Sun Media: Retraction and Apology to George Soros

26 posts / 0 new

Sat, 2010-09-18 19:24

NDPP

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/2010/09/17/15388356.html

"On September 5, 2010, a column by Ezra Levant contained false statements about George Soros and his conduct as a young teenager in Nazi occupied Hungary..

The management of Sun Media wishes to state that there is no basis for the statements in the column and they should not have been made.

Sun media, this newspaper and Ezra Levant retract the statements made in the column and unreservedly apologize to Mr. Soros for the distress and harm this column may have caused him."

Looks like Ezra and Sun Media bit off a bit more than they could chew or Soros swallow

Sat, 2010-09-18 19:45

6079_Smith_W

And from that second paragraph (which reads like more game-playing from someone who is in no position to do so) it looks like they may have not managed to prevent the lawsuit.

Good.

Sat, 2010-09-18 20:01

NDPP

He'll eat them for breakfast...

Sat, 2010-09-18 20:20

Ken Burch

Just imagine what it might do to Canadian journalism if Soros won control of Sun Media in the suit!

Sat, 2010-09-18 20:27

contrarianna

6079_Smith_W wrote:

And from that second paragraph (which reads like more game-playing from someone who is in no position to do so) it looks like they may have not managed to prevent the lawsuit...

Considering how much the Sun Media/Levant remarks have been repeated in the media, and amplified in the rightwing media and blogosphere, I'd guess their retraction is too little and too late. The damage is done, and continuing to be done, and if Soros chooses to pursue it, I'd be surprised if he couldn't win in the US courts--and certainly under Canadian litigant-favouring libel law where the offending article originated.

Sat, 2010-09-18 21:16

6079_Smith_W

contrarianna wrote:

Considering how much the Sun Media/Levant remarks have been repeated in the media, and amplified in the rightwing media and blogosphere, I'd guess their retraction is too little and too late. The damage is done, and continuing to be done, and if Soros chooses to pursue it, I'd be surprised if he couldn't win in the US courts--and certainly under Canadian litigant-favouring libel law where the offending article originated.

Indeed.

I was abolutely shocked by Levant's column, specifically because it concerned things that happened when Soros was 13 years old, and in a life-or-death situation.

And as for the apology, making excuses to the public about how they intended all along to apologize, and leaking the fact they could not reach an agreement with Soros doesn't seem like too smart a move (after all, the public is NOT going to save them, and Soros knows all that stuff anyway).

The sound of knees hitting the pavement and an abject apology about the horrible things they said might not have made a difference, but at least it would have indicated that they understood how serious this matter is.

You know, sometimes billionares are good for something.

Sun, 2010-09-19 09:32

remind

Perhaps Soros should be suing the blogging tories as well?

Sun, 2010-09-19 09:43

remind

Toronto Life

Sun, 2010-09-19 10:00

WingNut

contrarianna wrote:

6079_Smith_W wrote:

And from that second paragraph (which reads like more game-playing from someone who is in no position to do so) it looks like they may have not managed to prevent the lawsuit...

Considering how much the Sun Media/Levant remarks have been repeated in the media, and amplified in the rightwing media and blogosphere, I'd guess their retraction is too little and too late. The damage is done, and continuing to be done, and if Soros chooses to pursue it, I'd be surprised if he couldn't win in the US courts--and certainly under Canadian litigant-favouring libel law where the offending article originated.

Canada's libel laws are much tougher as little Levant ought to know. I do so hope Mr. Soros crushes them under the weight of litigation. It couldn't happen to a sleazier bunch of slopsuckers. I was reminded not so long ago that conservatism, even if we disagreed with them, was an ideology of ideas with a stable of intellectual heavy weights in the fields of art, culture, commerce, and politics. Today conservatism is the ideology of morons and character assassins with a stable emptied of intellect but crowded with name-calling children, fingers in ears, shouting denials of even the most basic and easily demonstrable facts. Conservative intellects, today, are Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, and the slobbering haters for whom Fox News always has a time slot. In other words, it is a movement as bankrupt intellectually as it is morally and ethically. Calling oneself a conservative today is to admit to a profound idiocy.

Sun, 2010-09-19 10:12

#10

remind

WingNut wrote:
Calling oneself a conservative today is to admit to a profound idiocy.

Sun, 2010-09-19 10:46

#11

Slumberjack

Oh...that was good Wingnut.

Sun, 2010-09-19 13:19

#12

remind

Yes, it was :D

...and a bit of an understatement too, which made it even funnier, at least for me.

Sun, 2010-09-19 14:06

#13

Sky Captain Sky Captain's picture

WingNut wrote:
Canada's libel laws are much tougher as little Levant ought to know. I do so hope Mr. Soros crushes them under the weight of litigation. It couldn't happen to a sleazier bunch of slopsuckers. I was reminded not so long ago that conservatism, even if we disagreed with them, was an ideology of ideas with a stable of intellectual heavy weights in the fields of art, culture, commerce, and politics. Today conservatism is the ideology of morons and character assassins with a stable emptied of intellect but crowded with name-calling children, fingers in ears, shouting denials of even the most basic and easily demonstrable facts. Conservative intellects, today, are Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, and the slobbering haters for whom Fox News always has a time slot. In other words, it is a movement as bankrupt intellectually as it is morally and ethically. Calling oneself a conservative today is to admit to a profound idiocy.

remind wrote:

WingNut wrote:
Calling oneself a conservative today is to admit to a profound idiocy.

Might also want to remember that the conservatives call us the same thing, as does most of society.

Sun, 2010-09-19 14:27

#14

contrarianna

contrarianna wrote:

6079_Smith_W wrote:

And from that second paragraph (which reads like more game-playing from someone who is in no position to do so) it looks like they may have not managed to prevent the lawsuit...

Considering how much the Sun Media/Levant remarks have been repeated in the media, and amplified in the rightwing media and blogosphere, I'd guess their retraction is too little and too late. The damage is done, and continuing to be done, and if Soros chooses to pursue it, I'd be surprised if he couldn't win in the US courts--and certainly under Canadian litigant-favouring libel law where the offending article originated.

Just to add:

As you said, the second paragraph of the retraction is interesting:

Quote:
Upon receiving a letter of complaint from Mr. Soros’s legal counsel on September 13, 2010, Sun Media Corporation always intended to publish a retraction and apology for this column....

The retraction sounds like an attempt to limit damages should the case end up in court.

The phrase "always intended to publish a retraction..." ???

When legal consequences were likely?

As soon as they published it?

BEFORE they published it?...

Is it conceivable that such vile accusations aimed at Soros --who has such deep pockets-- would not have automatically triggered discussion with Sun Media's libel lawyers before its publication?

Sun, 2010-09-19 16:21

#15

thorin_bane

Sky Captain wrote:

Might also want to remember that the conservatives call us the same thing, as does most of society.

Yeah but the difference is people are too lazy to look up the truth and media does little to change this perspective because it threatens them. It also shows how corrupt and inept they are that basic fact checking and verification isn't even bothered with.

The fact that chomsky and hurtig et al use verifiable fact and the fraser has opinion pieces says a lot. The problem is getting canadians to understand that despite the schooling they have recieved it isn't a level playing field and generally business is only there to defend itself, not make friends and share their success with others.

The anti-intelligence movement is strong. I don't say intellectual, because really they have done just as bad of a job in higher education of deporgramming the corporate message. Hate to bring up chomsky again, but he points out how the educated(because of their position) are in favour of the right, but for entirely different reasons than the pallin-beck tea baggers crowd.

Mon, 2010-09-20 09:36

#16

remind

Sky Captain wrote:

Might also want to remember that the conservatives call us the same thing, as does most of society.

Us? Na, I have read your posts before, there is no 'you' in "us".

Most of society?

Na, your attempt to marginalize is apparent.

And if you think the left is concerned about how the Canadian Tea Partiers think of us, from my POV at least, you are out of air.

Mon, 2010-09-20 14:55

#17

Sky Captain Sky Captain's picture

remind wrote:
Sky Captain wrote:

Might also want to remember that the conservatives call us the same thing, as does most of society.

Us? Na, I have read your posts before, there is no 'you' in "us". Most of society? Na, your attempt to marginalize is apparent. And if you think the left is concerned about how the Canadian Tea Partiers think of us, from my POV at least, you are out of air.

Remind, I was just 'reminding' everybody that this is so; I don't agree with it at all; nor am I marginalizing it, either. I don't know what got you in such a high moral dudgeon to come after me so.

You might want to check my sig under my name next time; it will give you a clue as to what I believe in.

Sat, 2010-10-09 13:41

#18

NDPP

The Soros Syndrome

http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn10082010.html

"He offers in his single person an arresting profile of liberal interventionism in our era, in which direct economics and political destabilization (mostly calibrated in concert with the US government) has easy recourse to the moral and political bludgeon of a human rights news report which is in turn used to ratchet up the pressure for a direct imperial onslaught.."

Sat, 2010-10-09 13:57

#19

2dawall

I have no illusions about Soros either but if one billionaire bludgeons another than I am all for it. Any libel suit however would have to be done in Canada; this does not match libel criteria in the US. Libel law in the UK is one thing (thus McLibel there and not in the US), one thing in Canada, and one thing in the US. Libel is easy to win in UK, almost impossible to win in the US, with Canada somewhere between the two. Any such lawsuit should, however, be the basis for a larger campaign against Sun Media. Alas we really do not have any media activist group that has anywhere near the visibility that FAIR had in the US in the 80's and 90's.

Sat, 2010-10-09 16:37

#20

milo204

now Ezra has already moved on to using the same tactics against galloway.

typical right wing tactic, when you can't respond to the issue, defame the person raising it. Most people are dumb enough to take it seriously.

Mon, 2010-10-11 22:40

#21

Malcolm

Ezra Levant lies.

In other news, the sun rizes in the east.

Wed, 2010-10-13 12:32

#22

2dawall

milo204 wrote:

now Ezra has already moved on to using the same tactics against galloway.

typical right wing tactic, when you can't respond to the issue, defame the person raising it. Most people are dumb enough to take it seriously.

Is it a question of intelligence or conditioning? My experience is that this tactic is so utterly routine in this culture, be it conventional media, on-line, or in-person in group meetings that is goes without being confronted as an unspoken assumption that this is a perfectly acceptable approach.

Thu, 2010-10-14 18:06

#23

George Victor

Now that the Sun has apologized to Soros, let's see if the bastards will make other apologies:

Sun Media has published a story across the country this morning smearing FRIENDS (of Canadian Broadcasting) in what would appear a thinly veiled attempt to silence our criticism of the plan to bring Sun TV News - widely reported to be a clone of the divisive, some would say "hate-mongering", ultra-conservative U.S. cable channel Fox News - into Canada.

It is a sensational story with little news value seemingly designed to intimidate FRIENDS and our supporters.

We can't stand idly by and let them silence us on an issue vital to our media and our democracy.

Please add your name to a petition demanding accuracy and balanced reporting from Sun TV News.

Ever since Pierre-Karl Péladeau, the billionaire controlling shareholder of Quebecor, which owns the Sun chain of newspapers, announced plans to bring "Fox News North" into Canada, he has tried to bully anyone who might stand in his way.

First, he recruited a high level political operative from Stephen Harper's office to spearhead his bid to win special treatment from the CRTC.

Then, realizing that the independence of the CRTC was an obstacle, Péladeau and his ally Harper reportedly went so far as to attempt to coax the CRTC Chair to take a diplomatic posting in order to make way for a new Chair with connections to Quebecor - until the Globe and Mail's Lawrence Martin blew their scheme out of the water.

Stung by public advocacy campaigns concerned about "Fox News North", Quebecor is said to have threatened to sue unless a group called Avaaz changed its Internet petition.

And now, this latest attempt to stifle its critics.

We need the media to hold government accountable, to afflict the powerful and give power to the afflicted. A free and unbiased press is a cornerstone of our democracy.

When a billionaire uses his powerful position as a media baron to further his own narrow self-interest, more damage is done to press freedom and democracy than a thousand censors. A truly free press would not tolerate such abuse of power.

Thankfully, we have already had a huge impact. Péladeau has recently withdrawn the part of the application which requests that the CRTC give Sun TV News special treatment that the Commission has already denied other broadcasters.

This is a major victory. But clearly, we've got to let Péladeau know that we won't let him bully us into silence.

As you know, FRIENDS has always been a champion for the diversity of voices in the Canadian broadcasting industry. But this episode underlines the importance of a request we have placed before the CRTC: that Sun TV News be required, as a condition of licence, to adhere to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Code of Ethics which requires broadcasters to meet minimum standards for balanced reporting and accuracy.

Please sign a petition to Pierre-Karl Péladeau demanding journalistic integrity from Sun TV News.

Fri, 2011-01-28 04:17

#24

NDPP

To Target Fox News Over 'Nazi' Label, Rabbis Made Use of Murdoch's Other Media

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/26/AR201101...

"A coalition of Rabbis want Fox News chief Roger Ailes and conservative host Glenn Beck to cut out all their talk about Nazis and the Holocaust and it's making its views known in an unusual place. The Rabbis have called on Fox News owner, Rupert Murdoch, to sanction his two famous employees via a full page ad in Thursday's edition of the Wall Street Journal - one of many other media properties controlled by Murdoch's News Corp.

The ad is signed by the head of the Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist movements as well as Orthodox rabbis...The rabbis were prompted by Beck's three-part program in November about liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros, whom Beck described as a 'Jewish boy helping send the Jews to the death camps' during World War II. 'We respectfully request that Glen Beck be sanctioned by Fox News for his completely unaccpetable attacks on a survivor of the holocaust and that Roger Ailes apologize for his dismissive remarks about rabbi's sensitivity to how the Holocaust is used on the air..

The Jewish Funds group has received financial support from Soros' Open [Sesame!] Society Foundation.."

Fri, 2011-01-28 11:35

#25

Le T

John Stewart did an exceptional job parodying the total absurdity of Glen Beck's three part program. I'm sure it must have been discussed somewhere on babble.

Like George Victor alludes to, Sun libels people all the time. Soros is fucking rich so they will be called out. It would be nice if Soros financed some other libel actions against Sun by some of the many people that they regularly lie about in print.

Quote:
The anti-intelligence movement is strong. I don't say intellectual, because really they have done just as bad of a job in higher education of deporgramming the corporate message. Hate to bring up chomsky again, but he points out how the educated(because of their position) are in favour of the right, but for entirely different reasons than the pallin-beck tea baggers crowd.

I think that Chomsky gets this from Gramsci. It's also a widely studied phenomenon in anti-colonial literature and movements.

Tue, 2011-04-12 12:15

#26

Catchfire

Sun News to shine on Conservatives from next week

Quote:
On April 18, with two weeks left in the federal election, Stephen Harper will receive a boost in his quest to achieve his long-lusted-after majority.

That's the day Sun News, the new conservative channel also known as Fox News North, goes live, as the final cog in the right-wing media machine is lowered into place.

The right in Canada has been meticulously constructing this powerful device with the aid of Canada's media moguls. Components include newspapers such as the National Post and all of the Sun papers, magazines like Maclean's, most of talk radio, op-ed columnists such as the Globe and Mail's Neil Reynolds and Margaret Wente and Ottawa Citizen's Dan Gardner and David Warren, the Blogging Tories network of 270 conservative bloggers, think-tanks spread from coast to coast pumping out hundreds of op-ed pieces each year, conservative Christian broadcasting.

The machine sells conservative ideology to the Canadian public and attacks and discredits its opponents.

Television was a gap, but Sun News will fill it.

Excellent rabble.ca column by Donald Gutstein!