Academic Master

English

The News of the World

Activities in the United Kingdom

Murdoch acquired the News of the World in 1968 after buying it from the Carr family. Murdoch’s friend from college called Stephen Catto asked him if he is interested in purchasing News of the World. The News of the World was the most popular and lucrative Britain newspaper by that time. The newspaper was the dirtiest periodical in Britain despite its venerable age hence the Londoners called it Screws of the World or News of the Screws. Rupert Murdoch expanded to the outer non-Australian world when the News of the World became his property in 1969. The News of the World newspaper stopped publication on July 2011 after being in the print business for 168 a result of the scandal of phone hacking. The News of the World’s editors were accused of exercising indecorous actions and engaging in phone hacking to obtain stories for the newspaper.

Robert Maxwell, a Member of Parliament and book publisher, wanted to purchase The Sun in the bid to increase his presence on Fleet Street. He made assurance publication of “honest news” to the International Publishing Corporation (IPC) hence the Labor party would continue to get support from the paper. However, the International Publishing Corporation declined the proposal of Maxwell. Murdoch bought The Sun, an old London newspaper in 1969 for £800,000. The newspaper underwent very series of transformation at Murdoch’s possession hence becoming the brightest example of his market penetration. During the Murdoch’s purchase of The Sun, the newspaper aimed at the Labor Party supporters and demonstrated pretension to intellectuality.

The Sun turned into a mass tabloid when it became the property of Murdoch. It had the press context of standard “yellow” including sensations, sports and sex. The Sun stayed above its competitors as a result of encouragement from the popular taste for erotica which was proliferating. Also, the third page of the newspaper contained pictures of topless models. Murdoch purchased The Daily Telegraph, a tabloid newspaper of Sydney in 1972 from Frank Packer. Murdoch purchased the Times Newspaper, a British company in 1981. The Times Newspapers issued The Sunday Times and The Times. Murdoch began his British television marker conquest in the late 1980s and at the beginning of 1990s. In 1989, Great Britain launched Murdoch’s satellite company called the Sky Television.

Activities in the United States

Rupert Murdoch entered the USA’s market in the 1970s. Murdoch acquired two Texas-based daily newspapers called San Antonio Evening News and San Antonio Express from Hanks Harte for 19 million USD. Murdoch later merged the two newspapers under one name called San Antonio Express-News. Also, he successfully purchased The New York Post in the 1970s at a cost of $ 12 million. Later, he bought the New West, and the New York Magazine. The Cruden Investments Company, named after his grandfather’s Scottish church congregation represented the major part of Murdoch’s empire by the year 1977. Murdoch, his three sisters and his mother jointly owned the Cruden which controlled 40 percent of News Ltd shares. The News Ltd regulated the Australia enterprises’ work. The ownership of News Ltd in the News International Ltd was 48 percent. It was in charge of the British portion of the business. The News Ltd and News International Ltd combined constituted 100 percent of assets of Murdoch in the United States. Rupert Murdoch consolidated the two companies into the worldwide News Corporation in 1979 in which he became a member of the board of directors and the General Director. Later, he became the chairperson of the board of directors in 1991.

Murdoch entered the television market of the United States in the 1980s. The Australian entrepreneur received American citizenship in 1985 since the foreigners were forbidden from owning local TV channels by the American laws. After receiving the citizenry, he bought the regional TV channels. The regional TV channels were consolidated into Fox Broadcasting, a fourth national TV network of the US later. Also, he acquired the 20th Century Fox Corporation in the same year. Rupert acquired The Herald American that was owned by Hearst Corporation in 1982 and prevented its closure. The News Corporation acquired Dow Jones & Company in 2007 or $ 5 billion.

Political contributions of Rupert Murdoch

The mass media of Murdoch has played a significant role in politics. The media play the editorial role in the campaign paper s and provide financial contributions to political parties. Murdoch provided financial support to Gough Whitlam of Labor Party. The Murdoch’s mass media supported consecutive Prime ministers John Major and Margret Thatcher in Great Britain. The News Corporation expected close to $ 28 million in lobbying the United States federal government between 1998 and 2007. News Corporation directly contributed $ 4.7 million to political parties and politicians during the same period.

Conclusion

Murdoch started expanding his media empire in the 1950s when he inherited the Adelaide media business from his father. He became a master of mass media because of his constant struggle for improvement, development, growth and desire for expansion to new horizons. He expanded his media business from Australia to the United Kingdom and the United States. Murdoch used the strategy of acquisition to expand his empire. The multiple acquisitions made his newspaper holding to grow over time. For instance, he bought the Mirror newspaper and The Sunday Times in Australia. He acquired several tabloids in the United Kingdom such as The Sun and The News of the World. Also, he accomplished a series of acquisitions in the United States such as New York Post and San Antonio News. The News Corporation that he owns is a major player in the media industry. The public has benefited from the Murdoch’s media empire expansion.

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