Until 1986, most of the major London-based newspapers were operating directly out of Fleet Street. The newspaper industry continued using printing methods which had remained largely unchanged since the birth of the printing press itself hundreds of years previously.
Wapping was the ideal new location for Murdoch’s productions. It was a former industrial centre that had been bombed during the Second World War and land was plentiful and cheap. There was simply no space left in Fleet Street for the major new technology that Murdoch wanted to install.
Prior to Margaret Thatcher’s election in 1979, trade unions such as the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) had protected the labour-intensive modes of production of Fleet Street. It is likely that, had the print unions not managed to retain their power for so long, some kind of revolution in the organization and technology of the press could have been achieved earlier than 1986.
The hot metal process of printing newspapers employed in Fleet Street prior to the Wapping revolution was highly inefficient because of the unnecessary number of staff protected by the unions. At a time when newspaper prices were being forced down due to increasing competition, the costs of running a paper became economically unviable, even for wealthy proprietors.
Rupert Murdoch wanted to cut costs, but was unable to do so as a result of the power of the print unions. Driven by business logic, Rupert Murdoch anticipated and planned for the Wapping revolution years before he executed it.
The Sun backed the Labour Party in the 1970 election but by the time Margaret Thatcher was elected Tory leader in 1975, the newspaper had moved towards the political right and supported the Tory party from then on. The politics of Murdoch’s newspapers were as fluid as they were fickle, serving to further the cause of his media empire, rather than retaining a solid and reliable political stance for the readers. The headline in the Sun prior to the 1979 election was:
‘Vote for Maggie – to give you a better Britain’
Thatcher’s Tories subsequently won the election. No sooner had the prime minister moved into Downing Street, than she instigated a war upon the trade unions which she regarded as out dated and wasteful. As a result of Government anti-union policies, the 1980’s was a decade of major political turmoil in the UK, with high unemployment and industrial action across the country.
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Grim though this state of affairs may have been for industrial workers, this gave Rupert Murdoch his chance: the very government he had assisted in its rise to power was obligingly clearing the way for his revolution. His opportunity to cut costs had arrived, and the Wapping revolution could begin.
Murdoch began seeking “a legally binding agreement at the new plant in Wapping which incorporated flexible working, a no-strike clause, new technology and the abandonment of the closed shop.” (Source: Despite The Sun –Spectacle productions, 1987)
Murdoch wanted to lay off two thirds of his staff and restart newspaper production in a new location with new technology. He wanted to avoid the high cost and the management stress of militant unions. Unsurprisingly, the Trade Unionists were not prepared to sit back and let this happen.
In January of 1986 about 6000 British Trade Unionists went on strike after a series of unsuccessful negotiations with Rupert Murdoch. He had, however, anticipated this protest against his revolution. The Wapping works had been specially designed for such incursions, and were surrounded by twelve-foot chain-link fencing adorned with razor-wire. In order to defeat the protest, Murdoch looked again to his friend and accomplice the Prime Minister.
Thatcher offered not only vocal political support of Murdoch’s actions, but also significant police resources, including mounted riot officers to control the strikers and protect the production at Wapping. So, when the print unions went on strike, 5000 workers were dismissed and journalists were given an ultimatum –either to move to Wapping or lose their jobs. Not surprisingly, most of Murdoch’s employees moved to Wapping.
In support of their dismissed colleagues, the print unions organised regular marches and demonstrations at the company's premises. By 1987, despite demonstrations, marches and an attempted boycott of Murdoch’s four major newspaper titles, the strike collapsed.
“The transfer of Murdoch’s production to Wapping was a symbolic clustering of the technology, politics and ownership at the heart of much of tabloidization’s imperatives and indicated provocatively one of the major shifts within newspaper journalism which has defined many subsequent debates and developments.” (Conboy, 2004)
The Wapping Revolution accelerated the decline in standards of journalism rather than initiating it. Because Murdoch’s prime motive was profit, the emphasis on good journalism was replaced by the more popular tabloid approach of sleaze which sold more newspapers.
“Even major quality newspapers priding themselves on being prestigious, influential and high-end became more entertainment-based.” (Golding 1999)
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The decline of standards was prevalent throughout the industry, and not confined to Murdoch’s publications. Fierce competition between newspapers meant that tabloid publications in particular were focusing less on politics and more on the private lives of politicians, less on foreign affairs and more on domestic celebrities. In order to remain competitive, publication owners had no choice but to follow Murdoch’s example.
However, the public still took the ‘news’ seriously. Tabloid papers had a tremendous amount of power in shaping public opinion, as illustrated by Murdoch’s backing of the Tories during the 1979 election. This meant that Murdoch and other prosperous newspaper owners had significant sway in the political development of the country.
Because tabloids were delving ever deeper into the private lives of politicians and public figures, they had an additional power: a new form of blackmail or ‘the sleaze factor’. This could be used to turn public opinion against individuals by digging up aspects of their private lives and parading them in the tabloids as ‘news’.
Murdoch’s pre-occupation with profit led to political inconsistency and detracted from the continuity of his newspapers. Readers had to follow his political whims. It was often difficult for them to know what to think, because the owner of the low-brow, pseudo-pornographic Sun was the same man who owned The Times.
Murdoch’s commercial approach to managing the news influenced other publications. For example The Mirror, The Sun’s major competitor, abandoned its altruistic attempts to educate its readers in order to maintain circulation.
It is perhaps naïve to expect the Western media to challenge its readers and to offer an objective and intelligent summary of issues of importance. The idea that newspapers should compete with each other to provide the best coverage of the news, rather than compete commercially, has become obsolete.
The Wapping Revolution introduced computerization into British journalism. This made design, layout and transmission of information more efficient, which meant that the news cycle was quicker and more prompt in reaching the public
In principal this is a good thing for British journalism, but it should be noted that this technology already existed prior to the Wapping revolution and would have been adopted anyway had Murdoch not instigated the change in 1986.
This essay has argued that Murdoch’s manipulation of political power and public opinion was not good for British journalism. Like Citizen Cain in the classic film, Murdoch held a frightening degree of influence which demonstrated the power which a wealthy individual in a capitalist society can have on the public at large.
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Although there were job losses as a direct result of the Wapping revolution, standards of British journalism had nothing to do with the print workers’ unions. The Wapping revolution did not help smaller publications already struggling for sales in the face of corporations like News International. There is no doubt that the Wapping Revolution benefited those who could afford to compete using Murdoch’s technological and political changes, but it also excluded less wealthy competitors, many of whom went bankrupt.
“It [the Wapping Revolution] reduced costs for major players and removed their dependence on the whims of the printers and the closed-shop practices of the NUJ, but it did not necessarily make journalism itself any better or more diverse. It reinforced a news media led by commercialized consumer choice instead of contribution to a public sphere which defines the range of journalism.”
(Conboy, 2004)
Contraction of ownership led to a limited choice of editorial diversity, and therefore removed incentives for quality journalism. This was accelerated by Murdoch’s move to Wapping where he laid down the technology gauntlet for his competitors. Consumers cannot be sure of objectivity in the news if there is only a small cadre of newspaper owners dominating editorials. Although The Sunday Times does look different to The News of the World, the reality is that both are owned by the same person. This simply has to affect choice and variety.
Wapping made newspapers more profitable. This led to fiercer competition, tabloidization and increased sensationalism -all of which continue to damage British journalism.
ENDS
Word Count (2038)
David D H Andrews
Bibliography and References.
- Curran and Seaton, “Power without Responsibility” Sixth Edition, 2003
- Despite TV, “Despite the Sun”, Despite TV (VHS Video) 1987
- Hodgson, “Modern Newspaper Practice” Focal Press, 1996
- Tumber, “News: A reader” Oxford University Press, 1999
- Littleton, “The Wapping Dispute: An Examination of the Conflict & Its Impact on the National Newspaper Industry”, Avebury, 1992
- Conboy, “Journalism: A critical History” Sage, 2004
- Wintour, “The Rise & Fall of Fleet Street”, Hutchinson, 1991
- Koss, “The Rise and Fall of the Political Press in Britain” London, 1990
Websites Visited:
- “British Journalism Review”, 1999-2004, Article by Roy Greenslade.
- www.bjr.org.uk/data/2002/no1_greenslade.htm
- “Rupert Murdoch & his papers”, Extracts from the Guardian, The Independent, Socialist Worker and Socialist Review.
- www.goacom.com/overseas-digest/Media/murdoch.htm
- “Trashy Tabloids”, Investigations into the declining standards of British Newspapers.
- www.trashytabloids.com
- “The Free Dictionary”, Sources of Farlex circulation figures.
- http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com
