Two weeks ago, the biggest media mogul of our time, Rupert Murdoch stepped down as chairman of Fox and News Corporation, so grab yourself a tea, let the Succession theme tune play and I will do my best to take you through how one man has irreparably influenced international politics, for better or for worse.
Free press, or at least the illusion of free press is a cornerstone of liberal democracy with the free flowing of ideas a fundamental necessity for creating an educated population. We may think we live in a media world with a vast array of opinions on display with no corporate oversight or impediments to journalistic free speech. But 90% of the UK-wide print media is owned and controlled by just three companies, Reach plc, News UK and DMG Media. We will be looking at News UK today in particular as this is the British arm of News Corporation Ltd, the Murdoch owned global media holding. However, it must not be overlooked that the impediment to free press that these corporate companies threaten is universal across all newspapers, not just those mentioned in relation to Murdoch.
From humble beginnings as the owner of local Australian newspapers, Murdoch has grown his business into a media empire which encompasses the biggest, majority right-wing leaning newspapers, across the UK, USA, and Australia. For the UK, that means The Sun, The Sun on Sunday, The Times and The Sunday Times all fall under his jurisdiction. The impact that has had on UK politics is not trivial as, for example, it is well known that Murdoch’s Eurosceptic views formed the basis of The Sun’s reporting during the ‘Vote Leave’ Brexit campaign. The Guardian quoted Murdoch in saying “When I go into Downing Street, they do what I say; when I go to Brussels, they take no notice”, but Murdoch adamantly denies he ever said it and maintains there is no connection between his views and the publications of his newspapers.
Brexit is not the only part of UK politics that Murdoch has been involved in. News of the World, a UK tabloid paper owned by News Corp was shut down after the phone hacking scandal of 2011. It was discovered that employees of the newspaper engaged in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories. Multiple former editors of the newspaper were sent to prison for violating privacy laws including Andy Coulson, who at the time was communications director for David Cameron. Murdoch maintains he was completely unaware of the hacking and that he was not ultimately responsible for what was printed in News of the World. The dust having settled on this particular scandal early in the 2010s is now being rejuvenated by the new phone hacking allegations brought forward by Prince William who claims that Murdoch’s UK media company agreed to settle with Harry in 2020 for a “very large” sum. The murky circumstances that Murdoch’s newspaper’s often find themselves in can have a substantial impact on our democracy.
The former Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, told a senate inquiry into media diversity in 2021 that “The truth is as prime minister I was still fearful of the Murdoch media beast”. He went on to call Murdoch a “cancer on democracy” which is a phrase that can be seen as not only applicable to Australia but America too. Murdoch is likely most well known in relation to American politics with his ownership of The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Fox News broadcasting channels appealing to a broad section of mostly Republican America.
January 6th, 2021 is remembered by many as a day that shook American politics and liberal democracy to its core. The imagery of hardline Trump supporters storming the Capitol building in Washington DC following conspiracies of voter fraud in the 2020 Presidential election made millions
question how the situation had gotten so out of hand. Although of course the full blame cannot be placed on the shoulders of Murdoch-owned Fox News, the defamation fight brought to their door by voting systems company, Dominion, has exposed how Murdoch permitted broadcasting of false accusations for commercial and financial benefit which spread the views to millions of people across America. The case has also revealed that Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, all news anchors for Fox at the time, privately doubted the far-fetched allegations about Dominion even as the network continued to air them. No single news channel can be blamed for the events of January 6th but the blatant disregard for journalistic integrity and duty to the American people exposes yet more shady enclaves of Murdoch’s media empire.
Now, it wouldn’t be right given the hugely popular TV show “Succession”, which is unofficially inspired by the Murdoch family, to finish this article without discussing the successor to Rupert Murdoch’s chairmanship. Lachlan Murdoch, Rupert’s first-born son will take over the helm of News Corporation with immediate effect. It is yet to be determined whether this will bring positive change to the company or whether Lachlan will follow his father’s controversial path. A questionable track record has brought Lachlan to where he is today such as when he played a major hand in the rise of Tucker Carlson as Fox News’s biggest and most extreme star until he left earlier this year, even defending the prime-time commentator when he smeared immigrants as making “America dirtier”. There is the pertinent question of whether Lachlan intends to mend the relationship between Fox News and Donald Trump which broken down after Fox executives came out against the voter fraud conspiracies in late 2021. This decision could be the deciding factor for the result of the 2024 presidential election as it would signify a shift of Fox News support away from Ron DeSantis towards Trump.
So, whether you agree or disagree with Murdoch’s political leanings or his actions in the past, his extraordinary success as a businessmen, political influencer and media mogul cannot be denied. Only time will tell what the transfer of power at the very top of the world’s media will mean for the future of our press and to an extent, the future of our democracy.
