👑 Introduction: When Media Becomes Kingmaker
Imagine dining at a restaurant where every dish looks unique, but was made by the same chef, using the same recipe. That’s modern media monopoly: the illusion of diversity, the reality of control.
Australia’s 2019 election wasn’t just a political contest. It was a case study in how one media empire, Murdoch’s News Corp, reshaped national perception, converting Scott Morrison from a party-room punchline to prime ministerial messiah.
🗺️ The Media Monopoly: One Empire, Many Voices
📰 Print Dominance
- Murdoch’s News Corp controls ~70% of Australia’s daily print circulation.
- Analogy: Owning 2 out of every 3 grocery stores in town.
📺 TV & Digital Ecosystem
- Sky News dominates cable commentary.
- Social media amplification via Courier-Mail, Herald Sun, The Australian.
🧠 The Illusion of Choice
- Voters reading The Australian, watching Sky, and sharing Courier-Mail posts believe they’re sampling diverse views.
- In reality, it’s one voice, dressed in different outfits.
🎭 From “Li’l Scotty” to Electoral Idol
🧍♂️ Zero to Hero in the C-Grade
- Pre-2018: Morrison’s name recognition was just 21% nationally.
- A Crosby-Textor memo described him as emotionally “neutral/neutral.” Translation: forgettable.
📍 Queensland: The Test Market
📊 A/B Testing and Targeting
- Courier-Mail tested headlines:
- “Morrison, good bloke/tradie” outperformed “economic manager” 4.3 to 1 among men 35–54 in Caboolture, Rockhampton, Townsville.
🗞️ Full Saturation Strategy
- Courier-Mail splash: “Battler’s mate comes good”
- Sky News bus tour: Paul Murray live from pubs, bowls clubs, yacht clubs
- 📈 Regional viewership up 58% YoY
- Facebook blitz:
- Geofenced campaign: #ScoMoForTheBoys
- 1.4M impressions in 48 hours — with $0 from Liberal HQ
🧱 Narrative Architecture: Crafting the Messiah
🛠️ Phase 1 – Daggy Dad Authenticity
- Headlines: “Scotty brings his lamb cutlets to the footy barbie”
- Photo retouching: “Menya Ramen” aprons became “Fair Dinkum Aussie BBQ”
💰 Phase 2 – Economic Custodian
- Media mentions of “budget surplus”: 847 times in final campaign week
- Mentions of climate change: less than half that
- Focused blitz in mining-affected Queensland seats
🛡️ Phase 3 – Firewall Mode
| Issue | Media Framing |
|---|---|
| 🌏 Climate | 319 headlines casting carbon pricing as a “Queensland job destroyer” |
| 🦠 COVID | Closed state borders framed as “dictatorial” |
| 💼 Integrity | Sports rorts buried beneath fake Labor branch-stacking headlines |
📈 Proof of Concept: Results on the Ground
- 🗳️ Two-party swing (2016–2019):
- ALP: 52 → 46 (-6%)
- LNP: 48 → 54 (+6%)
- 📋 Polling in key seats (Flynn, Herbert, Longman):
- 33%: “final decision influenced by Murdoch commentators”
- 64%: “consumed News Corp/Sky daily or near-daily”
- 📺 Exit polling:
- Courier-Mail = sole newspaper for 48% of respondents
- Sky News = watched by 29%
👉 Cultural narrative overrode economic anxiety.
🌐 A Nation’s Information Ecology Rewired
When 2/3 of print media + the only cable news channel speak in sync, opposing views disappear not because they’re defeated, but because they’re never heard.
- Scandals that dominated Victoria?
Crickets in Queensland.
📉 Journalism didn’t fail, it was algorithmically smothered.
🔄 Morrison: The Indestructible Brand
Despite:
- 🔥 Bushfires
- ⚖️ Brittany Higgins allegations
- 💉 Vaccine rollout chaos
📊 Morrison’s Queensland net satisfaction stayed above +12 for two years post-election.
🎬 The 4-Day Media Cycle:
- Bad headlines break.
- Courier-Mail/Sky push counter-spin.
- ABC & panels debate the counter-spin.
- Original scandal dies.
👉 Result: Insulation from accountability.
🧾 Conclusion: When One Company Owns Democracy
By May 2019, Morrison wasn’t just a candidate—he was a manufactured product. Murdoch media:
- Wrote the story
- Marketed the product
- Suppressed the criticism
- Measured the outcome
📚 Australia didn’t witness a battle of ideas, it watched a brand rollout campaign disguised as democracy.
