'The Man Who Owns The News' -- new Murdoch biography

2muchcoffeeman · Dec 2, 2008

Just out this week. Review at Slate makes it look interesting, and probably not what Murdoch was hoping for.

http://www.slate.com/id/2205748/pagenum/all/

By accepting Murdoch on his own terms, Wolff tilts his focus toward the sympathetic, but it's the sort of sympathy John Milton rewards Satan with in Paradise Lost. Murdoch, like Satan, is simply the most interesting character in the larger story and therefore the most deserving of our understanding. This doesn't mean that Wolff turns Murdoch's negatives into positives but that he suspends judgment as he records his subject's many "signature" acts of betrayal, double-dealing, and skulduggery. In a lesser writer's hands, this would have turned into a "warts and all" biography; Wolff is shrewd enough to know that Murdoch is all warts.
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This book shines brightest when describing Murdoch's "politics," such as they are. The "liberal people" around him say he's a "libertarian," Wolff writes, but "Murdoch's politics aren't actually politics." He was a lefty in Australia but later a Reagan-Thatcherite. He supported Tony Blair and hosted a Sen. Hillary Clinton a re-election fundraiser, but he endorsed John McCain for president in his New York Post. Murdoch's political worldview floats on an "amalgamation of half facts, quasiprejudices, shorthand analysis, and cockeyed assumptions, with a smattering of gossip. All combined with his massive certainty and determined nature. That's the basis of his and his newsrooms' political agenda." He continues:

A vital element in understanding his political consciousness is understanding its shallowness. For an ideologue, he's done little of the reading. Ideas are of marginal interest to him; he's a poor debater (although he can raise his voice and pound the table).
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There's been some previous coverage from the NY Times, and the piece published in October's Vanity Fair notes: "For a long time, he was in love with the Fox chief, Roger Ailes, because he was even more Murdoch than Murdoch. And yet now the embarrassment can’t be missed — he mumbles even more than usual when called on to justify it; he barely pretends to hide the way he feels about Bill O’Reilly."

goalmouth · Dec 2, 2008

2muchcoffeeman said:

And yet now the embarrassment can’t be missed — he mumbles even more than usual when called on to justify it; he barely pretends to hide the way he feels about Bill O’Reilly."
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What's to hide? Fox just handed O'Reilly a rich multi-year deal.

Fenian_Bastard · Dec 2, 2008

Rupert likes to make money.
Period.
As soon as O'Reilly's revenues drop, he's on public access, selling pants.

Michael_ Gee · Dec 2, 2008

FB is right. Murdoch is probably looking at Maddow and Olbermann and wondering if Fox News 2, a companion network for liberals, might be his next lucrative move.

Paper Dragon · Dec 2, 2008

It's like reading about a modern William Randolph Hearst. I wonder how Murdoch feels about Hitler.

Moderator1 · Dec 2, 2008

Strolled through our bookstore today and saw it, bought it. I'm a sucker.

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'The Man Who Owns The News' -- new Murdoch biography

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'The Man Who Owns The News' -- new Murdoch biography

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