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Of the many things I’m thankful for this week, Rupert Murdoch on Twitter ranks high.
Just hours ago, the octogenarian media mogul popped off on what looks like a deal in the making. His tweet suggested the Tribune newspaper group is about to be sold and the crown jewel, the Los Angeles Times, will go to philanthropist Eli Broad and local bigs.
https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/670341994305093632
Asked by someone if he was interested, he said no. And then dropped the mic. Who were his sources? When is this landing?
Who cares? It’s Twitter solid gold and is a fresh reminder of just how boring the technocratic CEOs of today are and how grateful media reporters were when he burst onto Twitter on Jan. 1, 2012. Back then Wendi Deng, his ex-wife, kindly dropped News Corp PR a line authenticating the account. For the rest of us, it took Jack Dorsey to make it real.
https://twitter.com/jack/status/153270988207964160
It’s been a blast ever since. In no particular order, here are a few of my favorites:
That time he claimed one guy was blacker than the other (!). He eventually apologized for suggesting President Obama is not a “real black president.”
https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/651924724960874497
That time he held 1.6 billion Muslims accountable for the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in Paris.
https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/553734788881076225
Comedian Aziz Ansar fired off a sweet retort.
https://twitter.com/azizansari/status/554476297057873923
That time he popped off on an overweight lady and poor people.
https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/291324258108440576
Google or NSA, pick your poison.
https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/501054600024432640
That time he went after Vegans.
https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/455304279235244032
It all started back in 2012, less than 48 hours after he launched the account when he tweeted “Maybe Brits have too many holidays for broke country!” while vacationing in the Caribbean.
We’ve been thankful ever since. And thank you once again, Rupert, for putting the news back into News Corp, reminding me once more why I miss media reporting so much. As a parting gift, here’s my favorite Rupert story in the pre-Twitter days. That time he lost his wedding ring. Kids, we had to blog the news back then!
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
