This post was written in 2012–2013 and reflects thinking at the time. For current views and topical discussions, please see recent articles.
So, Elisabeth Murdoch has been taking pot shots at her father and brother. Apparently, "television is a force for storytelling rather than a route to political power" (implying that nasty old Rupert has been subverting British democracy). Also, she is unhappy that News Corp is being run by people fawning over the boss rather than being governed by a "rigorous set of values". Of course, The Guardian just loved it - and wouldn't any fair-minded individual?
Actually, no. First off, there is a stench of hypocrisy emanating from Elisabeth's sermonising. Where would she, and her "independent" media production company Shine, be without News Corp's backing and her family's industry connections? Didn't she make untold millions by selling Shine to News Corp?
Secondly, television is (or can be) many things, including "storytelling" (whatever she means by that). But it doesn't have to be very narrative in nature - minimum-commentary rolling news coverage also has its place, and so does mindless entertainment (such as much of Shine's output). More to the point, "storytelling" is not by definition a good thing - we've seen many examples of mendacious stories being rammed down the public's throat by biased or government-bullied media organisations ("Iraq's weapons of mass destruction", anyone?). You can't accuse e.g. Fox News (one of Daddy's companies) or CNN of lacking a clear narrative. (This becomes especially apparent in any foreign conflict in which the US is involved, from Yugoslavia in the 1990s to Libya and Syria today). So a propensity for "storytelling" only becomes a virtue in a media organisation if there are equally vocal organisations espousing alternative stories. All too often, though, that's not the case.
Thirdly, you can't deny that television is also a route to political power - always has been, always will be. Some media owners are more subtle about it, others less. And that includes dear old BBC and The Guardian itself. (If anything, my impression is that in the UK News Corp has been less politically activist than in some other countries). So Elisabeth is offering a false dichotomy, which isn't helpful.
The Guardian article mentions the idea that the motivation behind Elisabeth's speech is trying to get the Beeb to commission more programmes from Shine. That may well be part of it, but perhaps sibling rivalry has played at least as big a role?
