Elisabeth Murdoch, daughter of
News Corp. NWSA -0.93% Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, declared on Thursday that "profit without purpose is a recipe for disaster," drawing a distinction from views expressed by her brother James.
Ms. Murdoch said in a speech at an Edinburgh television festival that her brother "left something out" when he told the same event three years ago "the only reliable and perpetual guarantor of independence is profit."
Reuters
Elisabeth Murdoch during a rehearsal of a lecture given at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.
"It is increasingly apparent that the absence of purpose—or of a moral language—within government, media, or business, could become one of the most dangerous…goals for capitalism and for freedom," she said, delivering the annual James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival, which
James Murdoch gave in 2009 and Rupert Murdoch has also delivered.
Ms. Murdoch is chairman of News Corp.'s U.K. television production firm Shine while her brother James is News Corp.'s deputy chief operating officer. The Murdoch family controls News Corp., whose properties include The Wall Street Journal. James Murdoch couldn't be reached for comment. News Corp. declined to comment.
Ms. Murdoch's comments come in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper unit which caused the closure of the News of the World newspaper, the resignation of several senior executives and the arrests of numerous employees. James Murdoch has been caught up in the scandal, as he oversaw News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper unit between 2007 and 2012.
Ms. Murdoch, 44 years old, made only an indirect reference to the scandal, noting that "obviously News…is currently asking itself some very significant and difficult questions about how some behaviors fell so far short of its values. Personally, I believe one of the biggest lessons of the past year has been the need for any organization to discuss, affirm and institutionalize a rigorous set of values based on an explicit statement of purpose," she said.
Regarding the scrutiny of the media industry over the last year, Ms. Murdoch suggested to bear in mind the philosopher Voltaire's words: "with great power comes great responsibility."
And referring to the Leveson inquiry into British media practices, she noted that "when there has been such an unsettling dearth of integrity across so many of our institutions, it is very difficult to argue" for "light touch media regulation."
She also distanced herself from her brother on the role of the British Broadcasting Corp. In his 2009 speech, James said the BBC, which collects an annual license fee from U.K. households, had an unfair advantage over commercial media companies. On Thursday, Ms. Murdoch said "let me put in on the record that I am a current supporter of the BBC's universal license fee." She also spoke positively about the BBC's digital efforts, saying it "seems to be the furthest ahead in understanding that our new world demands new ecosystems."
Ms. Murdoch quoted from her father's version of the McTaggart Lecture, saying he had inspired her with his words about the role of broadcasting.
Ms. Murdoch implored the television industry to adapt to digital change or risk losing a valuable connection with its audience, making an analogy to the shift of consumers from broadcast television to pay television.
"Let's not be like the broadcast networks in the United States and come late again to the party that other people are having with our audience," she said. "Unlike the decade it took many in this room to adapt to the reality of multichannel television, we don't have that much time." News Corp. owns the Fox broadcast network.
Ms. Murdoch said more high-quality original content on websites will be a true competitor with television. Citing material shown on
Google Inc.'s
GOOG -0.06%YouTube, she said "believe at your own risk that their platform is based on homemade videos of cats in washing machines."
Ms. Murdoch said the key risk was that media companies failed to create lasting ties with consumers that would prevent them from walking away, as in the experience of CDs and digital music. "We seem to have got the emphasis wrong between building a community and selling a commodity," she said.
