1931-
Media Magnate

Media Giant.

Born in Australia but a citizen of the United States since 1985, Rupert Murdoch has become one of the major players in the global media revolution of the 1980s and 1990s. Murdoch is the son of Australian newspaper publisher Sir Keith Murdoch. After graduating from Worcester College, Oxford University, in 1953, Murdoch worked briefly as an editor for Lord Beaverbrook's sensationalist London tabloid the Daily Express. After his father's death in 1952, Murdoch inherited in 1954 the Australian newspapers the Sunday Mail and The News.

Sensationalist Content.

Using experience he gained while working on the Daily Express, Murdoch converted The News into a tabloid emphasizing crime and sex. Circulation soared, and Murdoch instituted similar editorial rationales at newly bought newspapers in Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, and Brisbane. In 1964 he established the Australian, a national daily that won respect as a more traditional newspaper. As his control...