He rejected that then, in the name of Lenin; he would reject it later in the name of Thatcher, Lenin’s mirror. He gets absurd plaudits for saving newspapers?—?but no newspaper in the UK has collapsed since the great shakeout in the mid-1960s (save for start-ups), when he acquired The Sun. There are as many UK dailies now as there were in 1910, something that the Fairfax board might like to think about.
Whatever he did may have helped individual papers, but it was not essential to the industry as a whole. What he did at Wapping was produced by the conservative intransigence and corruption of the print union leadership, who could have negotiated an industry transition, but allowed him his moment. What he did culturally, was to create a space and a style that would foster?—?like a yeast?—?the Coulsons and Brookeses, not the Pilgers and McGuires. Murdoch put envy at the centre of his empire?—?envy of the smart, of the principled?—?and he enthroned those who like him, lived off that envy, and made it their life energy.
The various wings of his empire may try to dissociate themselves, but it is ever thus from The New York Post to The Daily Telegraph, Sydney. There are many good people who have worked for News Limited, and a few who have stayed, but in general they don’t last long, and the complexion of the staff is striking in their fealty to the pathetic loyalty of the UK crowd.
News International, across the world, is an X-ray of nihilism and dependency. It is collapsing in the UK, and who knows where it will end. But, again restraining schadenfreude is this?—?Rupert Murdoch destroyed honest tabloid culture, replaced it with a debased version, and hurried it onto burial. His aged mother can build all the concert halls she likes, he can tweet all his mad thoughts daily when Wendi lets him have the phone, but News Limited is a palace built on shit and blood, and that is where many of his erstwhile inner circle will be living for years to come.
This piece was first published in Crikey.
Myriam Robin is a reporter for SmartCompany and its sister site LeadingCompany. She has degrees in economics, international studies and journalism. She likes writing about businesses taking risks and doing new things.
