Article - Rupert Murdoch & Journalistic Power.

The Price of a Story

When journalism becomes a million dollar scandal - Tessa O’Neill reports.

Rupert Murdoch could be considered as the ruler of the media industry, being founder, CEO and chairman of Global Media Holding News Corporation – the largest media company in the world. But, everyone knows success comes at a price. It is often difficult to make your way to the top by playing closely to the rules, so therefore when the topic of Rupert Murdoch comes up, are words such as loyalty and honesty the first things to come to mind?

Rupert Murdoch was thrown in to the media industry at the young age of 21, with the takeover of the directorial position of “News Limited” from his father in 1952. It did not take long for Murdoch to get a taste of that success that flared his competitive edge, following with the expansion to the United Kingdom after purchasing news publication companies “News of the World” and “The Sun”. After being in the media management industry for less than a decade, Murdoch already owned multiple companies across Australia and New Zealand and two of the largest publication companies in the United Kingdom, yet this was still only the beginning. The 1980’s saw Murdoch’s expansion to the United States of America, as he bought the “New York Times” in 1981 then continued to gain citizenship in 1985. Murdoch, now a proud American citizen, continued to acquire multiple successful media publication and broadcast companies such as “Twentieth Century Fox” in 1985, “Harper Collins” in 1989 and the “Wall Street Journal” in 2007. Rupert Murdoch was rapidly becoming the most successful man in the media industry, owning over 800 companies in 50 different countries by the year 2000, with an estimated net cost of over $5 billion.

Rupert Murdoch had obtained the success and money that many people can only dream of, but success is like a drug. The rush of having control becomes an addiction that is increasingly difficult to fulfil. Being at the top of a business food chain, it is your responsibility to take the repercussions of the actions of those bellow you. In July 2011, Rupert Murdoch was faced with allegations that employees from his company, “News of the World”, had been hacking the phones of innocent people in the chase for a top selling story. Suspicion was first aroused when there was an unusual discovery in the UK’s “Milly Dowler” abduction and murder case. Police had discovered that recorded messages on Dowler’s voicemail box had been heard and deleted, giving hope to police and the Dowler family that Milly may have still been alive. It was later discovered that Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator hired by “News of the World” employees had gained access to the voicemail and was passing his findings to be exploited and used as a journalistic ploy for “News of the World”.  

Discovering that employees of Murdoch’s company “News of the World” had been exploiting people for their selfless gain quickly erupted, causing an elaborate investigation in to the company and Mulcaire’s files. Investigations unravelled deceit and abuse of power, with the discovery of files containing personal information from the telephones of deceased British soldiers and families of the London 7/7 bombing victims. Murdoch’s credibility was depreciating faster than a modern day new year’s resolution, with many sponsors and partners losing faith in his professionalism. Murdoch’s years of hard work and strategic business moves were falling to pieces because of a scandal that he may or may not have even had knowledge of.

The 2011 Murdoch phone hacking scandal saw the closure of “News of the World” on the 7^th of July 2011with son of Rupert, James Murdoch’s announcement of “News of the Worlds” final edition to be published on the 10^th of July 2011. This proves, in the media industry, it is seemingly easier to fall then to fly. Society left stunned and appalled, Rupert Murdoch’s public image went from being strong successful to conniving and un-trustworthy.

Journalists hold a certain power over society in which they have the choice on how their findings are presented and acknowledged.  This power can easily become clouded when greed and power interfere with the original task of being an honest spokesperson for the public. The rise and fall of Rupert Murdoch’s credibility in the public eye is a concise example of journalistic corruption. Journalists must take in to precaution the repercussions of their actions and acknowledge what their personal duties entail, because the slightest mistake can see the something as large as the fall of a multi-million dollar company.