The Making of Murdoch: Power, Politics and What Shaped the Man Who Owns the Media

by Tom Roberts

Overview

Rupert Murdoch's extraordinary career has no parallel. His control of Fox news, which so successfully supports the Trump presidency, is a key force in American politics. In the UK, his control of The Sun and The Times leaves politicians scrambling to get him onside.

But what do we know about the man himself?

This book looks closely at the Murdochs, focusing on Rupert's father Keith, who built the family's media power and cultivated the anti-establishment instincts that his son Rupert is known for. Roberts traces the life of the Murdochs, how Rupert Murdoch's view of the world was formed, and assesses it's impact on the media that influences our politics today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781788315111
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/23/2020
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.53(w) x 9.24(h) x 0.92(d)

About the Author

Tom Roberts is a media historian and award-winning biographer. Based in London, he works with archives and research institutions internationally. His previous book, How Trump Thinks: His Tweets and the Birth of a New Political Language (2017), was co-written with Peter Oborne.

Table of Contents

Prologue: 'There's only one Rupert' vii

Introduction: Moulding a myth 1

1 Rosehearty 5

2 American immigrant 19

3 Finding his voice 25

4 'Murder, history, war' 33

5 Hearts and minds … and bodies 45

6 A romance into air 67

7 The Prince and the pressman 81

8 Lessons from a madman's bible 93

9 Healthy competition 115

10 Kingmaker 133

11 Media empire 153

12 A girdle round about the Earth 165

13 By phone and clone 179

14 The son rises 195

Epilogue: A new inheritance 201

Selected reading 205

A note on sourcing 207

Archives and papers 209

Select references 211

Acknowledgements 217

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

To unpeel the layers of 'the man who owns the media', it's difficult to think of someone more qualified than Tom Roberts ... Here, Roberts again applies his forensic approach and scholarly rigour.” —Spear's Magazine

“The Making of Murdoch is the essential prequel to one of the great media and succession stories of our time. Tom Roberts' rigorous research shows how the life and times of Sir Keith Murdoch set his son Rupert on course to bestride print and television in three continents of the English speaking world from Adelaide to London to New York. How did a well-connected and Oxford-educated scion of the British Empire come to create the tabloid Sun newspaper and Fox News Channel? Roberts unearths the roots of the Murdoch story for good or bad. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the media today.” —Adam Boulton, Editor-at-Large Sky News

“'This outstanding book holds the key to understanding not just Rupert Murdoch, but also the brutal power of modern media.'” —Peter Oborne, jourbanalist and broadcaster

“[Includes] compelling material about Keith's jourbanalistic flaws.” —British Jourbanalism Review

From the Publisher