Putin must have been hugging himself in delight. No amount of Russian interference could have achieved this.
It wasn’t a surprise to read the troves of emails,texts and sworn depositions in theDominion Voting Systems case,where the Murdochs and their Fox News employees acknowledge that Trump’s conspiracy claims were “really crazy stuff”. But the fact they wrote it down,cynically agreeing that they must spread it to protect their ratings and revenues shows how utterly unaccountable they believe themselves to be.
These events alone justify the rigorous inquiry that only a royal commission can bring. Just this week Australians have been reminded of how dependent we are on our American ally. Indeed,the AUKUS agreement has doubled down on that dependence. So the subversion of American democracy threatens Australia,and Australian security,as much as it threatens the United States.
No wonderJoe Biden has called Rupert Murdoch “the most dangerous man in the world”.
In the wake of these latest revelations,Murdoch’s Fox News (echoed by its Australian mini-me,Sky News) has shown contempt for the public with a series of Orwellian broadcasts claiming the fatal Capitol attack was not an assault on democracy. Whatever we all thought we saw,these were mostly “sightseers” who entered the Capitol so they could “revere” the building.
This has serious consequences for Australia. Not only does our long-term economic and national security depend on the stability of our US ally,but the same corporate culture exists in Australia,where News Corp accounts for more than half the media industry. So we can no longer avoid the question:could News Corp do the same thing here? If you’re paying close enough attention,you’ll see that it already is.