[24t]

the ABC has missed the point here that Murdoch controls how the narrative is framed around most news and current affairs stories.

Regardless of whether or not he holds a stake in them, nearly every Australian news entity from online publications to talkback radio exists downstream from The Australian (Murdoch's flagship paper). The stories they choose to report on are the focus of the news cycle, and the points they raise on each story serve to plot out the battleground. In political journalism this is even more prevalent, as journalists unwilling to toe the party line aren't given access to government press releases and must rely on content filtered down through News Corp and its contemporaries.

It's also worth noting that the ABC is increasingly beholden to the coalition government, who it depends on for its funding, and the coalition government is in turn beholden to Murdoch, whose power over the press keeps them in power.

Note, also, that the major competition mentioned in the linked article (Nine/Fairfax) is chaired by Peter Costello, former Liberal party treasurer under the Howard government. Balanced competition indeed.

edit: formatting

[atat7024]

They didn't "miss it".