Good Riddance Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch has handed sole chairmanship of his media empire to his son Lachlan. It went much smoother than HBO’s Succession (see image above), which is allegedly modeled after the Murdoch family. This is the latest step in a process that began in 2019 when Lachlan became CEO of Fox. It remains to be seen whether Lachlan will chart a different course on issues such as defamation lawsuits, election influence, and pursuing a Trump-friendly agenda. However, one thing is certain: Murdoch's media empire will continue to shape the daily news cycle.
Murdoch built his empire over the past half century, with holdings in print, broadcast TV, cable TV, and entertainment. He is one of the world's wealthiest people, with a net worth of around $8.3 billion.
The Murdoch media empire, especially Fox News, has pushed a conservative agenda. Murdoch filled the void of news for a conservative audience to counter-balance the predominately liberal media. However, he also alleviated many rules of journalism to capture mindshare and eyeballs. He hired and empowered GOP-operative Roger Ailes to build a cable-news network modeled after Rush Limbaugh's bombastic radio talk show. The Fox News Network launched in 1996, and its immediate and long-term success proved that there was an underserved audience of conservative news watchers transfixed by amped-up culture wars and anti-woke stories. Fox News brought a simplified formula to the news, more WWE than CBS, NBC or ABC. The hungry conservative audience devoured the “news as entertainment” approach of Fox, and overtime, it transformed the party into something that Reagan couldn’t recognize.
Murdoch did not appear to get involved in the network's day-to-day operations, but he almost certainly fanned the flames of the vehemently anti-liberal conservative political agenda integrated into the Fox News reporting. Trump is the ultimate manifestation of these trends, and we are all worse off because of it. These flames became a firestorm in 2016 when U.S. voters elected a Fox News viewing addict, Donald Trump, as president. Trump, a news junkie who came to also attempted shape the news appearing on Fox News and other networks, was also an inveterate Twitter user. He voiced political and personal opinions in an aggressive, jingoist, xenophobic, and often cruel manner. Murdoch also hired Bill O'Reilly and Tucker Carlson, who were eventually ousted from their broadcast perches. Roger Ailes was booted too, over accusations of sexual harassment.
Murdoch's empire has faced defamation lawsuits in recent years, including a suit that resulted in a $787 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, the largest known media defamation settlement ever. This raises questions around the editorial standards and accountability of the company under the Murdochs' stewardship.
In the UK, Murdoch's tabloids pursued a deliberate strategy of generating fear among the royals and well-to-do. His acquisition of the New York Post enabled him to flog lurid stories of a city in dangerous decline, a proven tabloid newsstand-sales tactic.
Fox News has been Murdoch's crown jewel since 1996 not just because it is the consistent cable-news ratings leader, but a conservative star-making machine and crucial cog in the GOP's electoral apparatus. While relatively few people watch Fox News, its centrality to the modern conservative movement means that its importance cannot entirely be captured by its ratings numbers.
Rupert Murdoch's News Corp bought the Dow Jones and all of the Dow Jones' companies, including the venerable Wall Street Journal. It has not been the same quality business journal since.
Perhaps Murdoch's greatest achievement—the 2016 election to the presidency of a vacuous conman created entirely in the network's image—might have marked the pinnacle of his career. However, he found himself unable to control this being of his own creation. While Trump's ungovernability drew Murdoch's disdain, Fox News’ view base did not favor in its adulation, even as he repeatedly demonstrated his unfitness for office. It eventually became clear, much to Murdoch's horror, that Trump was propping Fox News up and not the other way around. This became abundantly clear in November 2020 when viewers fled Fox to adopt minor league operations like One America News (OAN) and Newsmax in retaliation for Fox's decision to correctly report that Joe Biden had won Arizona.
Rupert Murdoch's media empire has had a profound impact on democracy, both in the United States and around the world. His news outlets have been criticized for promoting misinformation, division, and extremism. However, Murdoch's empire remains a powerful force in the media landscape, and it is unclear whether his son Lachlan will make any significant changes to the company's editorial approach.
One thing’s for sure, Lachlan is no Kendall Roy.