‘Murdoched’: The new word for when a media empire targets you

Thanks to veteran journalists and media industry scholars Andrew Dodd and Matthew Ricketson, we have a new word to add to the English language: “Murdoched”, which they define as: “To be targeted or editorially attacked when one’s ideas or deeds do not accord with the media proprietor’s programs or publications. Murdoching hinders or harms those targeted and distorts and debases public discussion.”

We can be confident that these two professionals will be charged by the powers that be in News Corp, in a Trumpian spirit of denigration, with “Murdoch Derangement Syndrome”. But what we have here are not simply wanton attacks on Rupert Murdoch, his family and associates, the company’s media outlets and how it exercises political power. For all those who have been very concerned over many decades about the power and influence of News Corp and the functioning of democracies – principally in Australia, Britain, and the United States – this book is an indictment of what their journalism does, how it works, and the damage inflicted on the victims they decide to attack.

The stories and events leave little to the imagination. But with 530 footnotes over 360 pages of text, it reads like a very substantive indictment. What makes this book different from the shelves of those on the Murdochs and their companies is its principal orientation: not to assess News from the top down – the machinations and power plays that have resulted in unquestionable success, prominence and influence for Rupert and the family – but from the bottom up.

The authors have outlined what News Corp does with its journalism – in print, electronic and digital media – and how that culture underpins the reach and influence of News publications and media.
While it is about the Murdochs, it is really the story of those who, the authors contend, were put under vicious scrutiny resulting in extraordinary injury to their reputations and livelihoods. The News modus operandi is: “To unleash a torrent of articles contesting even the tiniest of points … attacking the critic personally, pitilessly and repeatedly … [if] all else fails, continuing to assert something as true as if no one has ever shown it was false.” They wanted to write this book “because so little about this bullying” has been written.

The book features dozens of stories, ranging from everyday individuals to some of the world’s most powerful people. The most tragic account involves 13-year-old Milly Dowler. Before her murder was discovered, the News of the World hacked her phone and reported on its contents. The whole story is one of wrenching horror involving “systematic phone hacking and bribery perpetrated by Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers”. British Prime Minister David Cameron established a public inquiry. Rupert Murdoch apologised personally to the Dowler family, saying: “This is the worst day of my life.” Before a parliamentary committee, Murdoch would say: “This is the most humble day of my career.” But Murdoch and the company survived.

A gay writer, a journalism teacher, several Muslims, women who did not like the topless models in The Sun (UK), trans people and doctors who advocate for trans rights and health, a queer teacher accused of brainwashing kids, celebrities small and big (think Hugh Grant and Paul Newman) who advocate for media accountability and reforms – the authors document those and many other cases of being targeted. These are mirrored with stories about News journalists and the depths they plumb to “get” the story.

The authors relate that when News goes in, it goes all in on taking sides on significant issues: the Iraq war, Israel and antisemitism, Ben Roberts-Smith, Cardinal George Pell, Brittany Higgins. And more: attacks on industry critics Michael Wolff, Margaret Simons, Robert Manne, Louise Milligan, journalists Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie, and boldface notables such as John Kerry, Malcolm Turnbull and Prince Harry. The power of News’ coverage is often relentless and formidable.

This book is too late for the campaign the authors supported for an authoritative government process to investigate and implement reforms to increase media diversity in Australia. The call for a royal commission by former prime ministers Turnbull and Kevin Rudd failed. What Dodd and Ricketson present in this book would have been interrogated in such a proceeding and strengthened their argument.

“We can’t rely on government to make this company behave,” they conclude in this book. At every critical juncture, Rupert Murdoch has not only survived but ultimately expanded the company’s power. There was a moment, with the family engulfed in a legal conflagration over succession once Murdoch dies, when the balance of power within the companies could have shifted away from Rupert’s vision. Rupert and Lachlan prevailed. Their control endures.

Getting Murdoched by Andrew Dodd and Matthew Ricketson is published by Hardie Grant Books ($40).

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