Neo-conned: The Murdoch press and the Iraq War

This article explores the relationship between ideology and media representations. It seeks to (1) re-contextualize the 2003 invasion of Iraq by exposing the ideological impetus for the conflict; (2) highlight the role played by the Chief Executive Officer of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, in helping neoconservative mandarins gain influence over the political public sphere of the United States; and (3) determine whether the Iraq/weapons of mass destruction story, as reported in the Australian Murdoch press, was influenced by the ideological proclivities of the CEO of News Corporation. Drawing on an empirical case study, this article contends that Murdoch's influential broadsheet newspaper, The Australian, contained a pro-war/pro-neoconservative ideological bias during the sampled period.