James Murdoch launches a 'whisper campaign against brother Lachlan to undermine his position as Fox News CEO' - the latest in the ' bitter power struggle for control of their father's media empire
James Murdoch has started a 'whispering campaign' about his brother and rival Lachlan's ability to lead Fox News.
James, 48, the youngest son of billionaire media mogul Rupert, has previously spoken out about unnamed 'media property owners' for unleashing 'insidious and uncontrollable forces' with their support of disinformation about the 2020 election.
Now he appears to be stepping up his attacks on his elder brother Lachlan, 49, according to Business Insider.
James is 'running a whisper campaign that Lachlan is not good at his job and that he doesn't deserve it,' they reported.
In an interview with Business Insider from Sydney, where he relocated in March, Lachlan did not address rumors of his brother's meddling.
Instead he talked up Fox News' 'diversity of opinion' and said described the right-wing station as a bulwark against social media echo chambers.
'If Facebook or Twitter and others ultimately become a bias filter for the facts that we take as truth in the world,' Lachlan told Business Insider.
'I think that's really dangerous and a sort of scary world to live in.'
Rupert Murdoch with his sons Lachlan Murdoch (left) and James Murdoch (right) at his marriage to Jerry Hall in London in 2016. Since Lachlan took over as Fox News CEO in 2019, James has spoken disapprovingly of its rightwing stance
James had previously been viewed as heir apparent to Rupert after Lachlan resigned from his executive positions at News Corp. in July 2005. His sister Elisabeth was also regarded as having been in the running. Pictured, James, Elisabeth, Rupert, and Lachlan Murdoch in 2007
Fox News headquarters in New York. Lachlan has been running the company from Sydney, Australia, since relocating their with his wife Sarah and their three children last month
Lachlan Murdoch raised eyebrows when he relocated from Los Angeles to Sydney with his supermodel wife Sarah, and their three children.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported they had moved to escape the political climate in the US.
Since then, Lachlan has been waking in the middle of the night to keep his working hours in synch with Eastern Standard Time, as the Fox News corporate headquarters and most of its staff are based in New York.
Lachlan said he was given a free reign when he started as CEO in 2019.
He had previously left his position as COO of News Corp in 2005 after falling out with Fox founder Roger Ailes.
He returned to the company in 2014, but found James Murdoch, long thought to be the heir apparent, in his way as CEO of News Corp.
Rupert Murdoch then decided to sell the 21st Century Fox and its assets to Disney for $71.3 billion.
James quit News Corp. last summer, saying that he was 'increasingly uncomfortable' with Fox 'legitimizing disinformation'.
Lachlan became the golden child once more on his return and was promoted over his younger brother by their father.
In Succession, the hit HBO drama, sons Kendall, far right, (Jeremy Strong), and Roman, second from right (Kieran Culkin), duke it out with their sister Shiv, far left, (Sarah Snook), for control of the family media empire, headed by a cantankerous patriarch Logan Roy, played by Brian Cox
In 2020, James, and his wife Kathryn (pictured together above) spoke out against the family business for promoting climate change 'denials' during the Australian bushfire crisis
Rupert and Elisabeth Murdoch who is also in the running to take over as heir
James Murdoch, pictured left with his father Rupert, was formerly the Deputy Chief Operating Officer of News Corporation but he quit his father's company in summer 2020
Since then, a power struggle between the siblings has played out in plain sight.
The rivalry has drawn comparisons with the hit HBO drama Succession, where two brothers vie for their father's affections and control of his media company.
In January 2021, James went on the offensive in a thinly veiled attack on Fox News' role in fermenting the January 6 riots at the US Capital.
In an interview with the Financial Times, James claimed that media groups fueled the riot by leading 'a substantial portion' of the public to believe 'a falsehood' about the election.
'The damage is profound,' James said in Friday's interview as he criticized media groups coverage of election fraud.
'The sacking of the Capitol is proof positive that what we thought was dangerous is indeed very, very much so. Those outlets that propagate lies to their audience have unleashed insidious and uncontrollable forces that will be with us for years.'
Lachlan, on the other hand, has been a staunch defender of Fox News and its on-air talent, especially Tucker Carlson, who has come under criticism for his commentary on issues of race and COVID-19 vaccines.
He called Fox the 'loyal opposition' after Joe Biden was elected to the presidency, and is fiercely proud of the station's right wing viewpoint.
'Trump was attacking us nonstop, and we didn't bend to that,' Lachlan told Business Insider.
'Obviously our opinion is center-right. We held our own. We were happy with where we were.
'In a strange way, if you've got the left and the right criticizing you, you're doing something right. You really are in the middle.'
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