Lachlan Murdoch’s history in Australia doesn’t seem to read well. First Onetel and now Points Bet all business blunders. This Philosophy major doesn’t appear to have the business skills of his father. He knows how to spend but not make money. But then Rupert was driven out of the UK, threatened with jail, and the loss of license in the UK, only to be saved by the Tories with whom he had an arrangement of mutual benefit. He fled to America, the land of Trump, became an American, and flourished when he appointed Roger Ailes to head up Fox News.
Yes,the Murdochs have made money but it seems unclear that it was entirely their doing. Corporate raiders of the assets of others have served them well. However, Australia hasn’t been as kind to their bottom line despite Newscorp’s quid pro quo arrangements with the LNP to ransack the ABC, the IPA, and multinational non tax paying corporate interests. The Murdochs have never really had any regard for journalism, news and information or the Australian people.
The rationale for News is that digital betting would supplement the challenged earnings its traditional media assets have experienced in Australia over time.
Even Roger Ailes didn’t take Fox News to the extremes the Murdoch’s have.
“American Nationalist,” The New York Times’ three-part investigation of the rise of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, tells the story of how the star host, with the full support of Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch and the network’s other top executives, created “what may be the most racist show in the history of cable news.”
Fox’s brass, as reporter Nick Confessore details, has ignored any number of warning signs and protests from inside and outside the network that Carlson’s white nationalist rants were dangerous, due to their appreciation for his ratings and affinity with his message.
The takeaway for those involved with Fox – staff, guests, and companies that buy ads on the network – should be clear: You are supporting a company that prioritizes the promotion of white nationalism in the U.S.
News Corp suddenly promoting climate change action is just another example of how Coalition governments and establishment media operate in tandem to create and control the political narrative. Many are viewing this unexpected Murdoch media about-face on the subject of climate change with optimism and relief.
However it will have little or no impact on News Corp, Sky or Fox Corp (ODT)
Last week News Corp Australia commercial finance manager Emily Townsend told senior management she found it “unconscionable” to continue working for the company given she believed it had mislead readers about the cause of the bushfires sweeping across Australia.
James’ intervention shows that such concerns aren’t just held by some outspoken employees and left-wing critics on Twitter. They go to the very top of the Murdoch family tree.
The comments were a clear rebuke of James’ father Rupert, who insisted at News Corp’s annual general meeting in December: “There are no climate change deniers around I can assure you.”
For anyone who has read the opinion pages of News Corp publications or tuned into Fox News, it was a laughable statement – and one Mudoch’s second-eldest son refused to let go uncorrected.
For example, several recent News Corp articles highlighting the role of arsonists in causing bushfires have been used by prominent Fox News hosts to discredit the link between climate change and bushfires.
In an editorial last week The Australian said its bushfire reporting had been “wilfully and ineptly misrepresented by The New York Times and Guardian Australia as climate denial”.
olddogthoughts 