James Murdoch abruptly resigns from Fox due to his disgust with Fox Fews
- Thread starter DrHoops
- Start date
James Murdoch resigns from board of News Corp over 'disagreements' about editorial content
Media mogul’s younger son steps down over editorial and strategic decisions by news outlets
James Murdoch, the younger son of press and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has resigned from the board of News Corp, amid ongoing dissatisfaction with its editorial direction.
Mr Murdoch, 47, who has emerged as one of Joe Biden’s larger donors and supporters, said he was standing down because of disagreements over editorial content published by the company, whose assets include Dow Jones and Company, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
In the UK, it is publisher of The Sun and The Times, while it also owns News Corp Australia.
The company also includes the publisher, HarperCollins, among its portfolio of holdings.
News of the decision was contained within a company filing with the federal financial regulator, the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
“I hereby tender my resignation as a member of the Board of Directors of News Corporation (the “Company”), effective as of the date hereof,” said the letter posted on Friday.
“My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions.”
On Friday, Mr Murdoch’s father, the executive chairman of News Corp, and his elder brother Lachlan, its co-chairman, confirmed his standing down in a joint statement
“We’re grateful to James for his many years of service to the company,’ they said. “We wish him the very best in his future endeavours.”
James Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, have long been known to disagree with the political inclinations of Rupert Murdoch, 89, and the many conservative media outlets he owns.
In January, the couple issued a statement condemning News Corp and Fox News for playing down the threat of climate change.
“Kathryn and James’ views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known,” a spokesperson for the couple told The Daily Beast as wildfires raged in Australia.
“They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.”
In July, it emerged Mr Murdoch and his wife were among the biggest backers of presumptive Democratic nominee campaign.
The Washington Post said that each contributed $615,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in June, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Must make for awkward dinner conversations.
Media mogul’s younger son steps down over editorial and strategic decisions by news outlets
James Murdoch, the younger son of press and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has resigned from the board of News Corp, amid ongoing dissatisfaction with its editorial direction.
Mr Murdoch, 47, who has emerged as one of Joe Biden’s larger donors and supporters, said he was standing down because of disagreements over editorial content published by the company, whose assets include Dow Jones and Company, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.
In the UK, it is publisher of The Sun and The Times, while it also owns News Corp Australia.
The company also includes the publisher, HarperCollins, among its portfolio of holdings.
News of the decision was contained within a company filing with the federal financial regulator, the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
“I hereby tender my resignation as a member of the Board of Directors of News Corporation (the “Company”), effective as of the date hereof,” said the letter posted on Friday.
“My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions.”
On Friday, Mr Murdoch’s father, the executive chairman of News Corp, and his elder brother Lachlan, its co-chairman, confirmed his standing down in a joint statement
“We’re grateful to James for his many years of service to the company,’ they said. “We wish him the very best in his future endeavours.”
James Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, have long been known to disagree with the political inclinations of Rupert Murdoch, 89, and the many conservative media outlets he owns.
In January, the couple issued a statement condemning News Corp and Fox News for playing down the threat of climate change.
“Kathryn and James’ views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known,” a spokesperson for the couple told The Daily Beast as wildfires raged in Australia.
“They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.”
In July, it emerged Mr Murdoch and his wife were among the biggest backers of presumptive Democratic nominee campaign.
The Washington Post said that each contributed $615,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in June, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Must make for awkward dinner conversations.
He will leave it to the 1st born and James will just collect the dividends. Doubt if he will be struggling to see where his next Happy Meal will come from.
Actually, he can't. He's already divided up the shares through an irrevocable trust (reportedly). Once he croaks, his children from his first two marriages will each have an equal vote share, which together will add up to about 40% of total control of the company.
It will be interesting to watch. Rupert wanted Lachlan and James to fight it out for control, and Lachlan is in the driver's seat, now, but according to reports regarding the trust, the voting control is currently 50/50 between Rupert and his first four children, and he cannot pass his votes on to anyone else; they simply dissolve on his death. That means his four eldest children will each have an equal say. If the daughters, who are not currently involved, back James, there might not be much Lachlan can do about it.
Its probably what Donald wanted his sons to do but with a much much smaller ''business''.
Decades ago, the old man wasn't even the biggest player in OZ. The kingpin was a guy called Kerry Packer who was a true Aussie and gambled on all sorts of businesses/sports, women and horses. Murdoch was his main, smaller rival then -- but stuck to his guns and focused on his rival media empire and built it from there.
It was ol Maggie that gave the old man his break. And created the monster that it is today.
Last edited:
Who else is looking forward to season 3 of Succession?
Not heard of it.
No HBO in the far east?
It's a ****ing awesome satirical/ dark comedy/ drama that's loosely based upon the Murdoch clan.
Probably my favorite current show on TV. Incredible acting.
My favorite is probably Westworld, but Succession is a very close second.
Also loving Righteous Gemstones.
HBO is killing it right now.
I loved the first 2 seasons of WW.... started watching third season and couldn't get into it. I'll try again.
The acting in Succession is just world class. Nealy every character. But Brian Cox stands alone.
I don't have any basis for this based on any sort of information, but when you look at the casts and the quality of acting, it seems to me one of the things HBO does really well is getting the right high-quality actors for the roles. If Succession were a Hollywood movie, instead of Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong, we'd have Sean Connery and Tom Cruise, and it would suck ass.
What makes those shows great is they are full of great actors that nobody knows. That's the common theme of every really good show.
I've been watching The Crown recently.. I'm not much of a follower of the royals at all .... but that is also a show that does a great job of telling a historical story with very impressive acting.
I haven't watched that one, yet, but I've heard really good things, and I plan on doing so soon.
It was something I skipped over forever. Thinking I wouldn't like it. Then started watching it.... and binged the hell out of it.
I'm a sucker for period pieces. This one hits all the marks
I loved both Rome and The Tudors. You dramatize an historical person on TV, and I'm probably going to give it a shot. I just haven't gotten around to that one yet.
And unlike you, the royals do fascinate me, so I think I'll probably be hooked once I give it a shot. Just not enough hours in the day so far, is really all it is.
Fox News from the horse's mouth:
James Murdoch says he quit father’s news empire because it legitimises ‘disinformation’
‘Great news organisations … should introduce fact to disperse doubt’
He quit the board of News Corp because of disagreements over how decisions were made, arguing that great news organisations should “not sow doubt, to obscure fact”.
In an interview with the New York Times, Mr Murdoch expanded on the statement he gave when he left his father Rupert Murdoch’s company earlier this year, expressing his discomfort with the toxicity of Fox News and other media outlets owned by the company.
In July he said he was leaving “due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions”.
Mr Murdoch said: “I reached the conclusion that you can venerate a contest of ideas, if you will, and we all do, and that’s important. But it shouldn’t be in a way that hides agendas.
“A contest of ideas shouldn’t be used to legitimise disinformation. And I think it’s often taken advantage of. And I think at great news organisations, the mission really should be to introduce fact to disperse doubt — not to sow doubt, to obscure fact, if you will.”
Mr Murdoch explained that he felt increasingly uncomfortable with his position on the board and that it was “not that hard a decision to remove myself and have a kind of cleaner slate”.
Both Mr Murdoch, and his older brother Lachlan, had shown contempt for Roger Ailes during his stewardship of Fox News, but he was unable to reshape the focus and direction of the network after Mr Ailes’s departure in 2016.
“I think there’s only so much you can do if you’re not an executive, you’re on the board, you’re quite removed from a lot of the day-to-day decisions, obviously,” he said. “And if you’re uncomfortable with those decisions, you have to take stock of whether or not you want to be associated and can you change it or not. I decided that I could be much more effective outside.”
Both Mr Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, have in the past expressed frustration over News Corp titles’s coverage of the Trump administration and climate change.
Their foundation, Quadrivium, supports voter participation, democracy reform, and climate change projects.
The Times reports that in the 2020 election cycle he has donated to Pete Buttigieg and has given $1.23m (£940,000) to Joe Biden, whom he intends to vote for in next month.
Reminds me of Lady Macbeth...
James Murdoch says he quit father’s news empire because it legitimises ‘disinformation’
‘Great news organisations … should introduce fact to disperse doubt’
He quit the board of News Corp because of disagreements over how decisions were made, arguing that great news organisations should “not sow doubt, to obscure fact”.
In an interview with the New York Times, Mr Murdoch expanded on the statement he gave when he left his father Rupert Murdoch’s company earlier this year, expressing his discomfort with the toxicity of Fox News and other media outlets owned by the company.
In July he said he was leaving “due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions”.
Mr Murdoch said: “I reached the conclusion that you can venerate a contest of ideas, if you will, and we all do, and that’s important. But it shouldn’t be in a way that hides agendas.
“A contest of ideas shouldn’t be used to legitimise disinformation. And I think it’s often taken advantage of. And I think at great news organisations, the mission really should be to introduce fact to disperse doubt — not to sow doubt, to obscure fact, if you will.”
Mr Murdoch explained that he felt increasingly uncomfortable with his position on the board and that it was “not that hard a decision to remove myself and have a kind of cleaner slate”.
Both Mr Murdoch, and his older brother Lachlan, had shown contempt for Roger Ailes during his stewardship of Fox News, but he was unable to reshape the focus and direction of the network after Mr Ailes’s departure in 2016.
“I think there’s only so much you can do if you’re not an executive, you’re on the board, you’re quite removed from a lot of the day-to-day decisions, obviously,” he said. “And if you’re uncomfortable with those decisions, you have to take stock of whether or not you want to be associated and can you change it or not. I decided that I could be much more effective outside.”
Both Mr Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, have in the past expressed frustration over News Corp titles’s coverage of the Trump administration and climate change.
Their foundation, Quadrivium, supports voter participation, democracy reform, and climate change projects.
The Times reports that in the 2020 election cycle he has donated to Pete Buttigieg and has given $1.23m (£940,000) to Joe Biden, whom he intends to vote for in next month.
Reminds me of Lady Macbeth...
Rupert was once a bleeding heart liberal, but greed and lust for power got the best of him.
in the 90s Rupert made a deal with Pubs that if they would grease the skids for Rupert to skirt media ownership regs regarding foreign majority ownership of US media, and future ownership and media cross ownership caps, (such as max number of stations one can own, and cross owning print, tv, radio, in the same market), that Rupert would pay them back in a quid pro quo with a 24/7 conservative news/politics network, and conservative bias in all he controlled.
in 95 the FCC greased those skids for him and allowed him majority ownership of some Fox stations when foreign majority ownership of US media was not allowed at the time for obvious reasons, and have been greasing them ever since, with more and more concentration of media ownership and cross ownership allowed. (economic far right Wall St owned dino Clinton was prez then, and Pub controlled senate had up or down confirmation of FCC commissioners).
and Rupert has kept his end of the bargain too.
that said, News Corp/Fox's agenda has exactly zero difference from AT&T/CNN's or Comcast/NBC's, who all are in bed together both politically and financially, and all have the exact same extreme far right agenda on everything of economic concern.
the 24/7/365 food fight between the giant multinational corporate media conglomerates over social issues the executive suites at all three, and all other corp media, could care less about, (being social issues have zero impact on revenues or stock valuation), are just to keep the little people occupied 24/7/365 on social issues, and off the economic issues all 3, and all other corp media as well, actually care about, and care about desperately.
in the 90s Rupert made a deal with Pubs that if they would grease the skids for Rupert to skirt media ownership regs regarding foreign majority ownership of US media, and future ownership and media cross ownership caps, (such as max number of stations one can own, and cross owning print, tv, radio, in the same market), that Rupert would pay them back in a quid pro quo with a 24/7 conservative news/politics network, and conservative bias in all he controlled.
in 95 the FCC greased those skids for him and allowed him majority ownership of some Fox stations when foreign majority ownership of US media was not allowed at the time for obvious reasons, and have been greasing them ever since, with more and more concentration of media ownership and cross ownership allowed. (economic far right Wall St owned dino Clinton was prez then, and Pub controlled senate had up or down confirmation of FCC commissioners).
and Rupert has kept his end of the bargain too.
that said, News Corp/Fox's agenda has exactly zero difference from AT&T/CNN's or Comcast/NBC's, who all are in bed together both politically and financially, and all have the exact same extreme far right agenda on everything of economic concern.
the 24/7/365 food fight between the giant multinational corporate media conglomerates over social issues the executive suites at all three, and all other corp media, could care less about, (being social issues have zero impact on revenues or stock valuation), are just to keep the little people occupied 24/7/365 on social issues, and off the economic issues all 3, and all other corp media as well, actually care about, and care about desperately.
Last edited:
