Fox creator Rupert Murdoch to be inducted into Television Academy Hall of Fame
Next month, lest it has passed under your radar since the official announcement in December, Rupert Murdoch will be inducted into the US television academy hall of fame.
He is one of six people selected by the academy for the latest inductions on the basis that their "careers have made a significant impact on the medium."
The other five, who will be given the honour along with Murdoch at an event in a Los Angeles hotel on 11 March, are talk show host Jay Leno, actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus, writer-producer David E. Kelley, ABC executive Brandon Stoddard and the late, great sound pioneer Ray Dolby (who will, of course, be inducted posthumously).
These six, according to academy chairman Bruce Rosemblum, "have all made a profound impact on the landscape of television, leaving their own mark within our industry and with audiences around the world.
"Their groundbreaking contributions will last for generations, making them true icons who could not be more deserving of the television academy's highest honour."
Murdoch created Fox TV, a nationwide network that dared to challenge the big three: CBS, NBC and ABC. And Fox TV gave us The Simpsons. That alone would surely be worthy of a major award.
But Murdoch also created, in 1996, Fox News, the controversial cable and satellite news channel with the inaccurate slogan: "Fair and balanced".
Charles Laurence, writing for The Week, clearly thinks Fox News should disqualify Murdoch from being honoured. I'm not sure, thinking of his overall achievement, that that is a fair and balanced opinion.
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