"The News", edited by Rohan Rivett and owned by Rupert Murdoch, campaigned heavily against Stuart's death sentence. Because of the campaign through "The News", Rivett, as editor, and "The News" itself, were charged in 1960 with seditious and malicious libel, with Premier Playford describing the coverage as "the gravest libel ever made against any judge in this State." Dr John Bray, later Chief Justice and Chancellor of the University of Adelaide, represented Rivett. The jury determined that the defendants had not committed an offence, and the remaining charges were withdrawn. A few weeks later, Murdoch dismissed Rivett. Rivett had been Editor-in-Chief of "The News" since 1951.