Word: murdoch
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...million since 1967, $32 million in 1980 alone. Much of that red ink was caused by the Times Newspapers print unions, which are notorious for featherbedding and work disruptions; their unruly behavior and opposition to laborsaving new technology finally drove out the last owner, the Toronto-based Thomson Organization. Murdoch, who also owns the London Sun (circ. 3.7 million), News of the World (circ. 4.2 million) and New York Post (circ. 640,000), picked up the five Times publications at the bargain-basement price of $27.6 million (less than the current value of the plant and equipment alone). New union...
...three weeks of round-the-clock negotiations, Murdoch's side cut a tough deal with the unions-though not so good a one as he might have hoped. The National Graphical Association agreed that the papers could use the modern computerized typesetting equipment that has been sitting idle in the plant for three years, but stipulated that only N.G.A. members could operate it. Murdoch failed, as Thomson had before him, to persuade the N.G.A. to permit journalists and ad takers to use the equipment, as they do at most newspapers in the U.S. Thus the new proprietor lost...
...paper's journalists were not especially happy about their new publisher, but most agreed that Murdoch was far better than the alternative: having the Times and its supplements close down. Editorialized the Times last week: "[Murdoch's] decision to take on our problems was an act of considerable courage. The assurances of editorial independence, which Mr. Murdoch has given, are very far-reaching, and there is no reason to doubt he will abide by them." In Toronto, Lord Thomson of Fleet was melancholy about giving up the paper, but he professed confidence about the new proprietor: "I feel...
...Murdoch, he promises a new "marketing strategy" to attract a younger audience, a goal Harold Evans endorses. Says Murdoch: "I'm there to save the Times. However important it is as a national institution, it is also a business. We're going to sell more advertising and put the price of the paper up [from 20 pence to an estimated 25 pence]. "And if the unions renege on their pledge to cooperate? "There'll be no difficulty in getting on a plane to Australia. I'll close the place down...
...Murdoch, who now controls nearly 30% of British daily and Sunday newspaper circulation, estimates that "it will take three or four years to get the Times into real viability." Whether he will keep on his best behavior for that long is another matter. Noted an uneasy Sunday Observer: "The test of the pudding will come in the eating...