By now, you’ve heard the news that Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp. And you know that the 92-year-old mogul who has foisted his conservative views on America (and the world) through his media conglomerate, most notably Fox News, is turning the reins over to his son, Lachlan.

But what you don’t know — what nobody knows for sure — is what happens now.

Will Fox News change its ways to become a more responsible outlet that emphasizes fact-based news over politically driven opinion? Or will we see more of the same from an outlet that stokes divisions and pushes a right-wing agenda?

Let’s start here. Lachlan, 52, is already heavily involved in the family business. He’s not some outsider coming in. He has been the chief executive of Fox Corp. since 2019. A memo to employees on Thursday from Rupert suggests Fox isn’t suddenly going to change its politics.

Rupert wrote to employees, “My father firmly believed in freedom, and Lachlan is absolutely committed to the cause. Self- serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose. Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.”

That doesn’t sound as if Lachlan is going to shift the network’s narratives.

In a piece for The Atlantic, veteran media journalist Brian Stelter wrote, “The Murdoch media empire’s conservative bent will not change as a result of the transition. If anything, Lachlan is more conservative than his father, and far more in tune with Trumpism.”

However, it will be interesting to see how the network treats Trump as we approach the 2024 election. There had been reports that the Murdochs, particularly Lachlan, were souring on Trump.

New York Magazine’s Matt Stieb wrote, “Media reporters don’t anticipate a softer hand from above now that Lachlan is in charge — though he does share Rupert’s belief that Donald Trump is bad for the country.”

But with Trump likely to be the Republican nominee for president and many of Fox News’ on-air stars still in Trump’s corner, it would not be surprising to see Fox News continue to back, even if begrudgingly, the former president.

And because the bulk of its viewers are Trump supporters (or, at least, not President Joe Biden supporters), Fox News is going to do what it sees as good business. That means giving the people what they want, whether it’s good for the country or not.

Variety’s Brian Steinberg wrote, “To be sure, Fox News faces heady industry challenges. Linear TV audiences are shrinking, and with them, the leverage that media companies like Fox can use to seek top advertising prices and affiliate fees. Fox News remains the most-watched news outlet on cable and coverage of the 2024 election should boost some of its lines of revenue, according to Kagan, a market-research firm that is part of S&P Global Intelligence.”

But only if it can please its audience, which makes the question of how it will treat Trump all the more interesting.

So the short-term future of Fox likely won’t be much different than the past. The long-term future is a bit cloudier. Rupert is reportedly in good health and still will be looking over Lachlan’s shoulders. (He said “daily” in his memo.) But after Rupert dies, a real-life “Succession” begins.

The New York Times’ Jim Rutenberg writes, “Under the terms of the trust that controls the family’s stake in the empire, each of Mr. Murdoch’s four eldest children — Lachlan Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch, James Murdoch and Prudence Murdoch — will have an equal vote on its future following his death; until then, Mr. Murdoch holds the controlling vote.”

Rutenberg adds, “People close to James Murdoch, now a major tech and media investor, have raised the possibility that he would seek to rally his two sisters to vote with him to wrest control of the company away from Lachlan. But it is unclear whether he would have the votes or ultimately the will or the interest to force that sort of bruising family fight. Elisabeth, now the executive chair of the Sister entertainment studio, and Prudence have kept their views of the family company private.”

How will Rupert be remembered?

There’s no question that Murdoch has been one of the most influential media moguls in history.

While perhaps best known for launching the Fox network in the 1980s and the conservative Fox News in the 1990s, Murdoch’s career runs back decades and goes far beyond Fox. He got his start in his native Australia in the 1950s with a small newspaper chain.

By the 1960s, he had acquired more papers in Australia and eventually controlled two-thirds of the country’s newspaper circulation. He then set his sights outside of Australia, specifically in the United Kingdom and United States. Ultimately, he took over The News of the World, The Sun and the Times of London in the U.K. and several publications in the U.S., including the New York Post, Village Voice and The Wall Street Journal.

But his biggest influence would eventually come through television. In the 1980s, he started the fledgling Fox Network. Many at the time doubted that Fox could actually challenge America’s big three networks — ABC, CBS and NBC. But Fox elbowed its way into the mainstream, largely in part to it stunningly acquiring rights to air the National Football League in the early 1990s, outbidding CBS. That, along with hit shows such as “The Simpsons” and “American Idol,” helped Fox become a major network, right along with the big three.

Murdoch also got into the movie business, taking over a studio, 21st Century Fox, that would produce blockbusters such as “Avatar” and “Titanic” before selling the studio to Disney for $71 billion in 2019.

But one can’t think of Murdoch without thinking of Fox News, the cable network that draws a fiercely loyal audience. It started as a network aimed at those who lean right. But it has devolved into a much more divisive and meaner network in recent years.

As the Los Angeles Times’ Stephen Battaglio and Meg James wrote, “Critics have accused Murdoch’s media outlets of contributing to the coarseness and polarization of society. In the U.S., he is equally loved and reviled for creating Fox News, which has championed conservative causes, including the political career of Donald Trump, and blasted liberals.”

Variety’s Daniel D’Addario wrote, “(Fox News) has given its voice and its vim by the late (former CEO) Roger Ailes, has set the agenda for the modern conservative movement, with its opinion hosts broadcasting in bitter opposition to what they depict as the foibles of modern liberalism and helping make both media and political stars. In the hands of Murdoch and of Ailes, politics on TV became a slugfest; the network’s most prized hosts were the ones most adventurously and creatively willing to heap scorn upon their ideological enemies. Ailes uniquely understood broadcasting, but Murdoch, born out of a previous era of newspapermen elbowing one another for readers’ attention and their money, understood tabloid sensibility. And Ailes built out a network that looked for all the world like a Murdoch tabloid: It took an almost sensual delight in sinking its teeth into the news of the day.”

Fox News started with the label “fair and balanced,” but it always leaned right. That shift has become both more extreme and noticeable in the past decade.

As CNN’s Oliver Darcy wrote, “The channel, however, veered from its roots in conservative news as former President Donald Trump ascended to power in the Republican Party in 2015, becoming an unabashed home of right-wing propaganda aimed at propping up the scandal-ridden White House. In recent years, under Murdoch, Fox News has advanced baseless conspiracy theories, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 presidential election.”

In fact, one of the lasting memories of Murdoch’s reign at Fox News will be Dominion Voting Systems’ lawsuit against the network for amplifying baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being rigged to favor President Joe Biden. Just as the trial was getting underway earlier this year, Fox settled by paying Dominion $787.5 million. Fox is now facing another lawsuit from Smartmatic, another voting machine company.

Stelter wrote that for his upcoming follow-up book on Fox called “Network of Lies,” he combed through many Fox emails and texts that were a part of the Dominion v. Fox lawsuit. Stelter wrote he “was struck by how passive Murdoch seemed, in his missives to Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and then-New York Post editor Col Allan. When Fox took on water for telling the truth about Donald Trump’s election loss, then tried to patch the holes in the hull by lying and smearing Dominion, Murdoch acted more like an economy-class passenger than the captain of the ship.”

Maybe the past couple of years, especially the lawsuits, sapped Murdoch’s energy to go on in his job. Maybe he isn’t up for another election. Or maybe, at 92, he just wants to step back and let his son take over while he can still offer guidance.

Regardless of the reason, it’s the end for one of the most influential media moguls to ever live.

Owen Jones, columnist for Britain’s Guardian, said during a TV interview with Sky News, “This isn’t just some media owner. This guy is a politician. He’s a very, very powerful political figure, who has — without being elected by a single person — had a huge, disruptive and pernicious and poisonous impact in our democracy, Australian democracy, U.S. democracy, and democracies all over the world.”

A few other notable pieces about the Murdoch news

• The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake with “4 political takeaways from Rupert Murdoch’s exit.”
• Politico’s Jack Shafer with “Rupert Murdoch Will Never Give Up Power.”
• The Hollywood Reporter’s Georg Szalai with “Succession, Rupert-Style: What Wall Street Makes of Murdoch’s Retirement.”
• This came out earlier this week: From an excerpt in New York Magazine from his upcoming book, Michael Wolff with “How Rupert Murdoch Decided to Dump Tucker Carlson.”

Remembering Lucy Morgan

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Lucy Morgan seen here in the 1980s, multi-tasking. (Courtesy: Tampa Bay Times)

A legendary and groundbreaking journalist has died. Lucy Morgan — a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter from the Tampa Bay Times whose career spanned nearly five decades — died from complications of a fall. She was 82.

In a remembrance, the Tampa Bay Times’ Jay Cridlin wrote, “Morgan was renowned for her work from Tampa Bay to Tallahassee, where the press gallery of the Florida State Senate is named in her honor. In 1985, she won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for exposing corruption within the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.”

Here’s Cridlin’s account of Morgan’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work: “Morgan was once asked to speak to a group of recruits at the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, and said if anyone ever wanted to share anything about the department, good or bad, she’d listen. A couple of days later, a high-ranking officer who happened to be in the audience showed up at her house and started talking about problems under Sheriff John Short. Morgan and fellow reporter Jack Reed began a yearlong investigation relying on Deep Throat levels of secrecy, with the officer’s wife slipping confidential documents to Morgan under the door of a department store dressing room. The sheriff’s office fought the investigation the whole way, sifting through Morgan’s trash and passing out bumper stickers with a picture of a screw next to her name: ‘Screw Lucy Morgan.’ In the end, Short was removed from office and indicted on corruption charges, and Morgan and Reed won a Pulitzer.”

Morgan spent most of her life reporting on the powerful politicians of Florida and uncovering their deeds and misdeeds. In a 2005 profile about her, she told Tampa Bay Times reporter Jeff Klinkenberg, “I have always liked to be underestimated. To be a Southern woman in a Capitol full of good old boys is an advantage. When they find out I’m serious, it’s too late.”

Tributes poured in for Morgan. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said in a statement, “Lucy was the gold standard as a journalist. She was tough but fair. She was tenacious. I think she scared politicians that were ethically challenged because they knew nothing would get by her. More importantly for me, Lucy was a friend. Prayers for her family.”

Read Cridlin’s excellent story for more about Morgan’s remarkable career.

Hello again, New Orleans? Advance Local is launching two regional news sites

For this one, I turned it over to my colleague, Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds.

At a time when contraction is the rule among local news chains, Advance Local is starting up two regional sites with at least 28 new jobs for journalists.

First up is LoneStarLive, which had a soft opening this week. In the crowded Texas market, the digital-only publication will offer general news with an emphasis on sports, along with a partnership with an Israeli sports betting company.

Next up will be a sister site, GulfLive, covering the Gulf Coast. Advance Local is strong in Alabama, and used to be dominant in New Orleans until it sold The Times-Picayune and NOLA.com to a local investor.

It’s inaccurate, though, Advance Local general counsel Eric Adler said, to cast this as rekindling a news war in The Big Easy.

“We are not trying to recreate what was in the T-P or NOLA.com,” Adler wrote in an email to Poynter. “The story (on the launch) in Axios yesterday was incorrect in characterizing GulfLive as a New Orleans-based site. The entire staff will be remote, and with the exception of one sports reporter covering the Saints, we expect all or most of the staff to live elsewhere to provide coverage across the Gulf region.”

Advance is a huge private company, controlled by the Newhouse family, with multiple lines of business. Its local newspapers were the first in the industry to wind down print in favor of a digital-only business model starting with The Ann Arbor News in 2009.

Other big private companies with access to their own ample pots of capital are also bucking the disinvestment trend. Cox and Hearst are expanding hyperlocal TV streaming. Cox bought Axios, which includes daily newsletters in 30 cities, in August 2022.

USC update

Here’s an update from something I wrote about in Thursday’s newsletter.

The University of Southern California football program has lifted the two-week suspension it had imposed on a reporter who covers the team. USC and coach Lincoln Riley had suspended access from Luca Evans, who covers the Trojans for The Orange County Register and the Southern California News Group, for supposedly violating the program’s media policies.

Among USC’s complaints was that Evans reported on a conversation between two players before media availability had begun (although the conversation took place in front of the media). In addition, Evans had asked a question after a press conference had ended and had contacted players and parents outside of sanctioned times.

USC received massive pushback from the local and national media for the suspension, as well as complaints from the Southern California News Group. The university responded to a letter from the group by saying it would not lift the ban.

But that changed after a conversation between Evans and Riley on Wednesday night.

On Thursday, Riley put out a statement that said, “Last night, I received a call from Luca Evans, and we had a very candid and productive conversation. We agreed that we both could have handled the situation differently. I appreciate Luca recognizing the policies we have in place to protect our student-athletes and acknowledging to adhere to those in the future. We welcome Luca back to practice and look forward to his continuing coverage of the Trojans.”

Evans tweeted, “Riley made it clear his intent is to protect his players. I made it clear my intent has always been to tell compelling, honest stories on USC — I respect and understand the program’s outlined policies regarding media access, and any missteps came through the intent of doing my job and pursuing relationship-building and storytelling. I will continue the same reporting and writing with fairness, accuracy and depth, and we reached an agreement to lift the restriction on access.”

Good to see USC reverse course here, but you have to ask: Did USC realize they came off as being petty and wanted to do the right thing? Or was it because of all the negative publicity, including a critical column from influential Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke?

Either way, a reporter gets back his access and that’s a positive thing.

Media tidbits and links for your weekend review

• A picture posted to Twitter does not say much about the economy, but it does point to David Brooks’ elevated drink taste. The New York Times columnist posted a photo of his $78 meal at Newark Airport Wednesday evening, saying “This is why Americans think the economy is terrible.” Sure, it’s not the best presentation of a burger and fries, but Community Notes commenters pointed out his on-the-rocks drink as the likely culprit for such a steep bill. Commentators pointed out that it’s a $17 burger so, assuming he tipped correctly, Brooks paid, what, $45-$50 for that liquor?
• CNBC’s Alex Sherman with “WWE’s ‘SmackDown’ to return to NBCUniversal’s USA Network in more than $1.4 billion deal.”
• Vanity Fair’s Charlotte Klein with “In the AI Age, The New York Times Wants Reporters to Tell Readers Who They Are.”
• Semafor’s Max Tani with “Journalists forced to take pay cuts at nonprofit New York newsroom.”
• CNN’s Melanie Hicken, Audrey Ash, Curt Devine, Blake Ellis and Pamela Brown with “He was investigated for sexting a student at the Coast Guard Academy. He’s now a college president.”
• Terrific work from ESPN senior writer Tim Keown: “Oakland vs. the A’s: The inside story of how it all went south (to Las Vegas).”

More resources for journalists

• Lead With Influence (Nov. 6-27) (Online Seminar) — Apply by Oct. 13.
• Celebrate journalism and democracy with Anderson Cooper at Poynter’s annual Bowtie Ball in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday, Nov. 18. Get tickets.
• Poynter ACES Introductory Certificate in Editing (Online) — Enroll now.
• Subscribe to PolitiFact’s weekly newsletter. Get facts delivered straight to your inbox.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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