Public Comment

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is an existential threat to democracy and the survival of the planet. Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd laid out the case for forming a Royal Commission to break up the media giant. Rudd complains of Murdoch’s enormous influence on issues like global warming and his relentless effort to push his right-leaning agenda in Australia. Many would argue that played a pivotal role in ushering in BREXIT and the rise of Donald Trump. Fox News served as the propaganda megaphone for Trump allowing him to trash his enemies and promote his bizarre conspiracy theories. Rudd blamed Fox News for its efforts to delegitimize Barack Obama with grotesque racist “birther theories.”

Michelle Obama said she would never forgive Trump for the anxiety he caused her family. 

Another former Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, complained bitterly about Murdoch's influence as a "climate denier, “dismissing Australia’s massive wildfires on “arsonists”. 

Rudd saved his most biting criticism on Tamp, FOX news and to a lesser extent on the Wall Street Journal. Their collective efforts have created havoc in the world experiencing higher sea levels, higher temperatures, hurricanes and wide-spread flooding. 

Murdoch has large holding in his home country, Australia, the UK and the US. During the past four years he has left an indelible mark on the Republican Party aided by the messianic Trump and FOX News. Republicans dare not cross Trump lest he ends their cherished carriers with a single nasty tweet. 

Carbon pricing to boost renewables and other measures which are now standard fare in most countries in the world have been an abject failure in Australia. 

Our fragile world has received a mortal blow from choosing to be AWOL from the Paris Climate Accord. Once again profits from fossil fuel industries take precedent over the welfare of the planet. 

Murdoch’s impact on Australia was so devastating that one of his son’s, James, bowed out of his father’s empire saying he “can’t stomach it any longer.” His son-in law promised even more radical measures to preserve the Murdoch Empire. Let us hope the “Royal Commission” will trim his empire down to size.