Rupert Murdoch was interviewed last night on BBC Radio 5 Live, according to Media Bulletin. You can listen here, including downloading the iPod for posterity.

His main conclusion though is that media is about to enter a Golden Age:

“I think we’re on the eve of a golden age for media, but all these wonderful inventions are nothing if you can not put something on them. You’ve got to have content and that’s what our business is, creating or reporting news and creating entertainment,” he said.

When Murdoch speaks, we have to listen, even though there’s a huge pinch of “well, he would say that wouldn’t he?”. Can you imagine what would happen to News Corp’s (already languishing) share price if he’d said something like:

“Well, yer pommy bastard, you’ve got me bang to rights. Offline media is doomed, online is all about pay-per-click, where we have no presence or expertise, and a hell of a lot of content in the future will be generated by Citizen Journalists.

Bugger me sideways, I’m too old for this game, Sport, so I’m handing over to me kids.”

And yet this sentiment would be far closer to the truth.

He also pointed out that in the UK, newspapers are stronger than ever. His evidence? That their reach has increased due to their online efforts. This from a company which once considered (what? two years ago) shutting down its online newspapers as they were cannibalising offline sales. While they eventually saw the light and reversed the decision, News Corp, along with all old media, still haven’t figured how to make as much money online as in the old days of print.

So is the wily old fox out of touch or merely playing the best game he can, while frantically trying to change his cards, behind the scenes?

It’s difficult to tell with Murdoch. But the telling thing for me is that he still appears to be backing Labour and its heir apparent, Gordon Brown.

There’s a myth that the Murdoch newspapers influence the results of General Elections in the UK. I think this is greatly exaggerated. I believe that there’s a healthy element to the theory that they cannily read which way the electorate’s heading and back the winning horse. This allows Murdoch to maintain the myth and to call the shots with a new generation of politicians.

While it’s not too late for Murdoch to change his support or his company’s strategy, in my opinion, nothing shows that he’s so out of touch with things, as to publicly support Brown at this stage. He’s simply failing to read the mood of the country.

Maybe we’ll see Brown and Murdoch ride off into the sunset together after all these years. But maybe they’ll both pull rabbits out of hats and surprise us all.