Gabor Steingart Mocks Americans in Wall Street Journal Piece

Last year I wrote about how Dow Jones board member Dieter von Holtzbrinck resigned his post in protest of Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the venerable Wall Street Journal. Von Holtzbrinck was very much aware of the business practices of Murdoch's News Corporation, and worried that the WSJ's legacy of journalistic excellence would be destroyed:

"I cannot prove that my worries are right. I can only refer to News Corp. business practices in the past." Von Holtzbrinck wrote.

Well, von Holtzbrinck's concerns were very much justified:  since taking over the Wall Street Journal Murdoch has moved swiftly to transform America's premier business newspaper into a neoconservative rag. After firing key editorial staff, Murdoch has replaced coverage of business with right-wing political commentary:

PEJ examined the Journal's front pages from every other weekday edition between Dec. 13, 2007, and March 13, 2008, to determine if the paper’s agenda had changed, the report said.
Among its findings:
• "Business coverage dropped more than half -- falling from 30% in the months prior to the sale to 14%."
• "In the first four months of Murdoch’s ownership, the Journal has shifted its focus, opting for less business coverage and for more coverage of national politics and international issues."

In his effort to beef-up neoconservative commentary, Murdoch has found a kindred soul in Der Spiegel's Washington correspondent Gabor Steingart.  In his first op/ed contribution on May 10, Steingart mocks Americans desire to have universal health care, similar to the programs offered in Germany, France, and every other highly industrialized country:

When I begin to feel homesick for Germany, I have discovered a cheap and easy way out. I simply turn on the TV and listen to a Barack Obama stump speech.

The promised land of universal health care, secure pensions, a lot of green-collar jobs and stable bridges brings me back to my home country. My grandma, who has worked in a post office all her life, enjoys her pension without having ever observed the stock market. Everyone who travels through the countryside can see thousands of windmills, but never a collapsed bridge. And the best: My mom, my friends and everyone around them have access to first-class medical services.

After telling German readers for months that Barack Obama's candidacy was a "fairy tale", now Steingart tells the WSJ's readers that Senator Obama's programs to improve the lives of ordinary Americans are a fairy tale we can't afford.  Of course, he doesn't mention the $1 trillion price tag of the Iraq War debacle which Murdoch so fervently supports (as long as his own sons remain out of it).

Barack Obama is Murdoch's (and Steingart's) worst nightmare: A charismatic black candidate who wants to end torture, withdraw from Iraq, end the tax cuts for the wealthy and make health care accessible to all.  As the campaign progresses, watch for further hit pieces in the Wall Street Journal on Obama. No doubt many will have the byline of Gabor Steingart.

Comments

[Hattie]

Of course what is America about for immigrants like Steingart but the opportunity to get richer and richer? Does anyone think he and that other immigrant Murdoch care about ordinary Americans?
Why don't those immigrants get bashed instead of the ones who come here just to seek a decent life?

[Joerg]

Hattie,
I don't think he is an immigrant. He is just an expat currently working in America for Spiegel and looking forward to return to German, when he needs the welfare system.

David,
Steingart lists Dialog International among his references on his personal homepage...

[erphschwester]

@jörg: irgendwann, wenn es ihnen nicht mehr so gut geht, kommen sie alle zurück nach deutschland oder rufen nach der hilfe der regierung (des steuerzahers).

[Hattie]

I guess by definition Germans are not immigrants but rather emigrees or ex-pats. Which sounds so much nicer.

[David]

Steingart needs to get out from the Beltway Bubble and meet ordinary, struggling Americans. Maybe then he can do some real reporting to his readers in Germany.