美国国家公共电台 NPR Former Murdoch Executive Says He Quit Over Fox's Anti-Muslim Rhetoric

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

In recent days, the Fox News Channel and some of its corporate¹ siblings² have come under renewed criticism for their rhetoric³ on Muslims and immigrants. Advocacy groups have launched a fresh wave of boycotts⁴ against Fox stars such as Tucker Carlson and Jeanine Pirro. Fox is controlled by media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his family. Now, in an exclusive interview with NPR, a former senior executive for the company says he quit because of the rhetoric at Fox. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik has the story.

DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE⁵: Joseph Azam joined Rupert Murdoch's News Corp in fall 2015, and it was something of a homecoming.

JOSEPH AZAM: I started out practicing in Manhattan as a lawyer, and actually my office at News Corp looked over a corner near Rockefeller Center where my dad used to sell newspapers.

FOLKENFLIK: Azam, now 37, is in many ways the embodiment of the American dream. He was born in Afghanistan and brought to the United States by his parents as a toddler, a Muslim immigrant and war refugees seeking safety after the Soviet⁶ invasion. He says he knew the controversies⁷ that defined Rupert Murdoch and his media properties but figured it would be fine. Azam says the coverage⁹ was much worse than he had prepared for.

AZAM: Scaring people, demonizing immigrants, creating, like, a fervor¹⁰ - right? - an anxiety about what was happening in our country.

FOLKENFLIK: Azam was a senior vice¹¹ president at Murdoch's News Corp, the chief compliance¹² officer for its corporate headquarters, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, among other properties. And what Azam saw from his colleagues on Fox News and read in the pages of the Post and the opinion pages of the Journal upset him.

AZAM: My issue with this isn't as an American Muslim. It's not as a refugee. It's not as an immigrant. It's as an American.

FOLKENFLIK: Executives at Fox News and News Corp all declined comment for this story, yet Azam says it's gotten worse. In recent days and months, Fox News has faced new outcries. Take Jeanine Pirro.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JEANINE PIRRO: Think about it. Omar wears a hijab.

FOLKENFLIK: Here Pirro was earlier this month talking about U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar. Omar's remarks on Israel sparked controversy¹³ and condemnation¹⁴, but Pirro singled out Omar's Islamic faith and veil.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PIRRO: Is her adherence¹⁵ to this Islamic doctrine¹⁶ indicative of her adherence to Sharia law which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?

FOLKENFLIK: After an outcry, Fox News declared Pirro did not reflect its values. She was off the air last week and will be off this week as well. The liberal group Media Matters found a trove⁸ of offensive comments Fox's Tucker Carlson made on a shock jock radio program some years ago, such as this jibe¹⁷ about Iraqis in 2008.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TUCKER CARLSON: Iraq is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Yeah.

CARLSON: ...Semi-Literate primitive¹⁸ monkeys.

FOLKENFLIK: In case it was hard to hear, Carlson called Iraqis a bunch of semi-literate primitive monkeys. Carlson and Fox brushed off the controversy as a free speech matter. Critics say it fits in with his anti-immigration line on his primetime show on Fox.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT")

CARLSON: Our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this. We have a moral obligation to admit the world's poor, they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided.

FOLKENFLIK: A Muslim producer for Sky News Australia resigned last week citing that network's coverage of Muslims. It is owned by News Corp. Fox News is technically¹⁹ part of a separate company, the slimmed down Fox Corp. Yet both News Corp and Fox Corp are ultimately controlled by Rupert Murdoch and his family, a point that was underscored when Azam got in a Twitter exchange with Fox's Tucker Carlson in June 2017.

Carlson asked why America should absorb, quote, "tons of people from failing countries." Azam shot back that Carlson should, quote, "come upstairs to where all the executives who run your company sit, and find me." By Azam's account, his boss advised him he was crossing a line, and Azam deleted his tweet. But he found it hard to take.

AZAM: I live here. I have kids here. And it worries me that, you know, what's being put out into the universe could actually create a lot of risk for them.

FOLKENFLIK: By December 2017, Azam had resigned, saying he could not reconcile his employer's apparent values with his own. David Folkenflik, NPR News, New York.

1 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

2 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

3 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

4 boycotts   

（对某事物的）抵制( boycott的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Their methods included boycotts and court action, supplemented by'sit-ins". 他们的主要方法包括联合抵制、法庭起诉，还附带进行静坐抗议。
• Are boycotts for other purposes illegal? 至于用于其它目的的联合抵制行动是否也是非法的呢？

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 controversies   

争论

参考例句：

• We offer no comment on these controversies here. 对于这些争议，我们在这里不作任何评论。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon. 围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。 来自辞典例句

8 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 fervor   

n.热诚；热心；炽热

参考例句：

• They were concerned only with their own religious fervor.他们只关心自己的宗教热诚。
• The speech aroused nationalist fervor.这个演讲喚起了民族主义热情。

11 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

12 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

13 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

14 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

15 adherence   

n.信奉，依附，坚持，固着

参考例句：

• He was well known for his adherence to the rules.他因遵循这些规定而出名。
• The teacher demanded adherence to the rules.老师要求学生们遵守纪律。

16 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

17 jibe   

v.嘲笑，与...一致，使转向；n.嘲笑，嘲弄

参考例句：

• Perhaps I should withdraw my jibe about hot air.或许我应当收回对热火朝天的嘲笑。
• What he says does not jibe with what others say.他所说的与其他人说的不一致。

18 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

19 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。