tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/james-murdoch-9618/articlesJames Murdoch – The Conversation2021-10-18T04:23:21Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1697332021-10-18T04:23:21Z2021-10-18T04:23:21ZWhat’s behind News Corp’s new spin on climate change?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426834/original/file-20211018-7324-1j5x0jm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Lane/EPA/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s Murdoch-owned tabloid newspapers – including The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and Courier Mail – have embarked on a bold new climate change campaign. </p>
<p>This climate rebrand, dubbed “<a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/mission-zero-putting-australia-on-a-path-to-a-net-zero-future/news-story/83f521bfd9d592ab6defdab7d3b81ce8">missionzero2050</a>”, is billed by the company as “putting Australia on a path to a net zero future”. </p>
<p>The change has surprised Australian media observers and, no doubt, media consumers given News Corp’s long-held <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/nov/21/news-corps-rupert-murdoch-says-there-are-no-climate-change-deniers-around-here">climate denialist stance</a>, which is well documented <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/1/24/how-murdochracy-controls-the-climate-debate-in-australia">in public commentary</a> and <a href="https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/Sceptical-Climate-Part-2-Climate-Science-in-Australian-Newspapers.pdf">research</a>.</p>
<p>So why is this happening now? And what does it mean? </p>
<h2>What does the new campaign say?</h2>
<p>Last Monday, News Corp’s tabloid mastheads began the new campaign with a 16-page wraparound supplement and a splashy <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/mission-zero-putting-australia-on-a-path-to-a-net-zero-future/news-story/83f521bfd9d592ab6defdab7d3b81ce8">online campaign</a> championing the drive to cut climate warming emissions by 2050.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-cop26-and-why-does-the-fate-of-earth-and-australias-prosperity-depend-on-it-169648">What is COP26 and why does the fate of Earth, and Australia's prosperity, depend on it?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>News Corp must have done its climate communication research. It has assembled a collection of stories using <a href="https://www.climatechange.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/419148/CCC-Lit-Review-Guide-for-Policymakers.pdf">best-practice climate communication</a> techniques: telling a global story with a local face, <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/from-sydney-to-london-what-rising-seas-could-do-to-our-cities/news-story/ef34e8be6c460aedc85dc99366354601">visualising climate impacts</a> and focusing on solutions, not creating fear.</p>
<p>Crucially, the campaign marks a change from News Corp’s long-held position on climate action. It’s moved from calling decarbonisation <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/shortens-climate-push-hits-workers/news-story/f8e965f5841fa06838671144f4513022">too expensive</a> and bad for jobs (it tagged the cost at A$600 billion in 2015), to describing it now as a potential $2.1 trillion economic “windfall”, offering opportunities for 672,000 new jobs. </p>
<h2>News Corp and climate change</h2>
<p>What News Corp does matters, because it has extensive influence in Australia’s media market.</p>
<p>The company’s newspaper, radio, pay TV and online news portfolio gives it <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-14/fact-file-rupert-murdoch-media-reach-in-australia/100056660">significant audience reach</a> and huge political sway. In April, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/utterly-unaccountable-turnbull-labels-news-corp-the-most-powerful-political-actor-in-australia-20210412-p57idq.html">labelled</a> the Murdoch media “the most powerful political actor in Australia”. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1381437037342031874"}"></div></p>
<p>Most people derive their understanding of climate change <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20200623102230-mqb46/">from the media</a>. So News Corp’s audience reach (which included <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-14/fact-file-rupert-murdoch-media-reach-in-australia/100056660">about 100</a> print and digital mastheads as of early 2021) has given it extensive influence over Australians’ knowledge of and opinions about climate change, profoundly shaping public debate.</p>
<p>Murdoch media outlets have denied the science of climate change and ridiculed climate action for more than a decade. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/30/one-third-of-australias-media-coverage-rejects-climate-science-study-finds">2013 study</a> by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism found climate denialist views in a third of Australian media coverage of climate change, and pointed to News Corp outlets as the key reason for this. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-wars-carbon-taxes-and-toppled-leaders-the-30-year-history-of-australias-climate-response-in-brief-169545">Climate wars, carbon taxes and toppled leaders: the 30-year history of Australia’s climate response, in brief</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>News Corp’s commentators have <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/the-age-cries-for-warming-alarmists-it-should--hold-to-account/news-story/02a77e6c8a907e08ea2cb66555afc2f3">described</a> those arguing for climate action as “alarmists” and “<a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/climate-scientists-taking-cues-from-greta-thunberg/video/25c13b73c34cfbf20a297caeb7534c28">loons</a>”, who are <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/andrew-bolt/andrew-bolt-global-warming-hysteria-overlooks-practicalities/news-story/0c0a079ef1d64c831d851fc33cc80ac8">prone</a> to “warming hysteria”. They have also <a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/andrew-bolt/the-global-warming-cult-is-getting-very-dangerous-bolt/video/ede99bc9e744990251378becd1c17594">said</a> climate concern is a “cult of the elite” <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/dear-abc-maybe-i-just-follow-the-evidence-not-orders/news-story/e6b0839a6652f49234599568cae34483">and</a> the “effects of global warming have so far proved largely benign”. </p>
<p>Despite this, in 2019, Murdoch <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/nov/21/news-corps-rupert-murdoch-says-there-are-no-climate-change-deniers-around-here">declared</a> there were “no climate change deniers” in his company.</p>
<h2>Signs of a mood shift</h2>
<p>This pivot on climate change was not entirely unexpected. </p>
<p>The company had been signalling a mood shift since early 2020, in the wake of its controversial reporting on the Black Summer bushfires, which saw it accused of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/jan/04/the-australian-murdoch-owned-newspaper-accused-of-downplaying-bushfires-in-favour-of-picnic-races">downplaying</a> the fires and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/feb/16/bushfire-article-in-the-australian-that-fuelled-misinformation-cleared-by-press-council">fuelling misinformation</a> about the cause.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="James Murdoch" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/426845/original/file-20211018-13-qldm2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">James Murdoch, pictured in 2015, has become a vocal critic of News Corp’s approach to climate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sang Tan/AP/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At that time, Rupert Murdoch’s son James expressed his concerns about the “<a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/james-murdoch-blasts-news-corp-s-ongoing-climate-change-denial/99380967-f22b-43f7-b2ce-49d1c09f46f5">ongoing denial</a>” of climate change at News Corp in the face of “obvious evidence to the contrary”. </p>
<p>He subsequently resigned his position on the company’s board. Early last month, the Nine newspapers <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/rupert-murdoch-newspapers-24-hour-news-channel-to-champion-net-zero-emissions-20210905-p58oyx.html">flagged</a> an imminent change of stance on climate at News Corp, noting, “Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire has faced growing international condemnation and pressure from advertisers over its editorial stance on climate change”.</p>
<h2>The fine print</h2>
<p>Despite the gloss of missionzero2050 (the newspapers <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/mission-zero-putting-australia-on-a-path-to-a-net-zero-future/news-story/83f521bfd9d592ab6defdab7d3b81ce8">say</a> they are only focusing on “positive stories” about creating “a clean future while having fun and feeling good at the same time”), a deeper analysis shows the campaign has some quite specific agendas, signalling its climate epiphany may be limited.</p>
<p>In the stories that make up the campaign, it is still rolling out business-as-usual narratives like: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>defending Australia’s emissions as small compared to other countries, especially China (therefore suggesting we do not need to take drastic action)</p></li>
<li><p>framing renewables as an unreliable source of energy (so not an adequate replacement for fossil fuels)</p></li>
<li><p>promoting Australia’s coal as cleaner than other countries’ (some of it may be, but the International Energy Agency says the world must <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/01/world-kick-coal-habit-start-green-recovery-iea-fatih-birol">start quitting coal now</a> to stay within safer global warming limits)</p></li>
<li><p>promoting gas as having half the emissions of coal (burning gas does emit less carbon dioxide, but its extraction also causes <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/gas-driving-massive-increase-in-fugitive-emissions/?atb=DSA01b&gclid=CjwKCAjwk6-LBhBZEiwAOUUDp7HjbvkQdWrhucIg7iSdxrY8vLdRkknnMLfCTpJNftPaZY-ptbPDDRoCPjMQAvD_BwE">fugitive emissions</a> of methane, a gas that’s about <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/scientists-concerned-by-record-high-global-methane-emissions">30 times more powerful</a> as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over 100 years)</p></li>
<li><p>advocating carbon capture and storage (which is not yet a proven way to <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/what-is-carbon-capture-and-storage/">reduce emissions </a>from burning fossil fuels)</p></li>
<li><p>criticising a carbon pollution price (<a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-a-carbon-price-and-why-do-we-need-one/">economists widely agree</a> this is the single most effective way to encourage polluters to reduce greenhouse gas emissons).</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/economists-back-carbon-price-say-benefits-of-net-zero-outweigh-costs-169939">Economists back carbon price, say benefits of net-zero outweigh costs</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Surprisingly, the campaign is making a big effort to <a href="https://www.themercury.com.au/technology/environment/australian-miners-awu-back-nuclear-power-to-achieve-net-zero/news-story/d55b3b1a97e392c0b5095234c7477af6">spruik nuclear power</a>. It states: “our aversion to nuclear energy defies logic” and advocates strongly for an Australian nuclear industry for “national security” purposes as well as energy. </p>
<p>Overall, the missionzero2050 agenda seems to be set on supporting new and existing extractive industries and Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “<a href="https://theconversation.com/malcolm-turnbull-condemns-scott-morrisons-gas-gas-gas-song-as-a-fantasy-146705">gas-led recovery</a>”. </p>
<p>Strangely, the campaign also <a href="https://media.news.com.au/multimedia/2021/NED-4717-Mission-Zero-special-report/Mission-Zero-booklet4.pdf">emphasises</a> “putting Australia first” – although efforts to deal with climate change must be inherently globally focused.</p>
<h2>Loud silences</h2>
<p>What’s most perverse, perhaps, about missionzero2050 are the things it does not say or acknowledge. There has been no mention of News Corp’s years of intentionally undermining decarbonisation and helping to topple Australian leaders who advocated for climate action.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1447653982978158592"}"></div></p>
<p>Oddly, News Corp has not muzzled its high-profile commentators. Columnist Andrew Bolt was quick to make it known that he thought the campaign was “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/oct/13/news-corps-andrew-bolt-says-his-companys-climate-campaign-is-rubbish">rubbish</a>”. </p>
<p>Nor has it aligned its advertising with the missionzero2050 message. For example, last Wednesday, the Herald Sun ran a half-page ad placed by the climate “sceptical” <a href="https://www.desmog.com/climate-study-group/">Climate Study Group</a> about the “great climate change furphy,” discrediting climate science and advocating for more coal and nuclear power.</p>
<h2>What might it mean?</h2>
<p>The timing of the campaign, just as Morrison <a href="https://theconversation.com/joyce-says-nationals-dont-want-bigger-2030-climate-target-as-party-room-frets-about-regional-protections-170085">negotiates</a> with the Nationals ahead of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-cop26-and-why-does-the-fate-of-earth-and-australias-prosperity-depend-on-it-169648">COP26 climate conference</a>, is likely to be no coincidence. It seems designed to provide cover for a potential shift on the part of the Coalition towards a mid-century net zero declaration. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/barnaby-joyce-has-refused-to-support-doubling-australias-2030-emissions-reduction-targets-but-we-could-get-there-so-cheaply-and-easily-169932">Barnaby Joyce has refused to support doubling Australia's 2030 emissions reduction targets – but we could get there so cheaply and easily</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Morrison is also under intense pressure from other world leaders <a href="https://theconversation.com/spot-the-difference-as-world-leaders-rose-to-the-occasion-at-the-biden-climate-summit-morrison-faltered-159295">to lift his ambitions on climate</a>. He’ll be expected to bring new plans for emissions cuts to the table in Glasgow.</p>
<p>Some commentators have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/12/news-corps-turnaround-on-climate-is-a-greenwash">labelled</a> the Murdoch pivot “greenwashing”. Others have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/rupert-murdoch-climate-change-news-outlets-australia-policy-change-2021-9">called</a> it a “desperate ploy to rehabilitate the public image of a leading climate villain”.</p>
<p>However perplexing the Murdoch papers’ climate U-turn may seem, at least Morrison will know Australia’s “most powerful political actor” is not likely to campaign against any 2050 net zero declaration. </p>
<p>Given News Corp’s power to subvert the national narrative on climate, that’s important if we want to see the action that’s so long overdue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169733/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabi Mocatta is co-lead of Deakin University's Climate Change Communication and Narratives Network. She is also vice-president of the Board of the International Environmental Communication Association.</span></em></p>The Murdoch tabloids have just embarked on a bold new climate campaign, despite previously describing those who want action as ‘loons’.Gabi Mocatta, Research Fellow in Climate Change Communication, Climate Futures Program, University of Tasmania, and Lecturer in Communication - Journalism, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1437992020-08-02T09:50:07Z2020-08-02T09:50:07ZJames Murdoch’s resignation is the result of News Corp’s increasing shift to the right – not just on climate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350699/original/file-20200802-16-9r8mhx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In happier times: Lachlan, Rupert and James Murdoch at Rupert's marriage to Jerry Hall in 2016.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>James Murdoch is not the most obvious candidate for editorial heroism. His route to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/james-murdoch-resigns-from-news-corp-board-20200801-p55hir.html">resigning from the News Corp board</a> because of “disagreements over certain editorial content” has been circuitous and colourful.</p>
<p>James’s first major managerial role in his father’s media empire was to run the Star satellite services and News Corp’s Asian operations in Hong Kong from 2000 to 2003. He had mixed commercial success in this period, which is best remembered for his determination to gain access to the Chinese market by currying favour with the government. </p>
<p>He accused Western media of painting a falsely negative portrayal of China through their focus on controversial issues such as human rights and Taiwan. In 2001, he <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-mar-23-fi-41576-story.html">advised Hong Kong’s democracy movement</a> to “accept the reality of life under a strong-willed absolutist government”. In one of his dealings with China, <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-proves-immune-to-murdoch-style-regime-change-21744">he agreed</a> that Murdoch’s cable channels around the world would take China’s propaganda channel CCTV9.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/china-proves-immune-to-murdoch-style-regime-change-21744">China proves immune to Murdoch-style regime change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In 2003, he was promoted to run BSkyB in London, where he lived for the best part of the next decade, and where he successfully expanded Murdoch’s satellite services.</p>
<p>He gained early notoriety with a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/0937_mactaggart.pdf">confrontational speech</a> at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. Here he celebrated the digital age and the dynamism of the market, and equated people who still believed in regulation with “creationists”. There was no doubt about his primary target: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To let the state enjoy a near monopoly of information is to guarantee manipulation and distortion.</p>
<p>Yet we have a system in which state-sponsored media – the BBC in particular – grow ever more dominant. That process has to be reversed.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It takes a particularly agile propagandist to find the Beijing regime so benign and the BBC so sinister.</p>
<p>James’s main aim at the time was to effect a total takeover of BSkyB, raising News Corp’s current share of 40% to 100%. The importance of BSkyB to the Murdoch empire was demonstrated by James’s boldest and most ruthless action. In 2006, the newly formed Virgin Media group was <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/itv-shares-rocket-as-virgin-media-owner-liberty-global-buys-481m-bskyb-stake-9611675.html">negotiating a merger</a> with ITV. The new group’s cable operations would have the potential to provide tougher competition for BSkyB’s satellite service.</p>
<p>Overnight, James swooped, buying 17.9% of ITV for a cost of GBP 940 million. This made News Corp ITV’s biggest shareholder and messed up the intended deal. </p>
<p>News’s move was always likely to be deemed illegal, but by the time this was finally <a href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/rupert-murdoch_a-reassessment/">decided nearly four years later</a>, the challenge was dead. News lost GBP 340 million pounds on its forced sale of ITV shares, but no doubt Rupert and James thought this had been a good investment to protect BSkyB’s market share. </p>
<p>After the 2010 election of the Cameron government in the UK, BSkyB looked to be within reach, but James was increasingly impatient with any procedural obstacle or criticism of the attempt. His mentality at the time was on show in an incident in the lead up to the election. The Independent newspaper ran <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/independent-launches-election-themed-campaign/998380">a series of advertisements</a> proclaiming its independence and urging its readers to consider their vote. One such ad ran “Rupert Murdoch won’t decide this election, you will”. </p>
<p>James’s response was bizarre. He and Rebekah Brooks <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/24/james-murdoch-rebekah-brooks-simon-kelner-independen">arrived unannounced at the paper</a>, and James yelled at the editor, Simon Kelner, in front of bemused journalists that he was a “fucking fuckwit”, among other things.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="AAP/AP/Sang Tan" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350711/original/file-20200802-17-6n7buo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350711/original/file-20200802-17-6n7buo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350711/original/file-20200802-17-6n7buo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350711/original/file-20200802-17-6n7buo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350711/original/file-20200802-17-6n7buo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350711/original/file-20200802-17-6n7buo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/350711/original/file-20200802-17-6n7buo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">James Murdoch with Rebekah Brooks in 2011.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Phone hacking scandal</h2>
<p>James’s hopes for BSkyB were about to be washed away by a scandal, which did him and the company enormous damage. After the outstanding investigative efforts of Nick Davies, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/jul/04/milly-dowler-voicemail-hacked-news-of-world">the Guardian published</a> that Murdoch’s News of the World had hacked the phone of a kidnap victim Milly Dowler. This not only created immediate outrage but opened the door for many further revelations about the illegal methods and invasions of privacy by the tabloids to follow. Parliamentary hearings, court cases, and eventually the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/leveson-inquiry-report-into-the-culture-practices-and-ethics-of-the-press">Leveson inquiry</a> all put the company’s illegal and unethical practices into public view. </p>
<p>At first the arrogance of the Murdoch camp was undented. In private, chief editorial executive Rebekah Brooks said the story <a href="http://www.abramis.co.uk/books/bookdetails.php?id=999999556">was going to end</a> with Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger on his knees begging for mercy.</p>
<p>James, as News Corp’s senior executive in Britain when the scandal broke, found his own actions under scrutiny. His denials, prevarications and lack of remorse did not help the company’s cause. His appearances before the parliamentary committees were disastrous. At the end of his testimony, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-politics-15673551/tom-watson-labels-james-murdoch-mafia-boss">Labour member Tom Watson said</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Mr Murdoch, you must be the first mafia boss in history who didn’t know he was running a criminal enterprise. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p_dle96Y-wc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Climate change denial</h2>
<p>James left London for New York and his promised promotion in the company. But his reputation was in tatters, even with other members of the family. His public persona at this time consisted of neo-liberal politics and corporate ruthlessness, with his actions untroubled by ethical considerations.</p>
<p>Yet, now, this corporate and family loyalist has resigned from his last official position with the company. James has long seen the urgency of combating global warming. As early as 2006, largely at his urging, Rupert also embraced the issue. Rupert soon retreated from the cause, but James’s commitment continued. </p>
<p>Rupert’s conversion had surprisingly little impact on the company’s journalism. Its upper editorial echelons contained a large number of climate denialists, and Rupert seems to have never made any effort to change their views.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/naming-and-shaming-two-young-women-shows-the-only-enemies-of-the-state-are-the-media-143685">Naming and shaming two young women shows the only 'enemies of the state' are the media</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In addition, James’s wife, Kathryn, is by the rather special standards of the Murdoch family, a liberal and a progressive. She has been involved in several environmental organisations, and James and Kathryn have donated to several Democratic candidates, including <a href="https://www.newsbreak.com/news/1601633308747/james-murdoch-wife-give-123-million-to-biden-campaign">most recently</a> the presidential campaign of Joe Biden.</p>
<p>James made a rare public criticism of the company last Australian summer. He <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/james-murdoch-breaks-ranks-over-climate-change-denial-20200115-p53rie.html">accused News Corp</a> of promoting climate denialism during its coverage of the Australian bushfires.</p>
<h2>Out of step</h2>
<p>However the key events are probably in America. At the same time that James and Kathryn have been edging left, the Murdoch organisation has been moving ever further to the right. The commercial success and political impact of Fox News have doubtless shaped Rupert’s thinking and the whole company’s journalism has become more Foxified. </p>
<p>There has rarely if ever been an alliance of president and media company like that of Trump with Fox News. He is their chief publicist and they an uncritical avenue for his views, especially to his base. So far, it has probably worked out well for both.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-irreverence-to-irrelevance-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-bad-tempered-tabloids-113656">From irreverence to irrelevance: the rise and fall of the bad-tempered tabloids</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, the dangers are acute, especially as Trump’s popularity wanes. Moreover, an erratic president such as Trump poses problems for the credibility of those who seek to embrace his every twist and turn.</p>
<p>This year’s pandemic, economic and racial problems have given a new urgency to these issues. Over the past six months, there have been more than <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/us-coronavirus-deaths-top-150-000-nearly-a-quarter-of-the-world-s-total-20200730-p55grd.html">double the fatalities</a> Americans suffered in over 12 years in the Vietnam War. It is hard to remember any leadership failure approaching Trump’s catastrophe on COVID-19. Some early studies suggested Trump’s denialism, echoed by Fox, meant their viewers had more false beliefs about the pandemic than Americans who consumed mainstream media. </p>
<p>After <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/as-trump-stands-by-charlottesville-remarks-rise-of-white-nationalist-violence-becomes-an-issue-in-2020-presidential-race/2019/04/28/83aaf1ca-69c0-11e9-a66d-a82d3f3d96d5_story.html">Trump’s comments</a> after a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, James <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-18/fox-ceo-donates-1-million-to-adl-in-trump-protest-nyt-reports">donated $1 million</a> to the Anti-Defamation League.</p>
<p>James has taken a principled stance, but it is also pragmatic. Since the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/mar/20/disney-seals-71bn-deal-for-21st-century-fox-as-it-prepares-to-take-on-netflix">sale of the bulk</a> of Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox assets to Disney (of which James was chief executive), there is no future role for him in the corporation.</p>
<p>By also resigning from the News Corp Board, he will be freer to express his own views, and perhaps have the chance to watch from a distance as Trump is defeated and Fox heads into decline together in the coming months.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143799/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rodney Tiffen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It is more likely the Trump administration, and the cosy relationship it has with Murdoch’s Fox news, on top of differences on climate change, that was the last straw for James.Rodney Tiffen, Emeritus Professor, Department of Government and International Relations, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/802852017-06-29T17:01:41Z2017-06-29T17:01:41ZDecision to refer Sky bid to regulator a blow to Murdochs – but will it be short-lived?<p>The Murdoch Family Trust’s long-held ambition to take full ownership of Sky, the UK’s largest broadcaster (by revenue), appears to have been dealt a blow. The culture secretary, Karen Bradley, has told parliament she is “minded” to refer the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jun/29/rupert-murdoch-sky-takeover-bid-referred-to-competition-authorites">£11.7 billion takeover bid</a> by 21st Century Fox for the 61% of Sky that it doesn’t already own to the competition authorities on the grounds that the deal will diminish media plurality in the UK. </p>
<p>In particular, Bradley cited concerns about the Murdoch family’s influence on the news agenda and their “ability to influence the political process” given the merged company’s unique reach across all platforms.</p>
<p>This is not news that Rupert Murdoch will have wanted to hear – not least because a full six-month inquiry by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) could lead to Fox having to shoulder a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jun/20/foxs-117bn-bid-for-sky-should-be-referred-to-competition-authorities">multi-million dollar payout</a> to shareholders for failing to complete the deal before the end of the year.</p>
<p>The bid was originally lodged in 2011 and looked set to proceed, but revelations of phone-hacking and the widespread public revulsion they caused led to the bid being shelved. It was <a href="https://theconversation.com/murdoch-sky-bid-is-a-nasty-christmas-headache-for-the-culture-secretary-70599">revived late last year</a> and referred to Ofcom by the culture minister.</p>
<p>For critics of the Murdochs, Bradley’s decision is a welcome development – but they shouldn’t get the champagne out just yet as there are some major problems with the government’s position.</p>
<p>First, Bradley noted that the “undertakings” offered by Murdoch to sweeten the deal – such as commitments to an independent editorial board at Sky News and to maintain Sky News as a brand distinct from Fox News – were “insufficient” to allay concerns about the Murdoch family’s influence. Yet she made it quite clear that 21st Century Fox would be able to come back to her with other “undertakings” that she would consider before taking her final decision.</p>
<h2>Trust me</h2>
<p>When it comes to undertakings from the Murdochs, it is worth recalling what Harold Evans, the former editor of the Sunday Times, had to say. Evans was editor when Murdoch made his bid for Times Newspapers in 1981. He has since written that, at the time, Murdoch met with Margaret Thatcher and promised that he would maintain their tradition of independence: “He broke every one of those promises in the first years,” Evans <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/28/how-margaret-thatcher-and-rupert-murdoch-made-secret-deal">told The Guardian</a>. In his <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Times-Bad-Harold-Evans/dp/1480449202">book</a> on the episode, he quotes Murdoch himself saying that the undertakings were “not worth the paper they were written on”. </p>
<p>James Murdoch, who holds the joint roles of chief executive of 21st Century Fox and chairman of Sky, recently was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/15/rupert-murdoch-sky-bid-pay-tv">quoted</a> as saying, in relation to the deal, “that no meaningful concessions will need to be made”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"880104892236476417"}"></div></p>
<p>Second, objections to the deal based on concerns around both corporate governance failures at Fox and the status of the Murdoch family as “fit and proper” holders of a broadcast licence have been waved away by <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2017/findings-fox-sky-merger">Ofcom</a>. This is before the stalled Leveson-2 inquiry has been able to pursue <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/dec/14/gordon-brown-delay-murdoch-sky-takeover-leveson-part-2">further allegations of corruption</a> inside Murdoch’s UK organisation together with the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brettedkins/2017/05/22/fox-news-sued-for-racial-discrimination-sexual-harassment-by-three-more-employees/#56fbf48e5985">spate of lawsuits</a> launched earlier this year in relation to allegations of sexual and racial harassment at Fox. </p>
<p>Ofcom claims to have taken these issues very seriously, but <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/latest/media/media-releases/2017/findings-fox-sky-merger">concluded</a> that “we would need to see evidence of misconduct in the parent company, Fox”.</p>
<p>Fox, meanwhile, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/may/11/fox-news-must-let-ofcom-meet-harassment-victims-lawyer-says">revealed</a> it had spent about $45m (£35m) in relation to sexual harassment litigation in the nine months to March 2017. It said in a statement: “We take allegations of any form of discrimination extremely seriously.”</p>
<p>The irony, of course, is that Bradley’s own government has failed to give a green light to the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/3ec7f94d-c175-39b7-814a-5e91c4cb05a8?mhq5j=e1">Leveson-2 inquiry</a>, which is supposed to deal with the relationship between the press and the police. These issues have not gone away. Dozens of victims of phone hacking are taking legal action against the publisher of The Sun, News UK, in a trial that is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/apr/28/sun-trial-phone-hacking-damages-les-dennis">expected to start this autumn</a> – right in the middle of the CMA investigation (should it take place).</p>
<h2>Friends and influence</h2>
<p>Since the recent general election there have been claims in some quarters that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jun/11/media-bias-no-longer-matters-general-election-2017">media bias is no longer an issue</a> and that – when it comes to the power of their influence – papers like The Sun have had their day. But the agenda-setting power of billionaire media moguls remains an urgent subject for public debate and action.</p>
<p>We still don’t know what Murdoch and Theresa May discussed when they had a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/29/theresa-may-meeting-rupert-murdoch-times-sun">private meeting</a> in New York last autumn although we do know that Murdoch and his lobbyists have been the most <a href="http://www.mediareform.org.uk/featured/murdochs-lobbying-efforts-increasing-new-analysis-finds">frequent visitors to 10 Downing Street</a> at a time when the press have been desperately lobbying government not to introduce meaningful and independent press regulation.</p>
<p>The media landscape may be changing and new voices may be emerging thanks to wider political transformations but the moguls who have shaped our political culture for so long aren’t quite ready to throw in the towel. Should the deal be allowed to proceed, we would see the Murdoch Family Trust tighten its grip across multiple media platforms and strengthen the family’s position at the top of the media money tree. This story is far from over.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80285/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Des Freedman is the former chair of the Media Reform Coalition.</span></em></p>Culture secretary Karen Bradley’s decision will stall the bid, but the saga is far from over.Des Freedman, Professor of Media and Communications, Goldsmiths, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/539142016-01-29T17:41:35Z2016-01-29T17:41:35ZHere comes the son: Sky’s not the limit for James Murdoch<p>In a move that <a href="http://www.brandrepublic.com/article/james-murdoch-returns-chairman-sky/1381386?bulletin=brandrepublicnewsbulletin&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=eNews%20Bulletin&utm_source=20160129&utm_content=www_brandrepublic_com_art_2">Brand Republic</a> describes as “highly symbolic” James Murdoch is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jan/29/james-murdoch-sky-chairman-rupert-murdoch?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Media+Briefing+new+v2&utm_term=153666&subid=937249&CMP=ema_546">to return</a> to Sky, the UK’s leading subscription broadcaster, as chairman.</p>
<p>This is a remarkable personal rehabilitation. Murdoch the younger will, according to the BBC’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35436401">Kamal Ahmed</a>, become one of the most powerful figures in European television – and, as <a href="http://www.jomec.co.uk/blog/wp-admin/%C2%A0http:/www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/james-murdoch-takes-over-as-sky-chairman-four-years-after-he-resigned-over-phone-hacking-a6840941.html%20">Hazel Sheffield</a> points out, the appointment will encourage speculation that Fox, where James Murdoch currently serves as CEO, may be looking to buy the rest of Sky – of which it presently has a controlling (minority) stake of 39%.</p>
<p>It’s been some decade for Rupert’s youngest son who in 2012, in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, <a href="http://www.imediaethics.org/james-murdoch-resigns-from-news-international-still-deputy-coo-of-news-corp/%20">resigned his positions</a> as both executive chairman of News International and BskyB. But, though criticised by communications regulator <a href="http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/tv-ops/fit-proper/bskyb-final.pdf?intcmp=239">OFCOM</a> for repeatedly falling short “of the conduct expected of him as a chief executive officer and chairman” in his role at News International he did not go quietly.</p>
<p>A matter of months after resigning as chairman of BskyB he was reappointed as a director of the company with, as the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/nov/01/james-murdoch-reappointed-director-bskyb">Guardian reported</a>, the support of 95% of shareholders. Indeed, if you also factor in James Murdoch’s position with Fox, then this “return” is hardly the surprise that the headline writers may have us believe.</p>
<h2>Leveson who?</h2>
<p>But it does signify, once again, the collective return to prominence and power of certain individuals who were only a year or two ago deemed to be seriously damaged by the Leveson report and the phone-hacking trials. In September 2015, in a move described by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0311y2d">Evan Harris</a>, joint executive director of Hacked Off, as the actions of a “dynastic, mafia-type corporation … with no regard for the feelings of the victims of phone hacking”, Rebekah Brooks was appointed <a href="http://www.jomec.co.uk/blog/wp-admin/%20http:/www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-34141026">chief executive of News UK</a> (formerly News International).</p>
<p>And who would have thought, in July 2011 as he sat humbled and “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14195259">deeply apologetic</a>” before the Commons media and culture committee giving evidence on News International’s role in the phone-hacking scandal, that Rupert Murdoch would once again welcome the hierarchy of the British government into his home? Yet there they all were in December 2015 at his Christmas house party: David Cameron, George Osborne and John Whittingdale, the culture secretary – whose job it is, wrote the Guardian’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/dec/22/cameron-osborne-and-murdoch-back-together-at-moguls-christmas-knees-up">Jane Martinson</a>, to “regulate the media industry”.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YzRXLwEp9z0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>It seems that this festive revelry was simply a pleasant way to round off a year characterised by a renewed fondness for each other’s company. Thanks to research undertaken by the <a href="http://www.mediareform.org.uk/blog/meeting-murdoch-news-corp-bosses-still-have-keys-to-the-back-door-of-government">Media Reform Coalition</a> we know that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Far more than any other media group, News Corporation executives met with government ministers, officials or advisers on ten separate occasions in the year leading up to the end of March 2015, eight of them attended by Rupert Murdoch himself (and that’s just the gatherings on official diary).</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>As you were</h2>
<p>As illustrated by the coalition and <a href="http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/why-justice-has-been-loser-whole-sorry-phone-hacking-saga">other commentators</a> the past two years have seen a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for both News Corporation and Rupert Murdoch. In February 2015 the US Department of Justice resolved <a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2015/02/8561450/no-us-prosecution-news-corp-hacking-scandal">not to prosecute</a> News Corp or 21st Century Fox after investigating allegations of phone hacking and bribing public officials abroad. This was followed in the UK in December with the decision by the <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-11/news-corp-won-t-face-corporate-charges-in-phone-hacking-probe">Crown Prosecution Service</a> not to bring corporate charges against News Corporation over hacking due to insufficient evidence. </p>
<p>In what has been a tumultuous few years for the <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/faa20760-a028-11e5-beba-5e33e2b79e46.html#axzz3yd5FnMZr%20">profession of journalism</a> – with hundreds of journalists questioned, arrested and charged as a result of the phone hacking scandal and related journalistic wrongdoing – we are now in a situation, as described by <a href="http://www.jomec.co.uk/blog/wp-admin/%C2%A0http:/www.pressgazette.co.uk/content/why-justice-has-been-loser-whole-sorry-phone-hacking-saga">Liz Gerard</a>, where “the Murdoch empire – revamped in the wake of the scandal – is worth twice as much as it was in 2011”.</p>
<p>Indeed, the seemingly preternatural <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/business/21636753-why-phone-hacking-affair-has-left-rupert-murdoch-better-sailing-through-scandal">Economist</a> stated in late 2014, that far from seeing the destruction of the Murdoch empire since the accumulated scandals:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Mr Murdoch and his family have more than doubled their wealth since the scandal broke. Mr Murdoch, who is 83, remains firmly in charge, and his sons, Lachlan and James, seem better placed than ever to succeed him one day.</p>
<p>All this being the case, and as the appearance of Cameron himself at the Murdoch Christmas shindig would seem to indicate, the second part of the Leveson inquiry will probably not take place while the Conservative government is in office. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The second part of Leveson was meant to consider the extent of unlawful or improper conduct within News International and other media organisations. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/bbc_parliament/newsid_9645000/9645538.stm">The plan</a> was to also “examine the way in which any relevant police force investigated allegations relating to News International and whether the police received corrupt payments or were otherwise complicit in misconduct”.</p>
<p>With James Murdoch at the helm of both Fox and Sky, the prospect of a full takeover of Sky by Fox is much more likely than Leveson Part II. As <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2016/01/29/more-his-fathers-son-james-murdoch-returns-sky-will-renewed-murdoch-takeover-bid">Paul Connew</a>, media analyst and a former deputy editor of the News of the World has written, this is the stated ambition of Murdoch junior and – if it does happen – then Europe’s biggest TV group will be added to a global media group strengthening, rather than withering, while the controversies of the last few years fade conveniently into the memory hole.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
New appointment will make Rupert Murdoch’s youngest son one of the most powerful figures in European broadcasting.John Jewell, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/432022015-06-12T15:56:16Z2015-06-12T15:56:16ZFox shake-up will show if Rupert has oiled the Murdoch machine<p>It looks as if the next generation of Murdochs has officially been appointed. Reports from a variety of sources suggest that 83-year-old <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/12/business/media/rupert-murdoch-ceo-21st-century-fox-james-murdoch.html">Rupert Murdoch is stepping down</a> as CEO of 21st Century Fox and assuming the role of co-Executive chairman along with his eldest son Lachlan, 43. Younger son James, aged 42, is meanwhile taking the reins as CEO. One has to wonder how much this will change things within the business and the extent to which the sons actually have any influence over their father’s decisions. </p>
<p>The obvious question is: have these appointments been made on the basis of patrimony rather than in a meritocratic way? In a family run plumbing company it might make sense, but when the family’s equity capital is split with outside investors, it is a clear source of tension – James has suffered <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/nov/20/investors-oppose-james-murdochs-re-election-to-bskyb-board">scrutiny from investors before now</a>. The discussion boils down to a question of whose needs are the management serving; their own or those of the shareholders?</p>
<h2>Who pulls the strings?</h2>
<p>It is likely that even if Lachlan and James are given these positions, their father will still hold sway over the family business. But how long will the two brothers put up with their father’s interfering? One of the major sources of tension in families who are undergoing a succession process is the conflict which becomes apparent between incumbent and successor.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84865/original/image-20150612-1441-81vyfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84865/original/image-20150612-1441-81vyfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84865/original/image-20150612-1441-81vyfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84865/original/image-20150612-1441-81vyfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84865/original/image-20150612-1441-81vyfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84865/original/image-20150612-1441-81vyfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84865/original/image-20150612-1441-81vyfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84865/original/image-20150612-1441-81vyfy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the driving seat. Who will be top dog?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tudor/11513940656/in/photolist-ixrXqd-51CfBo-yDcjH-AgYq-f9ycWb-daB9LX-BMiKu-fVs7Df-6qS2Kf-cjhPQm-7ps5gY-63dkfM-oYH9fm-9KGLJS-h1qeBu-8phjFX-5KqRE-4rYJ4K-87WhbB-8WVuh-orDmZ-8b1KmG-m4xkW-3yM2Y9-5HYNBT-48LYgB-4T1dm2-8pkh73-2kX9bP-4nWCig-6PSWM9-mZDoXb-3N7Mae-kTUw4-gdyopX-cWPPb-dnj3Z-5bsi2q-npg2g4-4fz5Rw-ftQP4-7UKn58-uUidy-9uHsNf-bpT6u8-r6iNo7-6LaXJ8-61spZ-9fVSH9-2eceL">TheGiantVermin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is often to do with an inability of the founder or incumbent to “let the business go.” In some recent work I undertook, one incumbent told me:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The only way they will get me out of this place is in a wooden box.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This inability to let go frustrates the successor because they are unable to put their stamp on the business. They are constantly getting direction from a parent. It has been reported that Lachlan and James will <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/rupert-murdoch-steps-down-children-james-and-lachlan-to-take-control-of-21st-century-fox-10314015.html">enter into a “partnership”</a>, but again one has to wonder how this will actually work in practice. </p>
<p>It is very common for families to think that a solution is to put both sons in charge of the business and they will work well together, however after a period of time conflict emerges because they are fighting for position and influence. This fight can sometimes be <a href="http://www.tharawat-magazine.com/en/family-business-articles/human-capital/2065-putting-success-back-into-succession-a-values-approach-to-conflict-resolution">due to conflicting values</a>, perhaps exacerbated by the generational shift that occurs.</p>
<h2>Does the daughter ever rise?</h2>
<p>Within all of this there is one person who has not been considered in the press – Rupert’s daughter, Elisabeth Murdoch. At 46, Elisabeth is the eldest of the three siblings and has never been considered for a role in 21st Century Fox.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84866/original/image-20150612-1491-6o7xcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84866/original/image-20150612-1491-6o7xcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/84866/original/image-20150612-1491-6o7xcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84866/original/image-20150612-1491-6o7xcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84866/original/image-20150612-1491-6o7xcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84866/original/image-20150612-1491-6o7xcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84866/original/image-20150612-1491-6o7xcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/84866/original/image-20150612-1491-6o7xcz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sons & Daughters. Love and Laughter?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mediedager/4583830562/in/photolist-4zma1P-7kNUBY-cGenDh-cGenwq-cGeoiS-cGeoA9-3hXw7p-aQp3UD-aQoKQM-cGeo53-7Z4f5d-cGenUq-cGeocG-cGenQW-cGenLo-cGens5-7Z4k8q-7Z11ZH-5CBsSP-d1G3BJ">Nordiske Mediedager</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is yet another issue which is a common cause of conflict in family businesses; when there are children of both genders. <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1819&context=commpapers">Much research shows</a> that fathers will always favour male successors – not because they do not trust their daughters, but because they feel they would worry less about sons making mistakes. </p>
<p>This notion of primogeniture is still very apparent in modern society, even if the most famous family business of all, the British Royal Family, has struck a blow against it by <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8854981/Centuries-old-rule-of-succession-in-British-Royal-family-scrapped-by-Commonwealth.html">abolishing a 300-year-old rule</a> according to which the Crown is passed to the oldest male heir.</p>
<h2>Does anyone notice?</h2>
<p>In businesses where families own a large portion of the voting stock, unclear and unstable succession plans can have a detrimental impact on shareholder confidence. Fox shares have only nudged lower since the reports surfaced, but market watchers have put that down to the apparent <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/danbigman/2015/06/11/fox-shares-hardly-budge-on-reports-rupert-murdoch-is-stepping-down-as-ceo/">continuity of the restructuring</a>. The trick now will be to retain that stability and create assurances around how the relationships are going to work. Any change of this sort will throw up potential conflicts between generations and between siblings which could get investors worrying.</p>
<p>Of course conflict is not always a bad thing; it comes in different flavours. But relationship conflict is the most dangerous kind and can be detrimental to the business. A recent article I wrote for the <a href="http://www.ffi.org/">Family Firm Institute</a> highlights how different types of conflict <a href="http://ffipractitioner.org/2015/01/28/the-allegory-of-conflict-managing-collisions-in-the-family-business/">affect families</a>.</p>
<p>Task and process conflict are commonplace in all businesses – including family firms. These types of conflict centre around what should be done and how it should be achieved. Relationship conflict, however, is about personal feelings of dislike. Of course, there is relationship conflict in non-family firms, but the key difference is that the individuals within family firms are often very close and may even live together. Those in non-family firms go home to a different set of people; families remain family, inside and outside of the workplace.</p>
<p>Markets and investors will be fascinated, and worried, about what this heady brew might bring. More clarity will be needed at Fox’s next board meeting to better understand the strategy and the market reaction. One thing is for sure; if the Murdoch machine is to keep running, the component parts need to work together.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Devine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Succession planning at 21st Century Fox has a very familial feel to it.Anthony Devine, Deputy Programme Leader, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/381362015-02-27T15:47:18Z2015-02-27T15:47:18ZMPs are right – BBC must wake up to new media realities<p>My advice to the BBC: ignore the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee report <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/culture-media-and-sport-committee/news/report-future-of-bbc/">on your future</a> at your peril.</p>
<p>Over the past 30 years the BBC has largely been the author of its own misfortune. While the journalists and programme makers have continued to create and inform, executive leadership has been busy digging the corporation’s future grave. </p>
<p>It’s easy to dismiss the media committee’s various incarnations as a small bunch of parliamentarians washed up from ministerial sackings and twilight political career grazing. But I believe the reports it produces give a bracing and independent wake-up call to anything it investigates.</p>
<p>What the Future of the BBC says is essentially this: your purpose and most of what you do is worthy, vital, and much-loved, great this and great that, but …</p>
<p>The conjunctive “but” in British politics is the equivalent of a mini-stroke that might make you slur your words for a bit, or a small-scale earthquake that will leave some dogs barking and one or two chimney pots toppling to the ground. </p>
<p>But what happens next does not bear thinking about. </p>
<h2>Wake up Auntie, times are changing</h2>
<p>In the same way that there are very few people under 30 buying any kind of newspaper, <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2731277/Now-BBC-threatens-make-iPlayer-users-pay-licence-fee-Director-General-admits-charge-modernised-apply-programmes-catch-service.html">fewer and fewer people under 30 are paying the BBC licence fee</a>, or have any wish to do so. <a>Fewer and fewer are consuming BBC media programmes as live.</a> When they watch or listen again it’s in a new multimedia topography that resents and will not tolerate those unpleasant and threatening letters about not paying the licence fee. </p>
<p>My understanding of the younger generation, even up to the age of 40, is that they think the criminalising of people who don’t pay is utterly immoral. The generation of under 30s, apart from a lucky few in wealthy families, faces a future of debt obligations and credit control.</p>
<p>They are not going to give a meal ticket to BBC executives and “talent” to snuffle £150,000 to £500,000 per annum when, after five years of higher education and interning, a 23-year-old would be lucky to earn £20,000 and find somewhere to live in a London room-share.</p>
<p>Financial insecurity and anxiety is by no means the curse of the young. It’s spreading exponentially to all classes and ages as quickly as distribution of wealth is shrinking. Meanwhile the BBC is a bit like a heroin addict in the advanced stages of an addiction illness. There are no friends and family left to either lend to them, or for them to steal from.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2969436/BBC-mauled-MPs-slam-bosses-squandering-money-accuse-corporation-never-apologising-insist-licence-fee-axed.html">Associated newspapers</a> and News UK publications have always been hyper-critical because ideologically and commercially they are rivals and competitors. But the committee’s observations about the BBC blundering into all kinds of non-broadcasting markets has meant that it is long past the tipping point of having more enemies than friends. </p>
<p>The committee acknowledges the value of the BBC’s “continuing importance as a provider of impartial news and its capacity to bring the country together where its output remains universally available”. But this is constantly hindered because what the BBC has lacked at the top is the imagination always expressed by those at the bottom.</p>
<h2>Towards a new funding model?</h2>
<p>The committee report offers many interesting solutions. It’s argued that “the <a href="http://www.internations.org/germany-expats/guide/16032-media-communication/the-german-radio-and-tv-landscape-16007/broadcast-fees-in-germany-2">German model of a broadcasting levy</a> on all households is our preferred alternative to the TV licence”. Does the BBC have a clear strategy on what would work as a replacement for the licence fee? </p>
<p>The committee suggestion talks of a levy on all households which would obviate the need to identify evaders and provide a fairer way of ensuring those people who use only BBC radio and online services contribute to their costs. It works in Germany which has a thriving public radio and television system alongside the commercial sector.</p>
<h2>Crown jewels</h2>
<p>The committee also quite rightly observes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>At a time when countries like Russia and China are significantly increasing their investment in global media outlets, including services aimed at the UK, we believe that the World Service has an increasingly important role in what is a global information war.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The UK has begun to lose this war because of a disastrous decision to destroy the separate and independent role of the World Service in partnership with Foreign and Commonwealth Office funding. The leaving of Bush House, being absorbed as some kind of expat refugee in the national broadcasting edifice and dependent on licence fee charity has inevitably resulted in lost power and independence.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73317/original/image-20150227-16166-d4d0ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73317/original/image-20150227-16166-d4d0ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/73317/original/image-20150227-16166-d4d0ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73317/original/image-20150227-16166-d4d0ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73317/original/image-20150227-16166-d4d0ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=313&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73317/original/image-20150227-16166-d4d0ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73317/original/image-20150227-16166-d4d0ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/73317/original/image-20150227-16166-d4d0ha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ariel between Wisdom and Gaiety.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ariel_between_Wisdom_and_Gaiety.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Ari">by Mike Knell. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The committee observed: “Given its new funding and oversight arrangements, we fear the importance of the World Service could be diminished.” It’s not a case of could be. It has been.</p>
<p>In 2009, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/aug/28/james-murdoch-bbc-mactaggart-edinburgh-tv-festival">James Murdoch’s MacTaggart lecture</a> accused the BBC of mounting a “land grab” with its online and regional news services “dumping free, state-sponsored news on the market” making it “incredibly difficult for journalism to flourish on the internet”. </p>
<p>He was right – and the report suggests: “We believe there must be a more symbiotic relationship between local media and the BBC, where each benefits from the other.” </p>
<p>The committee was very blunt when it stated the BBC “must not expect to receive others’ news content without providing something in return”. </p>
<p>This is an invitation to dance, not to charge at each other with elbows splayed out. </p>
<p>Extending independent commissioning to news offers exciting collaborative opportunities. The BBC could commission multimedia reporting centres at local and regional government and court centres thus investing in core journalistic specialisms that enhanced democratic scrutiny of key public institutions.</p>
<h2>Who cares, shares</h2>
<p>Wouldn’t the BBC be an inspiration in this context? Why should the riches of drama and cultural programming, remain sealed in the BBC’s own territory? The establishment of a Public Service Broadcasting Commission, could ensure substantial investment in innovative and artistic new writing by seeding sound and visual arts projects in the community and independent broadcasting sector. </p>
<p>What is at stake is £4 billion of annual funding for news, entertainment and cultural communication. Now that’s a prize that should court humility not the boasting and cynicism that sometimes comes with greed and mediocrity.</p>
<p>The BBC needs to pick up on the spirit of the regular adjectives and adverbs used in the report: bold, alternative, wider, fairer, better, and perhaps focus on the regular nouns: transparency, plurality and efficiency. If the BBC is something we all pay for, perhaps the money it has should reach more of those it has never or not so well served.</p>
<p>Perhaps it should be investing more in those 23-year-olds in one bedroom flat-shares who can make exciting programmes on their laptops and smartphones for audiences the BBC is completely unaware of.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38136/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Crook is affiliated to the Chartered Institute of Journalists as a member and serves on its professional practices board.</span></em></p>The Future of the BBC report was right on a number of counts. The public broadcaster would do well to take heed.Tim Crook, Reader in Media and Communication (Goldsmiths), Visiting Professor of Broadcast Journalism (Birmingham City University), Goldsmiths, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/336962014-10-31T13:33:18Z2014-10-31T13:33:18ZBBC flexes its money-making muscles as Guardian calls foul<p>The BBC has put the cat among the pigeons with the <a href="http://www.marketingmag.com.au/news/bbc-global-news-ramps-up-australian-team-and-native-offerings-ahead-of-g20-summit-in-brisbane-57166/#.VE4hwvnkfYh">news</a> that its commercial arm, <a href="http://www.bbcworldwide.com/">BBC Worldwide</a>, will <a href="http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/medianews/article4246017.ece">beef up its presence in Australia</a> by hiring local journalists and launching a dedicated news service on BBC.com. </p>
<p>The news went down particularly badly at The Guardian, which has – of course – recently beefed up its own presence in Australia, taking advantage of the newsroom carnage which has seen hundreds of journalists laid off in recent years to hire some of the country’s most experienced and credentialed reporters and editors.</p>
<p>The Guardian says it has more than doubled its market share in Australia since launching its local edition in May 2013, and that it now reaches more than 1.9m unique visitors a month.</p>
<p>What’s really bugging The Guardian, of course, is that BBC Worldwide will sell advertising into its Australian operation, thereby cramping a market that the executives at Kings Place had earmarked for expansion.</p>
<p>In his Polis public lecture at the London School of Economics recently, Guardian Media Group chief executive <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/gnm-press-office/2014/oct/23/andrew-miller-global-news-media-the-next-horizon">Andrew Miller</a> said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Australia is already a diverse and highly competitive market. The BBC’s expansion into Australia goes beyond its public service remit. More than that, it does not benefit UK licence fee payers or meet the requirement of the BBC to provide news in parts of the world where there are limited alternatives.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Echoes there of James Murdoch’s now-infamous <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/aug/28/james-murdoch-bbc-mactaggart-edinburgh-tv-festival">McTaggart lecture</a> in 2009, when he delivered a fierce “Get your tanks of our lawn” message to the BBC about the public broadcaster’s digital ambitions:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is a land-grab, pure and simple, going on - and in the interests of a free society it should be sternly resisted. The land grab is spear-headed by the BBC. The scale and scope of its current activities and future ambitions is chilling. Being funded by a universal hypothecated tax, the BBC feels empowered and obliged to try and offer something for everyone, even in areas well served by the market.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Given the way The Guardian likes to trumpet its difference from the Murdochs and News Corp in terms of its moral ethos and value set, it was interesting to hear Miller making almost exactly the same point as Murdoch, five years on. Being supported by the licence fee, he said, the BBC “doesn’t have to worry about its funding.” Its role, therefore, should be to “constructively support those British news brands that do.”</p>
<p>Miller’s comments on the BBC were interesting, constructive and not limited to the Australian venture, though. He has some workable ideas on how the BBC might ‘constructively support ‘its commercial counterparts. </p>
<p>What if, he posits, the Guardian, the Mail and such like had access to the raw news feeds coming in from court cases, Royal weddings, key Select Committee hearings and other global breaking news events? What if the BBC released its back catalogue to content providers “to create new content that the BBC doesn’t have the time, inclination or expertise to create”?</p>
<p>To be fair to Miller, he doesn’t imagine that the BBC do all this for free out of the goodness of its heart. He states that in territories where BBC Worldwide had a commercial interest, the content could be chargeable along the same lines as the agreement the BBC currently has with its own commercial news service. But in situations where no such commercial value exists, “content should be made freely available for national, local and hyper-local organisations to explore.”</p>
<h2>Major player</h2>
<p>Some of what Miller said is easily challenged. It’s worth noting, for example, that <a href="http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/guardian-boss-bbc-distorting-news-market-australia-google-needs-take-editorial-responsibility%20-">BBC Worldwide</a> is the corporation’s commercial arm and its operations overseas are not funded by the licence fee. But his description of the BBC as a truly “dominant world player” is undoubtedly bang on the money.</p>
<p>In its 2013/14 <a href="http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annual-review/annual-review-2013/ceo-review.aspx%20,">annual review</a>, BBC Worldwide chief executive Tim Davie stated that the public broadcaster’s commercial arm was a fully-integrated global content company doing business in over 200 territories, expanding into areas as diverse as Cambodia and Romania. </p>
<p>Far from not benefiting the licence payer, the continued expansion means that in <a href="http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annual-review/annual-review-2014.aspx">2013/14</a> £173.8m was paid to the Corporation in dividends and investments, while £88.9m was invested in BBC in-house productions. Light entertainment formulas are sold all over the world: think of The Great British Bake Off, which, as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/13/tv-shows-overseas-great-british-bake-off-downton-abbey">The Guardian</a> reported, has been successfully adapted in a whole host of other territories. The modern adaptation of Sherlock Holmes, meanwhile was licensed to 224 territories in 2013 and the third series attracted more than <a href="http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/article/1304803/benedict-cumberbatchs-sherlock-helps-bbc-worldwide-return-1738m-bbc">67 million hits on China’s digital platform YouKu</a>.</p>
<h2>Business plan</h2>
<p>While BBC Worldwide operates under the BBC’s <a href="http://www.bbcworldwide.com/about-us.aspx">Charter and Agreement</a>, it actually has a commitment to be commercially efficient. In the US, where revenue is close to US$600m, Tim Davie is mapping further growth. For him, BBC America is “<a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bbc-worldwide-ceo-targets-us-674423.">a small big business, which needs to grow</a>.” It’s this logic which is behind the most recent developments. </p>
<p>American Movie Classics (AMC) Cable Company has bought a 49.9% stake in BBC America for $200m (£125m). Under the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/worldwide/2014/amc-networks-bbc-worldwide-partnership">terms of the deal</a>, AMC will take over operational control and advertising sales of BBC America. </p>
<p>BBC director-general, <a href="http://www.jomec.co.uk/blog/wp-admin/%E2%80%99http:/www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/23/amc-networks-share-acquisition-bbc-america">Tony Hall</a> (who is also chairman of BBC Worldwide) has clearly signalled that the US is a huge target for BBC growth. One can assume the same to territories such as Australia.</p>
<p>So this is the problem for Andrew Miller, James Murdoch and others: the BBC’s international power is clearly growing and it is forging alliances with major global players. It is expanding in areas where its interests will collide with other news providers. The case for co-operation and collaboration made by Miller in his LSE speech may be persuasive from a public service, utilitarian perspective. </p>
<p>Whether the business plan makes sense to BBC worldwide, though, remains to be seen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
The BBC has put the cat among the pigeons with the news that its commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, will beef up its presence in Australia by hiring local journalists and launching a dedicated news service…John Jewell, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/248842014-03-28T00:22:42Z2014-03-28T00:22:42ZLachlan Murdoch and News: the first-born son is ahead … for now<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44864/original/3dvtsbj2-1395885091.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lachlan Murdoch, oldest son of Rupert, has returned to the position of preferred heir to the throne of News Corp and 21st Century Fox.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Andrew Gombert</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After nearly nine years down under doing his own thing with <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/building-another-murdoch-empire-20111118-1nmqv.html">Illyria</a>, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/lachlan-murdochs-messy-legacy-at-ten-20140327-35kaw.html">Network Ten</a> and <a href="http://www.novafm.com.au/article/lachlan-murdoch-becomes-chairman-dmg-radio-australia">Nova</a>, Lachlan Murdoch’s <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/news-corp-names-lachlan-murdoch-nonexecutive-chairman-20140326-35isb.html?rand=1395869065328">return to the family business</a> as non-executive co-chairman of News Corp and 21st Century Fox has been widely reported as an “end” to Rupert Murdoch’s succession dilemma. The first-born son has returned to the position of preferred heir to the throne.</p>
<p>That seems like a fair reading of the news, even as younger sibling James is promoted to co-chief operating officer of the company alongside Rupert’s trusted lieutenant Chase Carey. “Co-chief operating officer” in one of the world’s largest media empires is a position of power and authority, no doubt. But it smacks of the mundane, day-to-day stuff, pursued under the watchful eye of the older, more trusted Carey. </p>
<p>It was Carey who, in the immediate wake of the UK phone hacking scandal that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/may/01/james-murdoch-phone-hacking-report">brought James Murdoch down</a>, was <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/10/us-newscorp-idUSTRE77967X20110810">mentioned by Rupert</a> as a possible future chairman of the company. Now, it seems his role is to keep James out of trouble by immersing him in the operation and administration – rather than strategic direction – of News Corp.</p>
<p>That’s not such a bad outcome for the younger son, who testified himself into a corner at the 2011 UK Commons select committee <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/culture-media-and-sport-committee/news/news-international-executives-respond-to-summons/">hearings on phone hacking</a>. </p>
<p>Then, in the white heat of public outrage about Milly Dowler, and with the US regulatory authorities keeping a close eye on proceedings and what they revealed about the fitness of the Murdochs for corporate governance, James <a href="http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/live-rupert-and-james-murdoch-give-evidence-to-mps-on-hacking/s2/a545236/">denied</a> that as News International chairman since 2007 he had direct knowledge of phone hacking or other illegal newsgathering activities.</p>
<p>James <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/world/europe/22murdoch.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0">also insisted</a> that he had authorised a large out-of-court settlement to a celebrity victim of phone hacking solely on legal advice, and not in any way to avoid further damaging publicity around the emerging criminality of elements in the News International operation. He was innocent of impropriety, he pleaded, and guilty only of not knowing enough about what his subordinates were up to. This was also Rupert’s line before the same committee.</p>
<p>The committee members found this to be a case of implausible deniability, and said as much. James avoided criminal prosecution, but <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/feb/29/james-murdoch-resigns-news-international-chairman">had to resign</a> his UK News International positions. He oversaw the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14070733">closure of the News of the World</a> and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jul/13/rupert-murdoch-gives-up-bskyb-bid">collapse</a> of News Corp’s potentially lucrative takeover bid for a 100% stake of BSkyB. </p>
<p>But if James avoided being further embroiled in the phone hacking scandal by claiming in essence to have been elsewhere at the time, he thereby revealed himself to be a recklessly hands-off executive. He became a tainted figure, far removed from the “clean hands” management style required by a post-Rupert News Corp in the United States. His defence strategy was at the same time his downfall. </p>
<p>To this day, as the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/27/rebekah-brooks-pa-denies-lying-police-hacking-inquiry">court cases</a> against former News International executives and journalists continue to trundle through the English courts, the Murdoch and News brands are deeply tarnished in the UK.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44954/original/55zf5yjk-1395957931.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44954/original/55zf5yjk-1395957931.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44954/original/55zf5yjk-1395957931.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44954/original/55zf5yjk-1395957931.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44954/original/55zf5yjk-1395957931.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44954/original/55zf5yjk-1395957931.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44954/original/55zf5yjk-1395957931.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">During the phone hacking scandal, James Murdoch revealed himself to be a recklessly hands-off executive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/PA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lachlan, on the other hand, was clean, free of any involvement in News’ UK excesses. Having asserted his independence by <a href="http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/media/features/14302/">walking away</a> from a senior News Corp role in 2005 for a future in Australia, he rushed to his father’s side when the hacking scandal broke. This added to his reputation for independence and business propriety, plus he demonstrated the virtue of family loyalty and a readiness to stick up for his dad. </p>
<p>From that moment, and assuming the continued absence of daughter <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Murdoch_(businesswoman)">Elisabeth Murdoch</a> from Rupert’s succession plans, Lachlan became the man to watch.</p>
<p>But being made co-chairman doesn’t necessarily mean Lachlan will succeed his father at the helm of News Corp and 21st Century Fox. Post-hacking, the board of which he is now co-chairman view the Murdochs with <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/16/rupert-murdoch-shareholders-news-corp-agm">far less deference</a>.</p>
<p>Lachlan Murdoch’s future at News Corp will be determined not by his father’s desire to keep the company in family hands, but by business success the shareholders can dine out on.</p>
<p>In that context, it may or may not be significant that Lachlan’s recent period in Australia has been spent not in the news media, but with entertainment-driven companies such as Nova and Network Ten. He would appear, on the basis of that record, to be more suited to running 21st Century Fox than News Corp. The former is the real cash cow and the most important to shareholders. The latter is Rupert’s baby, and he will go to the grave ruling it with an iron fist. </p>
<p>If that is a fair prediction, then the new division of executive labour at the top of the Murdoch empire will see Rupert retaining control of News Corp, while Lachlan takes 21st Century Fox into the digital future.</p>
<p>As for Elisabeth, who has previously <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2014/03/murdochs-missing-daughter.html">made clear</a> her personal distaste for the more rabid sectors of News Corp journalism, the time may be coming when she can return to a more visible role in the company.</p>
<p>If and when Lachlan becomes the only chairman of the board, Elisabeth may feel it is safe to go back to the family business. She could perhaps even work to restore the reputations of those news divisions whose standing Rupert and James allowed to become so comprehensively trashed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24884/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian McNair receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>After nearly nine years down under doing his own thing with Illyria, Network Ten and Nova, Lachlan Murdoch’s return to the family business as non-executive co-chairman of News Corp and 21st Century Fox…Brian McNair, Professor of Journalism, Media and Communication, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.