SYDNEY - Record-breaking Australian petition calls for inquiry into Rupert Murdoch’s media monopolies but the government unlikely to launch commission into media diversity despite 500,000 signatories to online petition.
More than half a million Australians have signed a parliamentary petition demanding a public inquiry into Rupert Murdoch’s control of the country’s media landscape.
The petition, which was launched by former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd last month, has drawn more signatures than any other and at times was so popular it caused the parliamentary petition website to crash.
“We are especially concerned that Australia’s print media is overwhelmingly controlled by News Corporation, founded by Fox News billionaire Rupert Murdoch, with around two-thirds of daily newspaper readership,” the petition states.
“This power is routinely used to attack opponents in business and politics by blending editorial opinion with news reporting. Australians who hold contrary views have felt intimidated into silence. These facts chill free speech and undermine public debate.”
The petition calls for a Royal Commission, a judge-led public inquiry, into the diversity and strength of the Australian news media.
In a video announcing the launch of his petition, Mr Rudd described Mr Murdoch as an “arrogant cancer on our democracy” who had destroyed Australian politics’ “level playing field” by using his media properties to vigorously campaign for the Liberal-National coalition.
Among the more than 140 newspapers owned by News Corporation are the nationally-distributed Australian newspaper, as well as a major local outlet in cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
As well as a slate of magazines and radio stations, the company also runs the widely-read news website news.com.au, and owns both the Australian Sky News TV channel and the pay-TV company Foxtel.
The petition has now closed and will be presented to parliament, but observers say it is unlikely to actually lead to any action by the Liberal-National government of prime minister Scott Morrison.
