DR MUMBO: Why is the Herald running old Murdoch stories?

Tim Burrowes

February 26, 2009 11:40

Mumbrella wonders why the Sydney Morning Herald has been reheating Murdoch stories today. The Fairfax paper has dusted off a couple of old stories about the owner of its rival News Ltd.

One piece, the lead item on page 10, which claims to be a news page, originally appears to have been written at the time of Dame Elizabeth Murdoch’s 100th birthday a little over a fortnight ago. It reheats quotes originally published in the Weekend Australian on January 17 regarding her disapproval of Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of the News of the World.

However, the article is credited to the UK-based Guardian News & Media, so perhaps the SMH is just using it as space filler.

But the second thing that makes Dr Mumbo wonder is the fact that the paper has a page lead on page 13 on Murdoch apologising for an insensitive cartoon in the New York Post. It’s a story that much of the world’s media covered 48 hours ago.

Subscribe to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.