Rupert Murdoch misses the big 60th bash but still makes his mark

Sky News Australia will air an interview with the 93-year-old founder of The Australian newspaper, Rupert Murdoch, on Monday, 60 years after the national broadsheet first went to press, as part of celebrations marking the masthead’s diamond anniversary.

The task of landing the “exclusive” with Murdoch fell to Sky chief and former editor-in-chief of the paper Paul Whittaker, who conducted hours of interviews with Murdoch, who now holds the title of chairman emeritus of News Corp and Fox Corporation.

Clockwise from top left: Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch, former PM John Howard, The Australian editor Michelle Gunn.Credit: Marija Ercegovac

These interviews appear to have been whittled down to segments within a one-hour program that will also feature former prime ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard, past editors-in-chief Chris Mitchell and Paul Kelly, as well as other prominent figures at the paper.

The documentary is likely to be the only opportunity that readers, executives, staff and supporters get to hear from the media mogul, after he recently cancelled his plan to return to Australia for the paper’s birthday bash at The Australian Museum on July 25.

In his place, eldest son Lachlan will host the event, nine months after he became chair of News Corp and executive chair of Fox Corporation.

Alongside the official celebration and the documentary, events marking the milestone include an intimate dinner for the newspaper’s staff at Rose Bay’s Catalina restaurant, a special editorial series about the paper, a 104-page glossy magazine this weekend, and 1000 cases of commemorative The Australian 60th anniversary Barossa Valley Shiraz.

The Australian holds a special place for Murdoch as the only still-active newspaper he founded himself in the media empire he inherited from his father Sir Keith in 1952 and turned into a trans-continental behemoth.

Murdoch’s decision not to attend the bash has raised eyebrows. Privately, his people say it is not health-related, his marriage to his fifth wife Elena Zhukova in June suggesting he remains in good nick. The pair were pictured together at the annual “billionaire’s summer camp” Sun Valley this week, with Puck’s Dylan Byers noting he appeared “quite spry”.

An advanced snippet of the documentary, released this week to Sky subscribers, says a national newspaper was his father’s dream, and Sir Keith would have approved of the broadsheet more than his tabloids.

Rupert Murdoch and his new wife, Elena Zhukova, at the annual Allen and Co. Sun Valley Media and Technology Conference on Wednesday.Credit: REUTERS

“He might have some questions about a couple of our sensational tabloids, but not The Australian,” Murdoch says. “I’m proud of it, it’s taken a lot of sweat, a lot of effort, and money – but it was important to do – it had a great effect on Australia.”

The Australian has taken many forms over the years, first established as a broad church and small-L liberal outlet in the 1960s, according to the University of Melbourne’s Dr Denis Muller, a noted critic of News Corp.

“It was a breath of fresh air, and it shook the place up,” says Muller.

“Over time, it’s become the mouthpiece for conservatism, and it’s become a kind of publicist for the Coalition.”

Former editor-in-chief Paul Kelly rejects the notion the paper is a conservative mouthpiece. “The paper is prepared to take a stand, which is one of its defining features. Sometimes it can be (to its detriment), but the job of a strong paper is to take a stand. Nobody is perfect.”

Rupert, Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch arrive for the party to celebrate The Australian’s 50th anniversary in 2014.Credit: James Brickwood

Another of the paper’s most influential editors-in-chief, Chris Mitchell, who led it from 2002 to 2015, tells this masthead The Australian had, in recent years, strayed too close to tabloid territory and was now returning to its old self since the appointment of its first female editor-in-chief, Michelle Gunn, in early 2023.

“I think it became too much like The Daily Telegraph and not enough like The Oz. That’s not surprising, given both boys [former editors-in-chief Paul Whittaker and Chris Dore] come from the Telegraph.”

“I think there’s probably less of this kind of reflexive ‘2GB did it, so we’ve got to do it’ sort of thing, which I think probably did happen a little bit under Michelle’s predecessors,” Mitchell said.

Muller says despite a comparatively small readership, the paper’s influence lies in its audience – including other members of the Canberra press gallery, such as the ABC, which regularly picks up its stories.

The Australian scrapes in at No.20 in the top 20 news websites in the recent May report from Ipsos, some distance behind Forbes.com, The West Australian, the BBC and even the paywalled New York Times.

“It’s a qualitative issue, not quantitative. It’s an instrument of power for Murdoch. The numbers don’t matter,” Muller says.

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