Murdoch's World: The Last of the Old Media Empires

by David Folkenflik

Rupert Murdoch is the most significant media tycoon the English-speaking world has ever known. No one before him has trafficked in media influence across those nations so effectively, nor has anyone else so singularly redefined the culture of news and the rules of journalism. In a stretch spanning six decades, he built News Corp from a small paper in Adelaide, Australia into a multimedia empire capable of challenging national broadcasters, rolling governments, and swatting aside commercial rivals. Then, over two years, a series of scandals threatened to unravel his entire creation.

Murdoch's defenders questioned how much he could have known about the bribery and phone hacking undertaken by his journalists in London. But to an exceptional degree, News Corp was an institution cast in the image of a single man. The company's culture was deeply rooted in an Australian buccaneering spirit, a brawling British populism, and an outsized American libertarian sensibility -- at least when it suited Murdoch's interests.

David Folkenflik, the media correspondent for NPR News, explains how the man behind Britain's take-no-prisoners tabloids, who reinvigorated Roger Ailes by backing his vision for Fox News, who gave a new swagger to the New York Post and a new style to the Wall Street Journal , survived the scandals -- and the true cost of this survival. He summarily ended his marriage, alienated much of his family, and split his corporation asunder to protect the source of his vast wealth (on the one side), and the source of his identity (on the other). There were moments when the global news chief panicked. But as long as Rupert Murdoch remains the person at the top, Murdoch's World will be making news.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Politics, Journalism, History

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Rolland · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Murdoch's World, Mr. Folkenflik examines the sprawling media empire of Rupert Murdoch, from his Australian roots and News Ltd.; to founding of the Fox television network and its flashy, partisan Fox News; to the acquired Dow Jones Company and its storied Wall Street Journal; to the UK's Sun and the doomed News of the World.

I expected this book to be in the realm of biography, but was surprised. Mr. Folkenflik, a veteran NPR journalist, does little to pierce the veil of mystery surrounding Rupert Murdoch the man. Instead he explores Murdoch through the long shadow he casts, through his loyalties, his rivals, his chosen officers, and the culture of his enterprises. Seen through that lens the portrait is not a flattering. The book could easily be renamed Murdoch's World: The New Media of Power, Corruption, Lies, and Scandal. (Really I am mystified at the "Last of the Old Media Empires" title, since Folkenflik shows that Murdoch was anything but traditional and his media outlets have carved out a lasting and profitable place in the modern entertainment landscape.)

The author's extensive research is a gift for understanding an empire that prefers to shine the spotlight on others. The anecdotes and quotes are illuminating. And the cast of characters is sweeping. It includes political leaders on several continents, the embattled former-CEO of Fox News Roger Ailes, celebrity news anchors and pundits Bill O'Reilly and Megyn Kelly, political strategist Karl Rove, the News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, the British royal family, and Rupert's most involved children: Lachlan, James and Elisabeth. (In fact, because of the many enterprises and names, this book really could have benefited from a glossary of main characters, if not an "org chart" of the Murdoch empire.)

With widespread sexism, hacking and bribery scandals, the use of innuendo and intimidation to silence rivals, and editorial sniping at government oversight and regulators, it beckons the question: how could so much pernicious - sometimes blatantly illegal - behavior exist in a single conglomerate? The implied answer is that the "tone at the top" - Murdoch's lack of commitment toward openness, honesty, integrity, and ethical behavior - allowed it. Maybe even encouraged it. Clearly there were times bravado and ugly behavior were deemed profitable, even if they meant breaking the rules, or pushing the limits of acceptability. I wish Mr. Folkenflik had better illustrated the role of greed in rewarding and reinforcing this culture, though. Hunger for power and profits seem as much at the heart of the corporate style as any character flaw of the owner.

Nonetheless, while this book does not attempt to build a chronology of Murdoch's rise to power, or the mechanics of how he made his acquisitions - and so fails as a history, per se - I loved this book for its detail, good quotes, and its ability to illustrate both the successes and hazards of Murdoch's more brazen, pugilistic style in media.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting information about a compelling, important, borderline evil world figure. The writing is weak, though, and this author inserts himself in with the first person in ways that are unnecessary at best. This material is fascinating; it should not have felt like a chore to read it.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Folkenflik's book is a singular portrait of a truly awful man and the businesses he either built or accumulated during his (still ongoing) chairmanship of NewsCorp. Rupert Murdoch emerges as a man whose business acumen, boundless ambition, and resentment of rules enabled him to accumulate tremendous power, while at the same time building a empire so steeped in Murdoch's pirate ethos that everything was permitted, so long as it served the boss's financial or ideological interests. This lawless culture culminated in the phone hacking scandal that wrecked Murdoch's already questionable reputation, scuttled the BSkyB deal, and exposed the company to severe penalties in both the UK and US.

My recent reading life has exposed me to other leaders who built their organizations as Murdoch did. Murdoch has been more fortunate than they, in that he's managed to hold on to his power. But, like them, he's left behind a long trail of victims, debased almost every institution he's touched, and fattened his wallet by making the world poorer.

Folkenflik did his best to try to humanize Murdoch, but in the end, his subject gives him too little to work with. What remains is a compelling portrait of a corporate monster, and the political and cultural environment that let him run loose.

[Lari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting reading, but I think it needed a cast list. So many names, I kept losing track of who was who and what the dynamics were.

[Ellen Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

It turns out Rupert Murdoch is worse than I thought. This is a well-researched book that gives a complete understanding of Murdoch and his worldwide empire.

There are more details about the U.K. phone hacking scandal than I needed and I'm someone who has been following it fairly carefully.

If you're at all interested in what Murdoch has done to our media (and I think everybody should be), then I strongly recommend this book.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

What Rupert Murdoch has achieved in business should be celebrated. With any other person it would be. But Folkenflik ably sets out why Murdoch doesn't deserve praise but should be scorned. A riveting read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short version: I loved it. Anyone interested in media should read it ASAP. Actual review here: http://happynicetimepeople.com/david-...