class=”sc-29f61514-0 icZBHN”>
It’s the end of an era. Rupert Murdoch (92) announced his resignation on Thursday. He was founder, chairman and CEO of News Corporation and executive chairman of News Corp. and the Fox Corporation. “The time is ripe to take on other roles,” said a message to his employees. For 70 years he has played no other role than the successful media entrepreneur.
At the age of 22, he started building his media empire and with it his fortune, which Forbes estimates at $17 billion. The Australian, born in 1931, took over two newspapers in his home country – thus laying the foundation for his empire.
It quickly became clear: Murdoch has a soft spot for the tabloids and a talent for business. In the years that followed, he bought media titles after media titles, expanding his influence from Australia to New Zealand, Britain and the US.
Rupert Murdoch, the kingmaker
In America he celebrated his success mainly thanks to Fox News. Murdoch founded the television network at a time when there was an overwhelming consensus that there was no room in the American market for another network. But Fox News settled in – to everyone’s surprise.
Because Murdoch had an impeccable sense of news and scandal that had never been seen in the mass media. He fueled the fears and resentments of the audience, many of whom were eager to hear their own thoughts spoken out loud. Fox News gave these people their reality.
Murdoch became the most powerful media executive in the world – and the most controversial. So he can at least boast that he has served as a real-life role model for a James Bond villain: In ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ from 1997, Jonathan Pryce (76) plays the British media magnate Elliot Carver, who wants to achieve world domination.
Murdoch’s channel Fox not only established itself, but also became the mouthpiece of American conservatives and Murdoch a political kingmaker. Fox News gave billionaire and then political newcomer Donald Trump (77) the boost he needed to win the American presidency in 2016.
Steep climb, deep fall
The channel’s loyalty to Trump and the Republicans went so far as to want to protect them regardless of the losses. This culminated in a lawsuit from the American company Dominion, which produces voting machines.
The 443-page lawsuit cited 20 TV segments between November 2020 and January 2021 in which Fox News alleged Dominion was at the center of a political conspiracy to “steal” Trump’s 2020 reelection. Trump made the accusation immediately after his defeat by Joe Biden (80).
Behind the scenes, however, the channel never believed in Trump’s conspiracy theory. Both moderators and owner Murdoch describe the claims internally as “crazy” and “harmful,” as CNN writes. Yet Fox News spread the lie. A lie that led to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2020.
Can Fox News be saved?
Dominion ultimately received $787.5 million from Murdoch’s company. The settlement amount is unprecedented for a media libel case in the United States. But Fox News, whose parent company had a turnover of $14 billion last year, bought its way out of the market relatively painlessly. According to some observers, the damage Fox’s election lies have done to American politics and society could be irreparable.
Less than six months after this defeat of his favorite Fox News, Murdoch leaves his company. His son Lachlan Murdoch (52) would take over and polish the tarnished image. Murdoch leaves his crown prince a huge mortgage.
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
