I am grateful for the opportunity to see Ink, a play about the arrival of Rupert Murdoch on London’s Fleet Street in the late 1960s, recently in London.
Ink is terrific theatre as it tells the story not only of Murdoch and his take over and what it means to Fleet Street but also about newspapers and how they are made.
It was fast-paced, funny, engrossing, thoroughly entertaining. From an Aussie perspective, the larrikin element was on show.
The full-house audience at the Duke of York’s Theatre loved it too.
What I enjoyed most was the story of disruption at the heart of the play. Indeed, this line from Murdoch talking about Fleet Street which was, at the time, the heart of newspaper publishing inn the UK: I want to disrupt this street.
It is interesting to me because Murdoch has been a disruptor. However, he quickly follows that with seeking protection. You only have to look at how Foxtel has been handled in Australia to see that.
But back to the play. If Ink comes to Australia seek it out if you love a good story ab0ut newspapers.
I don’t view Murdoch as a Fleet Street disruptor, more opportunistic and reactive. Eddie Shah later on was a true disruptor.
But I do see Murdoch as a disruptor in TV with Sky Sports.
I miss Fleet Street, especially the Cheshire Cheese.
Murdoch broke the print unions in the way no-one else had the ability (or the guts) to do when he built the Wapping printing plant (the Shah effort wasn’t big enough to make a difference but Wapping was big enough and Murdoch was powerful enough that the unions realized they couldn’t stay with the old ways anymore)