Slate Magazine writes about the recent book by Rupert Murdoch’s former right-hand man in China, Rupert’s Adventures in China: How Murdoch Lost a Fortune and Found a Wife
Because sucking up to government bigwigs has served Murdoch very well on several continents, Dover writes, the tycoon believed that China’s hostility to Star, which he bought into in 1993, could be overcome. If he could sit down with the proper political leaders, he was certain he could reach an accommodation that benefited all.
But the powerful Chinese potentates routinely snubbed Murdoch, dispatching him and his underlings to speak with powerless junior officials. Dover writes that the “Chinese were well aware of his proclivity to involve himself in a nation’s politics if it were to the advantage of his business interests,” and they weren’t going to budge. The prospect of a Westerner beaming uncensored TV signals directly into Chinese homes appalled the country’s leaders.
– See a previous article on the book from The Economist, and an excerpt from the book here. An article in the New York Times last year looks at Murdoch’s relationship with China and interviews book author Bruce Dover.
UPDATE: Read also, via Danwei, a review of the book that was reportedly spiked by the Far Eastern Economic Review, now owned by Murdoch.
