Media Monsters The Transformation of Australia’s Newspaper Empires

In 1941, the paper emperors of the Australian newspaper industry helped bring down Robert Menzies. Over the next 30 years, they grew into media monsters. This book reveals the transformation from the golden age of newspapers during World War II, through Menzies’ return and the rise of television, to Gough Whitlam’s ‘It’s Time’ victory in 1972. During this crucial period, twelve independent newspaper companies turned into a handful of multimedia giants. They controlled newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations. Their size and reach was unique in the western world. Playing politics was vital to this transformation. The newspaper industry was animated by friendships and rivalries, favors and deals, and backed by money and influence, including from mining companies, banks and the Catholic Church. Even internationally, Australia’s newspaper owners and executives were considered a shrewd and ruthless bunch. The hard men of the industry included Rupert Murdoch, Frank Packer, Warwick Fairfax’s top executive Rupert Henderson, and Jack Williams, the unsung empire builder of the Herald and Weekly Times.

SALLY YOUNG is professor of political science at the University of Melbourne. She is the author of six previous books on Australian politics and media, including the prequel to this book (Paper Emperors, 2019) which won the Colin Roderick Literary Award and the Australian Political Studies Association Henry Mayer Book Prize, and was longlisted for the Stella Prize. Sally has also published over forty journal articles and conference papers and is a regular media commentator.

List of figures List of tables List of textboxes Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction PART ONE: THE 1940s 1 At their peak 2 Curtin’ s circus 3 The press and the cocky go to war 4 New beginnings 5 Banking on the press PART TWO: THE 1950s 6 Newspapers fight the Cold War 7 Death and betrayal in Melbourne 8 Jack Williams: Empire builder, Argus killer? 9 On the move in Adelaide and Sydney 10 Taking over television 11 A licence to print money PART THREE: THE 1960s 12 Brawling in the suburbs 13 Old and new tricks 14 The realm of the black prince 15 The quiet baron of Flinders Street 16 The new world PART FOUR: THE EARLY 1970s 17 The magic garden of computers 18 A new Age 19 Frank plays politics 20 The Whitlam experiment Postscript Notes Bibliography Index