The world's most powerful media moguls are "very bearish" on the economy, but they don't seem to be blaming President Obama for the tough times, Rupert Murdoch says.
They have to wait an appropriate amount of time between casting him as The Savior and then The Antichrist in order to pump sales.
Apart from Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, both owned by News Corp., the media "remains very supportive of him, perhaps not of all of his policies," Murdoch told Stuart Varney of Fox Business Network.
Speaking during an interview with Varney on Thursday at the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, the News Corp. chairman and CEO also criticized the stimulus bill that was supposed to have juiced the U.S. economy. "Some of the stuff he had to do and is correct," Murdoch said. "But basically the methodology, which is saying, well, here is $800 billion or whatever, let Congress work out how to spend it. I think that's crazy. I think that leads to tremendous waste."
Murdoch said he was "shocked" at the sour mood media executives are in regarding their own businesses and the economy in general. Some, he said, are predicting "five years at least" before seeing real economic growth return.
| They see the nation's economy through the lens of their own industry, which will not recover in the same form, impacting the probability they will still be working, five years out. |
He predicted that, positive press not withstanding, opinions among Americans about Obama could sour significantly by year's end if the economy doesn't improve. "When the mood of the public sees unemployment go above 10% before Christmas, things like that -- if the bad things happen that are predicted -- I think it's inevitable the public mood will change."
According to the Rasmussen daily tracking poll, as of Thursday, 30% of Americans "strongly approve" of the way Obama is performing as president while 38% "strongly disapprove."
The stage has been set. Cue The One. |