Headline grabbing Sandilands photographed in Sydney in 2023.

Kyle Sandilands’ medical update and the $180m question

In this edition of On Background,an update on Kyle Sandilands’ brain surgery,Nick Papps’ Californian dream begins and Guardian Australia closes the book on its Canberra headache.

  • Calum Jaspan

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News Corp Australia owns a range of local assets including The Australian,the Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph.

News Corp wrestles underpayments headache as dollars dry up

The company is in the sights of the media union,which suspects it has underpaid a significant number of staff over the past decade.

  • Calum Jaspan
News Corp’s Siobhan McKenna will retire at the end of the year.

Murdoch’s closest adviser quits News Corp and his private company

Lachlan Murdoch’s closest adviser,Siobhan McKenna,has resigned from her overarching position as CEO of broadcasting at News Corp and is also leaving his private investment firm,Illyria.

  • Calum Jaspan
Melbourne-based News Corp powerbroker Siobhan McKenna has proven critical to the fortunes of the Murdoch clan,including Rupert and his children Prudence,James,Elisabeth,and Lachlan.

‘Feared,respected and disliked’:The private powerbroker who has Lachlan Murdoch’s ear

It’s not easy to gain trust,clout and power in News Corp if your last name isn’t Murdoch,but Siobhan McKenna has quietly become indispensable to Lachlan.

  • Calum Jaspan
Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump need each other but aren’t afraid to take each other on either.

Frenemies for life:Trump vs Murdoch enters round 2

The media mogul and the US president share a relationship largely built on opportunity. But despite their codependency,it looks like neither is afraid to cross swords with the other.

  • Elizabeth Knight
“We have a deal on TikTok,” Donald Trump announced earlier this month. And what a deal it is.

Trump’s TikTok deal:A $21b bargain for his billionaire mates

The proposed new owners of TikTok in the US are all close allies of Donald Trump. If their buyout of the popular social media platform succeeds,they could be gifted billions.

  • Stephen Bartholomeusz
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David Tennant breaks the fourth wall in The Hack.

There’s one thing holding back this real-life Murdoch media drama

The Hack is good,but it would be so much better if it just knew what sort of show it really wanted to be.

  • Karl Quinn
Rupert Murdoch.

My generation had a chance of escaping the Murdoch grip. Now Rupert’s set to rule TikTok

Unlike a newspaper or subscription TV,social media isn’t seen as inherently biased. Now,TikTok could creep to one side of politics without us noticing.

  • Saria Ratnam
Donald Trump has paved the way for investors including Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch to take control of TikTok.

TikTok will soon have new overlords,but will they change how it works?

Donald Trump’s deal to spin off TikTok from its Chinese parent company and move it into US-based ownership could have big ramifications for how the app operates.

  • Elias Visontay
Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert Murdoch asks judge to toss out Trump’s $15 billion Epstein lawsuit

Lawyers for Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal called the lawsuit over a July article “meritless” and a threat to freedom of speech.

  • Luc Cohen