Rupert
Murdoch has long been at the cutting edge of change
and has never been one to rest on past successes. When Murdoch believes in something
strongly, most of the world usually knows what that belief is. He has also never
been too concerned about the toes he steps on to pursue his goals or to stand
up for his belief. So it shouldn't come as a surprise to see the News Corporation
Chairman come up with the ambitious plan to be carbon neutral by 2010.
In
a speech
given to 47,000 News Corporation employees around the world on the
9th of May, 2007, Rupert Murdoch shared his ideas on global warming and the impact
that his energy initiative would have on his company. The 76 year old media mogul
gave the talk live by webcast at the Hudson Theater, New York City.
Murdoch
hasn't always been a convert to the environmental movement though, and has even
been skeptical of the claims that environmentalists had been making. Late last
year he said "I have to admit that, until recently, I was somewhat wary
of the (global) warming debate. I believe it is now our responsibility to take
the lead on this issue."
Now that the science and the proof of
global warming has become concrete, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation is at the
forefront of global companies that are working to change the way we treat the
planet. His son and head of the News Corp. owned British Sky Broadcasting company
in the UK may have also made an impact on the greening of Rupert. James Murdoch
drives a Toyota Prius and has already made BSkyB a carbon neutral company before
his father's energy initiative was announced.
News Corporation's energy
initiative aims to lessen the company's impact on climate change by addressing
the following.. - Reducing
its energy consumption and switching to renewable sources of power when economically
feasible
- Becoming
carbon neutral
- Engaging
its employees, business partners and its audiences
A
media company may not be as damaging to the environment as an old energy or industrial
company, but when you are as global as News Corporation is, with more than 47,000
employees, it can have quite an environmental impact. Murdoch said that the global
media company put out about 641,150 tons of greenhouse gases in 2006. When the
goal of carbon neutrality is achieved across all News Corporation companies "it
will have the same impact as turning off the electricity in the city of London
for five full days" Murdoch told his employees.
As many politicians
around the world have seen, a media company can be very influential. A global
media company spread across as many different mediums and countries as News Corporation
can change the way people think. If his previous experience with influencing political
decisions is any indication of the change that Rupert Murdoch can make on the
climate change issue, the earth will soon be breathing much easier.
His
liking for the environment is a bias that Murdoch can openly flaunt as people
see climate change as one of the biggest challenges we have ever faced. Rupert
talked about the influence of News Corporation in his speech by saying..
"We
can do something that's unique, different from just any other company. We can
set an example, and we can reach our audiences. Our audience's carbon footprint
is 10,000 times bigger than ours. That's
the carbon footprint we want to conquer.
We cannot do it with gimmicks. We
need to reach them in a sustained way. To weave this issue into our content--
make it dramatic, make it vivid, even sometimes make it fun. We want to inspire
people to change their behavior.
Imagine if we succeed in inspiring our audiences
to reduce their own impacts on climate change by just one percent. That would
be like turning the State of California off for almost two months.
And imagine
if... we were able to take on the carbon footprint of our audience in Asia. Many
of the most serious impacts of climate change will be felt there, and China and
India's emissions are rising rapidly. STAR is the number one Hindi-language network
in the world. In India alone, we reach 100 million people.
The challenge is
to revolutionize the message."
See
full Rupert Murdoch Speech
Rupert Murdoch isn't about to grow
a beard and start hugging trees though. He is still a businessman first. The energy
savings will save the company money while also saving the environment. 20th Century
Fox movies are also not about to make all their big screen heroes drive a hybrid..
"There are limits to how far we can push this issue in our content. Not
every hero on television can drive a hybrid car. Oftentimes it just won't fit.
We must avoid preaching." Rupert Murdoch Quote
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