Monday 20 October 2008

We need to talk about Rupert Murdoch

I have just finished Lionel Shrivers extraordinary novel, "We need to talk about Kevin". I found the book extremely thought-provoking. It made me recall a conference that I attended many years ago on Attachment Theory at the Tavistock Institute in London. This conference too was very thought-provoking and I remember discussing with a friend of mine the nature of delinquency and who as a society we concentrated our attention upon when considering this issue. It seemed to both of us that society tended to focus on individuals who fit into the category of generally socially estranged, low income youth who commit acts of petty violence or vandalism. These acts clearly have a great impact on those who are directly affected and through the lense of the media they become a concern to all of us. However, for my friend and I there were other kinds of delinquents who escape in this way the attention of the media. Indeed, in one specific case they are the media. Reading Shrivers book makes one wonder why a boy turns into a mass school playground killer, is this nature or nurture. I want to ask the question as to why certain individuals grow up to become individuals with enormous power but seem to pass below the radar of this kind of analysis. The impact of Kevin is direct and visceral. The impact of other well known figures in our society is more blurred and perhaps less amenable to the kind of analysis Shriver undertakes for Kevin but I am convinced that "We need to talk about Rupert Murdoch."

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