Keith Murdoch
Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (12 August 1885 – 4 October 1952) was an Australian journalist and newspaper proprietor who was the founder of the Murdoch media empire. He amassed significant media holdings in Australia which after his death were expanded globally by his son Rupert.
This article is about the journalist. For the rugby player, see Keith Murdoch (rugby union).
Keith Murdoch
4 October 1952 (aged 67)
Australian
Journalist
4, including Rupert
Patrick John Murdoch
Annie Brown
Prudence Murdoch (granddaughter)
Elisabeth Murdoch (granddaughter)
Lachlan Murdoch (grandson)
James Murdoch (grandson)
Ivon Murdoch (brother)
Walter Murdoch (uncle)
Catherine King (cousin)
Murdoch was born in Melbourne, the son of a Presbyterian minister. He began his journalism career with The Age in 1903, eventually becoming a parliamentary reporter. In 1915, he moved to England as editor of Hugh Denison's overseas cable service, where he rose to prominence as a war correspondent during World War I. Murdoch's attacks on the British military's conduct of the Gallipoli Campaign brought him to the attention of British politicians and press figures, including Lord Northcliffe who served as a mentor. He also became a confidant of Australian prime minister Billy Hughes, although they fell out by the end of the war.
In 1921, Murdoch returned to Melbourne as chief editor of The Herald, beginning a long association with its holding company The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd (HWT). He would become managing director in 1928 and chairman in 1942, overseeing a significant expansion of the company into interstate newspaper markets and commercial radio. Murdoch established a monopoly in the Adelaide newspaper market in 1931 and in 1933 established The Courier-Mail as Brisbane's daily newspaper; he also controlled The West Australian for several years. Murdoch co-founded the Australian Associated Press (AAP) in 1935 and was the inaugural chairman of Australian Newsprint Mills. During World War II he briefly served as Director-General of Information.
Outside of his business activities Murdoch was an art collector, serving as chairman of the National Gallery of Victoria and endowing a chair of fine arts at the University of Melbourne. He had four children with his wife Elisabeth, a prominent philanthropist. He retired in 1949, dying of cancer in 1952. In his final years he sold out of HWT and invested heavily in The News, an Adelaide tabloid. Its holding company News Limited formed the basis for his only son Rupert's global media empire.
Early life[edit]
Murdoch was born in Melbourne in 1885, the son of Annie (née Brown) and the Rev. Patrick John Murdoch, who had married in 1882 and migrated from Cruden, Scotland, to Victoria, Australia, with his family in 1884. His paternal grandfather was a minister with the Free Church of Scotland, and his maternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister.[1]
The family moved from West Melbourne to the affluent suburb of Camberwell in 1887.[2] Keith was educated at his uncle Walter's short-lived school, then at Camberwell Grammar School, where he became dux in 1903, despite extreme shyness and stammering. He decided not to go straight to university but to try a career in journalism, so family friend David Syme of The Age agreed to employ him as district correspondent for nearby Malvern. Over the next four years, he managed to create a significant increase in The Age's local circulation, to earn promotion, and to save enough money for a ticket to England, where he hoped to gain further experience and find ways to manage his stammer.
Death and legacy[edit]
Murdoch died at the family property, Cruden Farm, Langwarrin, Victoria, in the night of 4–5 October 1952 and the funeral service was held at Toorak Presbyterian Church. Much of his estate, valued for probate at £410,004 (equivalent to $8,500,000 in 2022),[15] was disposed of to pay off mortgages, death duties etc. (the Herald exercised its option to buy the Brisbane newspaper shares), but his family was still left with full control of News Limited, proprietors of the Adelaide News.
Sir Keith Murdoch Award for Excellence in Journalism has been awarded to a News Corp Australia journalist each year.[16][17][18]