The Great Intersections That Resist All Woes

Michael Hedges November 30, 2020 - Follow on Twitter

Concentration of media outlets in few hands is generally regarded as bad; bad for consumers, bad for workers, bad for democracy. Some, however, would disagree. Certain proprietors like the idea, particularly concentrating the money in one pot, theirs. And, too, the idea is quite attractive to certain politicians intent on concentrating a flattering message. The two, quite often, coincide.

A month and a half ago former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd initiated a public petition drive. It formally asked the government to impanel a Royal Commission to investigate the effects of media concentration on democratic institutions. The specific targets are News Corporation’s various Australian publishing and broadcasting subsidiaries. Attestations for the petition were collected online through the Australian Parliament’s e-petition webpage, which closed November 5th.

News Corporation Australia publishes 170 newspaper and magazine titles as well as operating the Sky News Australia cable TV channel. The companies are principally controlled by the Murdoch family. “This power is routinely used to attack opponents in business and politics by blending editorial opinion with news reporting,” stated the petition, noted AFP (October 30). “These facts chill free speech and undermine public debate.”

Mr. Rudd was joined others in the political sphere. Malcolm Turnbull, who served as a conservative (Liberal) party prime minister, did not mince words. “That crazy bitter partisanship of social media has taken over much of what we used to call the mainstream media,” he said, quoted by public broadcaster ABC (November 18). “So the Murdoch press that used to be a journalistic operation, a news operation that tended to lean more to the right than the left has now become a vehicle of political propaganda. It is just a political operation.”

By the deadline, more than 500,000 (501,876) people signed (virtually) the petition, the most ever for such a measure. The right-wing Liberal party that leads the current coalition government, without surprise, resisted invoking a Royal Commission inquiry. Surprise, though, came as opposition senators, notably from the Green party, voted to commence an inquiry in the Senate, legal precursor to establishing a Royal Commission.

“The cosy relationship between the Coalition Government and News Corp should be scrutinised,” said influential Green party senator Sarah Hanson-Young, quoted by SBS News (November 11). “When you have half a million people signing a petition premised on investigating Murdoch’s dominance of news media, the Parliament should be listening. The US election has highlighted the need for truth in journalism and the need to call out unsubstantiated and false claims.” The Senate Environment and Communications References Committee inquiry will report in March.

The various News Corp Australia outlets unleashed fury after the Senate voted to move forward on the inquiry. Charges - dubious at best - that fake signatures on the petition came from a foreign source “test” the system emanating from a pro-Trump podcaster and was instantly repeated. Editorial pages blasted how both former prime ministers had offered fealty to The Elder Mr. Murdoch once upon the time.

News Corp executives, quite clearly, would like to avoid anything similar to the 2011-2012 Leveson Inquiry in the UK. While that proceeding concentrated on media ethics in light of the infamous phone-hacking scandal it was highly embarrassing. The Elder Mr. Murdoch was forced to testify live on television. Successive UK governments wanted nothing to do with prescribing penalties, the proceedings remanded to the dustbin of history.

News Corp in the UK was not left entirely unscathed. The company was forced, largely for public relations purposes, to shutter tabloid News Of The World, its editor forced into a brief exile before a quieter return several years later. But News UK, subsidiary of News Corp, firmly embraced the exit from the European Union (Brexit) and solidified its position as voice of the UK right-wing. The company has been rewarded with radio broadcasting licenses and, soon, a television channel.

The United States is the other English-speaking country with a monumental News Corp presence. Its outlets - led by the Fox News TV channel - have championed various right-wing causes from climate denialism, coronavirus skepticism to outgoing president Donald Trump. No conspiracy theory has been too crazy to repeat. Some US media observers have speculated that the void created by Donald Trump leaving the stage will have a negative impact on the company’s fortunes. Don’t believe it.

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• Hot Topics - News Corp Fox Corp and Rupert Murdoch