The crushing censorship and battle for truth faced by a young Sir Keith Murdoch in Gallipoli almost 100 years ago bears relevance to press freedom in modern Australia, Lachlan Murdoch says.
Mr Murdoch presented the 2014 Keith Murdoch Oration at the State Library of Victoria on Thursday night, an annual evening held to honour his grandfather's life and work.
He spoke of Sir Keith's journey to Gallipoli as a young journalist and the strangling media censorship on the horror that was going on in the trenches.
After desperate attempts to get the truth out, Sir Keith penned a letter to then Prime Minister Andrew Fisher describing the misery he had seen and effectively changed history.
"One hundred years seem like, well it is, a very long time," Mr Murdoch told the crowd on Thursday night, which included his wife Sarah Murdoch, casino tycoon James Packer and Premier Denis Napthine.
"But the events of September 1915 in particular have a remarkable relevance to today, especially in regard to press freedoms and to freedom of speech."
Later, Mr Murdoch said the government's anti-terror legislation, which includes jailing journalists for up to 10 years if they disclose information relating to special intelligence operations, was ambiguous and could have long-lasting consequences.
He questioned whether the Gallipoli campaign would have been considered a special operation.
"We certainly do not need further laws to jail journalists who responsibly learn and accurately tell," Mr Murdoch said.
"A century ago, Keith Murdoch's Gallipoli letter was Australia's boldest declaration that our nation had the right to know the truth.
"Years later he added, `a free media must be dependent on no one for favours'.
"Censorship should be resisted in all its insidious forms."
Sir Keith Murdoch died in 1952.
Mr Murdoch is the co-chair of 21st Century Fox and News Corp.
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