Murdoch is perhaps less powerful in Australia than in the US. In the early days, Murdoch went for the world, while Kerry Packer (now dead) went for the Australian market. AFAIK major Australian papers and news outlets are largely independent of Murdoch.
This is not true at all. News Corp owns 7 of the 12 major daily papers and sells close to 70% of all the newspapers sold in Australia. Murdoch is known to keep a close editorial eye on the Australian market, paticularly The Australian, his pet loss-making broadsheet.
Thanks for the info (I've been out of Australia for ten years). The fact remains that Australia still has quite a few solid independent papers (the SMH and Age) and two real public broadcasters (ABC and SBS).
Even though Murdoch doesn't own as large a proportion of the US market, I think his effect on the media here is actually worse than I ever found it to be in Australia (mainly owing to Fox News and the awfulness of its alternatives).
Fairfax isn't too bad here, but it's getting worse. They are shedding journalists and photographers at an alarming rate. Their online offereings are becoming more click-baity every week.
The ABC and SBS have both had their funding slashed and are in the middle of a poltical ideology shitstorm, with many serious people (MP's & senators from the coalition) calling for a complete governace overhaul or even selling off both of them.
Recently the ABC won a coveted license to be able to provide an english langauge news service inside China. The incoming goverment scrapped it completely because they don't like it's perceived anti-conservative bias.
