It’s a libel to say that I use my newspapers to support my other business interests. The fact is, I haven’t got any other business interests.

Murdoch’s line is a characteristically dry, defensive quip aimed at a recurring accusation: that his newspapers are instruments used to advance outside commercial holdings. By insisting he has no “other business interests,” he reframes the charge as logically impossible—while also implying that publishing itself is his central, consuming enterprise. The remark works as rhetorical jujitsu: it denies conflicted motives without conceding anything about influence, editorial power, or political leverage. Read ironically, it can also be taken as an admission that the newspapers are not ancillary tools but the core of his power—making the question of how they are used even more consequential.