Rupert Murdoch’s Australian newspapers hit the streets on Friday morning without the news that the media mogul was stepping down and his son Lachlan would become sole chair of News Corp as well as Fox Corp. The news was broken – after the print deadline in Australia – by one of Murdoch’s US mastheads, the Wall Street Journal.
In a note to staff, which was also sent to Australian staff, Murdoch did not use the word retirement. “For my entire professional life, I have been engaged daily with news and ideas, and that will not change,” he said. “But the time is right for me to take on different roles.”
The Australian newspaper and the tabloid metros, including the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, played catchup, publishing online stories about midnight on Thursday after clearly not getting a tipoff from News Corp’s New York headquarters that the Murdoch succession was about to be announced. To be fair, no one was tipped off – it was just better timing for the US media.
#Breaking: Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chair of Fox and News Corp, after building a media empire over seven decades that revolutionised news and entertainment. Full details: https://t.co/k0KNXMe4up pic.twitter.com/vEj6CFMDNl
— The Australian (@australian) September 21, 2023
The UK redtop top the Sun framed the story as a new job for the 92-year-old media tycoon. “Sun boss Rupert Murdoch is moving to a new role as chairman emeritus of our publisher News Corp and Fox Corporation,” it reported. “Mr Murdoch said ‘the time is right’ to take on different roles, which will see him continuing to provide counsel and advice to both companies.”
In the US, Murdoch’s New York Post also reported the story as a new role rather than an ending: “Rupert Murdoch is taking on a new role at both News Corp and Fox as his son, Lachlan Murdoch, becomes sole chair of both media giants, the companies said Thursday.”
It was left to the non-Murdoch-owned New York Times to use the word “retirement’ and to describe the move as “the formal end to an active career”.
“And the term ‘semi retirement’ was being used inside the Fox Corporation offices on Thursday indicating that it might be premature to write Mr Murdoch’s corporate obituary just yet,” the Times said.
The Daily Telegraph in Sydney said Murdoch was “stepping down from the global media empire”.
“Mr Murdoch, 92, will remain as chairman of both companies until November, leaving after the firms’ respective annual general meetings,” News.com.au said. “He will then take on the role of chairman emeritus.”
Al Jazeera’s report included commentary about Murdoch’s influence in the conservative world. “Murdoch has drawn criticism over the years from some human rights advocates in the US and other countries who say the rightwing media empire he established has fuelled political polarisation,” the Arab network said.
Sky News Australia host Andrew Bolt described Murdoch as a genius who picked segments of the market – mostly conservative readers and viewers – that were underserved and gave them a voice.
Bolt told Sky News the two “biggest” business decisions Murdoch made were his purchase of the Sun in the UK and the creation of the Fox News network in the US.
“It got him a lot of enemies in the left, but I think, actually establishes the fact that he has always been antiestablishment, anti-elites and for the little guy.”
The Saturday editions of the Murdoch papers are almost certainly going to be filled with glowing tributes.
