James Murdoch has criticized his father’s news outlets for promoting false skepticism about climate change as deadly bushfires tear across Australia, the original home of Rupert Murdoch’s news empire. In a pointed joint statement aiming to highlight their deep unhappiness with the coverage, James and his wife Kathryn took aim at conservative News Corp outlets in Australia for their “ongoing denial” of global warming.
The rare rebuke reveals some of the simmering tensions within the Murdoch family, rifts that James has made increasingly public by pursuing a distinctive path in politics and business, championing green causes and democratic reform. While Mr. Murdoch still works with his eldest son Lachlan, who became chairman of News Corp and chief executive of Fox Corporation, he parted ways with James, who left as chief executive of 21st Century Fox to pursue his own business interests.
News Corp owns a portfolio of newspapers while Fox owns Fox News Channel, which features stars such as Laura Ingraham. She has denied that climate change played a role in the Australia fires and was recently criticized for comparing the teenage activist Greta Thunberg to a cult leader. “Kathryn and James’ views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known,” a spokesperson for the couple told The Daily Beast. “They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.”
Mr. Murdoch’s six children each received up to $2bn from the break-up of his media empire and the sale of his entertainment businesses to Walt Disney.