Newsman or businessman? Murdoch walks tightrope in battle with Trump

The Guardian

a day ago

Rupert Murdoch had made up his mind. 'We want to make Trump a nonperson,' he assured one of his former executives in a 2021 email, two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Over seven decades, Murdoch has sought to charm, challenge and change prime ministers and presidents as he built one of the world's most powerful media empires. In this particular endeavor, however, he failed.
Donald Trump, far from being made a nonperson, became the first defeated US president in 132 years to win back the White House. And from the Club World Cup final to the Oval Office, Murdoch has been seen by his side.
As the Wall Street Journal prepared to report that Trump provided a bawdy birthday letter to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein last week, the president appealed to Murdoch – chair emeritus of News Corporation, the newspaper's owner – to kill the story, claiming it was false. The story ran.
But the story did not receive the same treatment across Murdoch's empire. The Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham went on air 15 minutes after the Journal published its story, and talked about Epstein. 'We have new news coming on about this, as well, from the Wall Street Journal. A new report tonight – next,' she said, throwing to a commercial break. When The Ingraham Angle returned, the new news did not feature.
Preston Padden, who worked at Fox in the 1990s, is the veteran media industry operator whom Murdoch told of his plan to make Trump a 'nonperson' in 2021. He was not surprised to see how his former boss, and his array of outlets, handled this story.
'You've got the Wall Street Journal, and you've got the cable news channel. And they represent two different sides of Rupert's brain,' Padden said in an interview. 'He is, in his heart, a serious newsman, and that's the Wall Street Journal. He's also a brilliant businessman, and that's Fox News.'
Murdoch's businesses are divided between two companies: Fox Corporation, which houses Fox News and the Tubi streaming platform, and News Corp, home to newspapers including the Australian, the Sun, the Journal; the digital real estate network REA; and HarperCollins, the publishing giant.
'There is a more of a focus on the business than the journalism at Fox, than seems to be the case at News Corp,' said Brian Wieser, an analyst and former banker. 'It always appeared to me that business was first' for Murdoch, he added. 'Influence was a means to an end.'
News Corp's Dow Jones division – where the Wall Street Journal sits – generated revenue of $575m in the first three months of the year. Fox Corp's cable network programming arm, meanwhile – led by Fox News, and also including Fox Sports – generated $1.64bn over the same period.
'Fox News is the primordial asset of the collection of assets,' said media analyst Claire Enders, who said the network 'has drawn no attention to the matter, exactly as the president has wished'.
Covering the Journal's reporting on Trump and Epstein 'would not be good for business' at Fox News, suggested Padden, who observed how the network previously endured a backlash from the president's supporters when it strayed significantly from his narrative. 'And so you can watch this debate,' he claimed. 'Should we report the truth, and lose viewers, or should we report what our viewers want?'
In 2023, Fox reached a $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over the voting equipment firm's defamation lawsuit against the network over the false narrative that the 2020 election had been stolen from Trump.
Trump, who has in recent days promoted Fox News segments on his Truth Social platform, seems perfectly happy with its output. But he promptly sued Murdoch, News Corp and the Journal reporters behind the story on his ties with Epstein, publicly goading Murdoch about the threat of testifying.
Murdoch and Trump have engaged in a transactional relationship spanning decades, noted Enders. 'There is also a very longstanding friendship between Trump and Mr Murdoch. And a symbiotic relationship with the cashflow machine,' she said. 'They have fallen out before and made up quickly.'
In December, Disney's ABC agreed to pay $15m to a foundation and museum as part of a settlement in a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump. Earlier this month, Paramount reached a $16m settlement with the president over another lawsuit he filed over an interview with Kamala Harris, the Democrat candidate for president, by CBS News.
Trump's latest lawsuit raises the prospect of another prominent media organization – this time News Corp – potentially settling to avoid a lengthy legal battle. A Dow Jones spokesperson said: 'We have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.'
'We do not anticipate any lasting repercussions from this unless the WSJ has in fact been hoaxed,' said Enders. 'Otherwise, it will be shuffled away with a smaller settlement. That is how previous ginormous Trump lèse-majesté cases have been dealt with.'
Fox News has covered the lawsuit sparingly in recent days, reporting on Trump's initial filing on Friday, referencing the story briefly on Saturday, and then analyzing it in a segment on Sunday. The network declined to comment.
Murdoch, 94, retired from management in 2023, when he handed over the reins at Fox Corp and News Corp to his son, Lachlan. At the time, however, he stressed he would remain 'involved every day' in the businesses.
'As long as he's around, it's his candy store,' said Padden.