If speaking out is the measure of a man, – Rupert Murdoch comes up very rarely in “The Murdoch: Empire of Influence”. From his beginnings as an Australian newspaperman to becoming the world’s most influential media mogul, Murdoch repeatedly made promises that not only did he not fulfill, but shamelessly broke the moment he wanted to.
Outside of that, CNN’s seven-part documentary miniseries plays Murdoch largely in the middle—a surprisingly non-partisan portrait of a man and his family produced by a bitter political and journalistic rival, who bombards (almost none) And heavy on the fascinating is the archival footage of a young Murdoch who never stops trying to please his late father.
Apparently, “The Murdoch: Empire of Influence” was made without the involvement of its main subjects: Murdoch and his three middle children – Elizabeth, Lachlan, and James – who to this day align themselves as his only heirs. Huh. (The inevitable comparison to the hit show “Succession” would seem silly, as the HBO drama was originally conceived as a film about Murdoch, but the one-answer-to-rule-them-all theory is actually reality. Is.)
Although Murdoch, now 91, faced a near-death scare when son Lachlan fell on megayachts in 2018, Derby continues to increasingly control one of the world’s most powerful media empires. And though Lachlan has a strong inside track, with this family, fortunes can turn quickly.
“Always intending to pass on his company exclusively to one of his children,” says New York Times journalist Jonathan Mahler, co-author of a Comprehensive 2019 piece on Murdoch, “But to designate an heir would be an admission of his mortality.”
“Empire of Influence” was originally produced as an original documentary for the doomed digital platform CNN+, with Warner Bros. For this reason, it is even more impressive how restrained Murdoch’s own portrait is.
This is not to say that the punches are drawn: “Empire” draws particular attention to Murdoch’s willingness to tell potential vendors – once-liberal strongholds such as Australia’s The Daily Telegraph, London’s News of the World and The New York Post. Specifically – that he doesn’t have plans to interfere with his editorial policy… so do exactly that At that very moment he finds the key to the front door.
“That was,” says Roger Stone (yeah, He Roger Stone!) “The most brutal man in business history.”
But Murdoch’s broken promises weren’t just a matter of illuminating right-wing opinion and lingering in visceral, tabloid-heavy mess. The first two episodes, which aired Sunday, also dive into Murdoch’s aggressive political interference, from anointing New York City Mayor Ed Koch in 1977 to help deliver New York State in 1980 for a victorious Ronald Reagan. For (a favor that he would call upon numerous times, from quick US citizens to the extraordinary FCC exception, where he was given to buy TV stations in markets where he already had newspapers).
“The newspaper can create great controversy, it can shed light on injustice,” a young Murdoch calmly tells an interviewer in his late 60s. “Just as it can do the opposite, it can hide things and become a great force for evil.”
His own words — but a typical CNN viewer hoping to see Murdoch with horns and pitchforks will be disappointed. They may also find themselves admiring a young and forward-looking Murdoch, the dark, barely recognizable of hair and eyebrows were it not for the contented half-smile he’s still wearing today.
Rupert Murdoch circa 1968
And whatever Murdoch’s plight on the surface, it comes from his father, Sir Keith Murdoch, himself a self-made newspaper mogul at the time of the World Wars, who was “tough” and “cold” towards his eldest son. was. ,
“He didn’t think Rupert had what he took for granted,” says Jim Rutenberg, co-author of the New York Times piece from 2019, reporting on which “Empire” depends a lot.
When Keith Murdoch died, Rupert was studying abroad. By the time he got home, his father had been buried, and his mother had been persuaded to sell half of her newspaper property. Left with only one Adelaide newspaper to begin with, Murdoch felt duped – and went on a mission to restore the other half (and with the steamroller rolling, certainly didn’t stop there).
As a father figure, Rupert Murdoch has been described as loving and attentive – if not always. And when he was, he sparked media interest in his boys (Elizabeth wasn’t considered a competitor early on because of his gender, though that changed as she got older).
“He wasn’t raising kids, he was raising media moguls,” Mahler says. “It’s the origin story of three kids whose whole lies will be shaped by the discovery of one thing.”
But in terms of hindering the race to take over Murdoch’s vast wealth and influence, “Empire” presents no clear favorites until the end of Episode 2. “Elizabeth is very smart, very smart,” Rutenberg says, the closest thing to endorsing a candidate in “Empire.” “He’s like Rupert the most.”
Lachlan is portrayed as the most ambitious, outspoken gunman for the job – and currently co-heads Fox with his father. And James, at first seemingly disinterested in his father’s Machiavellian plans, becomes a player as the TV piece of the puzzle is at the center.
Certainly, by Episode 2, we’re starting to see Murdoch’s growing interest in television in the ’80s. With that huge aid from Reagan, he makes a big gamble to buy Metromedia TV stations for $2 billion, then 20th Century Fox for $575 million — the materials needed to create NewsCorp and, by proxy, Fox News.
“He has a great vision for what it lacks in landscape, not only in print but in television,” says Maury Povich, whose “insider edition” would be an early glimpse into the Murdoch TV ethos.
“Empire” may not make any new revelations about the Murdoch family saga, but does an admirable job of weaving together the arc of a family story that has touched 10 decades now — and may soon come to a conclusion. shows no signs of.