Obituaries Australia

  • Tip: searches only the name field
  • Tip: use double quotes to search for a phrase
  • Tip: lists of awards, schools, organisations etc

Browse People:

Browse Lists:

Cultural Advice

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website contains names, images, and voices of deceased persons.

In addition, some articles contain terms or views that were acceptable within mainstream Australian culture in the period in which they were written, but may no longer be considered appropriate.

These articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Australian National University.

Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (1885–1952)

from Sydney Morning Herald

The board of Australian Associated Press, at a meeting in Sydney yesterday, carried unanimously a resolution of sympathy with the widow and family of Sir Keith Murdoch, chairman of the Herald and Weekly Times, Melbourne, who died on October 4.

The chairman, Mr D. F. H. Packer, who moved the resolution, said, "Australian Associated Press has suffercd a great loss. That loss is shared with the whole Press of Australia, and, indeed, of the whole democratic world.

"Sir Keith was a valiant up-holder of the freedom of the Press throughout his life, but it is particularly to his work for Australian Associated Press that I wish to address myself.

"A.A.P., one of the great news gathering organisations of the world, was brought into being and founded largely by Sir Keith's enthusiasm and conception of a news-gathering organisation for the Australian Press.

"Sir Keith Murdoch was its first chairman and one of its first joint managing directors.

'Within his lifetime Sir Keith saw Australian international news-gathering develop from a slow service of a few lines culled from the English newspapers to its present pre-eminent position. He was one of the chief architects of the development.

"Sir Keith Murdoch played a major part in the negotiations which led to the A.A.P. becoming a full working partner in the Reuters news service.

"From that partnership Reuters has developed from a purely British to a British Commonwealth organisation.

"Sir Keith Murdoch was the first Australian trustee of Reuters Trust, a position which he occupied at his death.

"Australian journalists owe much to Sir Keith, and not least is the fact that, through A.A.P. and through the Reuters partnership, Australians now occupy important and responsible news posts in all parts of the world.

"The Australian public, too, owes a debt to Sir Keith, for through Australian participation in the affairs of Reuters, they are assured that the news reaches them uncoloured by propaganda, the Press of Governments, or the wishes of interested parties.

"I am sure I speak for all the directors in moving this resolution and placing on record the board's deep sense of loss."

Mr R. A. Henderson, managing director of "The Sydney Morning Herald," was by unanimous vote, elected Australian trustee of Reuters Ltd in succession to the late Sir Keith Murdoch.

Original publication

Other Obituaries for Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch

Additional Resources and Scholarship

Related Entries in NCB Sites

view family tree

Citation details

'Murdoch, Sir Keith Arthur (1885–1952)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/murdoch-sir-keith-arthur-7693/text28178, accessed 21 November 2024.

© Copyright Obituaries Australia, 2010-2024

Life Summary [details]

Birth

12 August, 1885
West Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Death

5 October, 1952 (aged 67)
Langwarrin, Victoria, Australia

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Education
Occupation or Descriptor
Military Service
Awards
Key Events
Legacies
Key Organisations
Political Activism
Properties
Workplaces