Inside News Corp’s pitch to advertising buyers on the Indigenous Voice

afr.com:

News Corp Australia is pitching its special coverage of the Indigenous Voice to parliament as an “educational series” that will “empower our readers” and explain the causes of disadvantage, according to leaked material outlining how much the company’s mastheads will charge for advertising.

But the language in the presentation is directly at odds with the published views of its highest-profile commentators, who have described the Voice as “not good news for Australia” and “a massive power grab”.

The 19-page advertising pitch outlines how Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph, Melbourne’s Herald Sun, Brisbane’s Courier Mail and news.com.au will produce special editorial coverage around the coming referendum, telling advertisers about a four phase campaign called “Your Voice”.

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller.  Dominic Lorrimer

The first phase starting in August will highlight the “key factors” that contribute to the gap in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, focusing on “poor health outcomes”, education and incarceration rates. The final phase involves a 24-page educational magazine.

The company is offering advertisers the chance to take out single full-page advertising around the campaign of between $20,000 to $40,000.

In its pages, however, News Corp’s columnists have campaigned against the Voice. Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt has likened it to South Africa’s apartheid for months while The Australian’s Peta Credlin wrote there was “little doubt that a new class of Indigenous officialdom would be created” along with “far-reaching Aboriginal controls” in the Voice.

News Corp does have some columnists who support the Voice, and The Australian publishes contributions from proponents