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Steve Jobs to Rupert Murdoch: Fox Is a ‘Destructive Force’

Steve Jobs to Rupert Murdoch: Fox Is a ‘Destructive Force’

"You're blowing it with Fox News."

During a 2010 News Corp. management retreat, guest speaker Steve Jobs took the opportunity to tell Australian business tycoon Rupert Murdoch how he felt about his news empire.

Gawker reports that Walter Isaacson's new biography on Steve Jobs includes the details of the exchange:

In return for speaking at the retreat, Jobs got Murdoch to hear him out on Fox News, which he believed was destructive, harmful to the nation, and a blot on Murdoch's reputation.

"You're blowing it with Fox News," Jobs told him over dinner.

"The axis today is not liberal and conservative, the axis is conservative-destructive, and you've cast your lot with the destructive people. Fox has become a destructive force in our society. You can be better, and this is going to be your legacy if you're not careful." Jobs said he thought Murdoch did not really like how far Fox has gone.

"Rupert's a builder, not a tearer-downer," he said...

Murdoch later said he was used to people like Jobs complaining about Fox. "He's got sort of a left wing view on this," he said. Jobs asked him to have his folks make a reel of Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck shows - he thought they were more destructive than Bill O'Reilly - and Murdoch agreed to do so.

Apparently, Fox was not the only news outlet that attracted criticism and advice from Jobs. Jobs also met with The New York Times staff to help them with their media model, reports Mediabistro.

Newser writes :

Before the launch of the iPad, Jobs met with the leadership of the Times, offering them advice about the newspaper's app and digital subscription service, suggesting they charge $5 at most.

“I think it’s important for the country for them to figure it out," Jobs said.

It has also been reported that Jobs had a low opinion of how The Wall Street Journal made itself accessible via technology, at one point saying that they were awful at it because "you're in New York and anyone who's any good at tech works in Silicon Valley."

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