A British newspaper belonging to the same media empire that is home to Fox News made light of its phone hacking scandal at the expense of famine victims in Somalia.
The controversial editorial cartoon from The Times of London drew almost instant criticism after appearing in Thursday's paper.
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Many considered the cartoon offensive, while others suggested it was a public relations ploy. The cartoon - titled "Priorities" - depicted three naked Somalians with distended stomachs clutching empty bowls.
"I've had a bellyful of phone-hacking …" one says.
It brings to mind the racially-charged images referred to in yesterday’s essay by The Root’s managing editor, Joel Dreyfuss. He says “brutish caricatures of black people,” began appearing on the pages of The New York Post after that paper was acquired by Murdoch back in 1976. (Remember this gem from 2009?)
In labeling the cartoon “Priorities,” perhaps The Times of London’s editors were trying to say there are more important things for the media to cover than the phone hacking scandal. If so, it was a cheaply-made and ineptly executed point — and really, invoking the images of starving people to
SOURCE: New York Daily News
Sheryl Huggins Salomon is senior editor-at-large of The Root and a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based editorial consultant. Follow her on Twitter.
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