Paper cuts: media bias, the Iraq War and the politics of Rupert Murdoch

Using the concept of the public sphere as a type of normative measure, this thesis explores issues of media ownership, ideology, and the manifestation of bias. It seeks to understand the power of the modern news media through case studies that focus on the operations of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, and the press coverage devoted to the Iraq War/WMD crisis of early 2003. Moreover, it provides empirical evidence that suggests Rupert Murdoch’s personal political views became manifest in his Australian newspapers. It concludes by offering a conceptual model that highlights the media’s potentially enriching social position and function: a re-imagining of a more democratic media-constituted public sphere.