Elisabeth Murdoch profile in The New Yorker reveals a daughter's PR acumen

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/us-news-blog/2012/dec/03/elisabeth-murdoch-profile-new-yorker

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It's a Monday of news for the Murdoch family. On the one hand, the patriarch, Rupert announced the new organizational structure for his publishing and entertainment businesses – including the closure of his digital brainchild app The Daily. On the other, beneath the headline The Heiress and a saintly black and white portrait in The New Yorker, is an 8,000 word profile of Murdoch's daughter Elisabeth.

Unmentioned in her father's morning press release, ("Rupert Murdoch will serve as chairman of the new News Corporation and chairman and CEO of Fox Group. Chase Carey will serve as President and Chief Operating Officer of Fox Group, with James Murdoch continuing in his capacity as Deputy Chief Operating Officer") Elisabeth shines in her New Yorker portrait with a strong supporting role played by her husband, the PR impresario Matthew Freud.

Let's take a closer look.

Motive

From its title on, the profile reads as an obvious PR stunt to position Elisabeth as the next great Murdoch. In its lack of subtlety, it's overwhelming. As such it has all the hallmarks of a Matthew Freud production. The goal from the get-go was to seduce the New Yorker's Ken Auletta to the Elisabeth point of view. For example; "Freud is an accomplished cook. As he sipped a 1998 Pomerol, he prepared a luncheon of filet mignon, fettuccine with crab, leeks sautéed in crème fraîche, sautéed sausages embedded in pastry, curried-chicken salad, roast potatoes, and broccoli," writes Auletta. This lunch – in other words, sausage rolls, pasta, steak, salad and veggies –was his to enjoy at the couple's Burford home, a house so big that Murdoch "claimed not to know how many rooms it contains". 

The pitch

"She worked really hard to be Liz Murdoch, as opposed to a Murdoch."<br />– Matthew Freud

Hate the Murdochs if you must – but make an exception for this one, she's different. "They have been christened 'the golden couple' by the British press," Auletta tells us. "Yet with little public notice they have become almost a fifth column within the Murdoch empire, challenging the journalistic ethics of News Corp. and establishing her independence." Actually there has been a fair amount of public notice, most of it generated by Elisabeth and her husband who have spent considerable time and energy over the last couple of years letting us know just how independent she is. Whereas Rupert was a Romney man, she was for Obama. She hates the right wing politics of Fox News. The culture of News International is not for her. Hacking – leave her out of it. In fact forget newspapers, she's all about TV and the lucrative entertainment divisions of her father's empire.<br /> 

The players

Besides Elisabeth there are two main characters in this drama, one on stage, one off. Her husband is definitely on, or as Auletta puts it: "an active champion of Elisabeth's business ventures". He's not a lovable character, with a history of cocaine use ("I feared a seven-year prison sentence") and a bullying manner. Elisabeth might be independent from her father, but: "on the rare occasions when she speaks to the press, [Freud] often makes the arrangements and tries to monitor the ground rules." The other man in her life, her father, has never taken her seriously according to this piece. There's a "she's just a woman", quality to his attitude towards her, despite the fact he bought her television production company, Shine, for $670m last year with 40% of the money going to his daughter. So is Elisabeth really independent? Ignored? Or controlled by the men in her life? The profile makes the case for all three.

Her qualifications

She's brilliant. She went to Brearley and Vassar. She single-handedly created Shine TV. She's the brains behind bringing American Idol to the USA after seeing the British original, Pop Idol. ("I called Dad because I was so excited about it. 'Dad, I don't know if anyone at Fox knows about this show, but I'm telling you that you have to buy this show.') The Biggest Loser, Master Chef – they're her. Her tastes are not highbrow – she's her father's daughter after all – but she knows what the masses want, and she can deliver at a low cost. Even Eric Schmidt of Google is impressed with her web-savvy. ("She really understands that this new medium can mean a whole set of new audiences.")

Saint Elisabeth

She's REALLY NICE. She hugs her employees and asks about their families. She stays up late at night reading and working on a speech. She's down to earth. She was lonely as a kid. Her dad never took her seriously and that made her sad because she's Cordelia: "King Lear's devoted daughter, whom he banished." She's a Nelson Mandela fan. She's ambitious but just in a wanting-to-be-successful kind of way, not to succeed her father. Oh no, not at all.<br /> 

Other women

We hear a lot about the younger brothers Lachlan and James, who overshadowed Liz despite having nothing like her talent. Her older half-sister, Prue, has no interest in running the Murdoch empire. Oddly there is no mention at all of two other Murdoch daughters, Chloe, 11, and Grace, 9, who live with their father in New York and like Liz before them attend the Brearley School. Nor does their mother, Wendi Deng, get much of a look in, despite the fact that Rupert constantly extols her business acumen. Deng is five months younger than her stepdaughter Liz. 

The Heiresses? Look no further. That's your profile.