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1 Aug, 9 tweets, 3 min read
Let today’s deployment of Murdoch’s far-right programming across regional free-to-air TV be a lesson: anybody who now maintains ‘nobody watches Sky News’ has zero idea what they’re talking about.
Murdoch is determined to implement the Fox News political model through Sky News in Australia. Fox is the driving force of News Corp profits, and has given him untold leverage over the Republican Party, downplaying covid and fanning opposition to vaccines.
Here are some facts from Murdoch’s own study on Sky News: 

1) Every month, one third of the Australian population accesses Sky News. The average Australian accesses the news on 2 platforms.
2) Foxtel, another Murdoch-controlled monopoly, barely makes up a quarter of the network’s viewership. The bulk of Murdoch’s Sky News viewing happens on YouTube and Facebook — platforms renowned in the US for far-right radicalisation.
3) Sky News has an outsized focus on engaging younger audiences—and it’s working. Most online Sky News viewers are millennials and Gen Z, not their parents/grandparents.
4) Starting today, Murdoch runs Australia’s only commercial 24-hour current affairs channel on free-to-air.

mediaweek.com.au/sky-news-regio…
What Murdoch fears most is Sky News being exposed too early for cultivating a far-right audience around “culture war”, anti-vaxx and climate denial. Americans didn’t realise Fox News was a problem until it controlled the country’s political destiny.
If Sky News can continue this model, we’ll see a large minority of Australians divorced from reality & dragged into a parallel universe of far right fake news. You can see this already, when their supporters cheer at a young woman being shot in the head.

theguardian.com/media/2021/may…
What do we do? The first thing is to be alert to the problem, tell your friends and family that if they see content from Murdoch’s Sky News then it’s probably propaganda. Second, sign up to support a #MurdochRoyalCommission at MurdochRC.com

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More from @MrKRudd

Kevin Rudd Profile picture
3 Jul
Murdoch’s far-right Sky News is working overtime to show how they sow disinformation into public debate. This article is probably the best example yet of why we need a #MurdochRoyalCommission. It is packed full of carefully selected facts that add up to one big lie.
THREAD
Sky’s dodgy article is based on a new report by Canberra University which analyses diversity, trust and political in Australia’s media. And Sky News completely misconstrues the report’s findings.
For example, this article says Sky News is “smack bang on the line for centrist views”. Bullshit. Here’s where the report puts the Sky News channel, way off to the lunar right. No mention of this in Sky’s article.
Read 9 tweets
Kevin Rudd Profile picture
30 Jun
If you watch nothing else today about Australia's COVID lockdown, watch this.

Despite Murdoch's relentless attacks, QLD lifts the lid on Morrison's bungled vaccine rollout & national quarantine crisis. Why has Murdoch deliberately understated these crises?

A thread.
Premier Palaszczuk reveals National Cabinet never approved AstraZeneca for under-40s.  Neither did the independent experts panel, ATAGI. Nor did Australian doctors, the Australian Medical Association. 
Why is Morrison pushing young people to take AstraZeneca? QLD Health Minister says they have 8 DAYS of Pfizer left & have been denied requests for more. Murdoch is wrong to blame state govts for slow rollout. The truth is there's a Pfizer shortage.
Read 8 tweets
Kevin Rudd Profile picture
25 Jun
There's so much lacking in Morrison's latest policy backflip: a quarantine station in the middle of Brisbane. I barely know where to start. After his failures on quarantine, this smells like a political fix aided and abetted by Murdoch's #CourierFail.

A thread.
Morrison has made an unmitigated mess of quarantine, evidenced by the thousands of Aussies still trapped overseas. He promised they'd all be home by last Christmas. Many (including me) called on Morrison to consider regional defence bases for quarantine. He has repeatedly refused
While Albo & Labor Premiers campaigned for national quarantine, Morrison's Liberals scoffed & criticised. They rejected a concrete QLD proposal for Toowoomba, outside Brisbane. Rostered staff could stay on-site to prevent constant interaction between them and the community.
Read 12 tweets
Kevin Rudd Profile picture
25 Jun
Murdoch's NewsCorp can't get its story straight on public apologies. When an ABC Radio host mistakenly names Murdoch as a donor to the far-right IPA,it's newsworthy. But when SkyNews spreads lies to viewers (that #MurdochRoyalCommission petition was "data harvesting") not a peep!
Here's the apology Murdoch’s Peta Credlin would like Australians to forget.

Was ABC that far off about Murdoch's links to the IPA? Turns out Murdoch’s dad FOUNDED the IPA! And Rupert served on the IPA Council for 14 YEARS!

No mention of that in the “Australian” newspaper story...
Read 4 tweets
Kevin Rudd Profile picture
26 May
Two critical events took place this week. Both are serious challenges for Australia's democracy.

A thread about Murdoch's @newscorpaus & his deal with @google & @YouTube.
Event 1) Murdoch's SkyNews posted a short, factual clip from its morning news broadcast, lasting only 40 seconds. It reported on UK activist, Sasha Johnson, who is in intensive care after being shot in the head.

ABC reporting:
abc.net.au/news/2021-05-2…
What followed was chilling. The clip rocketed up YouTube's algorithm, topping 200,000 views & 9,000 comments.

The most popular comments, boosted by the algorithm, were disgusting. Praising the shooter. Mocking the victim. Calling for more violence.

theguardian.com/media/2021/may…
Read 9 tweets
Kevin Rudd Profile picture
19 Feb
This is a dead-set lie by Murdoch’s CEO, Michael Miller, telling senators that I “proactively approached” them to write an article on China last Saturday. Nothing in that statement is true.

Here are the facts... THREAD /1
On February 5, the US magazine @ForeignAffairs published a lengthy essay I had written entitled “Short of War: How to Keep US-Chinese Confrontation from Ending in Calamity”. You can read it here: foreignaffairs.com/articles/unite… /2
On February 9, I sent the essay to literally hundreds of folks in the global policy community for their thoughts & feedback. One of them was Alan Howe, a journalist I’ve known for many years, who’s now at The Australian. We don’t agree on everything but I do value his opinion. /3
Read 6 tweets

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