High atop the National Press Club, Rupert Murdoch held up his personal iPad for the assembled audience to see.
“It may be the saving of newspapers,” he said of the just-released device. “It’s better than them going out of business all together.”
The acclaimed and critiqued iPad was one of the many topics discussed by Murdoch and moderator Marvin Kalb in the latest edition of the Kalb Report. The Kalb Report is a series of discussions with media, journalism and policy professionals which on Tuesday night featured Murdoch as the focus of “The Making of a Modern Media Mogul.” From the worth of technological innovations to a barrage of questions on some of his more controversial media holdings, Murdoch responded to both Kalb’s questions and questions from the audience.
In conjunction with the presenting of the iPad, Murdoch touched upon his decision to make one publication he owns, the Wall Street Journal, require a subscription for access online. A major concern for Murdoch is the ad revenue procured by companies such as Google and Microsoft from complete Wall Street Journal content these search engines reveal to browsing audiences sans subscription.
“We’re going to stop Google and Microsoft from taking our stories for free,” he announced.
Murdoch has a diverse portfolio of holdings, including the Wall Street Journal, Fox News and 21st Century Fox, and he stated that there is “an equation of quality” for all of the content produced by his parent company News Corporation.
Kalb, a former CBS reporter who was the last to be personally hired by the legendary Edward R. Murrow, questioned Murdoch on the value of entertainment and journalism in many incarnations.
“I do believe that the public wants good, ethical journalism; good, factual journalism. But they also want to be entertained,” Murdoch summarized.
Fox News was one of the most discussed topics of the forum. Asked about whether Fox had an agenda similar to the liberal agenda he claimed for the New York Times, Murdoch responded, “Sure there’s a lot of conservative commentators. But there’s not conservative angling of the news.”
Murdoch at times distanced himself from the day-to-day administration and production of Fox News, noting in one example, “I don’t know how much Roger [Ailes] uses Sarah Palin. I know whenever he does, the ratings jump.” As for himself, Murdoch claims he is a radical, but not a conservative or even a Republican.
Murdoch also provided interesting opinions on the tenure of President Obama, saying that like the rest of the country he hopes the president does well. However, he also coupled the President pejoratively with the New York Times, claiming that the Times publishes “anything that Mr. Obama wants.” He continued on later to say that he wants the President to follow through with the good education plans he has laid out in recent speeches.
“We are criminal in this country in that we’re turning out a generation of people worse educated than their parents,” Murdoch said.
Notable quotes from “media mogul” Rupert Murdoch:
“The race to be first [in covering news] can lead to corners being cut, which is where we need to be careful.”
“I think social networks are an interesting phenomenon, but I don’t think they’re changing the world.”
On his role in recent media wars:
“I don’t get much tranquility, but I’m not at war with the world.”
On the worth of becoming a journalist versus being a media mogul:
“The editor is the most important person in the building.”
On the promotion of the Tea Party on Fox Business:
“No, I don’t think we should be promoting the Tea Party or any party.”
On his favorite non-news television program:
“I’m a great admirer of House. We don’t make it unfortunately.”
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