<p>A petition demanding an inquiry into Rupert Murdoch's dominance of Australian news media has garnered a record 420,000 signatures, overtaking a previous appeal focused on climate change.</p>.<p>The online petition was launched on October 12 by former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, a frequent target of newspapers controlled by Murdoch's News Corp.</p>.<p>By Friday, the call for a Royal Commission of inquiry into the impact of the group on media diversity had been signed 420,695 times on the national parliament's e-petition web page.</p>.<p>That eclipsed the previous record for an e-petition of 404,538 signatures garnered by a 2019 call for the government to declare a climate emergency.</p>.<p>The petition can still be signed until November 5, when it will be submitted to parliament.</p>.<p>Signatories included another former prime minister -- one from the other end of the political spectrum, the Liberal Malcolm Turnbull, who was ousted by hardline conservatives in a 2018 party coup supported by the Murdoch press.</p>.<p>The Australian arm of Murdoch's New York-headquartered News Corp is the country's largest media organisation, owning papers in nearly every major city as well as cable television networks and magazines.</p>.<p>In launching the petition, Rudd decried the group as a "cancer on our democracy" that operated an effective "monopoly" over Australia's press.</p>.<p>"This power is routinely used to attack opponents in business and politics by blending editorial opinion with news reporting," the petition states.</p>.<p>"These facts chill free speech and undermine public debate."</p>.<p>Rudd, who was prime minister from 2007-2010 and briefly in 2013, has long been critical of what he says is the media organisation's "vicious" campaigning for the political right.</p>.<p>"There's no such thing as a level playing field anymore," he said in a video posted to Twitter.</p>.<p>Despite the petition's record number of signatories, its demand for a royal commission is unlikely to be acted upon by the conservative government, which generally enjoys strong support from the Murdoch press.</p>
<p>A petition demanding an inquiry into Rupert Murdoch's dominance of Australian news media has garnered a record 420,000 signatures, overtaking a previous appeal focused on climate change.</p>.<p>The online petition was launched on October 12 by former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, a frequent target of newspapers controlled by Murdoch's News Corp.</p>.<p>By Friday, the call for a Royal Commission of inquiry into the impact of the group on media diversity had been signed 420,695 times on the national parliament's e-petition web page.</p>.<p>That eclipsed the previous record for an e-petition of 404,538 signatures garnered by a 2019 call for the government to declare a climate emergency.</p>.<p>The petition can still be signed until November 5, when it will be submitted to parliament.</p>.<p>Signatories included another former prime minister -- one from the other end of the political spectrum, the Liberal Malcolm Turnbull, who was ousted by hardline conservatives in a 2018 party coup supported by the Murdoch press.</p>.<p>The Australian arm of Murdoch's New York-headquartered News Corp is the country's largest media organisation, owning papers in nearly every major city as well as cable television networks and magazines.</p>.<p>In launching the petition, Rudd decried the group as a "cancer on our democracy" that operated an effective "monopoly" over Australia's press.</p>.<p>"This power is routinely used to attack opponents in business and politics by blending editorial opinion with news reporting," the petition states.</p>.<p>"These facts chill free speech and undermine public debate."</p>.<p>Rudd, who was prime minister from 2007-2010 and briefly in 2013, has long been critical of what he says is the media organisation's "vicious" campaigning for the political right.</p>.<p>"There's no such thing as a level playing field anymore," he said in a video posted to Twitter.</p>.<p>Despite the petition's record number of signatories, its demand for a royal commission is unlikely to be acted upon by the conservative government, which generally enjoys strong support from the Murdoch press.</p>