There are things that I admire about Rupert Murdoch . He has maintained a lifelong commitment to newspapers , long after it became clear that they were no longer profitable . He has a feistiness at 81 , when he could be happily sitting on a yacht somewhere . He now spews his opinions on that newfangled social network called Twitter , and since he 's the undisputed kingpin of News Corp. , who 's going to stop him ? But over the weekend , Murdoch sent out a tweet that went beyond outrageous to offensive , truly offensive . He played off the worst kind of historical libel against Jews . And while he later tweeted a semi-apology , it 's not clear he understands the magnitude of his hurtful words . Watch : Murdoch 's 'Jewish Press ' Rant -- More CEOs Spewing on Twitter . The subject was the violence flaring in the Middle East , with Israel mounting airstrikes in Gaza after a long series of rocket attacks by the Hamas government . The message : . `` Why is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis ? '' That 's right , he said Jewish-owned press , reviving the old canard about Jews controlling the media . Who , exactly , is he talking about ? Watch : Petraeus overkill or permissable pandering ? Well , there 's the Jewish heritage of the Sulzberger family , which owns The New York Times and Murdoch sees as a rival . Beyond that , most major media outlets are owned by public companies : Comcast ( NBC ) , Viacom ( CBS ) , Disney ( ABC ) , Time Warner ( CNN ) , Tribune ( Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times ) , Gannett ( USA Today ) . The Graham family , which owns The Washington Post , is n't Jewish . And is n't there something rich in a complaint about media ownership by the man who controls Fox News , the Fox broadcast network , 20th Century Fox , the New York Post , The Wall Street Journal , The Times of London , the Sunday Times , Sky News , HarperCollins and other properties ? Beyond that , it 's hard to take ethical lectures from a man who presided over a phone-hacking scandal in London that -- whatever his knowledge of it -- prompted him to close the longstanding News of the World tabloid and has led to the arrests of several of his former lieutenants . Watch : Orgy of advice on getting away with Petraeus-like affair . What 's more , Murdoch has never been shy about interfering in his newsrooms -- cozying up to politicians ranging from Ed Koch to Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair -- so maybe he expects others to shape news coverage in the same way . Murdoch 's Fox News portrayed Mitt Romney as a more viable candidate than he turned out to be . But the heart of Murdoch 's indictment is far more troubling . He is suggesting that Jewish Americans have a hidden agenda in which their religion trumps their commitment to journalism . Since Murdoch finds these outlets allegedly dominated by Jews to be anti-Israel , perhaps he thinks they are of the self-loathing variety . In a tweet on Sunday , Murdoch seemed to defend his use of the phrase : `` 'Jewish owned press ' have been sternly criticized , suggesting link to Jewish reporters . Do n't see this , but apologise unreservedly . '' The wording is too cryptic to know for what exactly he 's apologizing . Watch : Why Romney 's 'gifts ' comments diminish him . Earlier , Murdoch had tweeted that Israel 's position was `` precarious , '' adding `` watch CNN and AP bias to the point of embarrassment . '' Media mogul or not , he 's entitled to criticize other coverage as he sees fit . But it 's hard to evaluate his complaints since his 140 characters contain not a single example of questionable reporting . The Middle East is a minefield for even the most scrupulous journalists . A photo of a wounded Palestinian often brings complaints that Israel is being treated unfairly and its casualties not highlighted . A story on Israelis wounded by Hamas rockets often causes grumbling that the Palestinian plight is being unfairly minimized . Murdoch is obviously strongly pro-Israel , which may mean he bristles at any coverage that does n't sympathize with Benjamin Netanyahu 's government . One thing , however , is clear : Murdoch has undermined his own credibility by lashing out at what he calls Jewish-owned organizations . He should follow the advice that editors routinely give employees : Think hard before you tweet , for words , like weapons , can wound .
Howard Kurtz : Rupert Murdoch tweeted asking why Jewish owned press is anti-Israel . He says suggesting Jews have hidden agenda , where religion trumps journalism , is offensive . Kurtz : It 's hypocritical from man who controls Fox News , WSJ , NY Post , other news organs . Kurtz : `` Apology ' tweet cryptic ; Murdoch 's slam of reporters ' 'biased ' coverage gives no proof .