WAITROSE WITHDRAWS

by RAY FLEMING
AT first sight it may seem odd that the British upmarket supermarket Waitrose - “quality food, honestly priced” - advertises on American television. The number of American customers must be very small but this anomaly is probably the result of the arrangement by which Rupert Murdoch's US Fox News is seen on his Sky satellite service in the UK. When Fox News has a break for US commercials Sky News fills in with news summaries and some UK commercials. This arrangement has come to general notice because Waitrose has just announced that it does not want its commercials shown on Fox News because of the presence on that channel of Glenn Beck who has a strong line in racial abuse. Last July he called President Obama a “racist” with “a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture”. Waitrose is part of the John Lewis Group which is run by its employees - “partners” as they are known -- and takes a careful interest in the company it keeps. A sufficient number of customers has complained about Waitrose's presence on Fox News for it to withdraw what may be inadvertent exposure on that channel and in doing so to join Wal-Mart and other major retailers in the United States which have taken similar action. Fox News is worth watching now and again if only as a reminder of the kind of news channel that the Murdochs would like to run in Britain if they got the chance.