NewsCorp strangled The Voice: Report

Or how to drive a NO campaign

Nov 29, 2023

Introduction

Australians for a Murdoch Royal Commission (AFMRC) group have just released the final report looking at NewsCorp’s role in influencing The Aboriginal Voice to the Australian Parliament1 NO vote on October 14th.

Source: AFMRC Website (update with Lachlan’s face now!) - here

The AFMRC was launched jointly by two ex-Australian Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull in 2021 (Rudd was a private citizen at the time, now Australia’s Ambassador to the US and no longer associated with the campaign) .

“… the Murdoch outlets do not operate in the way media outlets used to … what we’ve now got is mainstream propaganda…” - ex-Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Oct 2021

The group has campaigned tirelessly to shine a light on the activities of the Murdoch Media in an effort to bring Murdoch before a parliamentary Royal Commission of Enquiry2.

The Commission would just be for Australia but could apply anywhere - the need in Oz is that NewsCorp covers 70% of Australian news consumers (100% in both Queensland and South Australia) and with SkyNews24 has a huge influence on public opinion, particularly impactful in a country where voting is mandatory.

Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull launching AFMRC Oct 2021

Malcolm Turnbull on Rupert Murdoch

At the launch of AFMRC in 2021, Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd hosted a webcast, with some choice words for Rupert Murdoch in this video clip!🔗👉📺 https://www.facebook.com/sleekit.scotsman2/videos/781711430384354/

“the Murdoch Media has done extraordinary damage to the countries in which it is most influential”
“I don’t think there is any individual in the US today who has as an individual done more damage over the years to American democracy than Rupert Murdoch”
“he [Murdoch] has normalised lies, he has normalised conspiracy theories”
“… culminating in the January 6th assault on the Capital which could not have happened without Fox News normalising that divisive, conspiracy laden environment”

He didn’t mince his words!

Full launch video from Oct 2021 here (during Australian Covid lockdowns): 🔗👉📺 https://fb.watch/8WeXOssYwz/

Rudd at 37:16
Turnbull (from London) at 1:08:22

NewsCorp and The Voice: Final Report & Commentary

You can download a copy of The Voice Media manipulation report “Under the Facade of Journalism: How NewsCorp used Fear, Manipulation and Division to Campaign against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament” here:

🔗👉⬇️ https://murdochroyalcommission.org.au/final-report/

The comprehensive report contains some damning findings:

95% of the arguments made by News Corp staff were in favour of the ‘No’ campaign.
News Corp published and broadcast a greater volume of opinion about the Voice than they did factual reporting, and the lines between fact and opinion were routinely blurred.
News Corp’s most frequently used ‘No’ arguments were aligned with those of the official No campaign.
News Corp routinely platformed anti-Voice mis- and disinformation from their own commentators and from external sources.
News Corp content, and in particular Sky News videos, played a unique and powerful role in legitimising more radical anti-Voice disinformation.

The techniques used are a lesson in media manipulation:

OMMISSION: Missing key info when reporting
SELECTIVE INTERVIEWING: Misrepresented Aboriginal voices by platforming some (NO) and not others (YES)
SUGGESTION: Putting “suggestion” in for what “might” happen in the future
IMPLICATION: Not specifically saying something .. but providing facts around it
SCAREMONGERING: Use EMOTION (to divide, polarise, scare people) - “you’ll lose your house”
LANGUAGE: Changing language and be CONSISTENT - e.g. The Voice vote to “Labor’s Voice Vote” or “Albanese’s Voice Vote” and of course “If you don’t know, vote no”

And when challenged…

FLANNELLING: not answering questions on disinformation …. “Oh lots of people say lots of different things”

The Report spells this out in black & white.

NewsCorp and The Voice: Interim Report

Before the vote even happened on 14th October, the AFMRC also produced an interim report in August - and you could see NewsCorp’s approach coming.

You can down a copy - “Poisoning the debate: How the Murdoch press is campaigning against the Voice to Parliament” here:

🔗👉⬇️ https://murdochroyalcommission.org.au/interim-report/

Panel Discussion 29 Nov - Mapping Solutions to the Disinformation Crisis

The group also organise periodically webinars, and I attended an excellent panel discussion tonight on fighting back at misinformation with:

Isabelle Reinecke, Executive Director and founder of the Grata Fund (Facilitator)
Larissa Baldwin-Roberts, CEO of GetUp; (who also wrote the introduction to the final AFMRC report)
Jackie Turner, Director of Trans Justice Project;
Dr Tyson Yunkaporta, academic, author and disinformation expert;
Dr Victoria Fielding, academic and lead researcher on the Murdoch Referendum Accountability Project.

Screenshot 2023-11-29 at 6.31.59 pm.png — Panel discussion on Media Misinformation 29 Nov 2023

Zali Steggal - Political Advertising Misinformation

Unable to attend, but providing a video address was Zali Steggall, the Independent Federal Member for Waringah in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

She is introducing a bill to Parliament to curb the flagrant lies in political advertising which seems to happen with impunity despite ‘controls’ - https://www.zalisteggall.com.au/commonwealth_electoral_amendment_stop_the_lying_bill

In Conclusion

❌ NewsCorp (Murdoch - now Lachlan) = Bad
✅ Free Press = Good

✅ Free Press examples - source NorthStar News here

As NewsCorp continues its shocking one-sided agenda driven coverage of the Gaza Crisis in particular (which will be a study in itself post the event) we need this scrutiny.

You can sign up and add your name to a petition on the website and be informed of various events and upcoming publications - https://murdochroyalcommission.org.au

Keep the fight going!