tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/rupert-murdoch-398/articlesRupert Murdoch – The Conversation2024-03-01T13:39:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2225452024-03-01T13:39:34Z2024-03-01T13:39:34ZBen Shapiro’s hip-hop hypocrisy and white male grievance lands him on top of pop music charts for a brief moment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575372/original/file-20240213-30-rqc3ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro speaks at the 2018 Politicon in Los Angeles.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Over the past decade, conservative commentator and podcaster <a href="https://www.economist.com/open-future/2019/03/28/inside-the-mind-of-ben-shapiro-a-radical-conservative">Ben Shapiro</a> has made a living telling his followers that <a href="https://x.com/benshapiro/status/156246995978293248?s=20">rap isn’t music</a>. </p>
<p>If anyone thinks so, <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/156246995978293248">Shapiro tweeted</a> in 2012, “you’re stupid.”</p>
<p>Shapiro <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSxoLJujM-k">explained his reasoning</a> during a 2019 interview: </p>
<p>“In my view, and in the view of my music theorist father who went to music school, there are three elements to music,” Shapiro said. “There is harmony, there is melody and there is rhythm. Rap only fulfills one of these, the rhythm section.”</p>
<p>As a result, Shapiro concluded, rap is “basically spoken rhythm.”</p>
<p>“It’s not actually a form of music,” he said. “It’s a form of rhythmic speaking.” </p>
<p>Leave it to Shapiro, then, to drop a “rhythmic speaking” song filled with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/dec/30/audiences-dont-want-white-anger-how-white-rap-grew-a-conscience">white grievance</a> during the early days of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign. </p>
<p>Teaming up with Canadian rapper <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/the-right-wing-troll-rappers-are-coming-1341251/">Tom MacDonald</a>, Shapiro released “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kGpohEpuTE">Facts</a>” in January 2024. Given today’s bitter partisan divide and <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/culture-wars-identity-center-politics-america/story?id=100768380">extremist culture wars</a>, it comes as no surprise that Shapiro’s track quickly found a devoted following. But his racist, anti-rap rap lyrics ultimately repeat the same tired charges right-wing politicians have <a href="https://theconversation.com/scapegoating-rap-hits-new-low-after-july-fourth-mass-shooting-186443">used against hip-hop</a> since its birth over 50 years ago. </p>
<h2>Pop goes racism</h2>
<p>My father isn’t a music theorist. But as a scholar who <a href="https://news.clemson.edu/clemson-doctoral-student-produces-rap-album-for-dissertation-it-goes-viral/">earned a Ph.D. by writing a rap album</a> and continues to release rap music about race and American society as <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/twentieth-century-music/article/abs/leaders-of-the-new-school-music-departments-hiphop-and-the-challenge-of-significant-difference/D6025AE31E4FF60A4A57347CDCE4AC86">my academic work</a>, I knew a hit song filled with racist diatribes like “Facts” was <a href="https://www.theringer.com/rap/2023/8/14/23831167/hip-hop-50th-anniversary-future-of-rap-music-ad-carson-virginia">bound to happen</a>. </p>
<p>It’s not the first time blatant racism has propelled an artist to the top of music charts. </p>
<p>In July 2023, Jason Aldean, a white country singer, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66248807">released a video for “Try That In A Small Town”</a> that was criticized for promoting racial violence. That <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2024/01/31/ben-shapiro-song-tom-macdonald/">song shot up</a> to No. 1. </p>
<p>In November 2023, a video of country singer Morgan Wallen, who is also white, surfaced and went viral. In the video, he is captured saying, “take care of this p— a– n—.” While Wallen was roundly condemned and apologized for his racist and sexist language, <a href="https://www.theroot.com/despite-morgan-wallens-racist-past-america-is-still-ob-1851059418">his music has also topped the charts</a>. </p>
<p>But to simply call MacDonald and Shapiro’s “Facts” racist would be too quick a dismissal of all that is at play.</p>
<p>By performing over a popular-sounding trap-style beat, Shapiro and MacDonald might lead listeners to overlook their heavy reliance on <a href="https://theconversation.com/everyday-african-american-vernacular-english-is-a-dialect-born-from-conflict-and-creativity-193194">Black vernacular speech</a>, which toes the line between <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/foster-blackface-minstrelsy/">minstrelsy</a> and abject <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/30/t-magazine/cultural-appropriation.html">cultural appropriation</a>. </p>
<p>Because it’s delivered in the form of a conventional rap song, a listener might even be convinced that the racism and sexism the artists are performing are expectations, and Shapiro and McDonald are just doing what all rappers do. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1750977386676711740"}"></div></p>
<p>It’s a clever gambit. It’s “rapwashing” racism so audiences don’t perceive the obvious intent. </p>
<p>Early in the song, MacDonald tries out a melodic delivery, rap-singing:</p>
<p><em>“This ain’t rap. This ain’t money, cars, and clothes.
We won’t turn your sons into thugs or your daughters into h—.”</em> </p>
<p>The song goes further: </p>
<p><em>“Claim that I’m racist. Yeah, alright.
I’m not ashamed because I’m white.
If every Caucasian’s a bigot, I guess every Muslim’s a terrorist.
Every liberal is right.”</em></p>
<p>For a brief moment, during the last week of January, the song hit No. 1 on the iTunes U.S. chart, which gave Shapiro the audacity, and the apparent receipts, to call himself the “#1 rapper in America.”</p>
<h2>White male grievance</h2>
<p>It’s not surprising that such a large swath of music consumers would find “Facts” entertaining. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A white man dressed in black clothes appears on stage with a band." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578931/original/file-20240229-16-7kl1wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578931/original/file-20240229-16-7kl1wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578931/original/file-20240229-16-7kl1wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578931/original/file-20240229-16-7kl1wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578931/original/file-20240229-16-7kl1wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578931/original/file-20240229-16-7kl1wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578931/original/file-20240229-16-7kl1wv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hip-hop artist Eminem performs in Los Angeles in 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/inductee-eminem-performs-on-stage-during-the-37th-annual-news-photo/1439523090?adppopup=true">Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Eminem, a white rapper, might be a case study. In the early 2000s, he achieved great success in part because of the way <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-21-mn-28235-story.html">he gave voice</a> to the repressed rage of certain segments of “<a href="https://www.vulture.com/2017/01/eminems-white-america-15-years-later.html">White America</a>.” </p>
<p>But since the presidential election of Donald Trump in 2016, that rage felt all across white America has been politicized and commercialized <a href="https://news.berkeley.edu/2022/11/14/loss-fear-and-rage-are-white-men-rebelling-against-democracy">to such a degree</a> that I believe hip-hop listeners have heard enough of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/dec/30/audiences-dont-want-white-anger-how-white-rap-grew-a-conscience">white grievance</a>. </p>
<p>It also seems white artists like Eminem took notice.</p>
<p>In his <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/d3ybbz/lets-all-settle-down-about-eminems-bet-hip-hop-awards-cypher">2017 BET Hip Hop Awards freestyle cypher</a>, Eminem went to great lengths to distance himself from the actions of his fans who seemed to be <a href="https://ew.com/music/2017/10/11/eminem-trump-storm-lyrics/">politically aligned with Trump</a> and <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/alt-right">the alt-right</a>. </p>
<p>Eminem’s freestyle affected his popularity badly enough that he <a href="https://www.thefader.com/2018/08/31/eminem-regret-anti-trump-freestyle-secret-service-interview">later backtracked his remarks</a> and apologized to his Trump-loving fans on a song called “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tT150Zl0Ay0">The Ringer</a>” on his 2018 album “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=undRq8xKR8Q">Kamikaze</a>.” </p>
<h2>Hip-hop capitalism</h2>
<p>From its start more than 50 years ago, hip-hop has never been singularly focused <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/is-hip-hop-still-radical-1234950995/">on mainstream measures of success</a> such as Grammy nominations and awards, music industry chart rankings or sold-out concerts. Nor have its cultural practitioners and producers been gender or race exclusive. </p>
<p>In fact, before rap became <a href="https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/hip-hop-50th-history/getting-the-money.html">an international multibillion dollar industry</a>, early rappers were wary of the mainstream music industry, and many believed it would negatively affect the integrity of the music and culture. </p>
<p>But even early rappers were forced to find a complicated balance between culture and capitalism. </p>
<p>For instance, in the late 1990s, Yasiin Bey, formerly known as <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/yasiin-bey-clarifies-drake-comments-1235593284/">Mos Def</a>, and <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/talib-kweli-social-media_n_639bafffe4b0aeb2ace22f13">Talib Kweli</a> released their first album, “Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Black man wearing sunglasses is surrounded by a group of other Black men." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578929/original/file-20240229-30-1qku6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578929/original/file-20240229-30-1qku6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578929/original/file-20240229-30-1qku6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578929/original/file-20240229-30-1qku6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578929/original/file-20240229-30-1qku6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578929/original/file-20240229-30-1qku6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578929/original/file-20240229-30-1qku6n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=743&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mos Def in New York City before a Black Star concert in 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mos-def-attends-black-star-in-concert-at-sony-hallon-news-photo/1441918449?adppopup=true">Johnny Nunez/WireImage</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://www.okayplayer.com/originals/yasiin-bey-talib-kweli-black-star-timeline.html">critically acclaimed project</a> was filled with lyrics focused on Black consciousness, the perils of mainstream hip-hop and a kind of <a href="https://colorlines.com/article/yasiin-bey-aka-mos-def-talks-about-his-move-south-africa/">Pan-Africanism</a>. </p>
<p>Their label, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jul/11/james-murdoch-hip-hop">Rawkus Records</a>, was known for recording and signing several underground rap acts including <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/eminem-blows-up-91979/">Eminem</a>, <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/pharaohe-monch-mental-health-9607525/">Pharoahe Monch</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/07/24/1189040805/hip-hop-50-chicago">Common</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zweuggu9IUQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Yasiin Bey, formerly Mos Def, responds to a question about Drake, pop music and hip-hop.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But Rawkus was just as much a part of the music industry as any other record label. </p>
<p>It was co-founded and <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90411108/that-cringe-worthy-rap-on-succession-must-be-a-reference-to-james-murdoch-erstwhile-hip-hop-mogul">financially backed</a> by James Murdoch, a son of the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/rupert-murdoch-billionaire-mogul-helm-global-media-empire-2023-09-21/">media mogul Rupert Murdoch</a>. The label was eventually bought by Murdoch’s News Corp.</p>
<p>Over the past five decades, rap music and hip-hop culture has come to mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.</p>
<p>For Bey, though, the question goes beyond the money or popularity.</p>
<p>“Where’s the message that I can use?” he asked during a 2024 interview. </p>
<p>I would love to believe that racist, sexist, white male grievance rap isn’t where the zeitgeist is in America. </p>
<p>But Ben Shapiro and his conservative followers are betting that it is – at least for a brief moment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222545/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>A.D. Carson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since its birth 50 years ago, hip-hop music has embraced artists of every race and ethnic background. An avowed hip-hop hater might be a step too far.A.D. Carson, Associate Professor of Hip-Hop, University of VirginiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200102023-12-22T12:16:12Z2023-12-22T12:16:12ZPhone hacking in the British press: three key moments in the scandal – and what happens next<p>Prince Harry has emerged as the victor in his <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67332563">civil case</a> against Mirror Group Newspapers. The judge, Mr Justice Fanning, ruled that on the balance of probabilities a sample of 15 out of 33 articles examined by his court were written as result of phone hacking and other illegal measures. In an exhaustive report <a href="https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Duke-of-Sussex-v-MGN-Judgment.pdf">weighing in at 386 pages</a>, Fanning stated that there was evidence of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67332563">“widespread and habitual”</a> use of phone hacking at the Mirror newspapers.</p>
<p>Harry was awarded damages of £140,600 and said in a <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2023-12-15/prince-harry-judge-finds-extensive-phone-hacking-by-mirror-group-newspapers">subsequent statement</a>: “Today is a great day for truth, as well as accountability. This case is not just about hacking – it is about a systemic practice of unlawful and appalling behaviour, followed by cover-ups and destruction of evidence, the shocking scale of which can only be revealed through these proceedings.”</p>
<p>That Harry was in a bullish mood was entirely understandable. But his case is only the latest development in a series of events which has rocked the tabloid press in the UK over the past decade or so.</p>
<h2>1. The closure of the News of the World</h2>
<p>In July 2011, the Guardian claimed that journalists on the News of the World had hacked into the phone messages of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. Not only this, but messages were also removed to make room for more, giving her parents the impression she was still alive and picking up her messages. </p>
<p>The facts of the case have never been satisfactorily concluded, but the reporting on this and other allegations of phone hacking, as well as the strength of the public reaction, were enough to prompt the closure of the News of the World that same month. The paper had been one of the most widely read in the UK. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jul/07/news-of-the-world">statement at the time</a>, James Murdoch, son of Rupert, said: “The News of the World and News International failed to get to the bottom of repeated wrongdoing that occurred without conscience or legitimate purpose.”</p>
<h2>2. The Leveson Inquiry</h2>
<p>Seemingly moved by the widespread vitriol attracted by the News of the World, David Cameron, the prime minister at the time, commissioned the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/leveson-inquiry-report-into-the-culture-practices-and-ethics-of-the-press">Leveson Inquiry</a> into the culture, practices and ethics of the British press.</p>
<p>The inquiry was asked to make recommendations on how more ethical and professional standards could be achieved. The <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/media_law/leveson-inquiry-qa-so-why-was-the-inquiry-set-up-in-the-first-place/">aim</a> was to find a “new, more effective policy and regulatory regime for the press”.</p>
<p>When the inquiry’s report <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/leveson-inquiry-report-into-the-culture-practices-and-ethics-of-the-press">was published</a> in 2012, the tabloid press was singled out for criticism. Its conduct over the years, said the report, could “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20543133">only be described as outrageous</a>”.</p>
<p>Leveson recommended a new organisation be created to regulate the press. This should be entirely <a href="https://fullfact.org/news/leveson-report-basics/">independent</a> in composition and free from all political and commercial involvement.</p>
<p>The body that did ultimately emerge from the inquiry was the <a href="https://www.ipso.co.uk/what-we-do/">Independent Press Standards Organisation</a> (Ipso), which has regulated the press ever since but does not fit with the Leveson <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201415/ldselect/ldcomuni/135/13503.htm">vision of independence</a>.</p>
<p>The second part of the Leveson inquiry was meant to consider the relationship between the police and journalists, but never actually took place. It was shelved in 2018. The government’s reasoning for this decision was that it considered the exercise “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/mar/01/leveson-inquiry-part-2-cancellation-condemned-by-labour-as-breach-of-trust">costly and time consuming</a>”.</p>
<h2>3. Journalism in the dock: phone-hacking trials</h2>
<p>In 2014 key journalists who had worked for the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World were charged with <a href="https://theconversation.com/journalism-in-the-dock-first-month-of-phone-hacking-trial-20737">conspiring to hack voicemails</a>. Among those involved were former editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, who had subsequently gone on to become David Cameron’s director of communications at Number 10.</p>
<p>In the event, Brooks was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing while Coulson was jailed for 18 months for conspiracy to hack phones.</p>
<h2>The trials ahead</h2>
<p>If Harry <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/prince-harry-wins-round-one-of-tabloid-battle-but-hes-far-from-finished-13031024">sounded confident</a> in his victory over the Mirror, it’s maybe because he sees this battle as evidence that he is destined to prevail in a much longer war against the press.</p>
<p>The ruling that there “<a href="https://news.sky.com/story/prince-harry-hacking-case-latest-piers-morgan-breaks-silence-after-judge-in-harry-case-said-it-was-convincing-he-knew-about-phone-hacking-13030737">can be no doubt</a>” that Piers Morgan knew about phone hacking while he was editor at the Mirror (which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/video/2023/dec/15/piers-morgan-denies-knowing-of-phone-hacking-after-judge-rules-he-did-video">Morgan denies</a>) has probably emboldened the Prince for the next two contests against <a href="https://uk.news.yahoo.com/prince-harrys-legal-battles-press-121154671.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADtxV4grVYG7zAuhysCzcNGmpdtwA5ilv1lemzMX6WhFGlNOPnjZ4N-lW-dvCrZ7WE_iZhoQbouiAb8xSenNoAQXf2hB4kIVsIniROmsGeY-o4wdV_W63npVz4eVvRS5Wx0krjA6granIb_wgNQazb1Q2Ngg7V-IyOGwh0g2t1dy">Associated News and News UK</a> for alleged violations of privacy and unlawful information gathering.</p>
<p>Harry stated in an <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2023/01/08/prince-harry-interview-with-tom-bradby-in-full-18061892/">interview</a> earlier this year that campaigning against the injustices of the press had become his <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/nationals/prince-harry-press-media-itv-interview/">life’s work</a>. And, as media lawyer <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/prince-harry-hacking-case-latest-duke-of-sussex-to-find-out-if-he-has-won-landmark-case-against-mirror-group-newspapers-13030737">Persephone Bridgman Baker</a> told Sky News: “We certainly haven’t seen the end of phone hacking [in the courts].”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220010/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Jewell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Prince Harry’s victory against the mirror is only the latest episode in an epic saga.John Jewell, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2130242023-11-15T14:22:00Z2023-11-15T14:22:00ZAs Lachlan Murdoch takes over from his father he may need to reset News Corp’s relations with Donald Trump<p>As Rupert Murdoch hands over the reins of News Corp and Fox <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/e13a0081-538a-4cdf-966d-1a20da47605f">to his son Lachlan</a>, there is an opportunity to rebuild the relationship between the family’s media empire and former US president Donald Trump. This would make business sense for Fox as Trump is a ratings winner. But it may prove to be more difficult than it first appears.</p>
<p>The deterioration of the relationship between the Murdochs and the former president resulted in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-wont-take-part-republican-debates-2023-08-21/">Trump choosing</a> not to attend the Fox’s Republican debates. But Trump’s refusal to participate in any of the three debates has not affected his chances of gaining the nomination.</p>
<p>After the third debate on November 8, absent Trump was judged by 30% of the viewers to be the winner, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12731283/Donald-Trump-named-real-winner-debate-DeSantis-Daily-Mail-poll-viewing-figures-revealed.html">in a J.L. Partners poll</a>. Further proof, according to one <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/08/how-donald-trump-got-the-upper-hand-on-fox-news">commentator</a>, that missing the debates has illustrated that Fox is more reliant on Trump than vice versa.</p>
<p>Trump’s love-hate relationship with Fox has been a long one, particularly his <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/16/donald-trump-rupert-murdoch-friendship-fox-news">connection</a> with Murdoch and his family. During the late 1970s and 1980s, Trump featured regularly in the Page Six gossip column of the Murdoch-owned New York Post. His constant appearances in the paper <a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a30709872/page-six-gossip-history-new-york-post/">catapulted</a> Trump from a New York real-estate developer into a celebrity figure.</p>
<p>During the 2016 election cycle, Murdoch originally <a href="https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2014/04/murdoch-says-jeb-bush-paul-ryan-top-2016-list-but-he-could-vote-for-hillary-186645">supported</a> Jeb Bush, the son of former president George H.W. Bush and brother to president George W. Bush. Trump’s initial support within the Fox organisation in 2016 was through Roger Ailes, the chief executive, as well as leading presenter Bill O’Reilly.</p>
<p>When Trump became the leading candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination, the Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2016/04/14/the-post-endorses-donald-trump/">endorsed</a> him for the candidacy, while Murdoch <a href="https://twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/705134886324215808?s=20">stated</a> that the Republican Party would “be mad not to unify” behind him. Consequently, Fox and Trump’s relationship became a mutually supportive one – Fox supported his campaign, while Trump enhanced Fox’s viewing figures.</p>
<p>That’s not to say it was all smooth sailing. In January 2016, he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/27/us/politics/trump-feud-fox-debate.html">demanded</a> that Fox anchor Megyn Kelly be replaced as host of the second Fox-hosted debate after he accused her of treating her badly in the first. When Fox <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-35422552">refused</a>, he avoided the second debate and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election/trump-abruptly-withdraws-from-fox-debate-in-iowa-idUSL2N15B00Z">told</a> reporters: “Let’s see how much money Fox is going to make on the debate without me.”</p>
<p>Fox News was committed to the Trump presidency. During the first year, Fox News acted as a crucial mouthpiece for the Trump administration. Fox and Friends, the station’s breakfast show was a conduit between Trump and Republicans, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/sep/17/fox-and-friends-fox-news-donald-trump">exaggerating</a> Trump’s achievements. Trump reciprocated by parroting Fox’s talking points in his Twitter feed.</p>
<p>The Trump-Fox relationship started to deteriorate on 2020 election night, when the station announced that Joe Biden had won the state of Arizona. For the Trump campaign, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/05/fox-draws-trump-campaigns-ire-after-early-call-of-arizona-for-biden">this</a> was a betrayal. In March, Steve Bannon, host of the War Room podcast and Trump’s former chief strategist, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/03/the-trump-world-fox-news-war-gets-nasty-00085506">told the audience at CPAC</a>, the leading conservative conference, that Fox had done so illegitimately, constantly attacking Fox during his speech.</p>
<p>The gulf between Trump and Fox widened in April of this year. Fox’s <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/markets?utm_source=business_ribbon">support</a> of Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories surrounding vote rigging during the 2020 presidential election resulted in the organisation <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/first-read/fox-news-pays-price-2020-lies-trump-hasnt-yet-rcna80382">settling a defamation lawsuit</a> with the owners of the voting machines, Dominion Voting Systems, for US$787.5 million (£631.8 million).</p>
<p>According to some <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/03/donald-trump-relationship-fox-news">reports</a>, the settlement of the case, which involved admitting that the claims were without merit, was seen by Trump as the organisation turning its back on him. This was made worse by <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fox-chairman-rupert-murdoch-said-under-oath-2020-election-was-not-stolen-according-to-court-filings">Murdoch’s sworn testimony</a> that “the election was not stolen”.</p>
<h2>Maga-hating Murdoch</h2>
<p>Trump still has a good rapport with some Fox hosts, but his relationship with Murdoch has deteriorated to the point where Trump <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11807939/Trump-ups-attacks-MAGA-Hating-Globalist-RINO-Rupert-Murdoch.html">called Murdoch and the Fox executives</a> a group of “MAGA Hating Globalist RINOS” (Republican in name only). And his relationship with Fox in general is not the same as it was 2016. He also recently <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/110904845212218957">complained</a> about being unfairly treated by Fox and Friends.</p>
<p>Posting on his <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/110924112193729328">Truth Social website</a>, Trump claimed his decision to not attend the debate was because he was so far in front of his rivals in recent polls. While viewing <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/24/media/fox-news-gop-debate-ratings/index.html">figures</a> for the debate without Trump were higher than expected, they were half of those for the corresponding event in 2016.</p>
<p>Trump’s decision to release a recorded <a href="https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1694513603251241143?s=20">interview</a> on X with former Fox star Tucker Carlson shortly after the debate was another slap in the face for Fox. Choosing Carlson to be the host, who has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/business/media/tucker-carlson-trump.html">stated</a> he hated Trump on numerous occasions and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/26/tucker-carlson-fox-news-firing-condition-dominion-settlement">claimed</a> he himself had been fired from Fox News as part of the agreement with Dominion, was a thinly veiled attack on the channel.</p>
<p>Trump’s absence from the debates is unlikely to affect his chances of getting the Republican nomination. Polling experts <a href="https://fivethirtyeight.com/">FiveThirtyEight</a> give Trump 51.4% of the projected <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/president-primary-r/2024/national/">vote</a>, with his nearest rival Floridian governor Ron DeSantis at a dwindling 14.5%. </p>
<h2>Lachlan Murdoch enters the fray</h2>
<p>Lachlan Murdoch thinks as much of Trump as his father does. One unnamed source is <a href="https://people.com/lachlan-murdoch-more-conservative-than-rupert-source-says-7973718">quoted as saying</a> that Lachlan has “had trouble with Trump’s antics” in the past. </p>
<p>So resetting the Murdoch-Trump relationship might not be so easy. It would show immense weakness on Lachlan’s part and might jeopardise his relationship with his father, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/lachlan-murdoch-reunite-fox-news-trump-biographer-michael-wolff/">according to</a> Michael Wolff, Murdoch’s biographer.</p>
<p>But regardless of who is in charge, Fox News will need to start rebuilding bridges with Trump to ensure that it maintains the attention of its Republican audience. After all, despite not being there, Trump was still the source of much <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/24/business/media/fox-republican-debate-trump.html">debate</a> and interaction between the candidates in the debates. </p>
<p><a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4168345-fox-news-is-the-debates-biggest-loser/">Criticism</a> of the format of the first Fox debate suggests that Fox needs to do something if it wants to win the ratings war. And with <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12732397/Viewing-figures-Republican-debate-drop-NBC.html">declining viewing figures</a> for the debates without Trump, it needs to do something quickly. Meanwhile Trump, it seems, can do without Fox.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dafydd Townley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Will the son choose to build bridges with Trump that his father burned?Dafydd Townley, Teaching Fellow in International Security, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2142182023-11-01T12:35:32Z2023-11-01T12:35:32ZRupert Murdoch’s empire was built on a shrewd understanding of how media and power work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555588/original/file-20231024-21-p46wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C128%2C3579%2C2369&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The man at the center of the news.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/publishing-magnate-rupert-murdoch-at-the-printing-presses-news-photo/685183993?adppopup=true">Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/VCG via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When businesspeople retire at an advanced age, it seldom makes headlines.</p>
<p>But when 92-year-old Rupert Murdoch <a href="https://apnews.com/article/murdoch-fox-quit-emeritus-30286a4a3107b7bde612adbfc7891958">announced in September</a> that he was stepping away from his multicontinent media empire and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lachlan-rupert-murdoch-fox-news-a5100d8bd20f72efe5a83eec32823f1f">turning it over to his son Lachlan</a>, it was breaking news that generated countless stories <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/22/briefing/rupert-murdoch.html">speculating about the futures</a> of two of his most storied holdings, Fox and News Corp.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://miamioh.edu/profiles/cas/bruce-drushel.html">scholar who studies media organizations</a> and their political and economic influence, I see this level of attention as an indicator both of the significance of the companies Murdoch built and the way he used them to alter the media and political landscape.</p>
<h2>Murdoch the believer … or opportunist?</h2>
<p>Murdoch infused his print and television properties, first in his native Australia and later in the U.K. and the U.S., with a generally right-of-center slant. </p>
<p>But his reputation as a promoter of conservative ideals was at odds with his past. While a student at Oxford University, Murdoch <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/11/rupert-murdoch-kept-bust-lenin-oxford-dorm-room/335908/">kept a bust of Lenin</a> in his room and annoyed his father, Sir Keith Murdoch, <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/rupert-murdoch-was-a-socialist-before-he-built-fox-news-20230906-p5e2ev">with his socialist views</a>.</p>
<p>When his father <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murdoch-sir-keith-arthur-7693">died suddenly in 1952</a>, Murdoch inherited a small newspaper in Adelaide and soon was using its profits to buy up suburban papers all over Australia, as well as licenses for television stations.</p>
<p>His conquest of the U.K. began in 1969 with the purchase of a majority interest in <a href="https://www.historic-newspapers.co.uk/blog/news-of-the-world-history/">News of the World</a>, a major circulation Sunday tabloid. Eventually, he would add to it the daily tabloid <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/aug/27/rupert-murdoch-the-sun">The Sun</a> and the redoubtable but financially struggling <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/14/world/murdoch-in-challenge-of-my-life-buys-london-times-for-28-million.html">Times and Sunday Times</a>. </p>
<p>Through the 1970s, his politics moved to the right, culminating in his support – and The Sun’s much <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/28/how-margaret-thatcher-and-rupert-murdoch-made-secret-deal">sought-after editorial endorsement</a> – of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party.</p>
<p>Despite the conservative outlook of his publications, there always has been nagging <a href="https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2008/shafer-murdochs-a-political-opportunist-not-a-conservative/">speculation about the sincerity</a> of Murdoch’s ideological beliefs – whether they were tightly held or simply manifestations of political opportunism and his ability to anticipate the popular mood. Murdoch’s The Sun <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20120528-liveblog-former-british-pm-tony-blair-faces-leveson-grilling-london-godfather-murdoch">backed the center-left Tony Blair</a> when Conservative Party prime minister John Major fell out of favor in 1997.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two men in suits are seen through the back window of a car." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555590/original/file-20231024-27-kds6e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/555590/original/file-20231024-27-kds6e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555590/original/file-20231024-27-kds6e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555590/original/file-20231024-27-kds6e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555590/original/file-20231024-27-kds6e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555590/original/file-20231024-27-kds6e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/555590/original/file-20231024-27-kds6e6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, right, and his son Lachlan, center, in 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/BritainPhoneHacking/140ab33fab704ff78a8a749681e4bf0f/photo?Query=murdoch%20lachlan&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:asc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=20&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Sang Tan</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>His successes in the U.K. provided him with the strategic template for his eventual entry into the more lucrative U.S. market: Buy undervalued sources of content creation and then use their profits, along with a combination of emerging technology and political influence, to expand their distribution. </p>
<p>In the U.K., that meant the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/oct/12/rupertmurdoch.citynews1">secretive construction of a high-tech automated printing facility</a> that bypassed the labor unions. In the U.S., it might have contributed to a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/12/23/gingrich-45-million-book-deal-draws-fire/b6f90dae-1171-4401-899a-d0b6ca3c0b7d/">US$4.5 million book deal</a> for House Speaker Newt Gingrich with Murdoch’s publishing house HarperCollins. It came as the media tycoon was facing questions about where the money for his U.S. television properties was coming from – questions, it was suggested by critics, that the speaker’s influence could help smooth over.</p>
<h2>Building an American empire</h2>
<p>Murdoch’s American empire started in 1976 when he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1976/11/20/archives/new-jersey-pages-dorothy-schiff-agrees-to-sell-post-to-murdoch.html">purchased the tabloid the New York Post</a>. There, borrowing from his experience in the U.K., he flipped the newspaper’s ideology from liberal to conservative and used splash headlines and prurient content to more than double its circulation.</p>
<p>Also echoing a strategy he had employed in the U.K., he added the more respected <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118589043953483378">Wall Street Journal</a> to his holdings a number of years later, extending the reach of his influence from blue-collar to white-collar readers. </p>
<p>Anticipating the uncertain future of the newspaper business, Murdoch expanded his empire to include television.</p>
<p>He <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1985/03/21/murdoch-agrees-to-buy-a-50-percent-share-of-20th-century-fox-film/8862819b-50de-4ad3-aeb5-70ca84f109f1/">purchased the Twentieth Century Fox film and television studio</a> in 1985 to provide both production facilities and a library of content. The following year, he bought the television station holdings of <a href="https://www.company-histories.com/Metromedia-Company-Company-History.html">Metromedia</a> to form the distribution nucleus of what would become the Fox television network. </p>
<p>Doing so required a series of moves to meet Federal Communications Commission regulations. First, Murdoch would have to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-09-04-mn-23112-story.html">become a U.S. citizen</a>. Second, Fox would have to limit its hours of broadcast in order to avoid meeting the official definition of a network and in so doing break FCC rules that at the time stated that a single company could not be both a network and a syndicator of programs.</p>
<p>Third, he would have to sell the New York Post, since another rule prohibited common ownership of a daily newspaper and television station in the same city. The FCC would later allow him to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-30-fi-17004-story.html">repurchase the Post</a> out of bankruptcy in 1993, rather than see the newspaper fold.</p>
<h2>The birth of Fox News</h2>
<p>Unable to secure licenses for terrestrial television stations in the U.K., Murdoch <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/09/from-launch-to-takeover-rupert-murdoch-and-sky">launched the Sky satellite service</a> in 1989 as both a content provider and a distribution system. Among Sky’s channels was Sky News, the U.K.’s first 24-hour news channel. Once Sky News had become profitable, Murdoch announced he would bring his brand of 24-hour news to the U.S. By <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/04/08/five-facts-about-fox-news/">October 1996, Fox News Channel</a>, led by former Republican Party strategist Roger Ailes, was on the air. </p>
<p>While Fox News is now very much associated with a viewership that skews older, conservative and white, the Fox broadcast network’s path to success with audiences and advertisers was initially based in its appeal to underserved audiences among young adults and African Americans.</p>
<p>Shows like “The Simpsons” and “Married … With Children” were seen as edgy in their representation of dysfunctional families. Meanwhile, “In Living Color,” “Roc,” “The Bernie Mac Show,” “Martin” and “Living Single” followed “The Cosby Show” playbook of focusing on Black authorship and autobiography to attract not just African Americans but <a href="https://www.penguinbookshop.com/book/9780195106121">audiences of all races and ethnicities</a>.</p>
<p>When Fox secured rights to the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/12/18/fox-lands-contract-to-televise-the-nfl/7c20a84e-aa1b-4226-a0b4-fe724031cc17/">National Football League’s NFC games</a> in 1993, the network began targeting more mainstream audiences as well. As he had done in the newspaper business, Murdoch established his foothold in a niche market he perceived as being underserved and ripe for exploitation before setting his sights elsewhere.</p>
<h2>A less-than-graceful exit</h2>
<p>Despite his <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2012/feb/20/sun-rupert-murdoch">reputation as a buccaneer</a> who took huge risks in expanding his holdings, skirting regulations and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/11/25/business/the-media-business-murdoch-s-company-wins-extension-on-bank-loans.html">delaying repayments of loans</a> from financial institutions, Murdoch avoided major legal and business setbacks for most of his career.</p>
<p>That only began to change in the mid-2000s.</p>
<p>First there was Myspace. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newscorp-myspace/news-corp-sells-myspace-ending-six-year-saga-idUSTRE75S6D720110629">News Corp. bought</a> what was then among the world’s most popular websites in 2005. But it soon went into decline, weighed down by failures to update its technology and features. Then, in 2011, a backlash from a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jul/10/news-of-the-world-10-years-since-phone-hacking-scandal-brought-down-tabloid">scandal involving the hacking</a> of cellphone accounts of a murdered teenage girl, British service personnel killed in action and a host of celebrities forced the closure of Murdoch’s first U.K. newspaper, the News of the World.</p>
<p>More recently, News Corp. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/24/938545344/fox-news-settles-with-seth-richs-parents-for-false-story-claiming-clinton-leaks">settled a lawsuit</a> brought by the parents of the late Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer, after Fox News repeated right-wing conspiracy claims about the murdered man. It also <a href="https://time.com/6272910/dominion-settlement-fox-news-nightmare/">reached a $787.5 million settlement</a> with Dominion Voting Systems, which several Fox News hosts had accused of rigging the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump. A <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/26/media/smartmatic-murdoch/index.html">similar defamation suit by Smartmatic</a> is pending.</p>
<p>For a man whose career was built on a shrewdness for reading the media landscape, such failures might well leave a bitter taste in retirement. But nonetheless, Murdoch will step down from his empire leaving mighty footprints.</p>
<p>It remains to be seen how his son Lachlan will fill them – or if he also inherited his father’s instincts and will lay down tracks for the empire in a new and unexpected direction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Drushel does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As Rupert Murdoch prepares to hand over the keys to his media empire, what will his legacy be?Bruce Drushel, Professor of Media, Journalism and Film, Miami UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2141412023-09-22T01:50:29Z2023-09-22T01:50:29ZWhy is Rupert Murdoch stepping aside now and what does it mean for the company?<p>At age 92, media mogul Rupert Murdoch is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-21/rupert-murdoch-steps-down-as-newscorp-chair/102887474">stepping down</a> as chairman of Fox Corporation and News Corp but will stay on in the role of chairman emeritus, presumably to help guide his eldest son Lachlan as the new head of the firm.</p>
<p>In many ways, the news was inevitable. The company is clearly planning its succession and how it manages Rupert’s decline. It has one eye on the market and one on ensuring the company maintains its direction.</p>
<p>But why now, and where to from here for the company? And what will Rupert Murdoch be remembered for?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-biography-of-lachlan-murdoch-provides-some-insights-but-leaves-important-questions-unanswered-192403">The first biography of Lachlan Murdoch provides some insights, but leaves important questions unanswered</a>
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<h2>Why now?</h2>
<p>Rupert’s departure was always going to come in one of two ways: either Rupert dropping off the perch or him leaving on this own terms. He has opted for the latter. </p>
<p>This means the company has chosen to manage the transition in a market-favourable way.</p>
<p>The transition to Lachlan looks, for the moment, to be well and truly secure. This gives him the chance under the leadership of Rupert to guide the company in the direction he – or Rupert – wants.</p>
<p>Rupert says he is in robust health but he was keen to hang on as long as possible. So, perhaps today’s news suggests his health is declining. We can only speculate but the man is, after all, 92.</p>
<h2>Would the recent lawsuits have played a role?</h2>
<p>Fox has been subject to several very expensive lawsuits in recent years, which caused a lot of turmoil internally. At the cost of US$787.5 million, Fox settled a defamation lawsuit brought by Dominion Voting Systems over baseless claims made about its voting machines in the 2020 US presidential election. A different voting technology company, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/21/rupert-murdoch-fox-news-lawsuits-donald-trump">Smartmatic</a>, is also suing.</p>
<p>But I doubt this played a huge role in Rupert stepping down because, in the end, a billion in lawsuits is nothing to a company that a few years ago made $70 billion by selling just some of its assets to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/09/21/fox-and-news-corp-stock-surges-as-rupert-murdoch-steps-down/?sh=37463b772a49">Disney</a>. </p>
<p>This is the price the company pays for its take-no-prisoners approach. It is proud of its uncompromising editorial stance, which is designed to pander to its right-wing audience. And there is no indication Lachlan will take it in a different direction. </p>
<h2>What next for Lachlan, with Rupert as chairman emeritus?</h2>
<p>In a sense, Rupert is not really stepping down. His new papal-like title of chairman emeritus recognises he will struggle to let go. But the new role is also about calming the market and saying, “Don’t worry, I haven’t gone away; I am still here and I have my hand on Lachlan’s shoulder.”</p>
<p>The best indication of Lachlan’s future stewardship of News Corp is his recent behaviour. He was at the helm of Fox News during Donald Trump’s presidential years and the immediate aftermath, when Fox News did enormous damage in its reporting on the 2020 election result. He was at the helm when Fox was making those baseless claims about Dominion Voting Systems. He had ample opportunity to guide the company in a different direction, but he didn’t. </p>
<p>So I think we can expect News Corp will continue to be the zealous right-wing media company it currently is.</p>
<h2>How might this affect the 2024 US election?</h2>
<p>News Corp has finally seen what millions of US voters saw at the 2020 election, which was that Trump was ultimately destructive as a leader. Now, outlets like Fox News are umming and ahhing about whether to back him. Some at Fox are clearly reluctant to let go of their adoration of Trump while others are disappointed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis isn’t emerging as a viable challenger.</p>
<p>If Trump continues to be the most popular Republican candidate, Fox will probably fall into line and support him, albeit with less enthusiasm than last time. </p>
<p>There is a sense of confusion within Fox about whom to back and where to stand, which reflects the chaos in US politics more broadly.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-the-earliest-years-of-his-career-the-young-rupert-murdoch-ruthlessly-pursued-his-interests-207829">From the earliest years of his career, the young Rupert Murdoch ruthlessly pursued his interests</a>
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<h2>So what’s Rupert’s legacy?</h2>
<p>It comes down to a ledger. Has this man done more harm or good in his life in the media?</p>
<p>On the good side, he has been a champion of newspapers. He has employed thousands of journalists and his outlets have often practised good public-interest journalism.</p>
<p>But I am afraid I believe the good is outweighed by all the harm done on Rupert’s watch.</p>
<p>His news media empire is fundamentally antisocial in the way it operates. I believe it’s caused so much harm to so many people along the way, and that cannot go unacknowledged. From the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-british-scandal-murdoch-20150611-story.html">UK phone hacking scandal</a> and beat ups to <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/Sceptical-Climate-Part-2-Climate-Science-in-Australian-Newspapers.pdf">climate denial</a> and the demonisation of minorities, News Corp can be counted on to dumb down complexity, make issues binary and turn one side against the other.</p>
<p>He has damaged democracy and civil discourse and journalism itself. The behaviour of News Corp has on occasions been reprehensible, for which I think Rupert must take the blame.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rupert-murdoch-how-a-22-year-old-zealous-laborite-turned-into-a-tabloid-tsar-204914">Rupert Murdoch: how a 22-year-old 'zealous Laborite' turned into a tabloid tsar</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dodd is on the Public Interest Journalism Initiative's academic research advisory group. He is also a former media writer for The Australian, Crikey and the ABC. </span></em></p>This is a decision that was always going to come in one of two forms: either Rupert dropping off the perch or him leaving on this own terms. He has opted for the latter.Andrew Dodd, Director of the Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2141152023-09-21T20:47:04Z2023-09-21T20:47:04ZMedia mogul Rupert Murdoch resigns − extending Joe Biden’s ongoing good luck streak with the media<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549644/original/file-20230921-25-3annrt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Joe Biden speaks during a press conference at the White House in January 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-joe-biden-speaks-during-a-news-conference-in-the-news-photo/1237839403?adppopup=true">Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Joe Biden was inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States of America on Jan. 20, 2021.</p>
<p>Imagine if someone could go back in time and inform him and his communications team that a few pivotal changes in the media would occur during his first three years in office.</p>
<p>There’s the latest news that Rubert Murdoch, 92, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/murdoch-fox-quit-emeritus-30286a4a3107b7bde612adbfc7891958">stepped down</a> as the chairperson of Fox Corp. and News Corp. on Sept. 21, 2023. Since the 1980s, Murdoch, who will be replaced by his son Lachlan, has been the most <a href="https://theconversation.com/rupert-murdoch-and-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-press-barons-how-much-power-do-newspapers-still-have-213283">powerful right-wing media executive</a> in the U.S.</p>
<p>While it’s not clear whether Fox will be any tamer under Lachlan, Murdoch’s departure is likely good news for Biden, who <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/03/media/reliable-sources-biden-murdoch-fox-news/index.html">reportedly despises the media baron.</a></p>
<p>Adding to Biden’s good-luck list is that Elon Musk, an eccentric – and erratic – billionaire, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/technology/elon-musk-twitter-deal-complete.html">purchased Twitter</a>, now rebranded as X, in October 2022, prompting <a href="https://www.expressvpn.com/blog/twitter-in-numbers/">millions of American users to drop</a> the social media platform, which has become a hotbed of right-wing activity and commentary. </p>
<p>X’s power as an <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-lists/elon-musk-twitter-celebrities-quit-1234634670/">influential social</a>, political and <a href="https://www.vox.com/technology/2023/4/15/23683554/twitter-dying-elon-musk-x-company">cultural force</a> has since continued to decline. Former President Donald Trump <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3743666-trump-says-he-has-no-interest-in-returning-to-twitter-after-reinstatement/">even originally spurned an invitation</a> to return to X, after Twitter <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/01/08/954760928/twitter-bans-president-trump-citing-risk-of-further-incitement-of-violence">suspended his account</a> in 2021 for the risk it posed to incite violence. (Trump has since posted one time on X, on Aug. 24, 2023.) </p>
<p>These and other incidents mark an astonishing and even historic run of good luck for Biden, who, like all politicians, remains somewhat reliant on the media to both get his word out and craft a positive public image.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YxTJsxoAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar of media history</a>, I think it’s fair to say no American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has enjoyed such a run of good media luck. </p>
<p>Ultimately, this luck – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/us/politics/biden-public-appearances-media.html#:%7E:text=Biden%20averaged%2010%20news%20conferences">coupled with his avoidance of press conferences</a> – might help Biden evade the intense scrutiny that all presidents face.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549643/original/file-20230921-26-2fmdld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Rupert Murdoch wears a dark shit and walks in a street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549643/original/file-20230921-26-2fmdld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549643/original/file-20230921-26-2fmdld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549643/original/file-20230921-26-2fmdld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549643/original/file-20230921-26-2fmdld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549643/original/file-20230921-26-2fmdld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549643/original/file-20230921-26-2fmdld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549643/original/file-20230921-26-2fmdld.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, pictured in July 2023, announced his resignation on Sept. 21.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rupert-murdoch-at-his-annual-party-at-spencer-house-st-news-photo/1258950833?adppopup=true">Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Other conservative voices in decline</h2>
<p>A few other major media shifts have transpired during Biden’s presidency.</p>
<p>Fox News <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/25/tucker-carlson-don-lemon-new-era-cable-news">lost approximately 1 million nightly prime-time viewers</a>, or about a third of its audience, between 2020 and early 2023. CNN and MSNBC <a href="https://apnews.com/article/cnn-ratings-chris-licht-584ea2b45819d2cc416006d7bd8b77e8#:%7E:text=will%20be%20rewarded.-,Cable%20news%20ratings%20are%20down%20across%20the%20board%20compared%20to,according%20to%20the%20Nielsen%20company.">ratings tanked,</a> too, reflecting an <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/15/23833516/nielsen-tv-cable-50-percent-decline-viewership-bum-bums#:%7E:text=The%20analytics%20firm%20showed%20that,watch%20time%20in%20American%20homes.">overall decline of the cable TV news universe.</a></p>
<p>It’s also noteworthy that conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/rush-limbaugh-died-lung-cancer-after-denying-smoking-s-risk-ncna1258395">died on Feb. 17, 2021,</a> leaving a massive void in right-wing talk radio. Many loyal Limbaugh listeners <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/audio-and-podcasting/">then deserted AM talk radio</a> as a main way they get <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2022/2/18/22940913/its-been-a-year-since-rush-limbaugh-died-whats-changed-clay-travis-buck-sexton-megyn-kelly-joe-rogan">their news</a>. </p>
<p>More recently, Fox News fired Tucker Carlson, the host of America’s most popular right-wing cable TV news program in May 2023, after Carlson’s <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/05/tucker-carlson-white-men-text-message#:%7E:text=For%20instance%2C%20the%20higher%2Dups,to%20give%20him%20the%20ax.">racist text messages</a> were made public as part of the lawsuit against Fox by <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-trial-trump-2020-0ac71f75acfacc52ea80b3e747fb0afe">Dominion Voting Systems</a>. Fox <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/08/17/fox-news-ratings-rebound-jesse-watters-carlson/">did regain some viewers</a> after Carlson left.</p>
<p>And, finally, in September 2023, Project Veritas, a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/21/1158505780/project-veritas-james-okeefe-forced-out-financial-malfeasance">right-wing political group</a> known for hiding cameras to embarrass journalists and nonprofits the group considered to be politically liberal, reportedly <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/news/new-project-veritas-suspends-all-operations-amid-devastating-layoffs-and-fundraising-struggles/">ended all of its investigations</a> and <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/news/new-project-veritas-suspends-all-operations-amid-devastating-layoffs-and-fundraising-struggles/">fired almost all</a> its remaining employees. </p>
<p>Given Biden’s low approval levels – only 40.6% of Americans said they <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/">approved of Biden</a> in September 2023 polls – I cannot say with certainty that this chain of setbacks for conservative media platforms has helped Biden maintain, or drawn in, more voters and their support. </p>
<p>But this remains an astonishing and even historic run of good luck for a Democratic president when it comes to the media – bringing to mind Roosevelt, who benefited from a similar turn of events.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549647/original/file-20230921-27-7zaz3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Franklin Delano Roosevelt sits at a table with microphones labeled 'CBS' and 'NBC' in a black and white photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549647/original/file-20230921-27-7zaz3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549647/original/file-20230921-27-7zaz3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549647/original/file-20230921-27-7zaz3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549647/original/file-20230921-27-7zaz3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549647/original/file-20230921-27-7zaz3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549647/original/file-20230921-27-7zaz3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549647/original/file-20230921-27-7zaz3c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=590&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addresses the nation during a fireside chat two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-politician-who-served-as-the-32nd-president-of-the-news-photo/1222445846?adppopup=true">Icon and Image/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>FDR’s stroke of good luck</h2>
<p>It’s important to note that, in some ways, Roosevelt manufactured his luck.</p>
<p>Roosevelt hosted regular, <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/presidential-documents-archive-guidebook/fireside-chats-f-roosevelt">popular fireside chats</a> on the radio in the 1930s and ’40s <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-fireside-chat-provided-a-model-for-calming-the-nation-that-president-trump-failed-to-follow-133473">as a way to connect with voters</a> and <a href="https://reason.com/2017/04/05/roosevelts-war-against-the-pre/">counter the newspapers</a> that opposed him. </p>
<p>The media supported the <a href="https://www.fdrlibrary.org/polio">White House’s attempts to hide Roosevelt’s paralysis</a>, the result of <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/disabilityhistorypresidents.htm">contracting polio</a> in his 20s. And, at the request of the White House, some media outlets <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01439688200260131">censored people on the radio</a> who were critical of Roosevelt’s policies. </p>
<p>In much the same way, Joe Biden’s media team has skillfully exploited the media. </p>
<p>Biden, for example, has kept a relatively low public profile – in the last century, only Presidents Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon have <a href="https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/presidential-news-conferences">convened fewer average annual press conferences</a> than the current president at this point in their tenure.</p>
<h2>Luck may not last forever</h2>
<p>The decline of conservative media over the past few years does not constitute a perfect trajectory for Biden – that would require, for instance, the emergence of a new liberal media figure with the influence of a Limbaugh or Carlson. </p>
<p>But Biden has benefited from right-wing media tumult. </p>
<p>It’s not yet clear what Rupert Murdoch’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/sep/21/rupert-murdoch-fox-news-lawsuits-donald-trump">departure will mean for Fox News</a>, especially since his son Lachlan Murdoch was already well established at Fox Corp. as a top executive and staunch conservative.</p>
<p>There’s no guarantee that Biden’s media luck will hold. </p>
<p>One potentially <a href="https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-gun-charge-investigation-e5c8ded90ea8c22d2e2e7cb09804b747">compromising factor</a> is that Biden’s son Hunter is <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/09/19/hunter-biden-gun-charges-plea-hearing">facing felony gun possession charges</a> and is expected to plead not guilty on Sept. 26, 2023. </p>
<p>But much of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/us/politics/hunter-biden-legal-troubles-timeline.html">media has avoided</a> the most <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12520091/Joe-Biden-KNEW-Hunter-having-drug-fueled-meltdown-time-bought-gun-heard-voicemail-tearfully-pleading-help.html">scandalous details or images</a> portraying Hunter Biden’s alleged illegal activities – or failed to clearly <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/briefing/the-hunter-biden-case.html">explain why they have avoided such reporting</a>.</p>
<p>This offers yet another example of Joe Biden’s outsized luck.</p>
<h2>A belated fall</h2>
<p>It is useful to remember that President Warren G. Harding was the president previous to Roosevelt who enjoyed good fortune with the media.<br>
Harding, the only professional journalist to be elected president, enjoyed enormous popularity within the newspaper industry. </p>
<p>Reporters, for example, hid his <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/warren-harding-child-sex-sandal-121404/">widely rumored</a> – <a href="https://millercenter.org/president/harding/family-life">and eventually proven</a> – extramarital affairs. </p>
<p>But after Harding <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/strange-death-warren-harding">died unexpectedly</a> in 1923, the truth about his administration’s corruption and his personal dealings, <a href="https://www.history.com/news/warren-harding-scandals">including details about hush payments</a> to cover up a secret, unacknowledged child, dribbled out. </p>
<p>This happened first through quiet leaks, then in a flood prompted by a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-president-warren-g-hardings-sudden-death-sparked-rumors-of-murder-and-suicide-180982626/">congressional investigation</a> in the late 1920s regarding a top Harding administration official and <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cabinet-member-guilty-in-teapot-dome-scandal">a bribery scandal</a>. </p>
<p>Harding’s reputation never recovered. </p>
<p>In Harding’s case, the so-called “<a href="https://dicktofel.substack.com/about">first draft of history</a>” provided by the newspapers proved embarrassingly inaccurate.</p>
<p>In other words: The president’s luck didn’t hold out.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214115/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael J. Socolow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While President Joe Biden has low approval ratings, few other American presidents − with the exception of FDR and Warren Harding − have experienced such a run of good media luck.Michael J. Socolow, Professor of Communication and Journalism, University of MaineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2140382023-09-21T20:45:52Z2023-09-21T20:45:52ZRupert Murdoch: His Fox News legacy is one of lies, with little accountability, and political power that rose from the belief in his power − 3 essential reads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549650/original/file-20230921-26-atkrcw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C18%2C4155%2C2766&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rupert Murdoch attends the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscars party on Feb. 24, 2019, in Beverly Hills, Calif.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rupert-murdoch-attends-the-2019-vanity-fair-oscar-party-news-photo/1132383737?adppopup=true">Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rupert Murdoch, 92, one of the world’s most influential modern media figures, announced on Sept. 21, 2023, that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/21/media/rupert-murdoch-steps-down-fox/index.html">he is stepping down as</a> chair of Fox Corp. and executive chairman of News Corp. By mid-November, he will no longer be at the helm of the multibillion-dollar media empire that has stirred so much controversy over decades. </p>
<p>Through Fox News, Murdoch is leaving a lasting impression on American journalism and politics. It just may not be what most people think.</p>
<p>Here are three essential reads from The Conversation about Murdoch and Fox News and how they have shaped the American media and political landscapes.</p>
<h2>1. So-called journalists can lie with near total impunity</h2>
<p>Following the 2020 presidential election, Fox hosts repeatedly – and falsely – accused Dominion Voting Systems, a voting technology company, of rigging the contest to ensure then-President Donald Trump lost his bid for reelection. Dominion challenged those lies <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2021/03/26/fox-dominion-lawsuit-defamation/">in a US$1.6 billion defamation lawsuit</a> against Fox News in March 2021.</p>
<p>The lawsuit was settled in April 2023 for $787.5 million. During pretrial testimony, Murdoch admitted that key Fox personalities knowingly lied about election fraud in the 2020 presidential election on their shows.</p>
<p>Before the settlement was reached, <a href="https://www.american.edu/soc/faculty/jwatson.cfm">John C. Watson</a>, an associate professor of journalism at American University, wrote that the case revealed a powerful truth about American journalism: In the news business, corporations can hire anyone they want and call them journalists because the profession doesn’t have standardized requirements.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/anyone-can-claim-to-be-a-journalist-or-a-news-organization-and-publish-lies-with-almost-total-impunity-202083">Anyone can claim to be a journalist</a>, irrespective of their actual function. Any business can claim to be a news organization. Functioning irresponsibly in either role is largely protected by the First Amendment and is therefore optional,” Watson wrote. </p>
<p>“Neither journalists nor the news organizations they personify have to be truthful unless they want to. Lying in the press is unethical but does not necessarily strip liars of the protections provided by the First Amendment.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/anyone-can-claim-to-be-a-journalist-or-a-news-organization-and-publish-lies-with-almost-total-impunity-202083">Anyone can claim to be a journalist or a news organization, and publish lies with almost total impunity</a>
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<h2>2. Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems was a win for all media</h2>
<p>After Fox and Dominion settled the lawsuit, each side claimed victory. Dominion, declaring that “truth matters,” said its reputation had been vindicated.</p>
<p>And Fox conceded that it had to acknowledge “<a href="https://press.foxnews.com/2023/04/fox-news-and-dominion-voting-systems-reach-settlement">the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false</a>.” But the news giant also maintained that the settlement was a victory for Fox, because it reflected the organization’s commitment to the highest journalistic standards.</p>
<p>Post-settlement posturing aside, <a href="https://law.umn.edu/profiles/jane-kirtley">Jane E. Kirtley</a>, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, wrote that the settlement helped protect all media outlets over the long run in legal fights over their coverage.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-fox-news-settlement-with-dominion-voting-systems-is-good-news-for-all-media-outlets-204095">I hold no brief for Fox</a>. But had the Dominion case gone to the jury, the inevitable appeal by whomever lost would give the Supreme Court the chance to reconsider and possibly eliminate the New York Times v. Sullivan standard that protects all news media of all political stripes,” she wrote. “At least two justices, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, have indicated they are eager to do just that, even though it has been the constitutional standard for nearly 60 years.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-fox-news-settlement-with-dominion-voting-systems-is-good-news-for-all-media-outlets-204095">Why Fox News' settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is good news for all media outlets</a>
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<h2>3. Fox News’ political power is marginal</h2>
<p>Michael J. Socolow, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=YxTJsxoAAAAJ">a professor of communication and journalism</a> at the University of Maine, wrote that any evidence offered that Fox News and Rupert Murdoch created and sustain the U.S. political climate is more circumstantial than anything else.</p>
<p>Trump’s 2016 presidential election victory is a prime example, according to Socolow. Neither Murdoch nor the late Roger Ailes, Fox News’ founder, supported Trump’s candidacy.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://theconversation.com/fox-news-isnt-the-problem-its-the-medias-obsession-with-fox-news-114954">Ailes and Murdoch were unable to stop Republicans from voting for him</a>. But this failure to persuade Republicans in 2016 isn’t really a surprise,” Socolow writes. “Fox News couldn’t prevent (former President Barack) Obama’s election, reelection or the 2018 blue wave.”</p>
<p>Fox’s real power, Socolow suggests, is the media’s characterization of the outlet as a hugely influential political force, when its actual political power is marginal.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fox-news-isnt-the-problem-its-the-medias-obsession-with-fox-news-114954">Fox News isn’t the problem, it’s the media’s obsession with Fox News</a>
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<p><em>Editor’s note: This story is a roundup of articles from The Conversation’s archives. It has been updated in its references to Fox hosts.</em></p>
<p><em>This article was updated on September 25 to correct the dollar amount of the Fox, Dominion lawsuit.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214038/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Rupert Murdoch is a major media figure, but he may not be as influential as most people think.Lorna Grisby, Politics & Society EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2132832023-09-21T15:54:12Z2023-09-21T15:54:12ZRupert Murdoch and the rise and fall of the press barons: how much power do newspapers still have?<p>Global media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/business/media/rupert-murdoch-fox-retire.html">announced his retirement</a> as chairman of Fox and News Corp, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sky-takeover-and-the-next-generation-of-the-murdoch-dynasty-97889">making way for his son Lachlan</a>. He has been demonised as a puppet master who would pull the strings of politicians behind the scenes, as a man with too much power. But what influence did he and his fellow media moguls really wield?</p>
<p>The day after the 1992 UK general election, Murdoch’s tabloid <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0049089X15001854">The Sun claimed credit</a> for the Tory victory with the notorious headline “It Was The Sun What Won it”. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/apr/25/rupert-murdoch-sun-wot-won-it-tasteless">Murdoch subsequently denied</a> he had such influence.</p>
<p>But in 1995, and with another general election on the horizon, Labour leader Tony Blair certainly thought it was worth courting the media mogul. Blair, along with his chief press secretary Alistair Campbell, <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/389153/diaries-volume-one-by-alastair-campbell/9780099493457">travelled to Hayman Island</a>, Australia, to address a News Corp. conference. Two years later The Sun turned its back on the Conservatives and backed New Labour, which emerged victorious from that year’s general election. </p>
<p>Commentators have argued that Murdoch’s US media empire, notably Fox News, gave Donald Trump significant public support in his quest for presidential power. Although Murdoch now seems to have gone cold on Trump, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/19/rupert-murdoch-dominion-suit-trump-fox-michael-wolff-book">his latest biography</a> quotes the tycoon’s ex-wife Jerry Hall as telling him: “You helped make him president.”</p>
<p>More than a century ago, commentators were worrying about the power of the “press barons”. The archetype of this malign figure was Lord Northcliffe, who as <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59794">Winston Churchill put it</a>, “felt himself to be possessed of formidable power” after helping to unseat a prime minister and install the next one. According to Churchill, “armed with the solemn prestige of The Times in one hand and the ubiquity of the Daily Mail in the other”, during the first world war Northcliffe “aspired to exercise a commanding influence on events”.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This article is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.</em></p>
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<p>Of course, the media landscape has changed dramatically since then. Indeed, it has even been transformed in the years since The Sun’s political interventions of the 1990s. Today’s press barons have had to come to terms with a digital revolution which has uprooted the traditional business model of newspapers: readership has declined and advertising revenues have collapsed, hoovered up by tech giants such as Google and Meta. Local newspapers have borne the brunt of the financial damage caused by this and by collapsing print sales, but national newspapers have struggled too.</p>
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<img alt="Four frontpages from The Sun newspaper" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549421/original/file-20230920-31-4aptm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549421/original/file-20230920-31-4aptm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549421/original/file-20230920-31-4aptm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549421/original/file-20230920-31-4aptm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=751&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549421/original/file-20230920-31-4aptm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549421/original/file-20230920-31-4aptm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549421/original/file-20230920-31-4aptm3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=944&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Front pages of The Sun backing - and mocking - different political leaders.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">wikipedia</span></span>
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<p>One good example is the Telegraph Media Group: bought by the Barclay Brothers for £665m in 2004, but valued at just £200m by 2019. The group is now <a href="https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/the-telegraph-proves-a-difficult-sale/">up for sale again</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile “alt truthers”, like Russell Brand, amass huge followings on social media while railing against a “media elite” that seems to include most of the traditional newspaper press. </p>
<p>As the 2024 election looms, it is timely to consider how the power and influence of newspapers – and newspaper owners – has waxed and waned, and to ask what this history might tell us about the state of the press and public life in the UK today.</p>
<h2>A ‘free press’ is born</h2>
<p>By the middle of the 19th century, the British newspaper industry was one of the most diverse and sophisticated in the world. Campaigners had, over the previous decades, successfully lobbied to see the dismantling of government restrictions and taxes on the press. Britain now had a “free press”, with no prior censorship of what could be printed and an essentially free market with little state regulation. Campaigners hoped this would usher in a period of democratic political expression in print. The free market would supposedly give everyone a voice, allowing a multiplicity of viewpoints to be published each day.</p>
<p>For a fleeting moment, this seemed to be borne out in an immediate flourishing of new titles. In the six years after the 1855 repeal of the newspaper stamp duty, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Powers-of-the-Press-Newspapers-Power-and-the-Public-in-Nineteenth-Century/Jones/p/book/9781138276796#:%7E:text=Aled%20Jones%20addresses%20the%20problem,explores%20the%20social%20and%20intellectual">492 new newspapers were established</a>, many of them in provincial towns and cities which had never previously had their own newspapers. The reforming Manchester Liberal MP John Bright applauded the <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/dawn-of-the-cheap-press-in-victorian-britain-9781472511546/">“great revolution of opinion on many public questions”</a> that was taking place thanks to “the freedom of the newspaper press”. </p>
<p>However, many of the new titles quickly went to the wall and during the later 19th century a very different type of newspaper industry emerged. A new generation of entrepreneurs realised that they could benefit financially from market opportunities by applying novel technologies and techniques to newspaper production and distribution. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-election-wot-the-sun-and-the-rest-of-the-uk-tabloids-never-won-79208">The election wot The Sun (and the rest of the UK tabloids) never won</a>
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<p>Recently constructed national and international telegraph networks allowed them to bring in the latest news from around the country, and around the world, scooping their rivals. Steam engines could be used to power printing presses, allowing them to print vast numbers of newspapers quickly enough to sell them the same day. And steam trains provided a way to get those newspapers to readers across the country using the new rail network. Fleet Street became the centre of a truly national industry. </p>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Levy-Lawson,_1st_Baron_Burnham">Edward Levy</a> (later Levy-Lawson) led the way. From 1855 he owned The Daily Telegraph: the name of the paper was itself a reference to the new technologies being deployed in the newspaper industry. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Full length photo of a balding man with glasses taken in the 1900s." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547481/original/file-20230911-28-3n6j88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547481/original/file-20230911-28-3n6j88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547481/original/file-20230911-28-3n6j88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547481/original/file-20230911-28-3n6j88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547481/original/file-20230911-28-3n6j88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547481/original/file-20230911-28-3n6j88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547481/original/file-20230911-28-3n6j88.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Edward Levy Lawson 1st Baron Burnham. Image taken in the early 1900s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/use-this-image/?agreed=true&email=&form=cc&mkey=mw177321">NPG</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<p>Levy-Lawson’s Telegraph combined serious, up-to-date news reporting with American-style journalistic innovations, including lurid crime reporting, plenty of sports coverage and publicity stunts, such as backing H. M. Stanley’s <a href="https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/library/library_exhibitions/schoolresources/exploration/stanley">1874 expedition across Africa on the Congo River</a>.</p>
<p>The purpose of all this was to sell more newspapers. By 1877, the Telegraph’s circulation approached 250,000 – the highest daily sales figure for any newspaper anywhere in the world. </p>
<p>Levy-Lawson saw newspapers primarily as a business, not as a route to political influence or social advancement. Although he was made Lord Burnham in 1903, the established elite looked down on his commercial origins. That snobbery was reinforced by antisemitic prejudice. The most disgusting public attacks on Levy-Lawson came from Henry Labouchere, editor of a newspaper called Truth, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20082684">who raved against the influence</a> of “Hebrew barons” on British public life.</p>
<p>Levy-Lawson established a template for a new type of press proprietor who was, first and foremost, a businessman. These entrepreneurs formed public companies to raise the vast sums of capital required to build their newspaper empires. They priced their newspapers aggressively low to attract the largest possible readership. </p>
<p>As a result, sales revenue fell well below enormous running costs. They made up the shortfall by raking in money from advertisers attracted by the large circulations and national reach of their papers. The battle was now for scale. Each press baron wanted to control the biggest possible newspaper empire.</p>
<h2>The Napoleon of Fleet Street</h2>
<p>By the late 19th century, a fortune could be made from owning newspapers. Alfred Harmsworth came from a modest background but built up a stable of publications aimed at entertaining, amusing and interesting the enormous new literate public created by Victorian universal primary education and rapid urbanisation.</p>
<p>Harmsworth used a range of eye-catching schemes to publicise his papers, including a competition that awarded the winner a pound a week for the rest of their life. By 1894, his newspapers and periodicals had a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1831895.The_Life_and_Death_of_the_Press_Barons">combined circulation of almost two million</a>, constituting the world’s largest publishing business.</p>
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<img alt="Sepia photo of a gentleman reading a newspaper in 1896." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547489/original/file-20230911-17-e89b6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/547489/original/file-20230911-17-e89b6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547489/original/file-20230911-17-e89b6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547489/original/file-20230911-17-e89b6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547489/original/file-20230911-17-e89b6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547489/original/file-20230911-17-e89b6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/547489/original/file-20230911-17-e89b6a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe in 1896, the year he launched The Daily Mail.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw111194/Alfred-Harmsworth-1st-Viscount-Northcliffe?">NPG</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<p>In 1896 Harmsworth launched the Daily Mail, a daily paper selling for a halfpenny. It targeted an aspirational lower-middle-class national readership, made up of women as well as men – an attractive demographic for advertisers. The paper was to contain everything that could be expected from a “serious” daily, presented in a respectable-looking package, but with more life, human interest and entertainment.</p>
<p>Content was condensed into short articles, presented in a punchy, accessible style, aimed at the new breed of office workers and commuters. Harmsworth’s brother Harold (later Lord Rothermere) ran the commercial side of the business on efficient, industrial lines.</p>
<p>In 1905, Harmsworth was made Lord Northcliffe. He chose this title in part because it allowed him, half-jokingly, to initial his correspondence “N”, in the style of Napoleon. He became infamous for his dictatorial, erratic, pedantic, obsessive and abusive management style. He would sometimes appoint two people to the same post and make them compete with one another to keep their job. Employees faced lavish rewards, alternating with frequent threats of dismissal. Fleet Street journalists <a href="https://archive.org/details/greatoutsidersno0000tayl_a3p6">warned prospective job applicants</a> that Northcliffe would “suck out your brains, then sack you”.</p>
<p>Northcliffe cultivated informers in the Daily Mail office to tell him what was going on behind the scenes and to monitor private telephone conversations. He liked his staff to be his “creatures”. A later <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Dangerous_Estate.html?id=P_Y2AAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">newspaper editor thought</a> that there was “something more than a little nauseating about his relations with many of his chief associates; one wonders how they could stomach the humiliations he imposed and retain their self-respect.” </p>
<p>The political elite, and many journalists, <a href="https://archive.org/details/greatoutsidersno0000tayl_a3p6">looked down on Northcliffe</a> and his popular papers. Lord Salisbury famously dismissed the Mail as being produced “by officeboys for officeboys”. Northcliffe’s former employee, E.T. Raymond, thought that the press baron had “an uncanny way of arriving at the results of thought without thought itself”. Another contemporary described Northcliffe as “brainless, formless, familiar and impudent”. </p>
<p>Northcliffe’s purchase of The Times in 1908 marked an attempt to expand his political influence, but some contemporaries still doubted whether he was very important. <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Journals_and_Letters_of_Reginald_Viscoun/dmRZngEACAAJ?hl=en">Lord Esher remarked</a> that “he evidently loves power, but his education is defective, and he has no idea to what uses power can be put”. Many of Northcliffe’s press crusades seemed harmlessly apolitical, such as his campaigns to promote the consumption of wholemeal bread or to grow better sweet-peas.</p>
<p>However, others worried about the consequences of allowing a small number of very rich men, running enormous corporate conglomerates, to dominate the British newspaper industry. The writer and journalist <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Influence_of_the_Press.html?id=mG9AAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">R. A. Scott-James</a> lamented in 1913 that “privilege” now dominated public debate, and that the press had become “a vehicle for false notions and antisocial ideas”. </p>
<p>The writer Norman Angell (a former Northcliffe employee who subsequently became a Nobel-prize-winning peace activist) similarly argued that the “modern industrialised Press” had become the most powerful instrument for the “capture of the mind by our industrial aristocracy”. Newspapers, <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Press_and_the_Organisation_of_Societ.html?id=fjJAAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y">Angell claimed</a>, now worked to “exploit human weaknesses” for the purpose of profit, corrupting public debate. </p>
<h2>Press, politics and the first world war</h2>
<p>Concern about the power of press barons grew exponentially during WWI. From 1914, Northcliffe used his newspapers <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11063463/Daily-Mail-founder-Alfred-Harmsworths-blistering-denunciation-Lord-Kitchener.html">constantly to critique</a> the Liberal government’s coordination of the war effort. His main targets were Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and the secretary of state for war, Lord Kitchener. In 1915, Northcliffe accused Kitchener, in print, of failing to supply the army with enough high explosive artillery shells. Initially, this made the Mail unpopular. Circulation dropped dramatically and the paper was ceremonially burned on the floor of the London Stock Exchange.</p>
<p>However, as its claims about government mismanagement began to seem justified, the Mail’s popularity recovered. The “shell scandal” contributed to the fall of the Liberal government and the establishment of a reconstituted coalition under Asquith’s leadership.</p>
<p>The ambitious Liberal politician David Lloyd George worked closely with Northcliffe in order to further his own career and Lloyd George was rewarded when he was made Minister of Munitions in the wake of the shell scandal.</p>
<p>But Northcliffe’s criticism of the government continued and Cabinet members worried that German propagandists were exploiting his public attacks on the British war efforts to undermine morale. Northcliffe’s campaigning finally helped precipitate the resignation of Asquith in December 1916. The Daily News (a national newspaper founded in 1846 by none other than Charles Dickens) branded Northcliffe a <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6711394-northcliffe">“press dictator”</a> for his role in the prime minister’s downfall. </p>
<p>Northcliffe’s ally Lloyd George took Asquith’s place as prime minister. However, Lloyd George now cannily kept the press baron at arm’s length, giving him relatively minor official jobs that came with little power while making it difficult for him to attack a government with which he was now identified. At the end of the war, <a href="https://archive.org/details/greatoutsidersno0000tayl_a3p6">Lloyd George finally broke openly with Northcliffe</a>, attacking the press baron in a vitriolic speech delivered in the House of Commons. Northcliffe was deluded, Lloyd George suggested, in thinking that as part of his “great task of saving the world” he had the right to dictate the terms of the <a href="https://en.chateauversailles.fr/discover/history/key-dates/treaty-versailles-1919#:%7E:text=After%20four%20years%20of%20devastating,break%20out%20twenty%20years%20later.">1919 peace settlement</a> with Germany. Lloyd George spoke of Northcliffe’s “diseased vanity” and tapped his own forehead meaningfully as he delivered the speech to the assembled MPs.</p>
<p>By this point Northcliffe had become a serious liability to Lloyd George, and was indeed ill, both physically and mentally. His behaviour had become more erratic and aggressive than ever, and his language increasingly foul and paranoid. At one point he was reported to have brandished a revolver at his doctor. </p>
<p>Northcliffe died in 1922 leaving no legitimate heirs, although he had had several mistresses and two secret families. Management of his media empire passed to his brother, Lord Rothermere, who sold The Times and went on to expand in more profitable directions, conducting vicious commercial warfare against his rivals. Rothermere later became a prominent public supporter of Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists and an admirer and personal acquaintance of Hitler.</p>
<h2>The rise of Beaverbrook</h2>
<p>The first world war also saw the rise to prominence of another archetypal press baron, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maxwell-Aitken-Beaverbrook">Max Aitken</a>. Like Northcliffe, Aitken came from a humble background. He was born in Ontario, raised in New Brunswick, and made his fortune through somewhat dubious Canadian business dealings. He came to England in 1910, forged new political connections and was elected as a Conservative MP.</p>
<p>By the end of 1916 Aitken had purchased a controlling interest in the Daily Express, the main rival to the Daily Mail. He was involved in the behind-the-scenes political intrigue that toppled Asquith as prime minister and brought Lloyd George to power that year, though his exact role was never made clear. Lloyd George treated Aitken more generously than he had Northcliffe: Aitken was made Lord Beaverbrook and in 1918 was appointed minister of information, taking charge of British wartime propaganda and entering the cabinet.</p>
<p>During the 1920s and 1930s, Beaverbrook turned the Daily Express into the biggest-selling newspaper in the UK. The paper adopted an aspirational, aggressive, populist tone to appeal to a broad audience and maximise advertising revenue. Beaverbrook used the Express to support his political allies, and to attack enemies like the Conservative leader, Stanley Baldwin. </p>
<p>Following the Wall Street Crash, Beaverbrook launched his “Empire Crusade” in the Express, seeking to turn the British empire into a tariff-protected economic union (a little like an English-speaking version of the later European Union). This campaign, also supported by Lord Rothermere of the Daily Mail, constituted a further direct threat to the leadership of Baldwin, now prime minister. </p>
<p>In a speech in parliament, Baldwin famously <a href="https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/quotation/quotes_harlot.htm">used words provided by his cousin Rudyard Kipling</a> to castigate Rothermere and Beaverbrook. He argued that by weaponising “direct falsehoods, misrepresentation, half-truths” the press barons aimed at “power without responsibility – the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages”. </p>
<p>Baldwin eventually defeated Beaverbrook’s crusade, but the press baron continued to prosecute his personal vendetta. In supporting the embattled Edward VIII during the abdication crisis of 1936, Beaverbrook admitted in private that his main aim was to <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Walter_Monckton_The_Life_of_Viscount_Mon.html?id=0ssYxgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y">“bugger Baldwin”</a>. </p>
<h2>Conrad Black - the ‘moneylogue’</h2>
<p>Half a century later another wealthy Canadian, Conrad Black, used his fortune to build his own press empire. Black inherited substantial Canadian business holdings from his father, which he refocused on newspaper ownership. During the 1980s and 1990s he built up a vast portfolio of media investments in north America, the UK, Israel and Australia. In Britain, his key possession was the Telegraph Group.</p>
<p>Unlike some other notable press barons, Black revelled in the glamorous lifestyle that his wealth brought him. Newspapers were, for him, partly a status symbol. “The deferences (sic) and preferments” that the UK’s political culture “bestows upon the owners of great newspapers are satisfying,” <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/max-hastings/editor/9781447269809#:%7E:text=Editor%3A%20A%20Memoir%20is%20above,Hastings%20is%20a%20brilliant%20reporter.">as he once put it</a>. But his press investments also helped fund his lavish spending. By the early 1990s, The Daily Telegraph was generating substantial profits and supporting Black’s other businesses interests. </p>
<p>Max Hastings, editor of The Daily Telegraph <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/max-hastings/editor/9781447269809#:%7E:text=Editor%3A%20A%20Memoir%20is%20above,Hastings%20is%20a%20brilliant%20reporter.">between 1986 and 1995</a>, concluded from his time working for Black that it was, at root, all about the money.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whatever the professed convictions of proprietors, most are moneylogues rather than ideologues. Their decisions are driven by commercial imperatives. Stripped of their own rhetoric, the political convictions of most British proprietors throughout history add up to an uncomplicated desire to make the world a safe place for rich men to live in.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>True to form, Black anticipated the coming slump in the newspaper industry and sold off many of his press interests while their value was still high, including the Telegraph Group in 2004. </p>
<p>In 2007, Black was sentenced for fraud in the US and served 37 months in prison. In 2019, US President Donald Trump granted him a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/conrad-black-pardon-trump-1.5137985">full pardon</a>. The previous year Black had published a flattering biography: <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/05/book-excerpt-donald-trump-a-president-like-no-other-conrad-black/">Donald J. Trump: a President Like No Other</a>. Commentators were left to draw their own conclusions.</p>
<h2>Enter the ‘Dirty Digger’</h2>
<p>The preeminent press baron of our time has, of course, been <a href="https://theconversation.com/rupert-murdoch-how-a-22-year-old-zealous-laborite-turned-into-a-tabloid-tsar-204914">Rupert Murdoch</a>, who from the 1960s extended his Australian newspaper empire to the UK (buying The Sun and The News of the World in 1968 and The Times in 1981). From the 1970s he also made inroads into the US newspaper industry.</p>
<p>Murdoch established a reputation for selling newspapers using previously unacceptable levels of sensationalism and sex (Private Eye magazine labelled him the “Dirty Digger”). He later bought into the global film and television industry, building a US$17bn (about £14bn) fortune and establishing a reputation <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/04/rupert-murdoch-cover-story">for meddling in politics</a> around the world.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rupert-murdoch-how-a-22-year-old-zealous-laborite-turned-into-a-tabloid-tsar-204914">Rupert Murdoch: how a 22-year-old 'zealous Laborite' turned into a tabloid tsar</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/books/review/Carr-t.html">Biographer Michael Wolff</a> has suggested that Murdoch does <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/193219/the-man-who-owns-the-news-by-michael-wolff/">not greatly value</a> his personal wealth or relationships, writing: “Working isn’t the means to an end; it’s the end. It’s one man’s war – a relentless, nasty, inch-by-inch campaign.”</p>
<p>According to Wolff, what Murdoch loves is playing the game of high-stakes business, being in the room where it happens, doing the deal, owning more newspapers, and destroying his rivals. He enjoys gossip and gathering information about those with political power, using it to protect his commercial interests and to support the political agendas of those he favours. Beneficiaries have included Margaret Thatcher, Blair and Trump. </p>
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<p>In running his media concerns, like Northcliffe and Beaverbrook before him, Murdoch is aggressive, interventionist and hands-on. Wolff claims that Murdoch did not want his employees to be partners but would rather they serve him as subordinates, and so surrounds himself with sycophants. He is seemingly willing to accept short-term financial losses to secure long-term market dominance. This approach is rooted in the golden age of the press barons, when the dominant business strategy was to take over or shut down the competition, allowing the victor to rake in windfall profits unopposed.</p>
<p>Perhaps this strategy still makes sense: as the profits made by traditional newspapers dwindle, the remaining rewards might go to the last man standing.</p>
<p>Murdoch’s media empire has endured its periods of commercial crisis. The disastrous failures of journalistic ethics at the News of the World embroiled the newspaper in the phone hacking scandal and the paper was closed down by Murdoch in 2011. In the US in 2023, Fox News settled a lawsuit over on-air accusations concerning the role of voting machines during the US elections of 2020, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-trial-trump-2020-0ac71f75acfacc52ea80b3e747fb0afe">costing the network</a> almost US$800m (£650m). </p>
<p>However, other elements in Murdoch’s empire continue to produce a profit. After an initial near-disaster, Murdoch’s takeover of The Wall Street Journal has proved a financial success. He paid US$5.6bn (about £4.4bn) for it in 2007. Now thanks to a stunningly successful drive for subscribers (3.78m of them, 84% digital-only) the paper is worth around US$10bn (£8bn). In the UK, successful management of the digital transformation has similarly meant that The Times and The Sunday Times have gone from a £70m annual loss in 2009 to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/apr/28/murdoch-empire-succession-fox-news-settlement">£73m profit in 2022</a>.</p>
<h2>Press barons of the future</h2>
<p>The figure of the press baron has recently found a new fictional archetype in <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/logan-roy-111726">Logan Roy</a>, the dark heart of HBO’s series Succession. Roy has a number of reasons for wanting to own newspapers and other media outlets. Primarily, he simply needs to acquire more stuff, compulsively buying new titles to build an empire capable of eradicating all challengers. </p>
<p>Like Murdoch, expansion – doing the deal – is for Roy a reward in and of itself. He also loves the influence his media interests bring and wants to dominate those with political power, partly to protect his business, but largely because he craves control. The wealth and the lifestyle that accompany his media empire, in contrast, seem to give him little pleasure. </p>
<p>Succession reflects continuing concerns about who owns the media, how they make their money, and what they want to get out of their media outlets. As the show’s British writer, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/27/jesse-armstrong-on-the-roots-of-succession-bum-rush-trump-presidency">Jesse Armstrong</a>, reflected:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Sun doesn’t run the UK, nor does Fox entirely set the media agenda in the US, but it was hard not to feel, at the time the show was coming together, the particular impact of one man, of one family, on the lives of so many. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But does the press still have such influence over politics and public life? The many challenges facing traditional newspapers do seem to threaten their historical role. The UK’s newspaper industry has been <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/leveson-inquiry-report-into-the-culture-practices-and-ethics-of-the-press">rocked by scandals</a> about phone hacking, professional ethics and behind-the-scenes links between journalists, politicians and the police. </p>
<p>And then there is the declining readership and advertising revenue. In 2019, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-cairncross-review-a-sustainable-future-for-journalism">a somewhat uninspired official report</a> on the future of British journalism summarised some of the challenges, but offered few meaningful solutions. That was the same year the Telegraph Media Group was valued at just £200m.</p>
<p>London’s Evening Standard is meanwhile facing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/aug/11/evening-standard-reliant-owner-evgeny-lebedev-funding-losses-widen-newspaper">an annual loss of £16m</a>, and relies on loans from its Russian-British proprietor, Evgeny Lebedev, to stay afloat. The same Lebedev who was <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61163446">controversially given a peerage</a> in 2020 by then prime minister, Boris Johnson. </p>
<p>Newspapers are also in danger of being dismissed as “mainstream” or “legacy” media: old-fashioned, obsolete and unable to counter the mendacities and conspiracy theories of online “alt truthers”. Recently, following allegations presented in newspapers and on television, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/russell-brand-investigation-what-good-journalists-should-have-to-go-through-to-report-sexual-assault-allegations-213815">comedian Russell Brand</a> immediately sought to discredit “coordinated media attacks” which he claimed served some shadowy hidden agenda.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, as their own profits dwindle and they <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/media_business/2023-journalism-news-job-cuts-redundancies/">lay off more journalists</a>, the capacity of newspapers to investigate public lies and misdeeds is drastically reduced. Some worry that the newspapers themselves are having a damaging effect on public debate – apparent, for example, in the polarising and sometimes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/24/mail-sun-uk-brexit-newspapers">inaccurate press coverage</a> and comment that accompanied the Brexit referendum and its aftermath. Fuelling culture wars, rather than mounting an informed defence against them, seems to be a key tactic in staying afloat for some titles.</p>
<p>Yet the reasons why press barons want to own newspapers remain much the same today as they did for Northcliffe, Beaverbrook, and Black: making money, securing a place in the national (or global) economic and social elite, generating political influence, and delivering the thrill of the great corporate deal.</p>
<p>And the old media dynasties endure: in 2022 the 4th Lord Rothermere, great-grandson of the Daily Mail’s co-founder, took the Daily Mail & General Trust group out of public ownership, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/sep/22/lord-rothermere-take-over-daily-mail-chairman">became its chief executive</a>. </p>
<p>Above all else, traditional newspaper titles retain their appeal to potential owners because, in a crowded marketplace for online news, they can represent a trusted and prestigious brand. The <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/how-buzzfeed-news-went-bust.html">fate of Buzzfeed</a> has demonstrated <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/16/vice-bankruptcy-buzzfeed-news-dead-digital-age-revenue">the difficulties</a> of creating a viable online presence without such an established base. </p>
<p>Traditional newspapers will continue to scale back print runs over the coming years. Probably, at some point, they will just stop printing newspapers. But some of these companies will live on as profitable online brands. </p>
<p>In a post-Murdoch age, future press barons – digital media emperors – will want to invest in these brands because they offer recognition and respectability, following the early example set by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/05/washington-post-sold-jeff-bezos-amazon">purchased The Washington Post</a> in 2013. </p>
<p>Potential buyers for the Telegraph Media Group take in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jun/07/daily-telegraph-and-sunday-telegraph-newspapers-to-be-put-up-for-sale">UK businesses</a>, including <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/daily-mail-proprietor-rothermere-in-talks-with-investors-over-telegraph-bid-12938653">the Mail’s Rothermere</a> and the owner of the <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/hedge-fund-tycoon-marshall-hires-bankers-to-plot-daily-telegraph-raid-12959685">rightwing GB News</a>. But there is also interest from <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/07/17/mike-mctighe-appointed-telegraph-chairman-sale-lloyds/">Europe and the US</a>, as well as the <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/yorkshire-post-owner-signals-interest-in-buying-daily-telegraph-12937353">Gulf states</a>. Surprisingly, perhaps, the Barclay family has itself assembled a portfolio of potential Middle Eastern finance to try to buy the business back from Lloyds. </p>
<p>Some of these international players may see the Telegraph Group as offering a respectable voice in the British media landscape and a route to political and popular influence, something that only a traditional newspaper business can provide. And they are no doubt interested in the brand’s asset of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jul/25/telegraph-media-group-paying-subscribers-chelsea-magazine-company">nearly one million subscribers</a>, many of them digital – data being the be all and end all in today’s market. </p>
<p>Whichever way that sale goes, we are still a long way from the dream of a democratic utopia promoted by 19th-century campaigners for press freedom. They believed that the free market would liberate the press and, by doing so, liberate us all. Sadly, it seems like Logan Roy was closer to the truth when he said to his wannabe successors: “Money wins. Here’s to us.”</p>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>For you: more from our <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK">Insights series</a>:</em></p>
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<li><p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/my-home-city-was-destroyed-by-war-but-i-will-not-lose-hope-how-modern-warfare-turns-neighbourhoods-into-battlefields-211627">‘My home city was destroyed by war but I will not lose hope’ – how modern warfare turns neighbourhoods into battlefields</a></em></p></li>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Potter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Newspaper owners used to wield huge political influence – but as Rupert Murdoch steps down for his son Lachlan can the same be said of today’s?Simon Potter, Professor of Modern History, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2078292023-08-16T20:05:18Z2023-08-16T20:05:18ZFrom the earliest years of his career, the young Rupert Murdoch ruthlessly pursued his interests<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542931/original/file-20230816-28-j53l6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=311%2C23%2C3682%2C2970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cecil Stoughton/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly every biographical commentary on Rupert Murdoch notes how he began with a modest inheritance in Adelaide, principally an afternoon newspaper, and built it into a global multimedia empire. Walter Marsh’s book <a href="https://scribepublications.com.au/books-authors/books/young-rupert-9781761380044">Young Rupert: The Making of the Murdoch Empire</a> has the distinctive strength of knowing Adelaide much better than any other Murdoch watcher, and studying Murdoch’s Adelaide period in more depth than anyone else.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: Young Rupert: The Making of the Murdoch Empire – Walter Marsh (Scribe)</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Rupert’s father, Sir Keith Murdoch, was the most famous Australian newspaperman of his generation. As the dominant figure in the Herald & Weekly Times group for over two decades, he built the country’s first newspaper empire. </p>
<p>But he increasingly resented the chasm between being a shareholder and an employee, no matter how well rewarded. He was determined to leave his son Rupert a tangible inheritance. In the last years of his life, he sought to build his own independent newspaper empire in ways that were far from being in the best interests of the Herald & Weekly Times. </p>
<p>Sally Young’s recently published <a href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/paper-emperors/">Paper Emperors: The Rise of Australia’s Newspaper Empires</a> gives a very good account of Keith’s machinations. Rupert would never have allowed any employee of his to behave in the way Keith did. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542505/original/file-20230814-246893-eadvxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542505/original/file-20230814-246893-eadvxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542505/original/file-20230814-246893-eadvxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542505/original/file-20230814-246893-eadvxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542505/original/file-20230814-246893-eadvxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542505/original/file-20230814-246893-eadvxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=996&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542505/original/file-20230814-246893-eadvxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=996&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542505/original/file-20230814-246893-eadvxb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=996&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Rupert Murdoch’s father Sir Keith Murdoch (1885-1952).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.</span></span>
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<h2>A great fight</h2>
<p>After all Keith’s efforts, once the personal debts and death duties were paid, Rupert’s inheritance essentially came down to the Adelaide News. Editing the Adelaide News was Rohan Rivett, Keith’s trusted confidante and Rupert’s mentor and friend from his Oxford days.</p>
<p>Rivett was a distinguished journalist, who had recorded his experiences as a prisoner of war in <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/behind-bamboo-9780143001751">Behind Bamboo</a>, the bestselling Australian book on World War II. His political leanings were to the left. The Adelaide News was seen as bringing a refreshing degree of social and political liberalism to South Australia’s stuffy politics, although the paper rarely directly challenged the premier, Sir Thomas Playford, by far the longest reigning state premier in Australian history (1938-1965).</p>
<p>Almost immediately, the Herald & Weekly Times morning newspaper – the very establishment Advertiser – sought to drive News Limited out of business by starting a rival Sunday newspaper. Rivett and Rupert fought hard to survive. Not for the last time, Rupert relished the conflict. “It is going to be a great fight,” he told Rivett. </p>
<p>In a front page editorial, Murdoch and Rivett disclosed the behind the scenes actions of their rivals. After a couple of years, the two Sundays fought each other to a stalemate. In the subsequent agreement, in some ways News emerged the better. Rivett and Murdoch had won their first big challenge. </p>
<p>With this threat disposed of, Murdoch, now with the title “publisher”, began his expansion. He bought the Sunday Times in Perth, where free from Rivett’s presence he was more able to indulge his tabloid tastes. </p>
<p>He also successfully applied to get one of the first two commercial television licences in Adelaide, although his lobbying to make this a commercial monopoly service failed. </p>
<p>Marsh deftly documents how Murdoch’s views on the virtues of monopoly and competition varied to suit his immediate interests. Murdoch’s declaration, when he unsuccessfully applied for the first commercial television service in Perth, that he was not interested in building his empire, has not exactly stood the test of time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-reciprocating-engine-of-money-power-and-influence-how-australias-media-monsters-used-journalism-to-cement-their-empires-206757">A reciprocating engine of money, power and influence: how Australia's 'media monsters' used journalism to cement their empires</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Two episodes</h2>
<p>The two episodes that later writers always mention about Murdoch’s Adelaide period are the News’ championing of the cause of Rupert Max Stuart, convicted for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl, and his firing of Rivett.</p>
<p>Stuart was an itinerant Aboriginal labourer, illiterate, with limited English and prone to alcoholic binges. In December 1958, he was arrested near Ceduna and charged with the murder. The case for conviction rested principally on his confession. </p>
<p>With the threat of imminent execution hanging over him, Stuart had his cause taken up by Father Tom Dixon. A pamphlet by the historian Ken Inglis and coverage in the Adelaide News, driven by Rivett and supported by Murdoch, forced a new trial and then a Royal Commission. </p>
<p>The newspaper’s coverage of the Stuart case became politically controversial and the Playford government brought nine charges against it, including seditious libel. After a prolonged period of suspense, these charges were dismissed. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542503/original/file-20230814-199051-6469wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542503/original/file-20230814-199051-6469wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542503/original/file-20230814-199051-6469wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542503/original/file-20230814-199051-6469wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542503/original/file-20230814-199051-6469wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542503/original/file-20230814-199051-6469wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542503/original/file-20230814-199051-6469wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542503/original/file-20230814-199051-6469wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1154&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p>Putting to one side the drama, uncertainty and high emotion of the case, there are, in retrospect, three groups of opinion on Stuart’s conviction.</p>
<p>First, there are those who think he was guilty and the police and officialdom were essentially correct in everything they did. The second group consists of those who continued to believe in Stuart’s innocence, including Father Dixon and, years later, the investigative journalist Evan Whitton. The third group believed that the police grossly mistreated Stuart and fabricated the case against him, but that he was probably guilty.</p>
<p>Ken Inglis’s book concluded that the weight of the evidence tilted toward guilt rather than innocence. Decades later, Murdoch said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There’s no doubt that Stuart didn’t get a totally fair trial, although it’s probable that he was guilty. I thought this at the time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I think Murdoch is overstating the constancy of his opinion here. My guess is that, initially, when Rivett and Inglis took up the cause and later recruited Murdoch to it, they thought Stuart was innocent. After a searching cross-examination of Stuart at the Royal Commission, several of his previous supporters had their beliefs shaken.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542536/original/file-20230814-27-sx41sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542536/original/file-20230814-27-sx41sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542536/original/file-20230814-27-sx41sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542536/original/file-20230814-27-sx41sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542536/original/file-20230814-27-sx41sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542536/original/file-20230814-27-sx41sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542536/original/file-20230814-27-sx41sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542536/original/file-20230814-27-sx41sl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Walter Marsh.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sia Duff/Scribe</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The action that most showed Murdoch’s ruthlessness in these years was his sacking of Rivett in 1960. Rivett had been the editor of Adelaide News for eight and a half years. He had given the paper a much stronger financial basis, as well as higher standards of journalism. Before that, Rivett had helped Rupert through his years at Oxford. Relations were almost familial. They went on holiday together and Rupert often stayed with the Rivetts in London.</p>
<p>Despite the close and generally amicable relations between them, Murdoch fired Rivett without warning. Murdoch’s brief letter gave no reason for the dismissal and was never preceded or followed by any personal discussion between the two. </p>
<p>Murdoch later claimed that even after the trauma of the Royal Commission and libel trial, Rivett was being too provocative in his attitude to the Playford Government. Marsh notes that the last month of Rivett’s editorship gives no grounds for such a claim. </p>
<p>The timing, I think, was determined not by events in Adelaide, but by Murdoch’s bid for the Daily Mirror in Sydney. As Marsh points out, Rivett was a friend of the unions, and more inclined to be generous towards the journalists in his employ. Murdoch, with his eyes on Sydney and beyond, wanted his Adelaide assets to be a safe and regular cash cow to aid his ambitions for expansion elsewhere. A quiet, frugal editor was what he now required.</p>
<p>The unsentimental firing of Rivett showed that Murdoch was determined to be in sole charge and would pursue his interests ruthlessly. </p>
<p>Murdoch watchers will be also particularly interested in what other clues Young Rupert gives about its subject’s later behaviour. My suggestion comes in February 1956, when he was caught driving at at least double the speed limit on an Adelaide highway. After Murdoch made his excuses, the police allowed him to drive on, but almost immediately he started speeding again in a school zone, and the same police arrested him a second time.</p>
<p>Already, for this 24-year-old, rules were things that only applied to other people.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207829/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rodney Tiffen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The machinations of a young and ambitious media mogul are laid bare in a detailed new biography.Rodney Tiffen, Emeritus Professor, Department of Government and International Relations, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067572023-06-18T20:07:39Z2023-06-18T20:07:39ZA reciprocating engine of money, power and influence: how Australia’s ‘media monsters’ used journalism to cement their empires<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532142/original/file-20230615-27-2tmsa5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C27%2C5988%2C3971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bank Phrom/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan">Carl Sagan</a> said that in order to understand the present, it’s necessary to know the past. Nowhere does this apply with greater force than to the Australian media and its place in the nation’s power structure.</p>
<p><a href="https://unsw.press/books/media-monsters/">Media Monsters</a>, Sally Young’s second volume on the history of the Australian media, is indispensable for anyone interested in the dynamics that drive Australian politics. </p>
<p>It builds on the foundations laid in her magisterial first volume, <a href="https://unsw.press/books/paper-emperors/">Paper Emperors</a>, and matches it for breadth, depth and insight, synthesising ownership patterns, political manipulation and vested interests that have helped shape Australian democracy.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: Media Monsters: The transformation of Australia’s newspaper empires – Sally Young (UNSW Press)</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Not only are these forces largely hidden from public view, but they have survived epochal social, political and technological change more or less intact. The patterns that emerged in the 19th and early 20th centuries – the dynasties, the allegiances, the political partisanship, the harnessing of journalism to promote proprietorial preferences – were still present into the 1970s. Some survive to this day: notably, the journalistic practices of the Murdoch dynasty.</p>
<p>Media Monsters picks up the story in 1941, where Paper Emperors left off. It covers the long period of conservative political hegemony through the 1950s and 1960s, and ends in 1972, when Australian politics took an historic turn with the election of the Whitlam Labor government.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rupert-murdoch-how-a-22-year-old-zealous-laborite-turned-into-a-tabloid-tsar-204914">Rupert Murdoch: how a 22-year-old 'zealous Laborite' turned into a tabloid tsar</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Political manoeuvres</h2>
<p>When the story opens, it is wartime and Robert Menzies’ ill-named United Australia Party has rebelled against him, causing him to resign as prime minister. Australia’s newspapers are approaching the zenith of their reach: on a per capita basis, they will never sell more printed copies than they do in the mid-1940s. </p>
<p>In the period 1941 to 1946, when Australia’s population was 7.5 million, more than 2.6 million copies were sold each day. Readership was two to three times higher than that: copies were shared among family members and co-workers. </p>
<p>In the post-war period, a wave of industrial disputes and the challenge presented by communism had the media proprietors and their business allies in despair at the disorderly state of conservative politics.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f92Nyk-Hb80?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">When the story opens, Menzies has resigned as prime minister, after his United Australia party rebelled against him.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The United Australia Party had been trounced at the 1943 election, despite nearly every metropolitan daily newspaper in the country advocating for it. In the aftermath of the party’s loss, Menzies was re-elected leader. However, he made it a condition of accepting the leadership that he had the right to form a new party.</p>
<p>A preliminary to this was the creation of a new conservative lobby group, the <a href="https://ipa.org.au/">Institute of Public Affairs</a> (IPA). It’s still with us today, in a much attenuated form, but then it was backed by what the Melbourne Herald called “a group of leading Melbourne businessmen”.</p>
<p>This was clearly code for an entity called Collins House. The Collins House group was a collection of companies connected by networks of powerful business figures who dominated mining and manufacturing. Among its associated companies and brands were Carlton and United Breweries, Dunlop rubber and Dulux paints. Collins House also had deep roots in the banks that were to become the ANZ, NAB and Westpac.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532112/original/file-20230615-17-5exc5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532112/original/file-20230615-17-5exc5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532112/original/file-20230615-17-5exc5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532112/original/file-20230615-17-5exc5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532112/original/file-20230615-17-5exc5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=795&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532112/original/file-20230615-17-5exc5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532112/original/file-20230615-17-5exc5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532112/original/file-20230615-17-5exc5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=999&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Keith Murdoch claimed credit for installing Joseph Lyons as prime minister.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Library of Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When <a href="https://theconversation.com/book-review-before-rupert-keith-murdoch-and-the-birth-of-a-dynasty-49491">Keith Murdoch</a> became managing director of the Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) newspaper group in 1928 he became an influential figure in Collins House and a vital connection for it to the most senior level of politics. As recounted in Paper Emperors, he claimed credit for installing Joseph Lyons as prime minister in 1931. “I put him in,” he was reported as boasting, “and I’ll put him out.”</p>
<p>Thus Collins House drew together the entwined interests of business, mining, media and politics. It was the beating heart of power in Australian political and commercial life. Collins House fingerprints were all over the freshly minted IPA, and the new body saw to it that there was a newspaper director on its inaugural councils in both Victoria and New South Wales.</p>
<p>Then some time in the second half of 1944, <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/robinson-william-sydney-8247">W.S. Robinson</a>, the influential leader of Collins House and managing director of the Zinc Corporation, organised a dinner party at the Melbourne home of another mining industry heavyweight, James Fitzgerald. </p>
<p>Young recounts that all the most powerful press owners and managers were present: Keith Murdoch, <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/henderson-rupert-albert-geary-12621">Rupert Henderson</a>, (general manager of the Fairfax company), <a href="https://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/frank-packer">Frank Packer</a> (owner of Consolidated Press) and <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kennedy-eric-thomson-10718">Eric Kennedy</a> (Associated Newspapers). Over dinner and drinks, Menzies sought and obtained their blessing to create a new political party. Thus the media were godparents to the Liberal Party.</p>
<p>So it’s hardly surprising that with rare exceptions, Australia’s newspapers have supported the election of Liberal-National coalition governments. Young produces a table showing the partisan support of major newspapers for every federal election between 1943 and 1972. It shows the conservative side of politics receiving 152 endorsements to Labor’s 14.</p>
<p>Naturally, this political support came with strings attached. These varied with the times and circumstances, but the most far-reaching concerned the newspaper companies’ determination to own whatever commercial radio licences they could get their hands on – and later, to repeat the exercise when television was introduced.</p>
<p>It was their success in both that gave rise to the book’s title, Media Monsters. They were no longer simply paper emperors, but omnipresent oligarchs of what is today called legacy media: newspapers, radio and television.</p>
<p>How they accomplished this feat, and the impact it continues to have on Australia’s democracy, is central to the story this book tells.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-secret-history-of-news-corp-a-media-empire-built-on-spreading-propaganda-116992">The secret history of News Corp: a media empire built on spreading propaganda</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Concentrated power</h2>
<p>The major newspaper companies built these empires largely through interlocking and reciprocal share-ownership arrangements. These arrangements provided strong defences against takeovers. At the same time, they disguised the true control of radio and television stations from regulators concerned about Australia’s intensifying concentration of media ownership.</p>
<p>In another table, Young lists all the major interests and assets held by the five media monsters as they stood in 1969: HWT, Fairfax, David Syme and Co (in partnership with Fairfax), Consolidated Press (the Packer organisation) and News Limited (Rupert Murdoch).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532138/original/file-20230615-29-t5rpn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532138/original/file-20230615-29-t5rpn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532138/original/file-20230615-29-t5rpn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532138/original/file-20230615-29-t5rpn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532138/original/file-20230615-29-t5rpn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532138/original/file-20230615-29-t5rpn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532138/original/file-20230615-29-t5rpn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532138/original/file-20230615-29-t5rpn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">New South</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>To illustrate what these interlocking arrangements meant in practice, your reviewer – working as a journalist on Fairfax’s Sydney Morning Herald in 1969 – typed his copy on what was called 8-ply (the original and seven carbons). </p>
<p>The original and some of the carbons went to the Sydney Morning Herald. But carbons went also to the company’s Macquarie radio network, its Sydney television channel, ATN 7, to Australian Associated Press (AAP) and to what was called the interstate room.</p>
<p>From there, the copy was shared via telex with all the interstate papers with which the Sydney Morning Herald had reciprocal copy-sharing arrangements. At that time, this included all the HWT papers: the Sun News-Pictorial in Melbourne, the Courier-Mail in Brisbane, the Advertiser in Adelaide and the Mercury in Hobart. This concentrated power arose entirely from cross-ownership and reciprocal deals the public and policymakers had little grasp of.</p>
<p>Recognising this, in the dying days of his prime ministership, Menzies made a desultory attempt at placing some limits on any further concentration. But his agency for doing so, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Broadcasting_Control_Board">Australian Broadcasting Control Board</a>, was as timid and ineffectual as its successors – with the honourable exception of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Broadcasting_Authority">Australian Broadcasting Authority</a> and its associated tribunal. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, this was emasculated by the Hawke-Keating governments as part of their cosiness with big media in the 1980s. But for that story, we will have to await the hoped-for completion of Sally Young’s trilogy.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-years-after-finkelstein-media-accountability-has-gone-backwards-159530">10 years after Finkelstein, media accountability has gone backwards</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Journalism as a means to an end</h2>
<p>Journalism plays an important but narrow role in this history. It is there as a tool: as a means to an end, rather than as an end in itself. Instead, this is a story about an industry – about a reciprocating engine of money, power and influence. The journalism and the journalists who figure in it do so as servants of this machine.</p>
<p>Emblematic of this is <a href="https://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/alan-reid">Alan Reid</a>, Frank Packer’s man in Canberra, who combined his journalism with lobbying for his boss – and who led the charge to bring down John Gorton and replace him with the hapless <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McMahon">Billy McMahon</a>, eventually swept from office by Gough Whitlam in 1972.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Alan Reid, Frank Packer’s ‘man in Canberra’, combined his journalism with lobbying for the boss.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>All through the book, the journalism of opinion is the focus: the editorials advocating for the advancement of this politician or that political party, along with the political reporting in support of these endeavours.</p>
<p>Young has an engaging style and leavens the story with humour, where opportunity offers. There is a picturesque sketch of Lieutenant-Colonel <a href="https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/neill-edwin-hill-22140">Edwin Hill Balfour Neill</a>, chairman of the board of David Syme and Company when it owned The Age.</p>
<p>Young draws on various sources to present a caricature of this monocled Wodehousian buffer, with a carnation in his lapel and a fondness for polo and grouse-shooting. Asked by the then-leader of the federal opposition, <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/calwell-arthur-augustus-9667">Arthur Calwell</a>, how circulation is going, Neill replies: “Excellent thank you. I always keep myself very fit.”</p>
<p>There is one irritant in this otherwise admirable work. Devices called “textboxes” keep popping up in the most unlooked-for places, interrupting the narrative with sidebars that are quite interesting in themselves, but distracting. In the next edition, they should be collected at the end of chapters.</p>
<p>It is a quibble. This is a work that deserves to stand among the giants of academic research and authorship on Australian media and political history.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Correction: the original version of this article reported that Alan Reid sought to bring down Billy McMahon; in fact, he sought to bring down John Gorton and replace him with Billy McMahon. The article has been amended to reflect this.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206757/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denis Muller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Media Monsters deserves to stand among the giants of academic research and authorship on Australian media and political history.Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2049142023-05-29T20:07:48Z2023-05-29T20:07:48ZRupert Murdoch: how a 22-year-old ‘zealous Laborite’ turned into a tabloid tsar<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527924/original/file-20230524-10299-l4fgym.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C17%2C3970%2C1976&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The successor: Rupert Murdoch, on right, with his parents Sir Keith and Elisabeth Murdoch around 1950.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">New South Publishing</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In September 1953, Rupert Murdoch arrived in sleepy Adelaide to take up his inheritance of News Limited. He was only 22 and had little experience of working at a newspaper, let alone running one, but his family had inherited a majority stake in the company following the death of Rupert’s father, the well-known journalist, editor and media executive <a href="https://theconversation.com/book-review-before-rupert-keith-murdoch-and-the-birth-of-a-dynasty-49491">Keith Murdoch</a>. </p>
<p>After Rupert had completed his matriculation at Geelong Grammar in 1949 with marks that had not impressed his parents, he had worked briefly as a cadet reporter at the Melbourne Herald under his father’s watchful eye, spending a few months at the police courts with a friend from school before heading off to the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>Keith had accompanied him to London in early 1950 and introduced Rupert to leading figures in Fleet Street, helping his son land a summer stint as a junior reporter on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Gazette">Birmingham Gazette</a> – where Rupert made an impression when he told the proprietor the editor was so incompetent he should be sacked.</p>
<p>Rupert had then studied at Worcester College, Oxford. Again, he did not excel academically, but his contemporaries noticed he was financially astute and a shrewd problem-solver and risk-taker. Like Rupert Greene, his namesake grandfather on his mother’s side, Rupert dabbled in gambling and drinking beer more than his parents felt was good for him. And, like his father had been as a young man, Rupert was attracted to Labour politics. He famously kept a bust of Lenin in his room at Oxford. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528502/original/file-20230526-25-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528502/original/file-20230526-25-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528502/original/file-20230526-25-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528502/original/file-20230526-25-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528502/original/file-20230526-25-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=793&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528502/original/file-20230526-25-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528502/original/file-20230526-25-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528502/original/file-20230526-25-5faty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Keith Murdoch was confident son Rupert would ‘outgrow his socialist ideals’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Keith tolerated Rupert’s excursion into left-wing politics and, in earlier years, had put him in touch with Labor prime minister <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Chifley">Ben Chifley</a>, who always replied courteously to Rupert’s letters. Keith told Chifley his 18-year-old son “is at present a zealous Laborite but will I think (probably) eventually travel the same course of his father”.</p>
<p>In the last months of his life, Keith was confident that Rupert was on the right track and would outgrow his <a href="https://theconversation.com/socialism-is-a-trigger-word-on-social-media-but-real-discussion-is-going-on-amid-the-screaming-113507">socialist</a> ideals. After finishing his studies at Oxford, Rupert worked on the subeditor’s desk at Lord Beaverbrook’s Daily Express, edited by the legendary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Christiansen">Arthur Christiansen</a>, considered one of Fleet Street’s greatest editors.</p>
<p>Christiansen was obsessed with detail and worked up to 18 hours a day for more than 20 years. His memorable instructions to staff were handed down through the ages, including his exhortation to “always, always tell the news through people”.</p>
<p>The Daily Express was chosen for Rupert because it was one of the toughest and most prestigious schools in journalism. Keith had personally asked Beaverbrook to arrange this work experience for his son and Rupert trained as a down-table sub (a junior subeditor).</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528516/original/file-20230526-23-lgkmj9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528516/original/file-20230526-23-lgkmj9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528516/original/file-20230526-23-lgkmj9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528516/original/file-20230526-23-lgkmj9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528516/original/file-20230526-23-lgkmj9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=893&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528516/original/file-20230526-23-lgkmj9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1122&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528516/original/file-20230526-23-lgkmj9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1122&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528516/original/file-20230526-23-lgkmj9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1122&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Daily Express was ‘one of the toughest and most prestigious schools in journalism’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Gillfoto">gillfoto</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When Rupert took up the reins at News Limited, that was the extent of his experience – a few months each at the Herald, the Birmingham Gazette and the Daily Express, plus all he had picked up from his father’s shop talk at home and the detailed letters Keith sent Rupert during his school years.</p>
<p>As part of the grandeur surrounding his rise, it is often said that Rupert built an empire out of just one tired Adelaide newspaper. To be pedantic, that is not quite true. When he inherited a controlling interest in News Limited, it published the News (Adelaide’s afternoon newspaper), the (Sunday) Mail (also in Adelaide) and the Barrier Miner (in Broken Hill). It also had a large stake in Southdown Press, which was housed in West Melbourne and published the national women’s magazine <a href="https://www.newidea.com.au/">New Idea</a>. </p>
<p>The company also controlled radio station 2BH Broken Hill and had a minor holding in 5DN Adelaide. Certainly, it was a small company by comparison with the then giant of the media industry, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Herald_and_Weekly_Times">Herald and Weekly Times</a>, but it was still a substantial start for a 22-year-old. It is true that the News was a tired and insignificant paper. It had a stagnant circulation and was drained of resources and revenue. </p>
<p>When Rupert arrived in Adelaide, he set about changing that and gave himself the unusual title of “publisher”. Old-timers raised their eyebrows and expected Rupert would sit in a corner at the News for a few years until he knew enough to contribute. They were misjudging him.</p>
<p>Rupert was a hands-on proprietor from the beginning. Editorially, he initially relied on, and gave a good deal of leeway to, <a href="https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/rivett-rohan-deakin-11533/text20575">Rohan Rivett</a>, who had been editor of the News for almost two years. </p>
<p>Rupert and Rivett were already close friends because Keith had sent Rivett to report from London between 1949 and 1951, with a side instruction to keep an eye on the boss’s son. Rivett, the grandson of <a href="https://theconversation.com/alfred-deakin-provides-a-contrast-to-an-abbott-lost-for-words-37900">Alfred Deakin</a>, had been a war correspondent, and for three and a half years a prisoner of war, including on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-war-ii-ended-70-years-ago-while-the-forgotten-death-railway-was-completed-45612">Burma–Thailand Railway</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c2jSxlORxiM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">News editor Rohan Rivett was the grandson of Alfred Deakin.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From Keith’s perspective, Rivett had some radical views but he was satisfied that Rivett was no <a href="https://theconversation.com/still-under-the-bed-red-baitings-long-history-in-australian-politics-and-why-its-unlikely-to-succeed-now-177543">communist</a>, and in the early 1950s he was a favourite Murdoch confidante. Rivett even named his son after Keith. </p>
<p>When Rupert arrived in Adelaide, Keith’s older protégé turned nemesis, Lloyd Dumas, chairman of the Advertiser, gave Rupert a memorable welcome by trying to push him out of business before Rupert even got started. On October 24 1953, the Advertiser launched the Sunday Advertiser.</p>
<p>It was designed to crush News Limited’s weekend paper, the Mail, which was the biggest-circulation paper in the state and a solid earner. The intention was to force Murdoch’s heirs to sell out so the Herald Weekly Times could reclaim the News. Dumas was a knight, a pillar of society in Adelaide, a city renowned for its “luminous and eccentric” establishment, its British-style manored estates, and blue-blood <a href="https://adelaide-club.asn.au/">Adelaide Club</a> members.</p>
<p>But Rupert showed immediately that he was not going to play by the usual rules of conduct, including the unwritten rule that newspaper owners did not publish stories about each other. A month after the Sunday Advertiser launched, Rupert’s Mail published a front-page story airing some industry dirty linen. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527674/original/file-20230523-57503-uzgrf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527674/original/file-20230523-57503-uzgrf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527674/original/file-20230523-57503-uzgrf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527674/original/file-20230523-57503-uzgrf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527674/original/file-20230523-57503-uzgrf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527674/original/file-20230523-57503-uzgrf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527674/original/file-20230523-57503-uzgrf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527674/original/file-20230523-57503-uzgrf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adelaide was renowned for its ‘luminous and eccentric’ establishment and manored estates. Pictured: St Peter’s Cathedral.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It reported that, after Keith Murdoch’s death, Dumas had gone to his widow, bound her to secrecy so she could not consult anyone, and told her to sell the family’s controlling stake in the company to him. When Elisabeth refused, he gave her an ultimatum: either sell him the Mail, or the Advertiser would start a new weekend paper and drive the Mail out of business. The article included excerpts from a private letter Dumas had sent to Elisabeth.</p>
<p>Dumas and Rupert fought a “nasty circulation war”. The challenger Sunday Advertiser was the better product but many of the Mail’s readers stayed loyal and it remained in front. As Adelaide was not large enough to support two Sunday papers, both companies bled money for nearly two years before the opponents called a truce and agreed to merge. Both took 50% of the newly merged Sunday Mail from December 1955. With no competition, it was very profitable. Rupert considered this co-venture a great victory and let it be known that Dumas had backed down.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-secret-history-of-news-corp-a-media-empire-built-on-spreading-propaganda-116992">The secret history of News Corp: a media empire built on spreading propaganda</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Liberalism and sensationalism</h2>
<p>Rupert let Rivett develop the News into the most liberal daily paper in the country, one with a social conscience that published very different views to
the establishment Advertiser. </p>
<p>Murdoch learned all he could by working in various roles at the paper and developed a reputation for his overwhelming energy and for rolling up his sleeves and observing every phase of the production process. He was also becoming known for criticising and trying to make constant changes. One overwhelmed staff member called them “Rupertorial interruptions”.</p>
<p>Rivett focused on editorial while Murdoch focused on increasing advertising revenue, improving circulation, cutting costs and making production more efficient. Murdoch was particularly good at gaining retail and some new classified advertising for the News. News Limited’s profits jumped from $62,000 when he began in 1953, to $432,000 in 1959.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zXcjW4QplsQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Rupert Murdoch was known from the start for being very involved in his media properties.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Murdoch had his eye on expansion immediately. His first move was to expand News Limited’s interest in magazine publisher Southdown Press. His next move,
in October 1954, was to acquire Western Press Ltd, publisher of Western Australia’s only Sunday paper, the Sunday Times, in Perth. (It also owned a Saturday publication called the Mirror, and 20 country newspapers.)</p>
<p>The Sunday Times was where Murdoch honed his <a href="https://theconversation.com/rupert-murdoch-and-the-news-international-tabloid-grotesquerie-2330">tabloid techniques</a>. The paper was “tawdry” even before Murdoch bought it, but <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/902842.Murdoch?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=GwPBFNOkUt&rank=1">he made it</a> more “sparkily so”. </p>
<p>Murdoch began flying to Perth every Friday to personally hammer the paper into a more sensational style to increase its sales. <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2298216.Citizen_Murdoch">Murdoch biographer, Thomas Kiernan</a>, said the Sunday Times was the birthplace of Murdoch journalism, “the exaggerated story filled with invented quotes; the slavishly sensationalised yarns; the eye-shattering, gratuitously blood-curdling headline”. </p>
<p>An infamous early one was “LEPER RAPES VIRGIN, GIVES BIRTH TO MONSTER BABY”. He also used competitions and zealous promotion to sell the paper. These became some of the other hallmarks of Murdoch’s tabloid approach.</p>
<p>The Sunday Times purchase was funded by a loan. Rupert’s new bank was the Commonwealth Bank in Sydney. It was then relatively small and had become a trading bank only in June 1953. Its general manager, Alfred Norman “Jack” Armstrong, and Vern Christie, who later became a managing director, thought Murdoch was a good risk, commercially savvy and always met his repayments.</p>
<p>The Commonwealth Bank’s willingness to lend Murdoch huge sums would prove crucial to the growth of his media empire. </p>
<p>Rupert stayed in Adelaide for seven years, from 1953 to 1960. Aside from newspaper production, he was also learning everything he could about radio and television, including on trips to the United States. It was a crucial turning point when Murdoch’s Southern Television Corporation Ltd (60% owned by News Limited) <a href="https://televisionau.com/2019/09/tv-at-60-tv-comes-to-adelaide.html">was granted</a> one of two commercial television licences in Adelaide in 1958.</p>
<p>After a visit to the Philadelphia office of the popular US magazine TV Guide, Murdoch launched an Australian weekly television magazine. Southdown Press began publishing <a href="https://televisionau.com/feature-articles/tv-week">TV-Radio Week</a> in December 1957, 14 months after Australian television had begun (it was called TV Week from 1958). Murdoch was also buying up small papers in remote towns across the country. He acquired the Cold War–born NT News and the Mount Isa Mail at the end of 1959. </p>
<p>Murdoch would fly into town in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-3">DC-3</a> and haggle with the owner. Former News Limited executive Rodney Lever said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>His technique was simple: he would bully the owner into selling his paper with a threat that he would start a competing paper in the town.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Murdoch soon turned the NT News into a tri-weekly, and the Mount Isa Mail into a bi-weekly. By 1965, both were daily papers.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-irreverence-to-irrelevance-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-bad-tempered-tabloids-113656">From irreverence to irrelevance: the rise and fall of the bad-tempered tabloids</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Bold moves</h2>
<p>Murdoch made two bold moves in Adelaide in 1958–59. One was political
and the other commercial, and as journalist and author George Munster noted, these moves were not well coordinated; they ran in opposite directions.</p>
<p>The News took a strong stance on the trial of <a href="https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/catalogue_resources/92649.pdf">Rupert Max Stuart</a>, an Indigenous carnival worker who had been convicted in 1958 of the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl. </p>
<p>After a confession to police over which there hung significant doubt, Stuart was sentenced to death and his conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court of South Australia. Rivett was convinced Stuart had not had a fair trial and the News campaigned fiercely for the case to be reopened. The paper’s attacks on authorities in South Australia’s police force and courts were the talk of the city.</p>
<p>Murdoch supported Rivett “wholeheartedly” and saw the case as a way to attack both the Adelaide establishment and the conservative <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Playford_IV">Playford government</a>, which had been in office since 1938 as the beneficiary of a ruthlessly gerrymandered election system.</p>
<p>Labor politician <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Cameron">Clyde Cameron</a>, who was dining and socialising with Murdoch at this time, found Rupert “was much further Left than me”. When the case was at its height, Murdoch said to him: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m in a spot, Clyde. Myers [sic] have phoned to say that unless we drop our campaign in favour of Stuart, they are going to withdraw all of their advertising from the News and that means a lot to us … I told them to go to hell.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Playford was forced to set up a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Commission_in_regard_to_Rupert_Max_Stuart">Royal Commission</a> to examine <a href="https://sahistoryhub.history.sa.gov.au/events/stuart-case">the Stuart case</a> and the News ran fierce attacks on it too, including lambasting royal commissioners for improperly sitting in judgement of their own earlier decisions. The <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-18/max-stuart-rupert-murdoch-true-crime-case/10614666">News’ coverage</a> landed Rivett, Murdoch and other employees in court on a string of charges, including the archaic, rarely used charge of seditious libel, which could have seen them imprisoned. </p>
<p>Rupert was said to be deeply shaken by the potential risks and how far matters escalated. Eventually, the charges were dismissed and the News ran an editorial apologising and disavowing criticism of the judiciary members. There was
speculation that Playford had dropped the charges in return for the News halting its campaign against his government.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527678/original/file-20230523-19-t87qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527678/original/file-20230523-19-t87qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527678/original/file-20230523-19-t87qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527678/original/file-20230523-19-t87qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527678/original/file-20230523-19-t87qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527678/original/file-20230523-19-t87qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527678/original/file-20230523-19-t87qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527678/original/file-20230523-19-t87qwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">US President John F. Kennedy meets a young Rupert Murdoch (on right) in the oval office in 1961.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An old friend sacked</h2>
<p>While the Adelaide establishment was still buzzing about the Stuart case, Murdoch made an audacious bid to gain control of the Advertiser. Backed by the Commonwealth Bank, Murdoch made an offer of more than £14 million in shares and cash to Advertiser Newspapers Ltd. At a time when News Limited had less than £1.8 million in shareholders’ funds, it was one of the biggest corporate takeover bids in Australian history.</p>
<p>Dumas quashed the bid. The Advertiser announced in its pages that its board rejected the takeover bid and Dumas announced that the holders of more than 50% of Advertiser shares refused to accept Murdoch’s offer. </p>
<p>Dumas added tartly that the South Australian community and the paper’s shareholders have a “real pride in the Advertiser and would never agree to its being modelled on the News”, nor let Murdoch, as head of Cruden Investments, “a Victorian company”, exercise “complete individual control” over the Advertiser as he did with the News.</p>
<p>The Herald Weekly Times’ old hands had blocked Murdoch but he had made a strong impression and provided a bold declaration of his ambitions. He had also shown the business world he could muster significant capital and it was becoming obvious he would not easily be bought or driven out.</p>
<p>Five weeks after the last charges over the Stuart Royal Commission were withdrawn, Murdoch wrote a curt note from Sydney that “summarily dismissed” Rivett as editor.</p>
<p>This was a man Murdoch had considered “like the brother he never had”. Some speculated that Rivett’s sacking may have been part of the deal with Playford. Others believed it was inevitable because Murdoch was asserting himself more and his priorities were changing. Either way, it was strong evidence that Murdoch was not going to let friendship get in the way of business.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527622/original/file-20230523-15-u9lnp7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527622/original/file-20230523-15-u9lnp7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527622/original/file-20230523-15-u9lnp7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527622/original/file-20230523-15-u9lnp7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527622/original/file-20230523-15-u9lnp7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=920&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527622/original/file-20230523-15-u9lnp7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527622/original/file-20230523-15-u9lnp7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527622/original/file-20230523-15-u9lnp7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1156&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>The Stuart case had happened at a formative time for Murdoch, when his political views were still developing. Back in 1953, with a state election imminent in South Australia, he had written to Rivett, “I implore you not to speak out too loudly on either side.” </p>
<p>Personally, Rupert had strong views on <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-robert-menzies-and-the-birth-of-the-liberal-national-coalition-74533">Robert Menzies</a> though. He was said to loathe the prime minister because he was part of the Melbourne business establishment that had rejected him after his father’s death. Menzies had essentially chosen Jack Williams at the Herald and Weekly Times over Murdoch. Murdoch also thought Menzies was holding Australia – and himself – back.</p>
<p>In 1958–59, Murdoch had tried taking on the establishment in Adelaide by bringing on a showdown with the premier and the Adelaide Club, but had to back down. The experience seemed to chasten him and turn him away from advocacy journalism for the moment, and toward safer forms that did not clash with his commercial goals.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is an edited extract from <a href="https://unsw.press/books/media-monsters/">Media Monsters: The Transformation of Australia’s Newspaper Empires</a> by Sally Young (New South Publishing).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally Young received funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) future fellowship scheme to study newspaper history and press power. Since 2019, she has been a research committee member of the Centre for Public Integrity which conducts research aimed at strengthening Australian democracy.</span></em></p>Young Rupert took up his inheritance in Adelaide in 1953 with minimal journalistic experience. He quickly revealed himself to be a ruthless rule-breaker and hands on, expansionary proprietor.Sally Young, Professor of Political Science, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040352023-05-21T20:00:05Z2023-05-21T20:00:05ZSumner Redstone: the other media baron who inspired Succession was more toxic and dysfunctional than Logan Roy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526103/original/file-20230515-18-7g22tf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C1920%2C1270&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">HBO</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just before the third season of the hit HBO television show <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-succession-feeds-the-hidden-fantasies-of-its-well-to-do-viewers-201936">Succession</a> began, the show’s creator, Jesse Armstrong, was asked (again) what it was about real-life media tycoons Sumner Redstone and Rupert Murdoch that drove him to create a TV series about a fictional media family that bore some resemblances to each of them.</p>
<p>Armstrong’s answer was simple: when Redstone and Murdoch had been asked about their succession plans, both had joked they didn’t plan to die.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Hollywood Media Empire – James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams (Cornerstone Press)</em></p>
<hr>
<p>“It felt like something quite basic about not wanting to give up and feeling that loss of influence at the end of your life,” Armstrong <a href="https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/435246.aspx">explained</a>. “And I started to feel there was a show about what those people are like in general.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526220/original/file-20230515-8760-ma8fg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526220/original/file-20230515-8760-ma8fg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526220/original/file-20230515-8760-ma8fg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526220/original/file-20230515-8760-ma8fg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526220/original/file-20230515-8760-ma8fg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526220/original/file-20230515-8760-ma8fg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526220/original/file-20230515-8760-ma8fg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526220/original/file-20230515-8760-ma8fg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jesse Armstrong (second right) was inspired to write Succession by Sumner Redstone and Rupert Murdoch, who both joked they intended not to die.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Pizello/AP</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Armstrong’s success has been to combine the all-too-common anxiety about our legacy with the elevated stakes that come with being one of those rarefied ultra-wealthy corporate media figures who believe mortality is negotiable.</p>
<p>It appears that for these media tycoons’ families, an inheritance goes beyond how much it’s worth, or what corporate outpost might come their way: it’s also about the family dynamic. Sibling rivalry, parental respect – and often, the banality of favouritism. Emotional fealty can have dollar signs attached to it. </p>
<p>We understand this almost instinctively in Armstrong’s depiction of the Roy family and the gruesome fascination patriarch Logan Roy conjures from a combination of psychopathic paternalism and deal-making wizardry. </p>
<p>But now we can also see it in even more lurid detail, with the release of a book by two New York Times journalists on Redstone’s savage battle to secure his own legacy: <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/unscripted-9781529912852">Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Hollywood Media Empire</a> by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"695000477734285312"}"></div></p>
<h2>An American success story</h2>
<p>Redstone was one of those classic American success stories. His father sold linoleum, and went on to run two drive-in theatres, which Redstone would later develop into the movie theatre chain National Amusements. (And as a child, <a href="https://www.theringer.com/tv/2019/9/29/20886840/succession-season-2-episode-8-recap">just like Logan Roy</a>, Redstone briefly lived in a house with no inside bathroom.)</p>
<p>Redstone escaped his background with a scholarship to Harvard that set him on the path to a career that, at its peak, delivered him control of Viacom, Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and publisher Simon & Schuster, as well as National Amusements. It was a playpen of great wealth and wide influence.</p>
<p>Unscripted makes clear that Redstone’s travails are even more compelling and incredible than his small-screen avatar’s. The reality is more toxic, more dysfunctional and far more complicated than any TV script. </p>
<p>Unscripted catalogues Redstone’s sexual predations – including finding on-air roles for women he was interested in (another Logan move), and repeatedly dating or trying to date his grandson’s girlfriends. Said one Hollywood executive of his behaviour: “He acts like a 15-year-old kid at summer camp.”</p>
<p>His fed-up grandson eventually hired TV’s Millionaire Matchmaker, Patti Stanger (whom Sumner called his “dream girl” and unsuccessfully pursued), to find him a companion. This would have unforeseen consequences.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526175/original/file-20230515-29-kumz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526175/original/file-20230515-29-kumz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526175/original/file-20230515-29-kumz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526175/original/file-20230515-29-kumz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526175/original/file-20230515-29-kumz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526175/original/file-20230515-29-kumz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1159&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526175/original/file-20230515-29-kumz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1159&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526175/original/file-20230515-29-kumz6q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1159&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>But what Unscripted really reveals is how desperately Redstone clung to the hallmarks of his successful life, and how vulnerable that made him to those who wanted to take advantage of him. </p>
<p>Central to the book, and his later life – as Armstrong noted – is Redstone’s gobsmacking denial of his own mortality.</p>
<p>At the age of 85, and having survived a hotel fire in his 50s, and later prostate cancer, <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2023/02/sumner-redstone-in-love-the-cringey-sexcapades-of-a-horny-billionaire">Redstone boasted</a> to CNN’s celebrity interviewer Larry King that he had “the vital statistics of a 20-year-old”.</p>
<p>In case Larry had any doubts, Redstone laid out his case. “Even 20-year-old men get older. Not me. My doctor says I’m the only man who’s reversed it. I eat and drink every antioxidant known to man. I exercise 50 minutes every day.” Redstone even told one of his numerous paramours that he was the inspiration behind <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421715/">The Curious Case of Benjamin Button</a>, a film about a man who defies chronology by getting younger.</p>
<p>Not long after the King interview, Redstone’s health started to deteriorate. And that, of course, brought his family’s inheritance and succession issues into sharp relief. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rich-are-pouring-millions-into-life-extension-research-but-does-it-have-any-ethical-value-201774">The rich are pouring millions into life extension research – but does it have any ethical value?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The successor: Shari Redstone</h2>
<p>Redstone had two children: a son, Brent, who was estranged from his father, and Shari, a lawyer, three years younger than her brother. The similarities of Shari (who, incidentally, has red-blonde hair) to Shiv Roy, played by Sarah Snook, have been noted.</p>
<p>Over the years, Shari had clashed bitterly with her father, sometimes publicly. At the same time she craved his affection and approval, which he dangled frequently before her (especially when he needed something) but then withdrew his favour. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1179841050623565826"}"></div></p>
<p>Shari was initially nominated as his successor, but after a public feud between them, Sumner announced his inheritance would instead be shared between his five grandchildren. </p>
<p>The book hums with the steady undercurrent of the cruel and fraught relationship between Sumner and Shari, reaching its crescendo as Sumner chose two of his lovers to become his live-in carers in a bizarre affront to his family. </p>
<p>One of them was Sydney Holland, introduced to Redstone by the Millionaire Matchmaker: she became his live-in fiancee. The other was his old flame, Manuela Herzer, who moved in (with her daughter) while the house Redstone had bought her was being renovated – and stayed, sharing Holland’s duties of managing the household and Redstone’s medical care. </p>
<p>Together, they not only found every way possible to prevent Shari from visiting him – but also <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/sumner-redstone-sues-companions-elder-abuse-reclaim-150m-gifts-937749/">extracted US$150 million</a> from him.</p>
<p>By that stage, Redstone was being fed through a tube into his stomach. He spent most of his day watching sport on TV, and could barely speak. The fate of his companies swung in the wind. Shari, who was still part of the corporate landscape, was trying to salvage something from the wreckage. </p>
<p>She never gave up, although she came close to walking away. All she wanted was a signal from her father that – after years of being patronised, yelled at, ignored and belittled – he trusted her. </p>
<p>After she managed to extract the two carers from the Redstone home (no easy feat), Shari “all but moved to Los Angeles” to be near her father. His nurses installed a large clock so he could track the hours and minutes until her arrival, and she “became adept at interpreting Sumner’s speech”.</p>
<p>There is an echo here too of Succession: Logan Roy’s business rival, Sandy, whose daughter Sandi – also apparently inspired by Shari – is his translator to the world, after he falls seriously ill (with what’s <a href="https://screenrant.com/succession-season-3-sandy-illness-syphilis-what-happened/">rumoured</a> to be syphilis, seemingly a dig at his hypersexuality).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526105/original/file-20230515-17-ummfq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526105/original/file-20230515-17-ummfq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526105/original/file-20230515-17-ummfq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526105/original/file-20230515-17-ummfq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526105/original/file-20230515-17-ummfq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526105/original/file-20230515-17-ummfq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526105/original/file-20230515-17-ummfq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526105/original/file-20230515-17-ummfq5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Succession’s Sandi (Hope Davis) is also inspired by Shari Redstone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">HBO</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sumner and Shari’s conversation turned to the proposal to sell a stake in Paramount to a Chinese property conglomerate. Sumner was viscerally opposed to the idea, hatched by a longtime executive whom Sumner now determined was on the outer. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What do I do?” Redstone asked his daughter. </p>
<p>“This is your battle, not mine […] I have a new life,” Shari replied. </p>
<p>Redstone pleaded: “Shari, you have to do this. You need to stop this.” </p>
<p>For Shari, that was the moment he finally said: “Shari, I trust you.” </p>
<p>“I’ll do it for you,” she said.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Shari’s determination to follow her father’s wishes helped make sure the deal never happened.</p>
<p>All this will resonate with those Succession fans who felt the whiplash of Logan Roy’s disdain towards his children, and its savage counterpoint as he tried to woo them. </p>
<p>Logan seems indomitable, but what makes the Redstone story so compelling is, eventually, the patriarch’s vulnerability – his confrontation with mortality – and the desperation and loneliness that drove him to restore his relationship with his daughter. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-biography-of-lachlan-murdoch-provides-some-insights-but-leaves-important-questions-unanswered-192403">The first biography of Lachlan Murdoch provides some insights, but leaves important questions unanswered</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Corporate misogyny</h2>
<p>There is no denying the other essential thread in Unscripted is one that clearly links Redstone’s appalling behaviour towards the women in his life with the corporate play that finally resolves his legacy.</p>
<p>The deal was to be a merger of the successful CBS network with the ailing Viacom, an idea Redstone had aggressively rejected for years. But the older Redstone became, the more appealing the merger became to the executives at CBS, particularly its chief executive, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-les-moonves-got-to-leave-cbs-on-his-own-terms-while-others-in-metoo-miscreant-club-got-canned-103041">Les Moonves</a>.</p>
<p>As the heat around the deal increased, rumours started to circulate about Moonves. Several women <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/08/06/les-moonves-and-cbs-face-allegations-of-sexual-misconduct">came forward</a> to accuse Moonves of sexual harassment and, in some instances, alleged sexual assault.</p>
<p>As Unscripted follows Moonves and the complex network of law firms and investigations that surrounded him, Sumner Redstone recedes from view. Shari, emboldened and central to the corporate action, becomes the character linking the two ends of the Redstone story. She had counted Moonves as a friend who had helped make CBS successful. Her father had championed him – but the CBS chief had let Shari down and betrayed her with his behaviour. He had to go.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526173/original/file-20230515-15-vs5j9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526173/original/file-20230515-15-vs5j9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526173/original/file-20230515-15-vs5j9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526173/original/file-20230515-15-vs5j9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526173/original/file-20230515-15-vs5j9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526173/original/file-20230515-15-vs5j9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526173/original/file-20230515-15-vs5j9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526173/original/file-20230515-15-vs5j9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sumner Redstone and Les Moonves with Ewan McGregor at movie premiere Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Pizello/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recurring and relentless misogyny characterises the corporate, entertainment and media worlds. We see this in Redstone’s corporate kingdom – and in the fictional setting of Waystar Royco, the corporate behemoth in Succession. Truth marches alongside fiction, without a sideways glance.</p>
<p>The book is an assiduous piece of journalism from two Pulitzer Prize winners: Abrams was part of The New York Times reporting team that worked on the Weinstein stories, and her knowledge of that context gives Unscripted a sharp clarity. </p>
<p>But Abrams and Stewart also have some great material to work with: we eavesdrop on conversations, and read text messages and emails, that together amount to a picture of greed, arrogance and despair. Most of these details are on the public record because there has been so much litigation between various parties seeking to either protect Redstone’s legacy or snatch some of it for themselves.</p>
<p>It ended on August 11 2020, when Sumner Redstone died at the age of 97. The merger between CBS and Viacom went ahead and Shari attempted to reshape the culture with seven women on the 13-member board of the merged company.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-people-crave-the-approval-of-an-abusive-or-narcissistic-parent-and-what-can-they-do-about-it-203664">Why do people crave the approval of an abusive or narcissistic parent? And what can they do about it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Living+</h2>
<p>Redstone might have died, but Armstrong’s other inspiration – Rupert Murdoch – continues. Murdoch turned 92 in March and seems resolute, if less robust.</p>
<p>Just like Redstone, Murdoch had his moment to pronounce on his longevity. He was 69 and had triumphed over prostate cancer. </p>
<p>“I’m now convinced of my own immortality,” <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/04/rupert-murdoch-cover-story">he declared</a>, although it’s highly likely he was half-joking. Nonetheless, there is longevity in the family genes: Murdoch’s mother, Dame Elisabeth, died at 103.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526240/original/file-20230515-12594-kg1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526240/original/file-20230515-12594-kg1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526240/original/file-20230515-12594-kg1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526240/original/file-20230515-12594-kg1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526240/original/file-20230515-12594-kg1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526240/original/file-20230515-12594-kg1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526240/original/file-20230515-12594-kg1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/526240/original/file-20230515-12594-kg1js8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rupert Murdoch joked, aged 69, ‘I’m now convinced of my own immortality’. That idea seems to have inspired Succession’s retirement product, Living+.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">HBO</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>After Redstone’s departure, Murdoch remains the oldest media tycoon still actively in charge. It’s clear he believes there’s still much work to be done, but <a href="https://theconversation.com/celebrity-money-and-power-tvs-obsession-with-the-murdoch-family-dynasty-146113">who will follow him</a> from among his four grown-up children remains a work in progress.</p>
<p>Whatever happens, it’s highly unlikely the public turmoil and angst that surrounded the Redstone succession will be repeated with Murdoch: it has so far felt like a much more discreet display.</p>
<p>If there’s any doubt about how the Murdochs want to keep all this private, it’s that one of the terms of the settlement of Murdoch’s divorce from his fourth wife, model Jerry Hall, was that she couldn’t give story ideas to the writers of Succession.</p>
<p>And yet in a recent episode from what is the final series, Kendall Roy launched a new retirement product from Waystar, <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/succession-living-plus-inspiration-explained.html">Living+</a>, which he described in his unique corporate mangling as a “personalised longevity journey”.</p>
<p>What actually is that, Ken? Somewhere to go while you’re waiting, or just maybe some intimations of mortality? Most likely, it’s just a Jesse Armstrong joke.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Richardson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new book, Unscripted, tells the incredible story of Sumner Redstone, the other model for Succession’s Logan Roy – and the epic succession journey of his daughter, Shari, now chair of ViacomCBS.Nick Richardson, Adjunct Professor of Journalism, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2040952023-04-19T18:28:12Z2023-04-19T18:28:12ZWhy Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems is good news for all media outlets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521727/original/file-20230418-3239-g103gl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C51%2C4840%2C3185&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dominion Voting Systems CEO John Poulos, third from right, leaves court with members of his legal team after reaching a reported $787.5 million settlement with Fox News.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/dominion-voting-systems-ceo-john-poulos-leaves-with-members-news-photo/1483128409?adppopup=true">Alex Wong/ Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s all over but the spinning. </p>
<p>At the eleventh hour, after the jury was sworn in and the lawyers were ready to make their opening statements, the judge presiding over <a href="https://courts.delaware.gov/Opinions/Download.aspx?id=345820">Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News</a> announced on April 18, 2023, that the “<a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/04/18/fox-news-settles-dominion-lawsuit">parties have resolved the case</a>.”</p>
<p>Little is known about the reported US$787.5 million settlement, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/business/fox-news-dominion-settlement.html">one of the largest known defamation awards</a> in the country’s history. Fox issued a vaguely worded statement confirming the merits of Dominion’s defamation claims – “We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false” – but was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2023/04/18/fox-news-wont-have-to-apologize-for-airing-dominion-lies-in-7875-million-settlement/?sh=756c5989793e">not required to make on-air apologies</a> or corrections. With that, the lawsuit that captured public attention for two years ended. </p>
<p>Dominion’s claims that <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/media/dominion-fox-news-allegations/index.html">Fox and its on-air pundits had damaged the voting equipment company’s reputation</a> by falsely questioning the integrity of its operations during the 2020 elections were the same essential claims that any libel plaintiff must make for a case to proceed to trial. The issue is not truth, alone, but whether false statements harmed the plaintiff’s reputation, and whether the news organization was at fault for publishing those statements. </p>
<p>Presiding <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/31/dominion-lawsuit-fox-trial-00090034">Judge Eric Davis had already ruled</a> that the many accusations Fox hosts and guests hurled at <a href="https://www.dominionvoting.com">Dominion</a> after the 2020 election – most notably that it switched votes from former President Donald Trump to challenger Joe Biden – were false as a matter of law. It was “CRYSTAL clear,” he wrote. All that remained for a jury to decide was whether the statements were made with actual malice. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521735/original/file-20230418-26-o964v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A throng of lawyers speak facing a large group of journalists holding notebooks, microphones and cameras. Someone holds a sign that reads, " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521735/original/file-20230418-26-o964v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521735/original/file-20230418-26-o964v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521735/original/file-20230418-26-o964v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521735/original/file-20230418-26-o964v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521735/original/file-20230418-26-o964v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521735/original/file-20230418-26-o964v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521735/original/file-20230418-26-o964v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Lawyers representing Dominion Voting Systems talk to reporters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/lawyers-representing-dominion-voting-systems-talk-to-news-photo/1483128376?adppopup=true">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Actual malice is the legal standard established by the Supreme Court in 1964 in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1963/39">New York Times v. Sullivan</a> that applies to public officials and public figures. In most cases, corporations like Dominion that offer goods or services for sale are also considered public figures, <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/466/485/">as the Supreme Court held in 1984</a> in Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union.</p>
<p>In these cases, corporations must prove that the statements about their businesses were published with knowledge that they are false, or with reckless disregard for whether they were true or not. The high court’s rationale in New York Times v. Sullivan, which involved a police commissioner in Alabama who was unhappy with media coverage of the Civil Rights Movement, was that powerful individuals should not be able to file frivolous suits aimed at silencing the press in order to vindicate their reputations. </p>
<p>As a scholar of media ethics and law, I have followed Dominion’s defamation suit against Fox News closely, because it presented a direct threat to the Sullivan standard, which for nearly 60 years has protected journalists and authors from lawsuits brought by U.S. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-ally-devin-nunes-loses-washington-post-defamation-appeal-2022-04-01/">politicians</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/468562-federal-judge-tosses-joe-arpaios-300m-defamation-lawsuit-against-cnn/">sheriffs</a>, <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/11th-circuit-refuses-to-revive-war-dogs-defamation-case/">international arms dealers</a>, <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca11/21-12030/21-12030-2021-12-10.html">political operatives</a> and many others who would seek to punish and curtail robust reporting about them and their activities. </p>
<h2>The facts were on Dominion’s side</h2>
<p>Dominion had a tremendous advantage on the eve of trial. Pretrial discovery revealed a trail of texts and email messages that documented the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/02/16/fox-news-2020-lies-dominion-suit/">doubts of executives, editors and pundits at Fox</a> about the veracity of the claims of a conspiracy to steal the 2020 elections, of which Dominion was supposedly an integral part. </p>
<p>They showed that, although Fox fact-checkers operating in the network’s own “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/04/03/fox-dominion-jeanine-pirro-brain-room/">brain room” had debunked many of these claims</a> as early as Nov. 20, 2020, Fox hosts continued to invite <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dominion-voting-systems-vs-fox-news-the-case-against-conspiracy-theories/">guests like Trump attorneys Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani</a>, who clung to their theory of a vast conspiracy to steal the presidency from Trump. And it appeared that the motivation for these decisions was <a href="https://theconversation.com/anyone-can-claim-to-be-a-journalist-or-a-news-organization-and-publish-lies-with-almost-total-impunity-202083">to try to hold on to viewers</a> who, once they heard <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2022/11/08/the-man-at-fox-news-who-called-arizona-for-biden-in-2020-says-tonight-my-gut-is-leaning-red/?sh=4bf1a97840f2">Fox call the state of Arizona for Biden</a>, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/surge-in-newsmax-ratings-shook-fox-news-then-faded-59e1e373">temporarily decamped to other conservative news outlets</a> like OANN and Newsmax that reinforced their preferred narrative rather than challenge it.</p>
<p>So things didn’t look good for Fox, and that was before the parade of high-profile witnesses, ranging from Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch to hosts like Maria Bartiromo, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity, were expected to be <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/04/media/tucker-carlson-sean-hannity-fox-news-dominion/index.html">required to take the witness stand</a> and submit to cross-examination. Dominion’s lawyers, no doubt, were about to evoke the legendary <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/remembering-howard-baker-whose-famous-question-embodied-watergate-hearings">Watergate hearings question</a> – “What did [the president] know and when did he know it?” And Fox’s institutional integrity would be on the line, as well as that of its pundits. </p>
<p>After the settlement was made public, Dominion claimed vindication of its reputation, declaring that “truth matters,” and that “<a href="https://whyy.org/articles/dominion-settles-fox-news-defamation-trial-election-2020/">for our democracy to endure another 250 years</a> … we must share a commitment to facts.” </p>
<p>Fox, for its part, grudgingly conceded that it had to “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/dominions-defamation-case-against-fox-poised-trial-after-delay-2023-04-18/">acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false</a>,” but added that the settlement was really a victory of sorts, because it “reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.”</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521737/original/file-20230418-18-1dcgri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of men and women, dressed in suits, some carrying briefcases, all with solemn looks on their faces, cross a city street on a sunny day." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521737/original/file-20230418-18-1dcgri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521737/original/file-20230418-18-1dcgri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521737/original/file-20230418-18-1dcgri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521737/original/file-20230418-18-1dcgri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521737/original/file-20230418-18-1dcgri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521737/original/file-20230418-18-1dcgri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521737/original/file-20230418-18-1dcgri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Members of the Fox News legal team leave the Leonard Williams Justice Center after settling a lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems in Delaware Superior Court.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-the-fox-news-legal-team-including-lawyer-dan-news-photo/1483126979?adppopup=true">Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images News via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>I can hear the gales of cynical laughter from many who think Fox has no journalistic standards whatsoever. Those critics must be dismayed that Fox and its employees will not be raked over the coals and otherwise humiliated in the court of public opinion, as well as in the courtroom.</p>
<h2>Disinformation was at the heart of the case</h2>
<p>But those who are disappointed may have been seeking more from this case than a libel suit can deliver. For many, it had become a surrogate for their unhappiness – or even incandescent rage – directed toward Fox for its editorial positions. It was a referendum not only on Fox’s coverage of Dominion, but also on its long-established pattern of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/04/unique-damaging-role-fox-news-plays-american-media/">favoring one political viewpoint</a> over all others, even at the expense of telling the truth. In other words, it was about disinformation and the people who are persuaded by it. </p>
<p>Many people would like to ban disinformation. But who decides what is disinformation? Under U.S. law, we don’t ask government tribunals to decide “the truth.” I have written about how <a href="https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1665&context=uclf">experiences in other countries show</a> that it is dangerous to ask courts, or any instrumentality of government, to do so. </p>
<p>If that sounds improbable, recall that it wasn’t that long ago that Donald Trump, while still a candidate, was calling news media like CNN and The New York Times “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118776010">fake news</a>.” He wanted to “<a href="https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/donald-trump-libel-laws-219866#:%7E:text=%22One%20of%20the%20things%20I,open%20up%20those%20libel%20laws">open up the libel laws</a>” and threatened to shut these outlets down. If the government decides which media sources are “real” or “fake,” a free press – and freedom of expression as we have known it – will cease to exist. As the <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1955/319us624">late Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson wrote</a> in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette in 1943, “If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in matters of politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion.” That means that the law tolerates errors in journalism – which are inevitable – as part of the search for truth. </p>
<p>I hold no brief for Fox. But had the Dominion case gone to the jury, the inevitable appeal by whomever lost would give the Supreme Court the chance to reconsider and possibly eliminate the New York Times v. Sullivan standard that protects all news media of all political stripes. At least two justices, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/02/us/supreme-court-libel.html">Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch, have indicated</a> they are eager to do just that, even though it has been the constitutional standard for nearly 60 years. Given this court’s willingness to overturn precedent, <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf">as it did with abortion rights</a>, there is no guarantee that another three justices might not join them. </p>
<p>In the end, this lawsuit was about two questions: Did Fox knowingly publish false statements about Dominion that harmed the company’s reputation, and did it do so knowing, or having reason to know, that they were false? It has already vindicated Dominion and exposed Fox’s questionable practices to the public. Anything more will have to wait for another day, which may come sooner than we think. Smartmatic, which builds electronic voting systems, has a pending libel suit against Fox and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/smartmatic-remains-committed-to-fox-news-defamation-case-2023-4">is poised to continue the battle</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204095/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane E. Kirtley is a member of the board of the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation. <a href="https://www.spj.org/foundation.asp">https://www.spj.org/foundation.asp</a>
From 1985-1999, she was Executive Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.</span></em></p>Despite Fox News’ questionable ethics, its last-minute settlement with Dominion Voting Systems was a win for all media.Jane E. Kirtley, Professor of Media Ethics and Law, University of MinnesotaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2020832023-04-11T12:05:29Z2023-04-11T12:05:29ZAnyone can claim to be a journalist or a news organization, and publish lies with almost total impunity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520033/original/file-20230410-26-4zi81a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3090%2C2046&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are no standards for what it takes to be a journalist.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/participant-seen-holding-a-sign-outside-fox-news-hq-members-news-photo/1247874350?adppopup=true">Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Headlines in early March 2023 implied Fox News mogul Rupert Murdoch had <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/28/1159819849/fox-news-dominion-voting-rupert-murdoch-2020-election-fraud">made a damning confession</a>. He had affirmed that some of his most important journalists were reporting that the 2020 presidential election was a fraud – even though they knew they were propagating a lie. </p>
<p>It was an admission during pretrial testimony in a libel lawsuit filed against Fox by a voting machine company that says it was defamed by the lie. For journalism practitioners and devotees, the admission should signal the end of the Fox News empire. </p>
<p>Nope. It didn’t.</p>
<p>Such a disgraceful demise would seem inevitable when journalists – professionally trained truth gatherers, employed by a news organization, which is an institution that exists to provide truthful information – choose not to do so. </p>
<p>Nope.</p>
<p>That’s because a business that calls itself a news organization actually does not have to be one - but it does have to be a business. <a href="https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/lawevents/4/">Businesses exist primarily to make a profit</a> and doing actual news isn’t essential. Adam Serwer, reporting for <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/fox-news-dominion-voting-lawsuit-2020-election-conspiracy/673111/">The Atlantic</a>, wrote “sources at Fox told me to think of it not as a network per se, but as a profit machine.” </p>
<p>News businesses or profit machines can hire anybody who falls off a turnip truck and label them journalists because the job has <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/reporters-correspondents-and-broadcast-news-analysts.htm">no standardized requirements</a>. </p>
<p>The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/reporters-correspondents-and-broadcast-news-analysts.htm">lists “None” as requirements</a> for work experience and on-the-job training for journalists but indicates a bachelor’s degree is typical. Accordingly, the Fox News business people could choose to spread election lies and insist, as court documents indicate, that it made good business sense to do so because much of their audience did not want the actual truth about that topic.</p>
<p>These are some of the troubling takeaways from Murdoch’s defense of his news business against <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20527880-dominion-v-fox-news-complaint">a libel lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting</a> Systems, the company implicated by Fox’s election fraud allegations. Fox essentially admits to publishing false information about Dominion, but argues it is nonetheless protected from liability. It is a defense grounded in the <a href="https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-1/">First Amendment</a>, which protects press freedom so robustly that it also protects the irresponsible use of that freedom. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520038/original/file-20230410-3948-1z66xz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men at a sports game, one younger and one older." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520038/original/file-20230410-3948-1z66xz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520038/original/file-20230410-3948-1z66xz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520038/original/file-20230410-3948-1z66xz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520038/original/file-20230410-3948-1z66xz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520038/original/file-20230410-3948-1z66xz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520038/original/file-20230410-3948-1z66xz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520038/original/file-20230410-3948-1z66xz.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lachlan Murdoch, left, and his father, Rupert Murdoch, lead the Fox corporation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rupert-murdoch-and-his-son-lachlan-murdoch-attend-the-news-photo/1027568416?adppopup=true">Jean Catuffe/GC Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>There’s lying … and there’s defamation</h2>
<p>Murdoch’s admission was contained in <a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/dominion-fox-news/54e33f20f7fb6e8d/full.pdf">court documents</a> and was revealed in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/business/media/fox-dominion-2020-election.html">a New York Times story</a> published on March 7, 2023. The story was about the US$1.6 billion libel lawsuit <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20527880-dominion-v-fox-news-complaint">filed against Fox News</a> by Dominion, the company Fox journalists repeatedly - and falsely - accused of rigging the 2020 presidential election to make sure Donald Trump lost. </p>
<p>Internal Fox communications, reported by the New York Times, revealed that network journalists and their news executive bosses knew the 2020 election was not fraudulent, yet continued to allow lies about the election - told by hosts and their guests - to be spread to the public. </p>
<p>Dominion claimed Fox’s audience recoiled when its journalists truthfully reported that Trump had lost the election. Dominion’s attorneys asserted that Fox feared the audience would switch their viewing allegiance to upstart conservative news organizations Newsmax and One America News.</p>
<p>In a March 31, 2023, ruling, the judge hearing the case cited examples of Fox’s internal communications that demonstrated how journalism values were supplanted by the <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23736885-dominion-v-fox-summary-judgment">language and values of business</a>. Among them was this quote attributed to a Fox Corporation board member: “If ratings go down, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/27/business/media/dominion-fox-news.html">revenue goes down</a>.” The judge also referred to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/31/business/fox-dominion-defamation-case.html">Dominion’s claim</a> that Fox chose to publish the (false) statements to win back viewers. </p>
<p>Court documents show Dominion’s attorneys asked Murdoch: “What should the consequences be when Fox News executives knowingly allow lies to be broadcast?” Murdoch replied: “They should be reprimanded, maybe got rid of.”</p>
<p>That response aligns with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/editorial-standards/ethical-journalism.html#introductionAndPurpose">principles</a> widely touted by professional news organizations and established in the <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Ethical+Journalist%3A+Making+Responsible+Decisions+in+the+Digital+Age%2C+3rd+Edition-p-9781119777489">ethical practice</a> of journalism. Although journalism scholars and practitioners vary in their definitions of what a <a href="https://www.cjr.org/special_report/disrupting-journalism-how-platforms-have-upended-the-news-intro.php">news organization is</a> and <a href="https://archives.cjr.org/behind_the_news/whos_a_journalist_zzzzzzzzzzzz.php">who can claim to be a journalist</a>, there is firm agreement that reporting facts, or at least making a good faith effort to do so, is an indispensable mandate for both. </p>
<p>Yet Murdoch has not indicated an intention to discipline en masse Fox News employees who violated that ethical principle. Nor is he required to. </p>
<p>Even the Society of Professional Journalists, the nation’s <a href="https://spj.org/">foremost advocate</a> for ethical journalism, <a href="https://www.spj.org/ethics-papers-code.asp">rejects punishments</a> for those who violate its principles. Its ethics code says in part: “The code is entirely voluntary. … It has no enforcement provisions or penalties for violations, and SPJ strongly discourages anyone from attempting to use it that way.” The organization concedes that news outlets can discipline their own journalists. Because journalists and their employers may be considered to be one entity, any disciplinary action is voluntary self-discipline. Neither journalists nor the news organizations they personify have to be truthful unless they want to. </p>
<p>Lying in the press is unethical but does not necessarily strip liars of the protections <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/567/709/">provided by the First Amendment</a>. There is an exception to this: the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/defamation">defamatory lie</a>, one that injures a person or organization’s reputation. That is what got Fox News sued.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520045/original/file-20230410-20-t0e1uv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A machine with the words 'Dominion Voting' on it, and a woman walking by in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520045/original/file-20230410-20-t0e1uv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520045/original/file-20230410-20-t0e1uv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520045/original/file-20230410-20-t0e1uv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520045/original/file-20230410-20-t0e1uv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520045/original/file-20230410-20-t0e1uv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520045/original/file-20230410-20-t0e1uv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520045/original/file-20230410-20-t0e1uv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The lawsuit filed by the maker of this voting machine, Dominion Voting Systems, charges that Fox News disseminated lies claiming that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/NotRealNews/4ef225a704cd42c383e7e24f7418b3a4/photo?Query=dominion%20lawsuit&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=38&currentItemNo=8">AP Photo/Ben Gray</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Assumptions fall</h2>
<p>Murdoch’s surprising statements were revealed in the lawsuit because his attorneys sought what’s called a “<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/summary_judgment">summary judgment</a>” by the judge to decide the case without a trial, in order to avoid the prospect of facing a jury. That move makes sense given that some <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Law-of-Public-Communication/Lee-Stewart-Peters/p/book/9781032193120?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7bmIi_-L_gIV3v_jBx0A-QzVEAAYASAAEgKm0fD_BwE">law scholars</a> have found that juries rule against media defendants three times out of four. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp/rule_56">By law</a>, summary judgment is available only when the parties agree on the material facts of the case. </p>
<p>That meant Fox and Murdoch had to admit to Dominion’s most damning allegations, including confessing to broadcasting untrue statements and engaging in other unethical journalism practices. Even with those admissions, the <a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/889/actual-malice">First Amendment’s protection</a> could still give Fox a chance to win the lawsuit - particularly if a jury did not hear the case. </p>
<p>Without reaching trial or a verdict, the Dominion Voting Systems v. Fox News lawsuit has already produced some unsettling results. It has challenged journalism disciples’ assumption that news organizations exist to <a href="https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/what-is-journalism/purpose-journalism/">provide the public with truthful information</a> about the most important issues in their civic lives. It has shaken journalism’s faithful who assume that <a href="https://niemanreports.org/articles/good-journalism-can-be-good-business/">good journalism is never bad</a> for the business of journalism.</p>
<p>Neither assumption is necessarily valid at Fox or anywhere. Anyone can claim to be a journalist, irrespective of their actual function. Any business can claim to be a news organization. Functioning irresponsibly in either role is largely protected by the First Amendment and is therefore optional.</p>
<p>Ethics imposed by independent state bar associations and state medical boards have made professional attorneys and physicians accountable by law as a means of ensuring responsible behavior in their roles, which are considered essential to society. Journalism ethics, which are news organization ethics, are wholly voluntary and can be set aside if they compromise profits. </p>
<p>But if the ethics violations are defamatory, a successful libel lawsuit can impose accountability with a financial cost - money damages.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202083/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John C. Watson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A news organization doesn’t have to publish or broadcast the facts or the truth. And there are no standardized requirements to be a journalist.John C. Watson, Associate Professor of Journalism, American UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1978552023-03-24T12:05:51Z2023-03-24T12:05:51ZSuccession planning: not all family businesses feud – here’s how they help younger generations take over<p>When the world’s richest and most powerful families deal with the tricky task of succession planning, it can attract a lot of interest. Think of news reports from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/oct/21/murdochs-succession-who-wins-from-move-to-reunite-fox-and-news-corp#:%7E:text=When%20the%20Rupert%20era%20ends,and%20Chloe%2C%20are%20financial%20beneficiaries.">the Murdoch’s media empire</a> or, more recently, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-bernard-arnault-louis-vuitton-moet-hennessy-succession/">luxury goods company LVMH</a>. Even fictional clans such as the Roys of TV show Succession attract massive global audiences with tales of dysfunction as members battle for control of the family firm.</p>
<p>As well as the <a href="https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2021/5/the-fall-of-the-house-of-hammer">real-life examples</a> tracked by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/aug/02/how-departure-of-james-laid-bare-the-murdoch-family-rifts">the world’s media</a>, the many <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460756690/the-price-of-fortune/">books</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11214590/">movies</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasty_(1981_TV_series)">TV shows</a> based on stories of attempts to pass family wealth and power <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7660850/">down through generations</a> show just how fascinating this transfer can be. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l8K6Wd2vyHc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A trailer for the highly anticipated fourth season of Succession.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But while some family businesses must overcome in-fighting and entitled behaviour as younger family members take control, others manage to pass down the baton without issue. Indeed, although it can be an opportunity to see families at war with each other, succession planning decisions also determine the long-term survival of a business.</p>
<p>Family businesses have different practices and balance various goals. But there are some patterns that seem to contribute to keeping certain families in business for generations. Our research shows there are three key stages family members must work through to gain the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10422587211046547">knowledge needed for a successful succession</a>: setting the rules, grooming the successors and passing the baton.</p>
<h2>Setting the rules</h2>
<p>In a family business, success at work often goes beyond a simple formula of talent and skill. Gathering a different type of knowledge based on “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10422587211046547">doing things together</a>” can be just as important – especially if these activities relate to the family business. Sweet Mandarin – at one time the UK’s best local Chinese restaurant, <a href="http://sweetmandarin.com/blog/gordon-ramsays-f-word/">according to TV chef Golden Ramsay</a> – resulted from <a href="https://www.abebooks.co.uk/9780091913618/Sweet-Mandarin-Helen-Tse-0091913616/plp">three generations of family cooking together</a>, for example. </p>
<p>These family rituals set rules of behaviour based on a shared, <a href="https://iris.unibocconi.it/handle/11565/4000773">often rich and diverse, history</a> as different generations interact inside and outside of the business. Skills and stories (or knowledge) are passed between generations. But so are personality traits <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/annals.2014.0053">such as resilience</a> that can help prepare younger family members to work in the business.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Baby girl, child and senior man comparing the hands size. Two different generations concept." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507571/original/file-20230201-26-e9iqv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507571/original/file-20230201-26-e9iqv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507571/original/file-20230201-26-e9iqv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507571/original/file-20230201-26-e9iqv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507571/original/file-20230201-26-e9iqv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507571/original/file-20230201-26-e9iqv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507571/original/file-20230201-26-e9iqv6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When families live and spend time together, it can help strengthen the family firm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/baby-girl-child-senior-man-comparing-1136723819">David Pereiras/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Grooming the successors</h2>
<p>So, once younger generations are ready for their first day at the family firm, where should they start? The recent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/14/succession-struggle-rages-for-luxury-giant-lvmh-bernard-arnault">succession planning efforts of luxury goods company LVMH</a> – owned by the richest man in the world Bernard Arnault – has shone a light on the fascinating world of <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-98542-8">families that own and control several businesses</a>. </p>
<p>This is a way to help younger generations take control, often more gradually. These families setup, acquire and manage family businesses in parallel over <a href="https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/hdbk_familybusiness/n18.xml">a long period of time</a>. This provides a training ground for younger generations.</p>
<p>Such complex family portfolios come in different shapes and sizes. As well as France’s LVMH, other examples include <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/mexico-slim-succession-idINKCN0Y820F">Grupo Carso</a>, a Mexican conglomerate involved in retail, energy and construction, among other industries, and controlled by the Slim family. Or India’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/09/air-india-tata-conglomerate-in-24bn-takeover-deal">Tata Group</a>, which includes companies in the auto, steel and aviation industries. It is run by the Tata family via parent company Tata Sons.</p>
<p>And it’s not just international corporate giants that do this. There are many <a href="https://priefert.com/about-us/about-the-family">inspiring, and often dramatic, stories</a> of how diverse members of one or more families influence the creation, development, acquisition and even divestment of various parts of smaller firms to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joms.12717">shape a family business portfolio</a>. </p>
<p>Our research suggests that building these firms is not just about creating financial advantages, competing and the desire to expand or innovate. It can also relate to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08985626.2022.2067902">family dreams, dynamics, conflicts and crises</a>.</p>
<p>As a portfolio of businesses develops, growing managerial complexity might push the leaders to look for the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2012.00534.x">ideal family member</a> to lead a particular business unit, division or the entire conglomerate. <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-13206-3">Our research</a> shows the decisions behind who should be entrusted to lead are influenced not only by business objectives, but also by finding ways to more efficiently balance family ambitions, skills and responsibilities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Carpenter family business with generations in the workshop having a break" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507564/original/file-20230201-21-an94m7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507564/original/file-20230201-21-an94m7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507564/original/file-20230201-21-an94m7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507564/original/file-20230201-21-an94m7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507564/original/file-20230201-21-an94m7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507564/original/file-20230201-21-an94m7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507564/original/file-20230201-21-an94m7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Successful family businesses often provide space for younger generations to learn the business and experiment with new ventures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/carpenter-family-business-generations-workshop-having-1628760379">Kzenon/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Passing the baton</h2>
<p>A family business portfolio could also offer younger generations a “sandbox”. This is an environment in which they can explore and experiment with new ideas or best practices, fail and try again. They can use this time to prove they are apt stewards of existing family assets, as well as <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02662426221084918">entrepreneurially savvy</a> enough to continue building them. </p>
<p>The process of pursuing new opportunities, often creating or acquiring new ventures, may then continue across generations. And such an approach can help to prepare several potential successors, or even facilitate the passing of the baton to a larger pool of eager candidates.</p>
<p>Our research suggests that such “training” can start very early for family members who want to be involved in the firm. This is particularly true for those with diverse skills and ambitions, and where incumbent generations are still not considering retirement. </p>
<p>In the case of LVMH, for example, we may only now be seeing the end result of a long and deliberate approach to grooming family members to lead diverse business units <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/lvmhs-arnault-brushes-off-succession-question-2023-01-26/">while the previous generation remains involved</a>.</p>
<p>Families that create such sandboxes could be devising solutions to unforeseen, future succession dilemmas. And this way they can protect and grow the family business for many more generations to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bingbing Ge received funding from Research and Development Management Association during her PhD. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allan Discua-Cruz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many family businesses pass through generations without issue, some even grow stronger.Allan Discua-Cruz, Director, Centre for Family Business, Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Lancaster UniversityBingbing Ge, Lecturer in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2019362023-03-23T12:39:42Z2023-03-23T12:39:42ZHow ‘Succession’ feeds the hidden fantasies of its well-to-do viewers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516416/original/file-20230320-20-bejszf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=172%2C8%2C1468%2C1069&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Where's the appeal in watching a group of obnoxious, pampered, backstabbing siblings?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://static.hbo.com/2021-10/succession-ka-1920_0.jpg">HBO</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7660850/">Succession</a>” has returned for its fourth and final season, giving the show’s fans one last opportunity to watch <a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/movies-tv/a22638435/hbo-succession-review/">the kids of the wealthy Roy family</a> desperately try to gain the approval of their media mogul father by any means necessary.</p>
<p>I’ve watched every episode. But at one point, I started to wonder: Where’s the appeal in watching a group of obnoxious, pampered, backstabbing siblings?</p>
<p>Inspired by the family of Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch, with themes and a premise <a href="https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/of-roys-and-kings-the-shadow-of-succession/">pulled from</a> Shakespeare’s “<a href="http://shakespeare.mit.edu/lear/full.html">King Lear</a>,” “Succession” tells the story of an aging patriarch who must decide which of his four children will replace him at the top. </p>
<p>It’s easy to assume that much of the show’s appeal lies in its playful critiques of right-wing media and the billionaire class.</p>
<p>But in my view, the show actually caters to an audience that wants to condemn the main characters – while secretly identifying with their pursuit of power and pleasure.</p>
<h2>The contradictions of the liberal class</h2>
<p>As New York Times columnist David Brooks argued in his book “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Bobos-in-Paradise/David-Brooks/9780684853789">Bobos in Paradise</a>” – “bobo” a portmanteau of “bohemian” and “bourgeois” – contemporary America is full of upper-middle class professionals who long to be seen as virtuous artists, even as they engage in the relentless pursuit of money and success that allow them to ascend the ranks of the bourgeois class. </p>
<p>To hide the guilt they may feel for their capitalistic careerism, they look to signal their virtue and style through their consumption habits. They might pay more money to purchase a hybrid car so they can appear to be good stewards of the environment. Or they might fork over an extra buck or two to buy fair trade coffee. </p>
<p>Art also plays a role in status signaling. In his book “<a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674212770">Distinction</a>,” sociologist Pierre Bourdieu explained how class status and an appreciation of the arts are often intertwined. Wealthy people, he points out, have the time and resources to spend on activities that serve no direct practical function. </p>
<p>The working classes, however, have to constantly think about necessity and their limited time and money. </p>
<p>Bourdieu ultimately argues that the masses tend to avoid engaging with art and watching films and movies that place form over function because they do not have the luxury to spend time and money on these experiences. </p>
<h2>It’s HBO – not mass TV</h2>
<p>Like so many other <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Legitimating-Television-Media-Convergence-and-Cultural-Status/Newman-Levine/p/book/9780415880268">acclaimed premium cable TV shows</a>, “Succession” targets the very viewers – middle class and upper-middle class professionals – who can afford to pay for monthly streaming subscriptions. </p>
<p>To draw in these viewers, HBO needs to differentiate itself from TV networks and other streaming services. It does this, in part, by including nudity, violence and profanity <a href="https://www.tvguide.com/news/features/tv-censorship-nudity-profanity/">that wouldn’t be permitted on network TV</a>. It also seeks to highlight its series’ high production value.</p>
<p>In “Succession,” the series’ uncensored speech and behavior gives it a sense of gritty realism. But the show is also eager to flaunt its cinematic flair: <a href="https://nofilmschool.com/succession-cinematography">strange camera angles</a> and <a href="https://www.kodak.com/en/motion/blog-post/succession">saturated colors</a> suffuse each scene. These aesthetic techniques create a distancing effect on the audience; it is hard to escape a sense that this is a carefully crafted, fake world. </p>
<p>As I argue in my book “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/Political-Pathologies-from-The-Sopranos-to-Succession-Prestige-TV-and-the/Samuels/p/book/9781032403397">Political Pathologies from The Sopranos to Succession</a>,” this combination of the real and the fake allows prestige TV shows like “Succession” to present themselves as both a mirror of the world and a fictional painting full of stylistic flourishes.</p>
<p>This distance and duality allow the audience to feel like it’s a part of this world, while giving viewers the space to sever themselves from any sort of complicity and identification with the worst excesses of the show’s characters.</p>
<h2>Having it both ways</h2>
<p>Just as upper-middle class professionals may seek to hide their crass materialism through virtue signaling and status-based consumption, the show uses its own irony to reveal that it knows what it is doing, so that it can keep on catering to viewers’ anti-social desires. </p>
<p>The show’s well-to-do viewers may wish they could curse out their co-workers and underlings or indulge in wildly expensive luxuries, but they know that they have to restrain themselves – the rules of their social worlds demand it – and so they turn to fantasy and popular media to live out their repressed desires. </p>
<p>Like the politicians who say one thing but act in another contradictory way, the series itself sends two opposing messages simultaneously. One message is that people should all be free to say and do what they want. The other message is that this type of selfish behavior must be rejected because it undermines society and personal relationships.</p>
<p>New Yorker writer Janet Malcolm, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/business/media/janet-malcolm-dead.html">who died in 2021</a>, often explored the ways in which these contradictions were ingrained in American culture. As she writes in her book “<a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/99/04/25/specials/malcolm-murderer.html">The Journalist and the Murderer</a>,” “Society mediates between the extremes of, on the one hand, intolerably strict morality and, on the other, dangerously anarchic permissiveness … Hypocrisy is the grease that keeps society functioning in an agreeable way, by allowing for human fallibility and reconciling the seemingly irreconcilable human needs for order and pleasure.”</p>
<p>One of the main ways that the opposing forces of social order and individual pleasure are mediated is through <a href="https://www.press.umich.edu/231833/chic_ironic_bitterness">humor and irony</a>. The key to comedy, then, is that it allows people to both say and unsay the same thing – to transgress but be protected by the guise of humor. </p>
<p>In “Succession,” characters, like Tom, will state something and then immediately take it back and qualify it. Throughout the series, he is constantly threatening his younger colleague, Greg, before backtracking and telling him that he is only kidding – only to repeat the same threat again.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Tom and Greg meet for the first time in the show’s first season.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The power of cable news</h2>
<p>The contradictions of the show’s characters – and the liberal class, more broadly – are mirrored in the past few decades of American politics. </p>
<p>One example of this is former U.S. president Bill Clinton, who <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/third-way-dlc-bill-clinton-tony-blair-1990s-politics/">ushered in a political strategy</a> called the “third way.” In order to maintain power, the Democratic president often pushed through Republican policies like <a href="https://www.history.com/news/clinton-1990s-welfare-reform-facts">welfare reform</a>, <a href="https://prospect.org/health/fabulous-failure-clinton-s-1990s-origins-times/">financial deregulation</a> and <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/1994-crime-bill-and-beyond-how-federal-funding-shapes-criminal-justice">the war on drugs</a>. Underpinning this ideology is the desire to be both conservative and liberal at the same time. </p>
<p>Over time, the Democratic Party <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/11/democrats-long-goodbye-to-the-working-class/672016/">became representative of upper-middle class elites who still wanted to be seen as progressives</a>. The Republican party, meanwhile, hid its focus on policies catering to the super wealthy by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/03/07/college-degree-status-working-class-blue-collar-politics/">pretending to care about the plight</a> of the abandoned white working class. </p>
<p>In both of these cases, cable news and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2012/06/21/155501538/the-newsroom-caught-up-in-a-partisan-divide">fictional media</a> have played a big role in concealing the tensions of class conflict behind the wall of a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44808-4">culture war</a>.</p>
<p>In “Succession,” Waystar RoyCo, the right-wing news conglomerate owned by Logan Roy, often fans the flames of the culture war. For his part, Logan often claims that he controls the president, and it is up to him to pick the nation’s next leader. Logan’s power, then, does not come primarily from his money but from his media influence. </p>
<p>Since the media is positioned as the show’s most powerful political entity, I sometimes wonder what “Succession” is saying about its own status as a popular TV show. Is the series claiming that it has immense social power, or does it use humor and metafiction to free itself from any responsibility? </p>
<p>The answer to these questions has to be both yes and no: The series reflects the country’s political reality – but it also feeds the underlying fantasies that shape viewers’ political beliefs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201936/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Samuels does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Do the show’s fans secretly identify with the characters’ pursuit of power and pleasure?Robert Samuels, Continuing Lecturer in Writing, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1947092022-11-16T06:42:00Z2022-11-16T06:42:00ZTrump announces he’ll run for president again as Murdoch turns on him – and it could be politically expensive for both<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495580/original/file-20221116-22-yjn9z8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrew Harnik/AP/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>No politician, journalist or media critic has ever been heard to utter the phrase “as subtle as a Murdoch tabloid”.</p>
<p>So, when Murdoch’s New York Post responded to the Republicans’ unexpectedly meagre gains in the US mid-term elections, you did not need to read between the lines to see whom they blamed.</p>
<p>The headline was “Trumpty Dumpty” with a picture of an egg-shaped Trump sitting on a wall and the sub-head “Don (who couldn’t build a wall) had a great fall – can all the GOP’s men put the party together again?” This is a reference to the great wall that Trump promised in 2016 to build along the Mexican border to keep illegal immigrants out.</p>
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<p>More soberly, Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-is-the-gops-biggest-loser-midterm-elections-senate-house-congress-republicans-11668034869">editorialised</a> that Trump is the Republican Party’s “biggest loser”, whose campaigning had failed in 2018, 2020 and now 2022.</p>
<p>Trump has now announced he will be a candidate for the presidency in 2024. This suggests the Murdoch-Trump divorce is going to be long and messy, and may be politically expensive for them both.</p>
<p>The Murdoch media relish their reputation as king-makers. In Britain in 1992, after the Conservatives unexpectedly were re-elected, the front page of Murdoch’s Sun proclaimed “It was the Sun wot won it”.</p>
<p>Indeed, Murdoch has been on the winning side of every British election since 1979.</p>
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<p>This perfect record is not paralleled in the US or Australia. Murdoch’s support was not sufficient to give Trump victory in the 2020 presidential election or the Morrison government success in 2022, let alone various state elections around Australia.</p>
<p>In Australia, the Murdoch press has been on a downward spiral in its capacity to directly influence election results. There seem to be three main reasons for this. </p>
<p>The first is their declining circulation, which not only has reduced their outreach, but increasingly means their readership comprises disproportionately an elderly constituency already set in their attitudes.</p>
<p>The second is that once Murdoch had a keen populist touch, able to sense coming currents in the public, side with them and make them stronger. But in more recent years his own strong right-wing views have made his media more rigid and less in tune with shifts in public opinion.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-january-6-hearings-have-been-spectacular-tv-but-will-they-have-any-consequences-for-trump-187766">The January 6 hearings have been spectacular TV, but will they have any consequences for Trump?</a>
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<p>The third is that his media have become more crudely propagandistic over the decades. When Murdoch switched sides to Tony Blair’s Labour in the 1997 election, according to the acting editor of the Sun, Neil Wallis, Murdoch told him they were to be 200% behind Blair and everything he did. When he swung back to the Conservatives under David Cameron the news coverage swung at least as strongly in that direction.</p>
<p>In 2013, the Daily Telegraph kicked off its Australian campaign coverage with the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/05/daily-telegraph-election-australia">injunction to</a> “Kick this mob out”. It was a psychologically ripe moment after the Rudd-Gillard struggles. It is less clear that the anti-Labor campaigns since have been as in touch with the public mood.</p>
<p>Extreme coverage probably energises the base, but may not be terribly effective in swaying swinging voters.</p>
<p>In many ways, it would make commercial and professional sense for the Murdoch media to distance themselves from Trump. The next couple of years are likely to bring a series of controversies focused on Trump and his close allies such as Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani. </p>
<p>His business affairs may lead to prosecutions; the fall-out from the January 6 riots will continue in various ways, while there may be other specific charges relating to attempts at vote-tampering. </p>
<p>Moreover, all current support for Trump begins with the palpable lie that he really won the 2020 election. At the very least, support for Trump now is focused more on reclaiming the past than on the present or future.</p>
<p>It is easy to see that the culture war rhetoric of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may overlap somewhat with Trump’s appeals, but without all of Trump’s baggage, and that this would be a tempting route for Murdoch. Indeed some reports have claimed Lachlan Murdoch has already offered to throw support behind DeSantis.</p>
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<p>While such a shift would probably work well with the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post would still have its range of tabloid appeals, it would be trickier to execute it successfully on Murdoch’s Fox News.</p>
<p>Over the past six years, Fox News and Trump have had one of the closest ever relationships between a political leader and a media organisation in any English-speaking democracy. Many of Fox’s most prominent stars have actively campaigned for Trump and advertised their closeness to him.</p>
<p>Moreover, the Fox audience would be one of the strongest Trump constituencies in the country. It would be very easy to alienate some of them, who may then turn to other right-wing media for more comforting views.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194709/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rodney Tiffen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As Donald Trump announces he will run for president in 2024, Rupert Murdoch makes it clear he will not support him. Some reports are suggesting he will instead throw his weight behind Ron DeSantis.Rodney Tiffen, Emeritus Professor, Department of Government and International Relations, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1794682022-03-24T19:03:09Z2022-03-24T19:03:09ZIs News Corp following through on its climate change backflip? My analysis of its flood coverage suggests not<p>Several months ago, Australia’s Murdoch media news outlets launched a <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/mission-zero-putting-australia-on-a-path-to-a-net-zero-future/news-story/83f521bfd9d592ab6defdab7d3b81ce8">new climate change campaign</a> advocating a path toward net-zero emissions by 2050. The launch included a 16-page wraparound supplement in all of its tabloids supporting the need for climate action.</p>
<p>We do not usually expect news media to campaign for political and social causes. Yet, here was one of the most powerful media organisations in the country not only implying it has held an editorial stance against climate action in the past, but also declaring a plan to reverse this position. </p>
<p>In announcing the launch, News Corp <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/mission-zero-putting-australia-on-a-path-to-a-net-zero-future/news-story/83f521bfd9d592ab6defdab7d3b81ce8">said</a> a major reason climate action has stalled in Australia is “the debate has fallen victim to a culture of constant complaint”. </p>
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<p>[…] so here you will see only positive stories: real, practical and pragmatic solutions that will help the planet and also help Australia’s interests as well.</p>
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<p>Can a leopard change its spots? My analysis of the Murdoch outlets’ recent flood coverage suggests not.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-behind-news-corps-new-spin-on-climate-change-169733">What’s behind News Corp’s new spin on climate change?</a>
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<h2>Climate change downplayed in flood coverage</h2>
<p>Climate change is reported in a range of ways in news media to help audiences understand its causes and consequences, as well as the policy responses. </p>
<p>Extreme weather events such as bushfires and floods allow journalists to show how climate change is <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-of-the-most-extreme-disasters-in-colonial-australian-history-climate-scientists-on-the-floods-and-our-future-risk-178153">contributing</a> to the severity of natural disasters in an urgent and visual way.</p>
<p>However, my analysis of recent flood coverage in the Murdoch news outlets shows that although the terms “climate change” and “floods” were placed together in a range of articles, these outlets are still well behind others when it comes to emphasising the connection between extreme weather events and our warming planet. </p>
<p>I looked at 171 articles (both news and opinion) in major Australian print and online news media from March 1–13 that mentioned climate change and floods together – and those that downplayed the link between the two.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453766/original/file-20220323-17-5gq2e3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453766/original/file-20220323-17-5gq2e3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453766/original/file-20220323-17-5gq2e3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453766/original/file-20220323-17-5gq2e3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453766/original/file-20220323-17-5gq2e3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453766/original/file-20220323-17-5gq2e3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453766/original/file-20220323-17-5gq2e3.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=609&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Climate Floods Graph.</span>
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<p>There was some standout coverage making the link in at least one Murdoch outlet, news.com.au. This included a <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/flooding-disaster-firmly-embedded-in-climate-change-new-report-warns/news-story/c491eac3cae87874a40f12577acde0d8">report</a> about the Climate Council’s warnings of the impact of climate change on flooding, and <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/farmers-for-climate-action-report-shows-reason-behind-grocery-price-hike/news-story/157984a28c7609540b5df75c1995092e">another</a> about the impact of climate change on food prices. </p>
<p>Yet the total number of articles linking climate change to floods in the Murdoch outlets (which also include The Australian, Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph and Courier Mail) lagged behind ABC News, the Nine newspapers, The Guardian and The Conversation.</p>
<p>The analysis also shows the Murdoch outlets were the only news organisations where voices argued the floods <em>were not</em> exacerbated by climate change. </p>
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<p>As reported by <a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/2022/03/09/nsw-qld-floods-climate-change-denial-right-wing/">Crikey</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/10/what-are-conservative-commentators-saying-about-the-floods-and-climate">The Guardian</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/floods/13795580">ABC’s Media Watch</a>, conservative commentators such as Andrew Bolt and Chris Kenny continue to muddy the water when it comes to the impact of climate on extreme weather. </p>
<p>For example, Kenny wrote in <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/climate-catastrophists-see-opportunity-in-disaster/news-story/d4d934d45ecbd9b328363527d831ccdf">The Australian</a> on March 4: </p>
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<p>The pretence that climate policies can relieve us of these natural traumas is a ridiculously emotive and deceptive ploy.</p>
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<p>The Australian’s <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/media-blames-scott-morrison-for-floods-but-voters-wont/news-story/c1ff23a4de19c57ef69f20b230d8a5f4">Chris Mitchell</a> even complained that other media outlets such as the ABC put too much emphasis on the link between climate change and flooding.</p>
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<h2>How the media advocate on issues</h2>
<p>This analysis suggests the Murdoch outlets are not overtly advocating for climate action, nor linking catastrophic flooding with the need for political action aimed at achieving net zero by 2050. </p>
<p>Indeed, editorial hostility toward climate change is alive and well among the most powerful voices at the Murdoch outlets, with coverage that is seemingly more interested in advocating against climate action than for it.</p>
<p>This provides insight into different styles of news coverage and their influence on democratic debate. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/ACCC+commissioned+report+-+The+impact+of+digital+platforms+on+news+and+journalistic+content,+Centre+for+Media+Transition+(2).pdf">Although Australian audiences expect</a> media outlets to produce news that is objective, ideologically neutral and independent of politics, journalists and commentators sometimes play the role of “advocates” for particular issues and causes.</p>
<p>This style of journalism is not widely understood because it clashes with the idealised expectation that journalists shrug off their own perspectives to report without fear or favour. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-weather-news-may-not-change-climate-change-skeptics-minds-112650">Extreme weather news may not change climate change skeptics' minds</a>
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<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14648849211072717?casa_token=zn7HHufw1NIAAAAA%3A4LAp7iQbJHKdB7DibQKFp1a89iiqvTXZnm7fAD8Y1NgIYt7ItI-LUcexDJT7YvJ-SiQTQdSxP16U7aw">In a recent study</a> I conducted, I propose there are three styles of advocacy journalism – radical, collaborator and conservative. And each one either enhances or degrades democratic debate.</p>
<p>What I call “radical advocacy” is when journalists deliberately campaign to increase the diversity of voices in news media, particularly when those voices are marginalised from mainstream debate. </p>
<p>An example is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/series/keep-it-in-the-ground">The Guardian’s</a> “Keep it in the ground” campaign, which is transparently aimed at improving the public’s understanding of climate change. This style of journalism – although subjective and biased – arguably has a positive influence on democracy since its mission is to increase understanding of a crucial global issue and rally the public to join the cause. </p>
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<p>“Collaborator advocacy” journalism is when media organisations cooperate with government, such as when they broadcast flood warnings, advise the public what to do in an emergency or agree not to publish the locations of troops at war. </p>
<p>This style of advocacy can be good for democracy when it is deemed in the public interest. It can, however, be detrimental if the government controls media coverage to the point at which opposition voices are deliberately excluded. </p>
<p>The third style of advocacy – “conservative advocacy” – is one I’ve coined to describe journalism and commentary that promotes the agenda of powerful players in a political or social debate. </p>
<p>An obvious example is the Murdoch media traditionally siding with big fossil fuel and oil interests through their <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/rupert-murdoch-newspapers-24-hour-news-channel-to-champion-net-zero-emissions-20210905-p58oyx.html">longstanding editorial hostility</a> to policies designed to address climate change. </p>
<p>Conservative advocacy degrades democracy by locking less powerful voices out of the debate, spreading what some would deem misinformation and deliberately downplaying or countering scientific research and evidence-based policy.</p>
<p>If the Murdoch media follow through with their promise to advocate for net zero by 2050, their campaign would fit within the radical definition. But since these outlets are historically entrenched in a conservative tradition, this shift to a more radical position on climate might prove difficult to achieve.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-gloom-and-doom-bring-it-on-but-we-need-stories-about-taking-action-too-79464">Climate gloom and doom? Bring it on. But we need stories about taking action, too</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victoria Fielding is a member of the South Australian Labor Party and a member of the National Tertiary Education Union.</span></em></p>The Murdoch outlets said they would pursue ‘positive stories’ on climate change. An analysis of stories during the recent floods, however, shows this wasn’t necessarily the case.Victoria Fielding, Lecturer, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1697332021-10-18T04:23:21Z2021-10-18T04:23:21ZWhat’s behind News Corp’s new spin on climate change?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426834/original/file-20211018-7324-1j5x0jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Lane/EPA/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s Murdoch-owned tabloid newspapers – including The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and Courier Mail – have embarked on a bold new climate change campaign. </p>
<p>This climate rebrand, dubbed “<a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/mission-zero-putting-australia-on-a-path-to-a-net-zero-future/news-story/83f521bfd9d592ab6defdab7d3b81ce8">missionzero2050</a>”, is billed by the company as “putting Australia on a path to a net zero future”. </p>
<p>The change has surprised Australian media observers and, no doubt, media consumers given News Corp’s long-held <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/nov/21/news-corps-rupert-murdoch-says-there-are-no-climate-change-deniers-around-here">climate denialist stance</a>, which is well documented <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/1/24/how-murdochracy-controls-the-climate-debate-in-australia">in public commentary</a> and <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/Sceptical-Climate-Part-2-Climate-Science-in-Australian-Newspapers.pdf">research</a>.</p>
<p>So why is this happening now? And what does it mean? </p>
<h2>What does the new campaign say?</h2>
<p>Last Monday, News Corp’s tabloid mastheads began the new campaign with a 16-page wraparound supplement and a splashy <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/mission-zero-putting-australia-on-a-path-to-a-net-zero-future/news-story/83f521bfd9d592ab6defdab7d3b81ce8">online campaign</a> championing the drive to cut climate warming emissions by 2050.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-cop26-and-why-does-the-fate-of-earth-and-australias-prosperity-depend-on-it-169648">What is COP26 and why does the fate of Earth, and Australia's prosperity, depend on it?</a>
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<p>News Corp must have done its climate communication research. It has assembled a collection of stories using <a href="https://www.climatechange.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/419148/CCC-Lit-Review-Guide-for-Policymakers.pdf">best-practice climate communication</a> techniques: telling a global story with a local face, <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/from-sydney-to-london-what-rising-seas-could-do-to-our-cities/news-story/ef34e8be6c460aedc85dc99366354601">visualising climate impacts</a> and focusing on solutions, not creating fear.</p>
<p>Crucially, the campaign marks a change from News Corp’s long-held position on climate action. It’s moved from calling decarbonisation <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/shortens-climate-push-hits-workers/news-story/f8e965f5841fa06838671144f4513022">too expensive</a> and bad for jobs (it tagged the cost at A$600 billion in 2015), to describing it now as a potential $2.1 trillion economic “windfall”, offering opportunities for 672,000 new jobs. </p>
<h2>News Corp and climate change</h2>
<p>What News Corp does matters, because it has extensive influence in Australia’s media market.</p>
<p>The company’s newspaper, radio, pay TV and online news portfolio gives it <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-14/fact-file-rupert-murdoch-media-reach-in-australia/100056660">significant audience reach</a> and huge political sway. In April, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/utterly-unaccountable-turnbull-labels-news-corp-the-most-powerful-political-actor-in-australia-20210412-p57idq.html">labelled</a> the Murdoch media “the most powerful political actor in Australia”. </p>
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<p>Most people derive their understanding of climate change <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20200623102230-mqb46/">from the media</a>. So News Corp’s audience reach (which included <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-14/fact-file-rupert-murdoch-media-reach-in-australia/100056660">about 100</a> print and digital mastheads as of early 2021) has given it extensive influence over Australians’ knowledge of and opinions about climate change, profoundly shaping public debate.</p>
<p>Murdoch media outlets have denied the science of climate change and ridiculed climate action for more than a decade. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/30/one-third-of-australias-media-coverage-rejects-climate-science-study-finds">2013 study</a> by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism found climate denialist views in a third of Australian media coverage of climate change, and pointed to News Corp outlets as the key reason for this. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-wars-carbon-taxes-and-toppled-leaders-the-30-year-history-of-australias-climate-response-in-brief-169545">Climate wars, carbon taxes and toppled leaders: the 30-year history of Australia’s climate response, in brief</a>
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<p>News Corp’s commentators have <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/the-age-cries-for-warming-alarmists-it-should--hold-to-account/news-story/02a77e6c8a907e08ea2cb66555afc2f3">described</a> those arguing for climate action as “alarmists” and “<a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/climate-scientists-taking-cues-from-greta-thunberg/video/25c13b73c34cfbf20a297caeb7534c28">loons</a>”, who are <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/andrew-bolt/andrew-bolt-global-warming-hysteria-overlooks-practicalities/news-story/0c0a079ef1d64c831d851fc33cc80ac8">prone</a> to “warming hysteria”. They have also <a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/andrew-bolt/the-global-warming-cult-is-getting-very-dangerous-bolt/video/ede99bc9e744990251378becd1c17594">said</a> climate concern is a “cult of the elite” <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/dear-abc-maybe-i-just-follow-the-evidence-not-orders/news-story/e6b0839a6652f49234599568cae34483">and</a> the “effects of global warming have so far proved largely benign”. </p>
<p>Despite this, in 2019, Murdoch <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/nov/21/news-corps-rupert-murdoch-says-there-are-no-climate-change-deniers-around-here">declared</a> there were “no climate change deniers” in his company.</p>
<h2>Signs of a mood shift</h2>
<p>This pivot on climate change was not entirely unexpected. </p>
<p>The company had been signalling a mood shift since early 2020, in the wake of its controversial reporting on the Black Summer bushfires, which saw it accused of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/jan/04/the-australian-murdoch-owned-newspaper-accused-of-downplaying-bushfires-in-favour-of-picnic-races">downplaying</a> the fires and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/feb/16/bushfire-article-in-the-australian-that-fuelled-misinformation-cleared-by-press-council">fuelling misinformation</a> about the cause.</p>
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<img alt="James Murdoch" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">James Murdoch, pictured in 2015, has become a vocal critic of News Corp’s approach to climate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sang Tan/AP/AAP</span></span>
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<p>At that time, Rupert Murdoch’s son James expressed his concerns about the “<a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/james-murdoch-blasts-news-corp-s-ongoing-climate-change-denial/99380967-f22b-43f7-b2ce-49d1c09f46f5">ongoing denial</a>” of climate change at News Corp in the face of “obvious evidence to the contrary”. </p>
<p>He subsequently resigned his position on the company’s board. Early last month, the Nine newspapers <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/rupert-murdoch-newspapers-24-hour-news-channel-to-champion-net-zero-emissions-20210905-p58oyx.html">flagged</a> an imminent change of stance on climate at News Corp, noting, “Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire has faced growing international condemnation and pressure from advertisers over its editorial stance on climate change”.</p>
<h2>The fine print</h2>
<p>Despite the gloss of missionzero2050 (the newspapers <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/mission-zero-putting-australia-on-a-path-to-a-net-zero-future/news-story/83f521bfd9d592ab6defdab7d3b81ce8">say</a> they are only focusing on “positive stories” about creating “a clean future while having fun and feeling good at the same time”), a deeper analysis shows the campaign has some quite specific agendas, signalling its climate epiphany may be limited.</p>
<p>In the stories that make up the campaign, it is still rolling out business-as-usual narratives like: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>defending Australia’s emissions as small compared to other countries, especially China (therefore suggesting we do not need to take drastic action)</p></li>
<li><p>framing renewables as an unreliable source of energy (so not an adequate replacement for fossil fuels)</p></li>
<li><p>promoting Australia’s coal as cleaner than other countries’ (some of it may be, but the International Energy Agency says the world must <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/01/world-kick-coal-habit-start-green-recovery-iea-fatih-birol">start quitting coal now</a> to stay within safer global warming limits)</p></li>
<li><p>promoting gas as having half the emissions of coal (burning gas does emit less carbon dioxide, but its extraction also causes <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/gas-driving-massive-increase-in-fugitive-emissions/?atb=DSA01b&gclid=CjwKCAjwk6-LBhBZEiwAOUUDp7HjbvkQdWrhucIg7iSdxrY8vLdRkknnMLfCTpJNftPaZY-ptbPDDRoCPjMQAvD_BwE">fugitive emissions</a> of methane, a gas that’s about <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/scientists-concerned-by-record-high-global-methane-emissions">30 times more powerful</a> as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over 100 years)</p></li>
<li><p>advocating carbon capture and storage (which is not yet a proven way to <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/what-is-carbon-capture-and-storage/">reduce emissions </a>from burning fossil fuels)</p></li>
<li><p>criticising a carbon pollution price (<a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-a-carbon-price-and-why-do-we-need-one/">economists widely agree</a> this is the single most effective way to encourage polluters to reduce greenhouse gas emissons).</p></li>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/economists-back-carbon-price-say-benefits-of-net-zero-outweigh-costs-169939">Economists back carbon price, say benefits of net-zero outweigh costs</a>
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<p>Surprisingly, the campaign is making a big effort to <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/australian-miners-awu-back-nuclear-power-to-achieve-net-zero/news-story/d55b3b1a97e392c0b5095234c7477af6">spruik nuclear power</a>. It states: “our aversion to nuclear energy defies logic” and advocates strongly for an Australian nuclear industry for “national security” purposes as well as energy. </p>
<p>Overall, the missionzero2050 agenda seems to be set on supporting new and existing extractive industries and Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “<a href="https://theconversation.com/malcolm-turnbull-condemns-scott-morrisons-gas-gas-gas-song-as-a-fantasy-146705">gas-led recovery</a>”. </p>
<p>Strangely, the campaign also <a href="https://media.news.com.au/multimedia/2021/NED-4717-Mission-Zero-special-report/Mission-Zero-booklet4.pdf">emphasises</a> “putting Australia first” – although efforts to deal with climate change must be inherently globally focused.</p>
<h2>Loud silences</h2>
<p>What’s most perverse, perhaps, about missionzero2050 are the things it does not say or acknowledge. There has been no mention of News Corp’s years of intentionally undermining decarbonisation and helping to topple Australian leaders who advocated for climate action.</p>
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<p>Oddly, News Corp has not muzzled its high-profile commentators. Columnist Andrew Bolt was quick to make it known that he thought the campaign was “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/oct/13/news-corps-andrew-bolt-says-his-companys-climate-campaign-is-rubbish">rubbish</a>”. </p>
<p>Nor has it aligned its advertising with the missionzero2050 message. For example, last Wednesday, the Herald Sun ran a half-page ad placed by the climate “sceptical” <a href="https://www.desmog.com/climate-study-group/">Climate Study Group</a> about the “great climate change furphy,” discrediting climate science and advocating for more coal and nuclear power.</p>
<h2>What might it mean?</h2>
<p>The timing of the campaign, just as Morrison <a href="https://theconversation.com/joyce-says-nationals-dont-want-bigger-2030-climate-target-as-party-room-frets-about-regional-protections-170085">negotiates</a> with the Nationals ahead of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-cop26-and-why-does-the-fate-of-earth-and-australias-prosperity-depend-on-it-169648">COP26 climate conference</a>, is likely to be no coincidence. It seems designed to provide cover for a potential shift on the part of the Coalition towards a mid-century net zero declaration. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/barnaby-joyce-has-refused-to-support-doubling-australias-2030-emissions-reduction-targets-but-we-could-get-there-so-cheaply-and-easily-169932">Barnaby Joyce has refused to support doubling Australia's 2030 emissions reduction targets – but we could get there so cheaply and easily</a>
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<p>Morrison is also under intense pressure from other world leaders <a href="https://theconversation.com/spot-the-difference-as-world-leaders-rose-to-the-occasion-at-the-biden-climate-summit-morrison-faltered-159295">to lift his ambitions on climate</a>. He’ll be expected to bring new plans for emissions cuts to the table in Glasgow.</p>
<p>Some commentators have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/12/news-corps-turnaround-on-climate-is-a-greenwash">labelled</a> the Murdoch pivot “greenwashing”. Others have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/rupert-murdoch-climate-change-news-outlets-australia-policy-change-2021-9">called</a> it a “desperate ploy to rehabilitate the public image of a leading climate villain”.</p>
<p>However perplexing the Murdoch papers’ climate U-turn may seem, at least Morrison will know Australia’s “most powerful political actor” is not likely to campaign against any 2050 net zero declaration. </p>
<p>Given News Corp’s power to subvert the national narrative on climate, that’s important if we want to see the action that’s so long overdue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169733/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabi Mocatta is co-lead of Deakin University's Climate Change Communication and Narratives Network. She is also vice-president of the Board of the International Environmental Communication Association.</span></em></p>The Murdoch tabloids have just embarked on a bold new climate campaign, despite previously describing those who want action as ‘loons’.Gabi Mocatta, Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication, Climate Futures Program, University of Tasmania, and Lecturer in Communication - Journalism, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1569012021-03-10T18:14:18Z2021-03-10T18:14:18ZRupert Murdoch at 90: why the old mogul may have one final act in him yet<p>To understand why Rupert Murdoch, who is 90 years old on March 11, is still in charge of a global media empire and hungry to keep expanding, it may be instructive to look at the pithy assessment he made of career self-publicist and professional narcissist, Piers Morgan.</p>
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<p>Morgan, who walked out of his latest job presenting ITV’s Good Morning Britain in a fit of pique on Tuesday March 9, cut his teeth as a senior executive at Murdoch-owned tabloids the Sun and News of the World in the 1980s and 1990s. He then defected to the Daily Mirror, where fabricated photos of British soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners eventually cost him his job.</p>
<p>Murdoch’s view of his former charge <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/mar/06/biography.society">was that</a> “his balls are bigger than his brains”. In other words, Morgan may have been fearless – reckless even – in his editorial decision-making, but he lacked the intelligence to see the possible long-term consequences.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Murdoch’s brains and balls are pretty much the same size – huge.</p>
<h2>Murdoch begins</h2>
<p>That combination of ruthless ambition and razor-sharp business instincts have seen Murdoch transform the global media industry since he took over his father’s Adelaide-based newspaper, The News, in 1953. Having made a success of the title, he built up a stable of newspapers in Australia and New Zealand before expanding to the UK in the late 1960s with the acquisition of the News of the World and then the Sun. </p>
<p>He later bought into US newspapers, including the New York Post, and became a cheerleader for Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. He famously went to war with the British print unions in 1986 after adopting technology that needed far fewer printing press workers. By that time, the man known to his enemies as the Dirty Digger was also the owner of the 20th Century Fox movie studio, and on his way to building a global media juggernaut that also spanned television and book publishing with brands such as Harper Collins and Sky. </p>
<p>Yet the mogul who swung elections and had the ear of prime ministers and presidents is now facing an uncertain future in his business life. </p>
<p>Murdoch still controls News Corporation, whose titles include the Sun, the Times, the Australian and the Wall Street Journal, as well as Fox News, and has a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-murdoch-family-rupert-murdochs-media-empire-heirs-2020-8?r=US&IR=T">personal fortune</a> in the billions of dollars. But he wasn’t able to stay at the top of the media pile. The mogul says that <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2019/03/20/what-the-disney-fox-deal-means-for-rupert-murdochs-fortune/?sh=5d0db130312e">his sale of</a> 21st Century Fox to Disney for US$71 billion (£51 billion) in 2019 – after he <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45654792">also unloaded</a> his Sky interests to Comcast – was not a sign of him retreating from the market but merely “<a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/rupert-murdoch-says-hes-not-retreating-hes-pivoting-at-a-pivotal-moment-20171215-h04zwu">pivoting</a>” to a new position.</p>
<p>Two years on, it’s still not clear exactly what that new position will be. But if Murdoch lives as long as his mother Elisabeth – who died aged 103 – <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/rupert-murdoch-at-90-fox-succession-and-one-more-big-play-1.4499086">he’s worked out</a> that he has possibly 75,000 working hours left, enough for one more big play.</p>
<h2>The final act</h2>
<p>A newspaperman at heart, Murdoch will be loath to lose his famous British, American and Australian titles, but he has to find a way to compete without seeming a dinosaur, stuck with the values of previous generations.</p>
<p>And in the background, his six children have a variety of views of the way forward. Among the leading heirs, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/03/30/lachlan-murdoch-fox-news/">Lachlan runs</a> Fox News, and is renowned as a staunch <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/lachlan-murdoch-is-even-more-of-a-right-wing-ultra-than-his-old-man">neo-conservative</a>.</p>
<p>James, who is more progressive, took much of the heat for the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/apr/03/james-murdoch-step-down-bskyb-chairman">UK phone hacking scandal</a>. He resigned from the News Corp board in 2020 over editorial differences and was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jan/16/james-murdoch-says-us-media-lies-unleashed-insidious-forces">recently implicitly blaming</a> Fox for the storming of the Capitol building in Washington. And then there is Elisabeth, a successful global TV executive who has mainly stayed out of her father’s business over the years. </p>
<p>Anyone who has watched the TV series <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7660850/">Succession</a> about the trials and tribulations of the Roy family can get an inkling of how a media family with an all-powerful patriarch may operate. The difference is that Murdoch’s finances are in good shape, and the end of a two-year hiatus on dealmaking imposed when he sold 21st Century Fox will give him the chance to revive his legendary dealmaking skills very shortly.</p>
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<p>Against that there’s the worry that, at 90, Murdoch may not be quite the man he used to be in terms of energetic acquisitions. He also needs to factor in that it won’t be him but Lachlan who is likeliest to be running things in the future. So how much does Murdoch allow his son to choose potential assets?</p>
<p>With the Democrats now in power in America, will the phenomenally successful but right-leaning Fox News that had President Trump as a devotee continue to lose ratings? And what will be the effect of a US$2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/business/media/smartmatic-fox-news-lawsuit.html">for allegedly</a> playing a role in backing the false news that the recent election was rigged? (Fox News points out that its ratings are <a href="http://press.foxnews.com/2021/03/fox-news-channel-dominates-february-as-top-rated-cable-network-in-primetime-total-viewers/">still ahead</a> in primetime, and it <a href="http://press.foxnews.com/2021/02/fox-news-media-moves-to-dismiss-smartmatic-lawsuit/">has lodged</a> a petition to dismiss the lawsuit.)</p>
<p>Murdoch, who has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/04/business/media/smartmatic-fox-news-lawsuit.html">just celebrated</a> the fifth anniversary of his marriage to fourth wife Jerry Hall, has never worried about critics and enemies, of course. So it seems unlikely that he will start now. If his past record is anything to go by, 90 may prove to be just another number. Don’t be surprised if the old media titan has one last act in him yet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156901/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Lambden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As he enters his tenth decade, we are still waiting for his pivot.Stephen Lambden, Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Television, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1554682021-02-18T01:43:17Z2021-02-18T01:43:17ZWhy Google is now funnelling millions into media outlets, as Facebook pulls news for Australia<p>Over the past few days, Google has been inking multimillion-dollar deals to pay media companies for news content that will appear on <a href="https://blog.google/products/news/google-news-showcase-launches-australia/">Google News Showcase</a>. </p>
<p>Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is the latest <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/feb/17/news-corp-agrees-deal-with-google-over-payments-for-journalism">beneficiary of</a> a partnership with the tech giant. It will <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/17/google-and-news-corp-strike-deal-as-australia-pushes-platforms-to-pay-for-news.html">receive</a> significant payments over three years, a share of ad revenue, and inclusion in the development of a subscription platform. </p>
<p>The agreements are commercial-in-confidence, so numbers are speculative. But Google will reportedly pay <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2021/02/15/seven-google-news-showcase-deal/">Seven West Media A$30 million dollars per year</a>, while Nine is thought to have secured <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/google-nine-agree-commercial-terms-for-news-content-20210217-p5736c.html">A$30 million dollars annually</a> across five years. </p>
<p>The timing of these deals raises questions. The long-contested News Media Bargaining Code, which aims to get Google and Facebook to pay for news, is set to be introduced into federal parliament. The tech giants have been vocal critics of the code, arguing they have no obligation to pay media companies for Australian news <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/crackdown-on-platform-tax-avoidance-to-fund-public-interest-reporting-20210208-p570jt.html">that appears on their platforms</a>. </p>
<p>While Facebook has simply <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/18/facebook-to-restrict-australian-users-sharing-news-content">pulled all news content</a> for its Australian users, and all Australia news from the rest of the world, Google instead is handing out millions to local publishers. Why?</p>
<h2>Searching for a solution</h2>
<p>The bottom line is Google is desperate to avoid paying for news that appears in Google Search, which Treasurer Josh Frydenberg <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/josh-frydenberg-2018/transcripts/press-conference-parliament-house-canberra-13">initially planned</a> to make them do. </p>
<p>Google believes this would <a href="https://about.google/google-in-australia/an-open-letter/">strike at the core</a> of its business model. It maintains search engines are supposed to index the web passively, collect whatever is available, and present the results to users. </p>
<p>Paying news outlets for content on Search would mean giving them special treatment above all other businesses and creators whose web pages also appear in search results. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/googles-and-facebooks-loud-appeal-to-users-over-the-news-media-bargaining-code-shows-a-lack-of-political-power-154379">Google's and Facebook’s loud appeal to users over the news media bargaining code shows a lack of political power</a>
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<p>The Morrison government originally ignored these complaints. However, according to a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/google-nine-agree-commercial-terms-for-news-content-20210217-p5736c.html">Sydney Morning Herald report</a>, Frydenberg could be willing to hold off on designating Google Search under the code for as long as deals are being made.</p>
<p>According to the report, Google is playing ball and offering deals that are:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… worth the same, or a similar amount, to what a company would have received for appearance of content in Google search.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But we still don’t know the end result. Frydenberg has the power to designate, at any time, which Google products are subject to the code. Google Search could be included at a later date if the amount of money handed over is deemed insufficient. </p>
<h2>The future of the bargaining code</h2>
<p>Both the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (<a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/digital-platforms-inquiry-final-report">which initially proposed the code</a>) and the federal government both likely see these deals as a positive outcome.</p>
<p>This is because the code was essentially meant to bring the platforms to the negotiation table. Facebook and Google had <a href="https://www.facebook.com/formedia/blog/facebook-partners-with-australian-news-publishers-to-fund-news-shows-on-facebook-watch">given money to certain news outlets in the past</a> – in an ad hoc way, but with no intention of setting a <a href="https://theconversation.com/platform-regulation-in-australia-is-just-the-start-facebook-and-google-are-fighting-a-global-battle-145748">global precedent</a> to pay for all news content produced across a country. </p>
<p>The trick the ACCC and the government employed was to introduce legislation that would force platforms to pay for news. A key element of this reform was the use of “final offer” arbitration. </p>
<p>With this, if a deal can’t be struck between Google and a media company, both will have to present their offers and defer the final decision to an arbiter. This arbiter would then be able to adjust the figures if neither offer was in the public interest. </p>
<p>Businesses are desperate to avoid speculative costs linked to arbitration schemes. They want certainty. Google had a good reason to start making deals, especially if it means potentially only paying for news content that appears on Google News Showcase and not Search.</p>
<p>This doesn’t mean the News Media Bargaining Code won’t be used (Google has only started making deals), but it would be a surprise if Google planned to end up in arbitration. </p>
<p>The recent developments have underlined the curious role of the bargaining code: it’s meant to operate as a legislative threat so arbitration only happens when platforms and news outlets can’t agree. If Google keeps handing out money, this is unlikely to happen. </p>
<h2>What it means for journalism</h2>
<p>These deals will likely give Australian journalism a long-awaited financial boost. Unlike the occasional partnership in the past, media businesses can now bank on a form of sustained revenue stream from Google.</p>
<p>The challenge now will be to ensure this new revenue funds public interest journalism, which is really the only benefit the average Australian can receive. The government has indicated there will be a review after one year to ensure <a href="https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/josh-frydenberg-2018/media-releases/news-media-and-digital-platforms-mandatory-bargaining">the code is working as intended</a>. </p>
<p>Also, the deals are being struck with major media companies that have significant bargaining power. While the code <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/ems/r6652_ems_2fe103c0-0f60-480b-b878-1c8e96cf51d2/upload_pdf/JC000725.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">enables</a> smaller outlets to bargain collectively, or accept a standard offer, it remains to be seen if Google will be as generous to regional publishers.</p>
<p>Adding to that, Australian news media have lost <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/digital-platforms-inquiry-final-report">large amounts of advertising revenue</a> over the past three decades — a space in which Google and Facebook continue to <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Digital%20Advertising%20Services%20Inquiry%20-%20Interim%20report.pdf">dominate</a>. </p>
<p>They may also have to plan for less revenue overall if Facebook sticks to its guns, decides to stay away from the negotiating table and keeps Australian news content banned on its platform.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/google-news-favours-mainstream-media-even-if-it-pays-for-australian-content-will-local-outlets-fall-further-behind-146565">Google News favours mainstream media. Even if it pays for Australian content, will local outlets fall further behind?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Meese receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>The timing of Google’s deals raises questions, coming just as the News Media Bargaining Code is set to be introduced into federal parliament.James Meese, Research fellow, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1552982021-02-17T19:12:47Z2021-02-17T19:12:47ZCan Fox News survive without Trump in the White House?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384407/original/file-20210216-15-q977k7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C0%2C1834%2C966&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8dGSyHnGF0&ab_channel=FoxNews">Fox News/Youtube</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sadly, history has largely forgotten the Rector Thomas Beverley. In 1695, he wrote a book predicting the world would end in 1697. In 1698 he wrote another book, complaining the world had ended but no-one had noticed. If he were alive today, he might be a Republican senator or perhaps a senior executive at Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News.</p>
<p>The defeat of Donald Trump is not quite the end of the world for Fox News, but it is the passing of a golden age, and the network has met it with a large dose of denialism. In the two weeks after Fox News <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2020/11/07/moment-fox-news-calls-presidency-ch-orig.cnn">called the US presidential election for Joe Biden</a>, the network’s hosts and guests cast doubt on the results at least 774 times, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/2-weeks-after-it-called-election-fox-news-cast-doubt-results-nearly-800-times">according to Media Matters for America</a>.</p>
<p>There has rarely, if ever, in any democracy been such a partnership between a news network and a government leader as there was between Fox and Trump. Fox was the preferred conduit for his administration’s announcements and interviews. The president was also the network’s chief publicist, tweeting his views, often in real time, about what Fox News was broadcasting.</p>
<p>This was a mutually beneficial partnership. Trump got his views out without serious contradiction or questioning, while everyone in the political class had to give constant attention to Fox.</p>
<p>It also paid off commercially. While Fox News had been the leading cable news channel for 20 years, by 2020 it was the third-most-watched network in the country in prime time on weekdays – not just in cable, but all of television, behind only CBS and NBC. And 2020 was its most successful year yet. In the third quarter, its ratings were nearly double the year before. </p>
<p>Sean Hannity was the highest-rated show on cable, with an <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markjoyella/2020/09/29/hannity-has-highest-rated-quarter-in-history-as-fox-news-beats-broadcast-networks-a-tv-first/?sh=c4f850f1f93e">average audience of 4.45 million</a>. And he was Fox’s highest-paid star, earning US$43 million a year <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/sean-hannity/?sh=6e2df236772e">according to Forbes magazine</a>.</p>
<p>For Fox, Trump’s defeat was almost as painful as it was for Trump himself. After the election, its ratings fell sharply. In January, for the first time in two decades, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2021/01/16/fox-news-viewership-plummets-first-time-behind-cnn-and-msnbc-in-two-decades/?sh=648167375342">it trailed behind</a> the other two cable news channels, CNN and MSNBC. The day the Capitol was stormed, January 6, was CNN’s most watched day in the network’s history, and Fox only pulled just over half as many viewers (8.2 million to 4.6 million).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/james-murdochs-resignation-is-the-result-of-news-corps-increasing-shift-to-the-right-not-just-on-climate-143799">James Murdoch's resignation is the result of News Corp's increasing shift to the right – not just on climate</a>
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<p>Indeed, the attack on the Capitol caught the Fox commentariat off balance and the network has been entertaining two contradictory theories since. The first is that it was a “false flag” operation mounted by far left groups masquerading as Trump supporters; the other is that the rioters were “solid Americans” and “deeply frustrated” (Tucker Carlson) and the “majority of them were peaceful” (Hannity).</p>
<p>None of Fox’s prime-time stars has yet blamed Trump for his role in inciting the riot. But they know others’ reports are wrong. <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/tucker-carlson-blm-capitol-riot-floyd-b1801017.html">Carlson asserted</a> “they [unspecified] are lying to you” about the attacks. “The known facts bear no resemblance to the story they’re telling – they’re just flat out lying.” So that takes care of that.</p>
<p>At the same time as the network was bleeding audiences to its more mainstream competitors, it was also under attack on its right flank. Its most grievous sin here had been predicting on election night that Biden would win Arizona. This call – which several experts thought was premature, but which proved to be accurate – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/us/politics/trump-fox-news-arizona.html">incurred the wrath of Trump and his supporters</a>.</p>
<p>Rupert Murdoch <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/fox-news-stirewalt-sammon-murdoch-arizona/2021/01/19/a54e9f72-5a8f-11eb-a976-bad6431e03e2_story.html">was reported as telling colleagues</a> the way Fox handled it had caused reputational damage and cemented the view among some Trump supporters that Fox had turned against him. Not coincidentally, the two people directly responsible for that call – Bill Sammon and Chris Stirewalt - were forced out in network changes after the election.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384428/original/file-20210216-13-1ol9i9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384428/original/file-20210216-13-1ol9i9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384428/original/file-20210216-13-1ol9i9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384428/original/file-20210216-13-1ol9i9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384428/original/file-20210216-13-1ol9i9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384428/original/file-20210216-13-1ol9i9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384428/original/file-20210216-13-1ol9i9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Two other right-wing news networks, News Max and One America News, pose little threat to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/AP/Mary Altaffer</span></span>
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<p>Two other, even more tribally right-wing news networks started to challenge Fox. Newsmax and One America News saw their ratings increase as they steadfastly supported the fantasy that the election had been stolen. In addition, there has been loose talk that <a href="https://www.axios.com/trump-fox-news-digital-media-competitor-25afddee-144d-4820-8ed4-9eb0ffa42420.html">Trump will start his own TV network</a> to compete against Fox.</p>
<p>My guess is that each of these potential challengers will disappear or be much reduced in the near future. Establishing his own network would be beyond Trump’s very limited managerial prowess. The saving grace of his administration has been his incompetence. The two others lack Fox’s polish, variety of programming and resources.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, protecting the network against any market openings to the right seems to be the Murdochs’ main strategic response to the post-Trump challenges. Their most important decision has been to strengthen the opinion elements of their programming at the expense of the news operations. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-stay-or-cut-away-as-trump-makes-baseless-claims-tv-networks-are-faced-with-a-serious-dilemma-149628">To stay or cut away? As Trump makes baseless claims, TV networks are faced with a serious dilemma</a>
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<p>The key to Fox’s rating strength has been its evening prime-time line-up. From 8pm to 11pm, Carlson, Hannity and Laura Ingraham each have an hour show. Fox will now devote the 7pm slot to another opinion program, taking the time slot away from news. It is ready to attack the Biden administration, with <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/sean-hannity-joe-biden-weak-frail-cognitively-struggling_n_60097f15c5b6ffcab96b5051?ri18n=true">Hannity having attacked</a> “the weak, the frail, the cognitively struggling Biden” on the day of his inauguration.</p>
<p>Carlson <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/09/business/media/fox-news-trump-tv.html">asserted</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Tens of millions of Americans have no chance; they’re about to be crushed by the ascendant left. These people need a defender. </p>
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<p>He and his colleagues, of course, are up for the battle. In his <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/01/20/inaugural-address-by-president-joseph-r-biden-jr/">inaugural speech</a>, Biden talked of the need for unity and said the US was threatened by racism, nativism, political extremism, white supremacy and domestic terrorism. As Carlson commented on this, a chyron under him asserted: “Party in power is demonizing half of the country”.</p>
<p>Already Biden’s internet policy moves have, <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-why-left-wants-to-shut-down-fox-news">in Carlson’s eyes</a>,</p>
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<p>started the most sweeping mass censorship campaign in the history of this country.</p>
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<p>A <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/fox-ratings-sean-hannity-cnn-msnbc/2021/02/02/9a604eac-650d-11eb-8c64-9595888caa15_story.html">Republican strategist commented</a> that these audiences “want their ‘news’ to affirm them rather than inform them”. The network will reach a much smaller ghetto, and attract less attention from others. But the essential Fox strategy for the new era is more of the same.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155298/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rodney Tiffen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There has never been a partnership in a democracy like that between the former president and Rupert Murdoch’s flagship news station. Now it will have to struggle on without him.Rodney Tiffen, Emeritus Professor, Department of Government and International Relations, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1545142021-02-03T12:06:36Z2021-02-03T12:06:36ZNews UK TV and GB News: new channels stoke fears of more partisan journalism<p>The imminent arrival of two new current affairs channels is fuelling heated debate about the future direction of broadcast journalism in the UK. GB News is chaired by former newspaper editor and BBC presenter Andrew Neil, and funded by a range of investors including <a href="https://corporate.discovery.com/businesses-and-brands/">Discovery, Inc</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/dec/01/rupert-murdochs-news-uk-tv-channel-given-approval-to-launch">News UK TV</a> is backed by Rupert Murdoch, whose Fox News channel has long been a partisan broadcaster in US politics.</p>
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<p>Unlike the US, the UK has long had <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv-radio-and-on-demand/broadcast-codes/broadcast-code/section-five-due-impartiality-accuracy">strict rules on accuracy and impartiality</a> in broadcast news. The broadcast code overseen by the regulator, <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/home">Ofcom</a>, prohibits the kind of blatant partisanship routinely supplied on American cable news channels such as Fox News and MSNBC.</p>
<p>But there are <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/media/2021/01/why-foxification-british-media-must-be-resisted">concerns</a> both GB News and News UK TV will push against the boundaries of Ofcom’s impartiality code, and adopt a more opinionated brand of journalism than television news channels have typically pursued in the UK.</p>
<p>Both News UK TV and GB News have been developed to offer viewers an alternative to mainstream media coverage. According to Neil, GB News is <a href="https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/gb-news-uk-right-wing-fox-news-andrew-neil-1234890375/">“about disrupting the status quo”</a>. The channel recently announced that GB News will produce a near 24/7 rolling news service, with original news, opinion and debate programming.</p>
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<p>There has been <a href="https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news/westminster-news/gb-news-poach-julia-hartley-brewer-6916260">speculation</a> that GB News will recruit right-wing talk-show hosts, Nick Ferrari and Julia Hartley-Brewer. But the channel will need to employ presenters with more diverse political perspectives – as will News UK TV – in order to meet their impartiality requirements. The sometimes provocative presenters on radio stations such as <a href="https://www.lbc.co.uk/">LBC</a> and <a href="https://talkradio.co.uk/">talk RADIO</a> have been allowed to operate within the UK’s impartiality broadcasting code by counter-balancing the many polemical voices in their schedules.</p>
<p>Less is known about News UK TV’s broadcast schedule. It has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/dec/01/rupert-murdochs-news-uk-tv-channel-given-approval-to-launch">reported</a> that the channel will produce four to five hours of evening programming, with a focus on political debates and an evening news bulletin. Unlike GB News, News UK TV has yet to confirm where the channel can be accessed beyond an online streaming service. In 2016 Murdoch bought talk RADIO, which has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/feb/17/rupert-murdoch-talkradio-argued-it-had-very-few-listeners-to-avoid-fine">fined</a> for breaching impartiality rules, while in 2020 he launched a more <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jun/29/ruperts-radio-can-murdoch-times-radio-compete-with-the-bbc">upmarket station</a>, Times Radio. </p>
<h2>Impartiality rules</h2>
<p>According to <a href="https://twitter.com/YouGov/status/1300817837074927616?s=20">one poll</a>, more people oppose than support allowing a Fox-style channel to broadcast in the UK. But a significant minority do not know whether it is a good or bad idea – suggesting there has been limited public debate about the consequences of opinionated news channels.</p>
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<p>Even if GB News and UK News attract a small audience, they can still wield influence. Fox News, which – being one of the most watched cable news networks in the US – still only reaches <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/373814/cable-news-network-viewership-usa/">3.78 million primetime</a> viewers, is a textbook example of how opinionated news channels can have a significant <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/oct/25/fox-news-watching-what-i-learned">intermedia effect</a>, setting the agenda of mainstream network news as well as its cable TV rivals. </p>
<p>Despite concerns both companies will not comply with impartiality rules, Ofcom has already granted GB News and News UK TV broadcast licences, and Neil <a href="https://pressgazette.co.uk/what-is-gb-news-everything-you-need-to-know/">has said</a> that the channel will be “committed to impartial journalism”. While News UK TV will also have to remain impartial, Murdoch’s influence on Fox News in America and newspapers in the UK, US and Australia has long revealed a preference for partisan reporting. </p>
<p>But there are limits to Murdoch’s editorial influence. Despite being in charge of Sky News for over three decades, the channel did not become “Foxified” – as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/nov/24/bskyb.television">he had reportedly wanted</a> – but maintained a reputation for impartial journalism. In a systematic <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1464884908100598">study</a> of the BBC News Channel and Sky News in the early 2000s, I found neither channel adopted the kind of partisan coverage evident in US cable channels.</p>
<p>But two decades into the 21st century, the growth of online news and social media has made journalism far more opinionated. Over time, this has had a subtle but significant influence on the editorial values of broadcasters. In my book, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/News-and-Politics-The-Rise-of-Live-and-Interpretive-Journalism/Cushion/p/book/9780415744713">News and Politics</a>, I traced a rise in interpretive journalism in television news between 1991 to 2013, which has led to reporters routinely delivering their own judgements about political events and issues.</p>
<h2>Maintaining standards</h2>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1464884916685909">My research</a> has explored how regulators no longer use a stopwatch to police impartiality in broadcast coverage of political parties. Instead, they give broadcasters considerable flexibility in how they editorially frame political events and issues. With <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jan/31/johnson-poised-to-appoint-paul-dacre-chair-of-ofcom">speculation that</a> former Daily Mail editor, Paul Dacre – a fierce critic of BBC impartiality – could be the new head of Ofcom, more radical changes to broadcast regulation may be on the horizon.</p>
<p>It remains to be seen how GB News and News UK TV will abide by their impartiality requirements. How critical they are of the government’s handling of the pandemic will be one litmus test, as will the degree to which they balance perspectives from across the political spectrum. There are, of course, more subtle forms of bias that can bypass regulatory attention. Since news values are not politically neutral, both channels could routinely select stories – about crime, say, or Brexit – that encourage audiences to adopt a particular view of the world. </p>
<p>They will find support in some partisan newspapers, which will help legitimate their journalism and defend them from attacks about bias.</p>
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<p>Ofcom will face intense political pressure. Its regulation will police the boundaries of GB News and News UK TV coverage, and set the future direction of broadcast journalism. If standards in accuracy and impartiality are not robustly regulated, Fox-style journalism could soon become an accepted norm of the UK’s broadcast ecology.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Cushion has received funding from the BBC Trust, Ofcom, AHRC, BA and ESRC.</span></em></p>Research shows broadcast journalism is already becoming more partisan.Stephen Cushion, Chair Professor, Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1499862020-11-18T18:54:59Z2020-11-18T18:54:59ZThere’s a big problem with the Murdoch media no one is talking about — how it treats women leaders<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369933/original/file-20201118-15-nhiwpz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ben McKay/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has long dominated the Australian media landscape, wielding great <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mitchell_Hobbs/publication/269710349_'Kick_this_mob_out'_The_Murdoch_media_and_the_Australian_Labor_Government_2007_to_2013/links/5494b4230cf20f487d2c4715.pdf">political and cultural influence</a>. </p>
<p>Former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/petition_list?id=EN1938">record-breaking petition</a> calling for a royal commission into Australian media ownership has once again put this issue in the spotlight. It has gained more than <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-11-09/media-diversity-petition-started-by-kevin-rudd-lodged-parliament/12863982">500,000 signatures</a> and led to a <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/senate-votes-to-hold-media-diversity-inquiry-after-record-breaking-murdoch-petition">Senate inquiry</a> into media diversity. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/paper-chase-why-kevin-rudds-call-for-a-royal-commission-into-news-corp-may-lead-nowhere-147996">Paper chase: why Kevin Rudd's call for a royal commission into News Corp may lead nowhere</a>
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<p>Rudd has described News Corp as a “<a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/cancer-on-our-democracy-kevin-rudd-calls-for-inquiry-into-murdoch-media-dominance">cancer on democracy</a>”, while fellow former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has labelled it “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/nov/10/qa-malcolm-turnbull-clashes-with-news-corps-paul-kelly-over-climate-coverage">pure propaganda</a>,” and slammed its “campaign on climate denial”. Labor’s Julia Gillard, has also made <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/julia-gillard-blasts-biased-murdoch-news-corp-20141028-11ctmj">similar claims</a>. </p>
<p>However, these discussions fail to consider how the Murdoch press is particularly hostile towards women politicians.</p>
<h2>How does the Murdoch press represent women?</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/media-gender-stereotypes-worse-for-gillard-than-for-thatcher/11996326">studying media representations</a> of women in politics, I’ve noticed a stark difference in Murdoch press coverage of men and women leaders.</p>
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<img alt="Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard leaving a press conference at Parliament House." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369927/original/file-20201118-17-i2f244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369927/original/file-20201118-17-i2f244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369927/original/file-20201118-17-i2f244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369927/original/file-20201118-17-i2f244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369927/original/file-20201118-17-i2f244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369927/original/file-20201118-17-i2f244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369927/original/file-20201118-17-i2f244.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">There is a difference in the way male and female leaders are represented in News Corp papers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
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<p>My research, recently published in <a href="https://t.co/0OdPkrP4NL?amp=1">Feminist Media Studies</a>, compared Australian media portrayals of Gillard’s prime ministerial rise with that of Helen Clark’s in New Zealand. Both leaders experienced a sexist focus on their gender, appearance and personal lives. But it was far more frequent and intense for Gillard. </p>
<p>My research suggests two key explanations for this contrast: the different political contexts they operated in, and the dominating influence of the Murdoch press in Australia versus its absence in New Zealand. </p>
<p>As Rudd has argued, the Murdoch press is hyper-partisan and ideologically driven, “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/how-much-influence-does-the-murdoch-media-have-in-australia-20201015-p565dk.html">blending editorial opinion with news reporting</a>”. News Corp is also known to reward Murdoch’s allies, while <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/sep/20/very-australian-coup-murdoch-turnbull-political-death-news-corps">damaging his enemies</a>. </p>
<p>Yet this has notably gendered ramifications. Murdoch’s conservative morality, traditionalist values, and opposition to left-wing movements appear constantly in his newspapers, making them uniquely hostile to women. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/courting-the-chameleon-how-the-us-election-reveals-rupert-murdochs-political-colours-149910">Courting the chameleon: how the US election reveals Rupert Murdoch's political colours</a>
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<p>Gillard did not simply threaten the political status quo as Australia’s first woman prime minister. As an unmarried, child-free, atheist woman from the left of the ALP, she also threatened Murdoch’s conservative ideology. His newspaper therefore portrayed Gillard in a highly gendered — even misogynistic — manner <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10361146.2017.1374347">intended to undermine</a> her. This was evident in the criticisms of her fashion choices, such as a headline condemning her “technicolour screamcoat” in The Daily Telegraph.</p>
<h2>Things have not changed since Gillard’s days</h2>
<p>Though it’s been ten years since Gillard became prime minister, not much has changed. News Corp papers continue to attack women in politics, especially if they are from the left. </p>
<p>Queensland Labor Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is another seasoned veteran of News Corps’ sexist coverage. This includes the Sunshine Coast Daily’s 2019 <a href="https://theconversation.com/queensland-paper-backtracks-after-using-violent-imagery-to-depict-annastacia-palaszczuk-117501">front page image</a>, which featured Palaszczuk in crosshairs with the headline, “Anna, you’re next”. </p>
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<p>More recently, <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/is-palaszczuk-now-punishing-sydneysiders-over-a-personal-gripe-she-has-with-gladys/news-story/658631747c9158d544f637076cbbcac1">The Courier Mail</a> labelled her dealings with Liberal NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian over border closures, “schoolgirl behaviour”. </p>
<p>Even Liberal women aren’t immune from sexist coverage. Julie Bishop, the Coalition’s former foreign affairs minister, was likened to the power-hungry “Lady Macbeth” by <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/nation/to-be-or-not-to-be-julie-lady-macbeth-bishop-is-the-voters-pick/news-story/3a7fad34421e5d4d325a23d7f3512ae3">The Australian</a> for her 2018 leadership tilt. She was also <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/opinion/libs-would-never-have-looked-to-starstruck-bishop/news-story/fa44f51f9aa63cbf36743fac9996d102">ridiculed</a> by the same paper for calling out the Liberal party’s sexist bullying culture.</p>
<p>Berejiklian has also endured sexist reportage, particularly during the recent scandal over her relationship with disgraced former NSW MP Daryl Maguire. One <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/premier-gladys-berejiklians-wedding-fantasy-defies-laws-of-blokespeak/news-story/10ada392f2091ec28b114395c1efe87b">Daily Telegraph</a> article waxed lyrical about her supposed “wedding fantasy”, a “feminine albeit old-fashioned thing to do” which, they argued, might have kept a workaholic like Berejiiklian “sane”. </p>
<p>However, the News Corp’s partisan bias towards the Coalition is also evident in these stories. Rather than holding Berejiklian to account, the Murdoch press largely ran <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/why-berejiklian-should-stand-firm-in-this-sad-icac-affair/news-story/140cd04fd2b5a57a287bd991612535c0">sympathetic stories</a> about the premier’s behaviour. This starkly contrasts with the onslaught of sexist coverage Gillard received during the <a href="https://theconversation.com/awu-scandal-says-more-about-the-medias-ethics-than-the-pms-11035">AWU affair</a>, which haunted her for the rest of her term in office.</p>
<h2>International leaders also under attack</h2>
<p>Australian women aren’t the only targets. The <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/16/jacindamania-set-to-return-jacinda-ardern-as-new-zealand-pm">globally popular</a> New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has frequently borne the brunt of biased News Corp coverage. </p>
<p>In the lead up to the 2020 New Zealand election, columnist Greg Sheridan argued Ardern doesn’t live up to the hype, <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/jacinda-ardern-goes-global-but-kiwis-pay-the-price/news-story/97286e9e9a8ec08d1dd40dddfcd573d6">claiming</a> in The Australian,</p>
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<p>part of the international Jacindamania comes from the fact she is a young left-wing woman who gave birth in office and took maternity leave.</p>
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<p>Sheridan also labelled her government’s COVID-19 response and progressive style of politics as “inherently authoritarian” that also “enjoys bossing people around”. </p>
<p>When Ardern won the election in a historic landslide, The Australian <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/danger-across-the-ditch-as-incompetent-leader-ardern-wins-office/news-story/6dfed9819cbe1334602cbc240dfe1b7f">responded with a piece</a> describing her as “grossly incompetent” and “the worst person to lead New Zealand through this economic turbulence”. </p>
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<p>Notably, the clear bias here drew criticism from the <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/10/disgraceful-australian-columnist-slammed-for-calling-jacinda-ardern-grossly-incompetent.html">New Zealand press</a>. </p>
<p>In August, Johannes Leak’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-australians-racist-kamala-harris-cartoon-shows-why-diversity-in-newsrooms-matters-144503">cartoon</a> in The Australian, also received <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/17/business/media/murdoch-racism-kamala-harris.html">international condemnation</a> for its misogynistic and racist depiction of vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris. </p>
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<h2>Don’t forget gender</h2>
<p>It is clear the Murdoch press has a “woman problem”. </p>
<p>This poses a real obstacle for women in politics, especially those who oppose Murdoch’s conservative ideology. But it also broadcasts a message about women’s roles and place in society more generally — that no matter how privileged or powerful a woman might be, it’s nearly impossible to escape sexist commentary and the objectifying male gaze.</p>
<p>This is why it is so essential to hold the Murdoch press to account in a specifically gendered light.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blair Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is a renewed discussion about the role of News Corp in Australia. But so far, this is ignoring how the Murdoch press is particularly hostile towards female politicians.Blair Williams, Associate Lecturer, School of Political Science and International Relations, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1499102020-11-15T18:53:35Z2020-11-15T18:53:35ZCourting the chameleon: how the US election reveals Rupert Murdoch’s political colours<p>Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election raises a perennial question about what Rupert Murdoch does when the candidate he has opposed wins.</p>
<p>Answer: He adapts and he waits. Electoral cycles last three, four or five years. Murdoch has been wielding power for five decades.</p>
<p>Murdoch is a chameleon. It is true that when political and business conditions are favourable he glows brightly in blood-red conservatism. But when, as now, conditions are uncertain, the colour dims and takes on a more complex hue.</p>
<p>The voices and front pages of the empire become more diverse. It gets harder to exactly pin down where the emperor himself stands. He deflects awkward questions by saying he defers to his editors, or he claims to have retired and says he will speak to the heir, his son Lachlan.</p>
<p>These are the first steps in a shadowy repositioning, and we have seen it happen time without number.</p>
<p>Reactionary ideology is important to Murdoch, but not as important as making money.</p>
<p>Money not only keeps the shareholders happy, it provides the means by which he can subsidise his unprofitable or barely profitable newspapers because they are crucial to the way he wields power.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/paper-chase-why-kevin-rudds-call-for-a-royal-commission-into-news-corp-may-lead-nowhere-147996">Paper chase: why Kevin Rudd's call for a royal commission into News Corp may lead nowhere</a>
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<p>So the priority when a disfavoured candidate or party wins is to do nothing to antagonise the new regime and instead proffer a small olive branch. Last Sunday’s New York Post banner headline – “It’s Joe Time” – was a classic of the genre.</p>
<p>Over on Fox News, he remained quiet when the Fox “decision desk” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/us/politics/trump-fox-news-arizona.html">called the crucial state of Arizona for Biden</a>, absorbing pressure and entreaties from Trump’s people to intervene.</p>
<p>All of a sudden, the chorus of pro-Trump voices on Fox became a discordant racket. Some, like Sean Hannity, amplified Trump’s claims of electoral fraud. Others, like Neil Cavuto, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/10/whoa-fox-news-cuts-off-kayleigh-mcenany-for-votes-spiel">cut off Trump’s press secretary</a> for making the same claims.</p>
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<p>The New York Post, which ran a highly questionable story against Hunter Biden in the last week of the campaign, was suddenly dismissing Trump’s claims as baseless and urging him to accept the result.</p>
<p>Conflict, confusion and contradiction are part of the strategy. Murdoch allows it to unfold. It sends a signal to the Biden White House: we can live with you.</p>
<p>The strategy was helped along on November 13 when Trump sent out a tweet saying the daytime ratings on Fox News had collapsed because they had forgotten what made them successful – the “Golden Goose” – an immortal self-description if ever there was one.</p>
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<p>There was a similar pattern to the Murdoch strategy in Australia in 2007 when it looked certain that Labor under Kevin Rudd would end the long reign of John Howard.</p>
<p>In his book <a href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/rupert-murdoch_a-reassessment/">Rupert Murdoch: A Reassessment</a>, Rodney Tiffen recounted that, while Murdoch did not want to be backing the losing side, it was difficult for his editors to persuade him to back Rudd.</p>
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<p>In the end, some of Murdoch’s papers, including The Australian, backed Rudd, while others, including Melbourne’s Herald Sun, were allowed to back the Coalition.</p>
<p>The endorsements were pallid, nothing like the full-throated propaganda characteristic of the Murdoch papers when they are unified behind a conservative cause. The chameleon had turned into a blur of pale reds and blues.</p>
<p>Then in 2018, when it looked as if Labor might beat Malcolm Turnbull’s Coalition in 2019, Murdoch once again showed how the business pragmatist triumphs over the ideologue.</p>
<p>According to Turnbull in his autobiography, <a href="https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/a-bigger-picture-by-malcolm-turnbull/9781743795637">A Bigger Picture</a>, Murdoch told the West Australian media mogul Kerry Stokes: “Three years of Labor wouldn’t be too bad.”</p>
<p>He prefers it when the Labor side is led by moderates who are amenable to business: Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Britain’s Tony Blair. But, even then, his endorsements tend to be muted, nothing like “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/05/daily-telegraph-election-australia">Kick this mob out</a>” on the front page of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph when he opposed Labor in 2013.</p>
<p>In Britain, Murdoch has employed the same tactics. Although his mass-circulation Sun supported Labour in 1997, 2001 and 2005, he allowed the prestigious Sunday Times to support the Conservatives.</p>
<p>But when it comes to endorsing the conservative side of politics, there is no pussyfooting around.</p>
<p>When he turned on Labour after Gordon Brown had succeeded Blair as prime minister, he unleashed the full Murdoch treatment.</p>
<p>Just as Brown was about to deliver his speech to Labour’s annual conference in September 2009, The Sun declared Murdoch’s abandonment of Labour with the banner headline “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/sep/29/the-sun-labours-lost-it">Labour’s lost it</a>”.</p>
<p>From then until the 2010 election, Murdoch’s ruthless campaign in support of David Cameron’s Conservative Party was carried by all his papers, The Sun in the vanguard with headlines such as “Brown toast”.</p>
<p>At elections, Murdoch has two priorities.</p>
<p>One is always to try to ensure the new regime, whatever its political colour, does not implement regulatory change that will disadvantage the business.</p>
<p>The second is to be on the winning side. This is important to the maintenance of the belief – at least in the minds of politicians – that he is a kingmaker.</p>
<p>When it is clear the progressive side of politics is in the ascendant, the chameleon can start changing colours early and might even complete a transformation before election day.</p>
<p>When it is not a sure thing, however, the skin-deep transformation has to begin when the results come in.</p>
<p>That is what is on display in the US now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Denis Muller does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Murdoch has become very adept at changing colours to suit changing political landscapes – and the US election is yet another example of that.Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.