Crikey

From: Gerard Henderson 
Sent: Friday, 2 November 2007 2:48 PM
To: Margaret Simons
Subject: Your evident bad manners and poor memory

Dear Margaret

I have just purchased a copy of your book TheContentMakers: Understanding the media in Australia (Penguin Books, 2007). I note that at Page 323 you write:

“Rupert Murdoch will be dead soon”. In 2005 I said these words during a speech at the conservative think tank, the Sydney Institute. There was a gasp from the audience. Someone at the back called out “never”, then there was a twitter of laughter. Later, the director of the institute, Gerard Henderson, asked me if I would please modify this claim in the published version of the speech. It was a bit raw. Could I, perhaps, say something like “Rupert Murdoch may pass on within the next ten years?”

It is a testament to the power that comes with the ownership of printing presses and broadcasting licences that we are tricked into thinking it confers immortality, or at least inhibits us from stating the obvious: that old men die. In 2007 Murdoch is seventy-six. On his mother’s side he comes from sturdy stock, but his father died at just sixty-six after heart problems and treatment for prostate cancer. Rupert himself was treated for and then declared free of prostate cancer at sixty-nine. It must have been a considerable psychological landmark for him. He declared, revealingly, “I’m now convinced of my own immortality”. Nevertheless, he will die, and probably before too long.

In fact, the speech to which you refer took place on 1 February 2006.

During your address, you did not say “Rupert Murdoch will be dead soon”. The tape reveals that your actual words were: “Kerry Packer is dead. Within ten years it’s likely that Rupert Murdoch will die too”.

The interjection from one member of the audience was not “Never”, but, rather, “No”. The audience member was not claiming that Rupert Murdoch was immortal but, rather, that he would not die within the decade. This was a reasonable comment since Mr Murdoch, who as born 11 March 1931, was 74 at the time of your address and there was no evidence the he was in extremis.

It is true that I requested you to tone down your comment somewhat – since I did not know what authority you had to claim that “it’s likely” that Rupert Murdoch “will die” by February 2016 – i.e. before his 84th birthday.

Contrary to your claim, I did not make my comment to you because of Mr Murdoch’s “power”, or because I believe in his “immortality”, or because I was against you “stating the obvious”.

Not at all. I made the suggestion because I believed that your comment was discourteous and demonstrated an evident lack of manners. I would have made exactly the same point if a speaker at The Sydney Institute had made such a claim with respect to, say, Malcolm Fraser (born 1930) or Bob Hawke (born 1929) – or, indeed, your good self.

For someone who spends a lot of time criticising the media, your assertion at Page 323 of TheContentMakers is both inaccurate – and sloppy. If you had bothered to check the facts with me, I would have forwarded a copy of the audio tape to you for fact-checking. But you went from your memory which, demonstrably, is flawed.

Also, like quite a few journalists, you demonstrate a lack of self-awareness. Apparently, you do not understand that it is rude to predict the death of someone, without any evidence as to their current medical condition.

I would be grateful if you could correct the errors at Page 323 of TheContentMakers if the book is re-printed.

Best wishes
Yours sincerely
Gerard Henderson

From: Margaret Simons
Sent: Friday, 2 November 2007 3:04 PM
To: ‘Gerard Henderson’
Subject: RE: Your evident bad manners and poor memory

Dear Gerard,
Certainly I will correct the date and the precise words I said.
Regarding my manners and self awareness, like you, I will be judged on my published work.

Best wishes,
Margaret Simons

From: Gerard Henderson 
Sent: Tuesday, 6 November 2007 12:15 PM
To: ‘Margaret Simons’
Subject: RE: Your evident bad manners and poor memory

Dear Margaret
I refer to your email of 2 November 2007.
It’s good to hear that you will correct the factual errors in TheContentMakers concerning your February 2006 address to The Sydney Institute.
However, this does not fully resolve the matter. Without checking with me, you have made an assumption about me which is totally false. I did not ask you to modify your comment on Rupert Murdoch’s (alleged) imminent death because he owns “printing presses and broadcasting licences”. As advised, I made my request because I believe that your comment exhibited bad manners. I would have made exactly the same request if you had made a similar comment about a 70 plus year old who owned neither printing presses nor broadcasting licenses – e.g. Bob Hawke or Malcolm Fraser.
Like you, I am happy to be judged by my published work. It’s just that I do not want to be verballed by your published work.

Best wishes
Gerard Henderson

From: Margaret Simons 
Sent: Wednesday, 7 November 2007 4:02 PM
To: ‘Gerard Henderson’
Subject: RE: Your evident bad manners and poor memory

Dear Gerard,
Sorry for the delay in responding. I have been traveling and away from e-mail.
You seem to be reading the paragraph that begins “It is a testament to the power that comes with the ownership of printing presses….” as reference mainly, if not exclusively, to you. The point I was making was more general and broader than that.
Nevertheless, what about if in any subsequent editions I add a something along the following lines:
“After the first edition of this book was published in 2007, Gerard Henderson contacted me to say he had asked me to modify my comment not because of Rupert Murdoch’s media power, but because he thought I had exhibited bad manners and a lack of self awareness in speculating on his death. Henderson said he would have made the same request had I been speaking of anyone over the age of 70.”
If you still feel this is inadequate, I am more than happy for you to publish this correspondence in any of the several forums available to you, provided, of course, that my responses are published in full. Indeed, with your concurrence I am happy to see if Crikey would be interested in publishing it – although this, of course, would be at the discretion of the editor.

Best wishes,
Margaret Simons

From: Gerard Henderson
Sent: Wednesday, 7 November 2007 4:37 PM
To: ‘Margaret Simons’
Subject: RE: Your evident bad manners and poor memory

Dear Margaret
Thanks for your note. The suggested paragraph is fine.
I do not mind if you give the correspondence to Crikey since I assume that anything I write may well appear in public. However, like you, I’m not sure whether Crikey will be interested in publishing this.

Cheers
Gerard Henderson