News Corp-Owned Times Of London Runs Cartoon About Hacking And Starving Children
There are several methods of dealing with a much-publicized scandal, some less advisable than others. Issuing a public apology for mistakes or poor judgment? Pretty much always a good idea. Holding individuals responsible for their roles and dealing with them accordingly? Usually works out pretty well. Publishing a tacky, potentially offensive cartoon making light of serious allegations AND life-threateПing poverty? Oddly enough, that rarely ever works.
And, yet, that’s precisely what the Times of London did when it ran an editorial cartoon, marked “Priorities…”, that depicted three starving, ethnically ambiguous children sitting nude in the sand. One of the doe-eyed children looks mournfully out at the viewer, cradling his distended stomach and announcing that he has had “a bellyful of phone-hacking.” Any guesses as to what company owns the Times of London. If you guessed “News Corp,” you’re a winner!
Can we agree that eradicating childhood hunger is still a global priority and that outlets diligently, even obsessively, covering the phone hacking scandal were probably not devoting too many headlines to the plight of starving, saucer-eyed children in the first place? Although, hey. Maybe the Times of London can change the tide by donating to charities fighting to end hunger, or devoting an issue to poverty instead of offering up condescending, out of touch editorials that only work to reflect poorly on its already beleaguered employer.