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The Murdoch Dossier
136/COMPILED BY GRANVILLE WILLIAMS
Bruce Page’s book on Murdoch* had mixed reviews, but it really is worth reading. Some of the negative comments are to do with the fact that the book doesn’t deal enough with Murdoch’s recent American deals; that Page doesn’t come up with any new investigative revelations (he was a key journalist on the Insight team at the Sunday Times under Harold Evans); and that the book is densely written with voluminous notes.There is some substance in all these criticisms, but the book is successful in its attempt to explain the impact of Murdoch’s business methods and his company, News Corporation, on the democratic process. It is not a Murdoch biography, but rather an attempt to analyse the way the media mogul has done the deals which have enabled him to build a global media empire. The book is also revealing on what the consequences have been for the quality of journalism within the Murdoch empire.
One key theme is the way Murdoch has from the beginning presented himself as the bold challenger to media elites, state media monopolies, media regulation, and presented himself as an advocate of competi-tion, choice and media freedom. Page convincingly demonstrates that in Australia, the UK and the USA, Murdoch’s expansion was, and is, due to political and regulatory help from politicians keen to secure political support from Murdoch’s newspapers and broadcast media. There is a powerful section on Murdoch’s accommodation with the Chinese government which also demonstrates the shallowness of his libertarian credentials.
‘Power is abused when the apparent rules of society become a cover for other arrangements, or when things every insider knows to be true can be coolly denied in public,’ Page argues. One of the book’s great strengths is the way it dissects events from across the globe in support of this statement, but one close to home is worth citing. Remember the Gavyn Davies report into the development of digital televi-sion, which reached conclusions deeply disturbing to Rupert Murdoch? Why, Page asked a senior mandarin in Whitehall, were the recommendations ignored. His response was that the requirements of 10 Downing Street were perfectly clear-nothing was to be done to upset Rupert Murdoch.
Page distances himself from Stanley Baldwin’s charge against the 1930s press lords Beaverbrook and Rothermere that they exercised ‘power without responsibility’ but believes that Murdoch has ‘changed real political outcomes by covert and strictly irresponsible manipulation.’ Page has an impressive track record as a journalist and he reserves his most withering comments for the impact which Murdoch has had on the on the practice of journalism within his global group. He argues that for over 130 years media systems have played a role as disseminators of information and enlightenment, and exposing abuses of power. John Thadeus Delane, editor of The Times, asserted in 1851, that the press lives by disclosure. Page demonstrates that whilst Murdoch has made great play of the liberating power of the media and the citizen’s right to know, in practice News Corporation has a dismal record. Indeed ‘Murdoch’s lack of practical interest in disclosure is neither accidental nor episodic. It is part of the NewsCorp business model...’ The examples are legion: easing out reporters who look into Monsanto’s impact on the environ-ment, diluting the truth about Murdoch’s friends in Beijing in The Times, taking BBC World off the Star TV link to China, or ensuring all the Murdoch press marched behind the Bush push for war with Iraq.
Page’s analysis highlights what will a central and important theme of politics in the 21st century: the link between media ownership and politics and the distorting impact abuse of this link can have both on the political process and the range and quality of information we receive. For that reason alone it deserves a wide readership.
* The Murdoch Archipelago Simon and Schuster £20.00
The Age of Murdoch
JAMES FALLOWS has a long essay in the September issue of The Atlantic Monthly which presents an analysis and estimate of Murdoch’s impact on US media .‘Murdoch’s companies now constitute a production system unmatched in its integration,’ he writes. ‘They supply content - Fox movies (Titanic, The Full Monty, There’s Something About Mary) , Fox TV shows (The Simpsons, Ally McBeal, When Animals Attack ), Fox-controlled sports broadcasts, plus newspapers and books. They sell the content to the public and advertisers - in newspapers, on the broadcast network, on the cable channels.’
The DirecTV will make Murdoch the biggest owner of the US satellite system and it will ensure wide distribution of his movies and his news, sports, and original TV programming. In preparing the essay Fallows ‘interviewed people who have worked or still worked closely with or have competed against him. All the associates and employees I reached, and most of the business rivals, refused even to met for a discussion unless I ag reed not to use their names. The Fox news organisation is under blanket orders not to talk to the press unless pre-cleared. I did not manage to get anyone at Fox to admit the incongruity of a news organisation taking this stance.’ The essay is on www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/09/fallows.htm
Fox vs. Franken
A BOOK by Al Franken, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, became the best-selling non-fiction book in America as a result of News Corporation’s attempt to suppress it. The cover of the book shows Al Franken dressed in a conservative blue suit, standing in front of a quartet of television monitors showing the heads of Fox TV talk show star, Bill O’ Reilly, another right wing media commentator, Ann Coulter, George Bush and Dick Cheney.
It appears Bill O’Reilly insisted that News Corporation sue the publishers for trademark infringement of the phrase ‘ fair and balanced’ and prevent distribution of the book. An excerpt from the Fox News lawsuit gives a flavour of their flimsy case:
‘Defendants’ intent in using the trademark in this unauthorised fashion is clear - they seek to exploit Fox News’ trademark, confuse the public as to the origin of the book, and accordingly, boost sales of the book...
Moreover, since Franken’s reputation as a political commentator is not of the same calibre as the stellar reputations of FNC’s on-air talent, any association between Franken and Fox News is likely to blur or tarnish Fox News’ distinctive mark...’
Franken has skilfully turned the lawsuit to comic effect : ‘When I read “intoxicated and deranged” and “shrill and unstable” in their complaint I thought for a moment I was a Fox commentator.’
The lawsuit was dismissed as ‘wholly without merit’ - a slogan Franken suggests Fox should now substitute for ‘Fair and Balanced’. The book is published by Penguin under its E.P.Dutton imprint. Lisa Johnson, Dutton’s Director of Publicity, said ‘It is extraordinary that one of the largest media corporations would take such action. In trying to suppress A l Frankens book, News Corp. is undermining First Amendment principles that protect all media by guaranteeing a free, open and vigorous debate on public issues.’
Murdoch exported his tabloid formula to America , but while it increased the New York Post’s circulation, it lost advertisers. Newsday quoted a space buyer for the top store Bloomingdales saying to Murdoch, ‘But Rupert, Rupert, your readers are my shoplifters.’LINKSwww.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/09/fallows.htm
Last modified: Saturday, December 6, 2003
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Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
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MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
Miscellany
BCT PIPELINE PROTEST
LAKENHEATH TRESPASS DAY
NO NEW OIL DAYSCHOOL
Oil, war and climate change: dismantling the oil economy.
FREE CAMPAIGN POSTCARDS
Weapons of Mass Deception - the uses of propaganda in Bush's war on Iraq
Free Press 135
Editorial: The Assault on the BBC
COMPETITIVE PRESSURES
PLATFORM: COMMERCIAL PRESSURES ON ITN
Television impartiality or Biased News?
Journalism Studies
ACCESS FOR ALL OR ACCESS DENIED?
No drinking up time at the Last Chance Saloon
Plaudits for Presswise
MEDIA MONITOR: Freedom of Information Blocked
MEDIA MONITOR: Gannett/Newsquest
NEXT ISSUE
CPBF NEWS: AGM HAS THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS
The Dotty & Barmy Watchdog
Editorial
CURBING CAMPBELL
The Phillis Review on government information:
Role of top PR Firms causes concern
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
CARLTON/GRANADA MERGER
NEWS FOR SCOTLAND
CROSS-MEDIA PROMOTION
ITALIAN AFFAIRS
A LETHAL COCKTAIL:
Racism, the press and the PCC
WITHOUT COMMENT (1)
WITHOUT COMMENT (2)
