Sale of the New York Post to Rupert Murdoch

In 1976, recorded here as January 1, 1976 for year‑level precision, Dorothy Schiff sold the New York Post to media magnate Rupert Murdoch, ending nearly four decades of her ownership and stewardship of the paper.[5][8][11][12][16] The sale, reported as approximately $31 million in later accounts,[13][14] marked a pivotal transfer of one of America’s oldest daily newspapers from a liberal, woman‑led regime to a new era of more conservative, personality‑driven tabloid journalism.

By the mid‑1970s, Schiff was in her seventies and facing mounting economic pressures. The Post had long struggled with rising costs, declining circulation relative to competitors, and the broader fiscal crisis affecting New York City.[11][12] Murdoch’s offer provided financial security and relieved her of the burdens of day‑to‑day management. However, the sale also meant relinquishing editorial control over a paper that had been a central platform for her progressive politics.

Historically, the 1976 sale is significant for several reasons. It closed the chapter in which the Post was one of the city’s most reliable liberal voices, known for its opposition to McCarthyism, support for civil rights, and criticism of U.S. policy in Vietnam.[7][16] Under Murdoch, the paper would become far more sensationalistic and ideologically different, illustrating how ownership changes can rapidly alter a newspaper’s political identity.

From a women’s history perspective, Schiff’s sale underscores both her achievements and the structural limits of individual influence. For almost forty years she had proven that a woman could own, publish, and reshape a major metropolitan daily; the transfer in 1976 shows how that pioneering work could be undone or reoriented by new owners, but it does not erase her status as a trailblazer for women in media management.[5][8][11][12][14][16]