Tuttle to Publish U.S. Edition of Murdoch Tell-All

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 3/4/2008 7:07:00 AM

The New York Times reported Monday that the Far Eastern Economic Review, which Rupert Murdoch recently acquired, killed a review of the Viking Australia book Rupert's Adventures in China due to the book’s unfavorable look at Murdoch. With the book set for U.S. release this summer, it’s unclear how the media will handle it. 

Tuttle Publishing, the independent house that specializes in Asian-interest books, is considering moving the publication of the book, which they have re-titled Rupert Murdoch's China Adventures: How the World's Most Powerful Media Mogul Lost a Fortune and Found a Wife, from July to May because of the media interest. Publicist Rowan Muelling-Auer said Tuttle has not made changes to the book’s content, aside from Americanized English, and at this time does not have plans to vet the book from a legal perspective. “It’s not something that we’re particularly worried about,” she said.

The book’s author is Bruce Dover, a former Australian journalist and former News Corp. employee in China. Muelling-Auer said Tuttle considers the book, an $18.95 paperback, an important title and said she will be making a “strenuous outreach” to the media. She did acknowledge that it may be a challenge to pitch the book to Murdoch-owned media. “News Corp. owns so much that that is definitely a consideration,” she said.

Murdoch picked up the Hong Kong monthly Far Eastern Economic Review in December, when he took control of Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal. According to the Times , the Review has the smallest staff, the smallest circulation (less than 20,000 by some analysts’ estimates) and the smallest revenue of any publication in the Murdoch empire. But the article reported that the Review has a powerful voice in Asia, and that over the years its reporting has “rankled many Asian politicians and business executives.”

Dover's review has been posted on the web site of the Asia Sentinel.