Murdoch’s First 80 Years:”Now I Choose U.S. Presidents”
Published in La Repubblica
(Italy) on 11 March 2011
by Federico Rampini (link to original)
(Italy) on 11 March 2011
by Federico Rampini (link to original)
Translated from
by Claudia Pellicano.
Edited by Jenette Axelrod.
“Information does not want to be free.” Those are the words of Rupert Murdoch, who turns 80 today. That claim was made a few days ago to launch his new creation, the Daily. It captures the ambivalence of the most powerful mass-media tycoon in the world. At an age in which the majority enjoy retirement, not only is Murdoch at the pinnacle of his expansion (with the complete control of Sky News Network), he's also enthusiastic for new projects like the forthcoming newspaper made exclusively for iPads. He is capable, more than ever, of producing bipolar emotions: extreme hatred and boundless admiration.
Americans are obsessed with this man; they blame him for his perverted political power, and they give him credit for a tenacious faith in the future of information. There’s another anniversary to celebrate: Thirty-five years ago, Murdoch landed in New York as an Australian transplant. In 1976, New York was suffering with homicides in Central Park, widespread crime and high rates of unemployment. Murdoch sensed like few others a metropolis ready for a rebirth. One-third of a century later, Business Week estimates that in every moment of the day, at least one family out of four is watching his T.V. programs or movies and reading magazines and books from his publishing house. In New York Magazine, Jonathan Mahler surrenders: “Now it’s his city, we only live here.”
At 80, all the dreams have become true for the expat from Adelaide. He began by taking the former British colonial power. He defeated the typographer labor unions of Fleet Street, becoming one of the “Aries” of deregulation. He conquered the popular press, the Sun, and the newspaper most symbolic of the London establishment, the Times. He became the deus ex machina of the most influential leaders of recent British history, Margaret Thatcher, and then Tony Blair. In spite of the scandals (the illegal wire tappings made by his program, News of the World, sent a reporter to jail and forced a director to resign), it’s in Great Britain that he is achieving a grandiose project. With the authorization of Cameron’s government to buy absolute control of Sky, Murdoch is now able to offer the most complete package of the media world: From newspapers to movies to books to cable T.V., all the imaginable contents are available via satellite or Internet by clicking a button and paying the one and only owner: him.
The U.S. remains his biggest stage. Fox is the first cable T.V. station that has shattered the supremacy of the three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, in prime time evening news. He destroyed CNN. He tricked an old family of the New York establishment, the Bancrofts (who used to cordially despise him), by sowing discord on the ranks until they were forced to sell the Dow Jones and the “gem” of the realm, the Wall Street Journal. Thanks to this giant newspaper and to Fox, his influence on the Republican party is overwhelming. The tea party, the phenomenon, anti–tax, anti–state populist movement that brought the right wing to victory in legislative elections last November, owes him almost everything: from T.V. space to gang leaders Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, who are on Murdoch’s payroll. So far, all the potential Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential election could be called “Fox:” Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum all receive paychecks from Murdoch.
For those who care about freedom of the press, it’s a depressing show. And yet, Murdoch is something else, too. He’s been the editor–in–chief for months now, every day at work in the rooms of his new creature: the Daily, the first newspaper exclusively for iPads. Although it is available only in digital format, it is still a true newspaper. With 100 reporters gainfully employed, original content, the ambition to talk to an educated and sophisticated generation that doesn’t read print newspapers or watch the old television anymore. It is a bipartisan newspaper, or even non–partisan, and very different from Fox and the Wall Street Journal (not one of the reporters has been taken from the mother magazines of the group). A paid product, thanks to which Murdoch, ally of Steve Jobs, brings the offensive against the free Internet (another battle of the moment) to a whole new level.
At 80, he’s so busy with picking the next U.S. President and deciding the future of information that a little problem escapes him: succession. With three children from his second marriage — James, Lachlan and Elisabeth — fights and reconciliations alternate. The third wife, the ambitious Wendi Deng, reads him his emails, because “He can’t use the computer.” And maybe for other reasons, too. The post-Murdoch issue is not yet solved. Perhaps it will be postponed until his 90th birthday.
Americans are obsessed with this man; they blame him for his perverted political power, and they give him credit for a tenacious faith in the future of information. There’s another anniversary to celebrate: Thirty-five years ago, Murdoch landed in New York as an Australian transplant. In 1976, New York was suffering with homicides in Central Park, widespread crime and high rates of unemployment. Murdoch sensed like few others a metropolis ready for a rebirth. One-third of a century later, Business Week estimates that in every moment of the day, at least one family out of four is watching his T.V. programs or movies and reading magazines and books from his publishing house. In New York Magazine, Jonathan Mahler surrenders: “Now it’s his city, we only live here.”
At 80, all the dreams have become true for the expat from Adelaide. He began by taking the former British colonial power. He defeated the typographer labor unions of Fleet Street, becoming one of the “Aries” of deregulation. He conquered the popular press, the Sun, and the newspaper most symbolic of the London establishment, the Times. He became the deus ex machina of the most influential leaders of recent British history, Margaret Thatcher, and then Tony Blair. In spite of the scandals (the illegal wire tappings made by his program, News of the World, sent a reporter to jail and forced a director to resign), it’s in Great Britain that he is achieving a grandiose project. With the authorization of Cameron’s government to buy absolute control of Sky, Murdoch is now able to offer the most complete package of the media world: From newspapers to movies to books to cable T.V., all the imaginable contents are available via satellite or Internet by clicking a button and paying the one and only owner: him.
The U.S. remains his biggest stage. Fox is the first cable T.V. station that has shattered the supremacy of the three networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC, in prime time evening news. He destroyed CNN. He tricked an old family of the New York establishment, the Bancrofts (who used to cordially despise him), by sowing discord on the ranks until they were forced to sell the Dow Jones and the “gem” of the realm, the Wall Street Journal. Thanks to this giant newspaper and to Fox, his influence on the Republican party is overwhelming. The tea party, the phenomenon, anti–tax, anti–state populist movement that brought the right wing to victory in legislative elections last November, owes him almost everything: from T.V. space to gang leaders Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, who are on Murdoch’s payroll. So far, all the potential Republican candidates for the 2012 presidential election could be called “Fox:” Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Rick Santorum all receive paychecks from Murdoch.
For those who care about freedom of the press, it’s a depressing show. And yet, Murdoch is something else, too. He’s been the editor–in–chief for months now, every day at work in the rooms of his new creature: the Daily, the first newspaper exclusively for iPads. Although it is available only in digital format, it is still a true newspaper. With 100 reporters gainfully employed, original content, the ambition to talk to an educated and sophisticated generation that doesn’t read print newspapers or watch the old television anymore. It is a bipartisan newspaper, or even non–partisan, and very different from Fox and the Wall Street Journal (not one of the reporters has been taken from the mother magazines of the group). A paid product, thanks to which Murdoch, ally of Steve Jobs, brings the offensive against the free Internet (another battle of the moment) to a whole new level.
At 80, he’s so busy with picking the next U.S. President and deciding the future of information that a little problem escapes him: succession. With three children from his second marriage — James, Lachlan and Elisabeth — fights and reconciliations alternate. The third wife, the ambitious Wendi Deng, reads him his emails, because “He can’t use the computer.” And maybe for other reasons, too. The post-Murdoch issue is not yet solved. Perhaps it will be postponed until his 90th birthday.