Lachlan Murdoch takes an indirect dig at brother James in memo to Fox staff as he praises their news coverage
Lachlan Murdoch, who wished his younger brother James after the latter after he quit from the board of News Corp last week, has now taken an indirect dig at him in a memo to Fox staff on Thursday, August 6, by praising the channel's news coverage. James, 47, stepped down from the board in July end citing “disagreements over certain editorial content published by the company's news outlets”. Lachlan is the executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation and co-chairman of News Corp and with the departure of James, looks set to take over the reins of succession of the Murdoch dynasty.
Both Lachlan and the duo’s 89-year-old father Rupert, who is the executive chairman of News Corp and co-chairman of Fox Corporation said after James’s exit that they were “grateful” to him for his many years of service. On August 6, Lachlan, a year elder to James, told the Fox staff in the memo that the channel’s successes were made possible by the staff members and that he was “deeply grateful” for their contributions even during the time of the coronavirus pandemic. He also praised the channel’s news coverage saying: “More than ever this year, our audiences turned to us for the best in national and local news. Fox News, which ended fiscal year 2020 with record-breaking viewership, was also the leading primetime network in all of television among total viewers in June, marking the first cable network to ever lead all broadcast networks in ratings for an entire month.”
The undercurrents in the Murdoch family came more to the fore in recent times with Rupert promoting Lachlan over James despite the latter’s loyalty towards the family business and the tumultuous relationship between the two brothers over the years. It is said that Rupert had set a practice of playing his own children against each other since their childhood to see who was the most capable one to succeed him.
News Corp is one of the two major media conglomerates that the Murdochs own (the other being Fox Corporation), which was set up after The Walt Disney Company acquired the majority of 21st Century Fox in 2019. News Corporation was founded in 1980 in Adelaide, Australia, and later launched in the US. The two sister companies were formed following its split in 2013.
James has been known to be more liberal than his elder brother whose viewpoints are known to be more in alignment with those of Rupert, a supporter of President Donald Trump. James is known to be a supporter of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
James Murdoch and wife criticized Fox coverage of Australia bushfire
Lachlan’s memo full of praises stood in contrast to James’s take on the company on a number of occasions in the past. He and his wife Kathryn, who works on climate change, slammed the family business for denying climate change when a devastating bushfire hit Australia this January. The couple released a statement expressing their disappointment by the coverage of the fire by Fox News and other News Corp outlets. That incident sparked speculation of a rift in the media family.
James also spoke about his professional break from the family business during a revealing interview with the New Yorker last year. He was out of work when the Fox-Disney merger happened but also ended up being $2 billion richer because of his shares in the company. He even said that there are periods when he did not have words with Rupert.
Lachlan, who has been his father’s ‘gold child’ and the most loyal, became the CEO of Fox Corp after it sold most of its entertainment assets to Walt Disney. James was at the helm of the business before the deal was made when it was called 21st Century Fox. But prior to Lachlan’s appointment, James’s name was overlooked in the press release that announced the move.