(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
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MEDIA; Mr. Murdoch's War [1]
['David D. Kirkpatrick']
Date: 2003-04-07
On the first day of the war with Iraq, Rupert Murdoch watched the explosions over Baghdad on a panel of seven television screens mounted in the wall of his Los Angeles office, telling friends and colleagues over the phone of his satisfaction that after weeks of hand-wringing the battle had finally begun.
The war has illuminated anew the exceptional power in the hands of Mr. Murdoch, the 72-year-old chairman of the News Corporation. He was already well known for his willingness, rare among the chiefs of the biggest media companies, to personally shape the editorial policies of his newspapers, which include The New York Post, The Times of London and nearly a dozen major English-language papers.
But in the last few years, Mr. Murdoch has become even more influential with the newest additions to his media empire. The Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine, has become closely read in the Bush White House, while the Fox News Channel last year surpassed CNN to become the top-rated cable news network in the United States. And Mr. Murdoch is expanding his television news operations elsewhere in the world, including India, China and Italy.
In the last several months, the editorial policies of almost all his English-language news organizations have hewn very closely to Mr. Murdoch's own stridently hawkish political views, making his voice among the loudest in the Anglophone world in the international debate over the American-led war with Iraq.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/07/business/media-mr-murdoch-s-war.html
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