Tech & Biz

Rupert Murdoch shares his views on Obama at D6

by amyjudd | May 29, 2008 at 02:06 pm

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Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has almost given his backing to Obama, when he was speaking at the D6 conference in California today.

The conservative Murdoch said it's likely that Obama will defeat McCain in the November presidential election. Politicians are despised by 80 percent of the population, and Obama is trying to put himself above it all, Murdoch said. The tide is against the Republicans, and Obama could overcome the race issue. McCain, Murdoch said, is a friend, patriot, and decent guy, though he conceded also that he is unpredictable, has spent too much time in Washington, and is not great on the economy (which he said is in a recession) or organizationally adept.

Murdoch also shared his views on newspaper editing and what he thinks about the whole media business.

Sitting across from his employees and writers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the D6 conference, News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch shared his view on newspaper editing.

"A Wall Street Journal story is touched or edited by 8.5 people, and the story gets longer and longer, and people don't have time for that," he said. "There is not a story you can't get in half the space."

If the whole Wall Street Journal were like Mossberg's column, Murdoch said he would be a happy man, getting some big laughs from the D6 crowd. The 77-year-old media mogul understands the shortening attention span of the planet.

Murdoch apparently isn't fond of journalism prizes. "Stop having people write articles to win Pulitzer Prizes--give readers something they want to read."