Murdoch

It’s a name synonymous with Australian media, and for that matter, global media.

Rupert Murdoch is the most successful media mogul on the planet, and it all began with a struggling newspaper in Adelaide.

SBS screens a new two-part documentary co-produced by WA’s Electric Pictures and UK’s Brook Lapping Productions which profiles Murdoch’s personal and professional worlds.

Whilst acknowledging Murdoch’s achievements in print, television, movies and online, that hacking scandal just won’t go away. The doco opens with the 82 year old’s mea culpa to British parliamentary hearings, “Today is the most humble day of my life.” It then journeys back to his upbringing in a wealthy Melbourne family.

Rupert was studying at Oxford University when his father, regional newspaper magnate Keith Murdoch, died suddenly. At the age of 22, he came home to find himself in charge of the ailing Adelaide News and turned it around in the 1950s. After outgrowing Adelaide he turned his attention to Sydney, dominated by the Packer and Fairfax empires. After buying the Daily Mirror, Murdoch’s knack for sex, crime and sensationalist stories soon made him a player. “Get the story at any cost” was the mantra.

The doco details the fight with Frank and Kerry Packer, much of which will also feature in the next Howzat mini-series.

Murdoch established The Australian, and began to enjoy political influence. He was instrumental in getting Gough Whitlam elected, but when he didn’t get his way on mining concessions, his newspapers turned on Whitlam ahead of the 1975 dismissal.

There were also UK papers to buy: The News of the World, The Sun and (later) The Times plus SKY TV. Along the way he introduced the bare-breasted Page Three girls and Bingo cards. There was the backing of Margaret Thatcher, and fights with printing unions as he automated newspaper publications.

In the US he was feared by suspicious Americans, concerned his tabloid style would infest New York. Murdoch snapped up the NY Post and backed mayoral candidate Ed Koch. FOX Studios followed later.

Through them all Murdoch was a storyteller, with hands-on direction on editorial, layout, and sales.

Personal stories include details on three marriages, his children, gambling and his US citizenship.

What makes this doco work so well is the roll-call of interview subjects, telling memories of Murdoch’s managerial style and nose for what sells with the public.

These include former PMs Tony Blair and John Howard, plus Barry Humphries, Gerald Stone, Steve Dunleavy, Mark Day, Kim Williams, Ed Koch, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and a string of former editors and journalists.

One of the most memorable quotes is from Andrew Neil, former editor of The Times, staying with Murdoch in Aspen, Colorado. After breakfast Murdoch suggested they go and buy a paper. But did he mean buy a local edition or acquire another publishing interest…?

Former editor Bruce Guthrie shares a conversation where Murdoch doesn’t explicitly instruct him on editorial, but asks questions that leaves him in no doubt about his views. “What do you think of the Prime Minister?” he would ask.

Eluding Murdoch was the Herald and Weekly Times in Melbourne, which his father built but did not own. In 1979 he made a bid for the company, but it failed until many years later.

Archival footage, including vintage Murdoch interviews, helps to tell the story of his acquisitions, influence and personal life. Not having any co-operative Murdoch family interviews is probably this documentary’s only short-coming, but it’s no surprise.

Narrated by Robert Menzies, Murdoch puts perspective on a man John Howard says has had “more influence on the world business scene than any other Australian.”  At a time when the hacking scandal questions methodology and ethics, this is a timely documentary.

Murdoch airs Sunday May 5 and 12, 8.30pm on SBS ONE.

David Knox blogs Eurovision for SBS