Murdoch's Risk

The Times goes down under

His papers were feisty and profitable, brimming with grisly crime stories and pictures of scantily clad women. But Rupert Murdoch, 49, was never content to be lord of the tabloids. He gained a foothold in New York with the racy Post, then reached for a more literate audience with New York magazine and the Village Voice. Now the Australian publisher has reached an agreement to purchase one of the world's most staid and revered publications, the Times of London.

Murdoch has made his acquisition of the Times (circ. 290,000), the Sunday Times (circ. 1,425,000) and three weekly supplements (Literary, Educational and Higher Education) contingent on their unions' agreeing to manpower reductions and other concessions within three weeks. The present owner, the Toronto-based Thomson Organization, has fought long and unsuccessfully to introduce computerized typesetting equipment, which would save labor and money. After losing more than $30 million last year, Thomson put the papers on the block, declaring that it would fold them in March if no buyer could be found. Enter Murdoch, who is reported to have offered upwards of $65 million. Says he: "I have a practical knowledge of, and a good working relationship with, the unions in Fleet Street." Indeed, despite Murdoch's ultimatum to the unions, labor leaders seemed pleased with the impending sale. Said Owen O'Brien, head of one print union: "Mr. Murdoch is tough, but he sticks to his word."

Though the deal would save the Times, the announcement of the would-be rescuer has been greeted with dismay. Britons are already familiar with Murdoch's saucy Sun and sleazy News of the World, and the great worry is that the Times will itself adopt what the paper just four months ago described as "the breathless, grubby vision of the world inherent in the Murdoch style." Tongue tucked in cheek, Daily Mirror Columnist Keith Waterhouse told readers not to fret. "The girls," he wrote, "will appear in the Times Literary Supplement wearing fishnet stockings and mortarboard."

Murdoch and Thomson have attempted to quiet fears by making the paper's continued editorial independence and integrity conditions of the sale. Some members of Parliament are nevertheless attempting to block the sale by demanding that it be reviewed by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, the customary procedure in a newspaper transaction of this size. But such a review can be waived if a paper is in danger of folding. Says Murdoch, eager to keep the presses rolling: "This is a time for a new face and a new beginning."

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