Murdoch turning his empire green

Age
Thursday 10/5/2007 Page: 3

Rupert Murdoch has got the message, and he wants the rest of us to get it, too. He has become a convert to concerns about global warming and climate change, even recently buying a hybrid car for himself. He also announced that his worldwide media company, News Corp, intends to reduce its own net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2010. "We're not a manufacturer, or an airline, but we do use energy; printing and publishing newspapers, producing films and television programs, operating 24-hour newsrooms. It all adds carbon to the atmosphere," he said.

Mr Murdoch said an independent audit had found the company's global operations produced 641,150 tonnes of carbon. Although some of his newspapers were once sceptical about global warming, he said that although he was no scientist, he knew how to assess a risk. "This one is clear. Climate change poses clear, catastrophic threats. We may not agree on the extent, but we certainly can't afford the risk of inaction," he said.

"When all of News Corp becomes carbon neutral it will have the same impact as turning off the electricity in the city of London for five full days." He said the company would install energy efficient light bulbs, buy energy from renewable sources and purchase hybrid cars.

The carbon emissions it could not avoid would be offset by investing in projects that avoid releasing greenhouse gases. He said the company had already invested in wind energy in India. But Mr Murdoch made it clear the company's goal was much larger - to reach out to its vast audience and influence them to change their behaviour. "Our audience's carbon footprint is 10,000 times bigger than ours. That's the carbon footprint we want to conquer," he said. "Imagine if we succeed in inspiring our audiences to reduce their own impacts on climate change by just 1 per cent.

That would be like turning the state of California off for almost two months. And imagine if we were able to take on the carbon footprint of our audience in Asia - in India alone, we reach 100 million people." News Corp's MySpace has started a channel devoted to climate change issues, the TV series 24 will be produced using biodiesel generators, and National Geographic Channel will launch an effort called Preserve Our Planet. But Mr Murdoch signalled that News Corp would not be reporting climate change as "the end of the world".

"The challenge is to revolutionise the message," he said. "For too long, the threats of climate change have been presented as doom and gloom - because the consequences are so serious. "We need to do what our company does best: make this issue exciting. Tell the story in a new way. "There are limits to how far we can push this issue in our content. Not every hero on television can drive a hybrid car. Often times it just won't fit. We must avoid preaching. And there has to be substance behind the Blitz. "But if we are genuine, we can change the way the public thinks about these issues."