorrow's newspaper in the censorious sense that you keep telling me exists and I say doesn't," she told the committee, chaired by Lord Fowler. When the committee travelled to the US last September to talk to Murdoch and other moguls the minutes recorded that the mogul saw himself as a "traditional proprietor" of his UK tabloids. "He exercises editorial control on major issues, like which party to back in a general election or policy on Europe," the minutes said.
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Gawker-5002325 Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:24:08 EST Joshua Stein http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5002325&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Media Bubble: Name and Shame ]]> sun200.jpg
  • What do all these kids have in common? They're being exploited by a Murdoch-owned paper to boost sales in the wake of that whole racist "Big Brother" episode. [Guardian]
  • Yet another editor leaves Louise McBain's LTB Media. [WWD]
  • Jack Shafer wants to know why the Journal won't say that Todd Thomson did it to Maria Bartiromo. [Slate]
  • Meanwhile, Maria's planning a "Charlie Rose style" Q&A show. We can think of a couple of questions already. [NYP]
  • Here's how the Warren St. John soccer story sold. [WSJ]

  • Mark Green's brother buys Air America; Al Franken departs. [NYT]
  • Demetri Martin, John Hodgman: the latest in geek chic. [NYT
  • Someone really hurt Gary Kamiya's feelings. [Salon]
  • David Puttnam, who produced our all-time favorite movie, may become the new chairman of the BBC. [Independent]

    ]]> Gawker-232464 Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:50:28 EST abalk2 http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=232464&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[ Radar gets funded ]]> Maer RoshanEx-HBO honcho Michael Fuchs has agreed to back Maer Roshan's new mag, Radar, after American Media, which owns The Sun and the National Enquirer, backed out. We're guessing this means Radar will be "Spy meets Vanity Fair meets Harper's with a pinch of the Enquirer thrown in for good taste."
    Radar catches Fuchs [Keith Kelly - Post]

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    Gawker-10610 Thu, 02 Jan 2003 10:40:39 EST Gawker http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=10610&view=rss&microfeed=true