Author: Adelaide
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: October 13, 2001
Rupert Murdoch said today his television
networks would refuse to screen video-taped footage of Osama bin Laden
and his Al Qaeda group if there was concern it contained coded messages
to his followers. 'We'll do whatever is our patriotic duty,' Mr Murdoch
told reporters after the annual meeting of News Corp, the world's fifth
largest media group. 'If it is seen that running what may be taken as propaganda
or messages from Al Qaeda, we'll certainly not carry it,' he said.
US television networks are coming
under pressure to ban footage from Saudi-born militant bin Laden and his
followers, blamed for last month's air attacks on New York and Washington,
as concern grows that the tapes could contain secret messages to followers.
Mr Murdoch, now a US citizen whose
family interests control News Corp, also told reporters a drawn-out period
of uncertainty could take its toll on international business, but he hoped
worst case scenarios could be avoided.
He said News Corp - whose holdings
include the Fox News channel, Fox Television, Twentieth Century Fox, television
stations and a stable of newspapers - had been hit by a sharp increase
in costs and a drop in advertising following the September 11 attacks.
The prospect of further acts of
terror could take a heavy toll on business, he said. 'Clearly if we're
going into this period of unpredictable but protracted terrorism within
our borders, America or other countries, just the sheer fear of the unknown
will change the way everyone does business. It will be a big setback to
international business I think ... everything will change,' he said.
I'm just hopeful it'll be all right,
I don't know any more than you do and I suspect that even those governments
with great intelligence services are operating in the dark,' he said. -
Reuters
