\n<\/p>\n
Rupert Murdoch had made up his mind. \u201cWe want to make Trump a nonperson,\u201d he assured one of his former executives in a 2021 email, two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.<\/p>\n
Over seven decades, Murdoch has sought to charm, challenge and change prime ministers and presidents as he built one of the world\u2019s most powerful media empires. In this particular endeavor, however, he failed.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump, far from being made a nonperson, became the first defeated US president in 132 years to win back the White House. And from the Club World Cup final to the Oval Office, Murdoch has been seen by his side.<\/p>\n
As the Wall Street Journal prepared to report that Trump provided a bawdy birthday letter to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein last week, the president appealed to Murdoch \u2013 chair emeritus of News Corporation, the newspaper\u2019s owner \u2013 to kill the story, claiming it was false. The story ran.<\/p>\n
But the story did not receive the same treatment across Murdoch\u2019s empire. The Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham went on air 15 minutes after the Journal published its story, and talked about Epstein. \u201cWe have new news coming on about this, as well, from the Wall Street Journal. A new report tonight \u2013 next,\u201d she said, throwing to a commercial break. When The Ingraham Angle returned, the new news did not feature.<\/p>\n
Preston Padden, who worked at Fox in the 1990s, is the veteran media industry operator whom Murdoch told of his plan to make Trump a \u201cnonperson\u201d in 2021. He was not surprised to see how his former boss, and his array of outlets, handled this story.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got the Wall Street Journal, and you\u2019ve got the cable news channel. And they represent two different sides of Rupert\u2019s brain,\u201d Padden said in an interview. \u201cHe is, in his heart, a serious newsman, and that\u2019s the Wall Street Journal. He\u2019s also a brilliant businessman, and that\u2019s Fox News.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murdoch\u2019s businesses are divided between two companies: Fox Corporation, which houses Fox News and the Tubi streaming platform, and News Corp, home to newspapers including the Australian, the Sun, the Journal; the digital real estate network REA; and HarperCollins, the publishing giant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a more of a focus on the business than the journalism at Fox, than seems to be the case at News Corp,\u201d said Brian Wieser, an analyst and former banker. \u201cIt always appeared to me that business was first\u201d for Murdoch, he added. \u201cInfluence was a means to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n
News Corp\u2019s Dow Jones division \u2013 where the Wall Street Journal sits \u2013 generated revenue of $575m in the first three months of the year. Fox Corp\u2019s cable network programming arm, meanwhile \u2013 led by Fox News, and also including Fox Sports \u2013 generated $1.64bn over the same period.<\/p>\n
\u201cFox News is the primordial asset of the collection of assets,\u201d said media analyst Claire Enders, who said the network \u201chas drawn no attention to the matter, exactly as the president has wished\u201d.<\/p>\n
Covering the Journal\u2019s reporting on Trump and Epstein \u201cwould not be good for business\u201d at Fox News, suggested Padden, who observed how the network previously endured a backlash from the president\u2019s supporters when it strayed significantly from his narrative. \u201cAnd so you can watch this debate,\u201d he claimed. \u201cShould we report the truth, and lose viewers, or should we report what our viewers want?\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2023, Fox reached a $787.5m settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over the voting equipment firm\u2019s defamation lawsuit against the network over the false narrative that the 2020 election had been stolen from Trump.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Media mogul Rupert Murdoch looks on as Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as he signs proclamations, initiatives and appointments inside the Oval Office on 3 February 2025.<\/span> Photograph: Craig Hudson\/The Washington Post\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Trump, who has in recent days promoted Fox News segments on his Truth Social platform, seems perfectly happy with its output. But he promptly sued Murdoch, News Corp and the Journal reporters behind the story on his ties with Epstein, publicly goading Murdoch about the threat of testifying.<\/p>\n Murdoch and Trump have engaged in a transactional relationship spanning decades, noted Enders. \u201cThere is also a very longstanding friendship between Trump and Mr Murdoch. And a symbiotic relationship with the cashflow machine,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have fallen out before and made up quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n In December, Disney\u2019s ABC agreed to pay $15m to a foundation and museum as part of a settlement in a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump. Earlier this month, Paramount reached a $16m settlement with the president over another lawsuit he filed over an interview with Kamala Harris, the Democrat candidate for president, by CBS News.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s latest lawsuit raises the prospect of another prominent media organization \u2013 this time News Corp \u2013 potentially settling to avoid a lengthy legal battle. A Dow Jones spokesperson said: \u201cWe have full confidence in the rigor and accuracy of our reporting, and will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not anticipate any lasting repercussions from this unless the WSJ has in fact been hoaxed,\u201d said Enders. \u201cOtherwise, it will be shuffled away with a smaller settlement. That is how previous ginormous Trump l\u00e8se-majest\u00e9 cases have been dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n Fox News has covered the lawsuit sparingly in recent days, reporting on Trump\u2019s initial filing on Friday, referencing the story briefly on Saturday, and then analyzing it in a segment on Sunday. The network declined to comment.<\/p>\n Murdoch, 94, retired from management in 2023, when he handed over the reins at Fox Corp and News Corp to his son, Lachlan. At the time, however, he stressed he would remain \u201cinvolved every day\u201d in the businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cAs long as he\u2019s around, it\u2019s his candy store,\u201d said Padden.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rupert Murdoch had made up his mind. \u201cWe want to make Trump a nonperson,\u201d he assured one of his former executives in a 2021 email, two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Over seven decades, Murdoch has sought to charm, challenge and change prime ministers and presidents as he built one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[820,5653,205,4787,5652,5655,81,5654],"class_list":{"0":"post-12096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-battle","9":"tag-businessman","10":"tag-media","11":"tag-murdoch","12":"tag-newsman","13":"tag-tightrope","14":"tag-trump","15":"tag-walks"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}