NEW: Fox News, WSJ Could Soon Be Under Liberal Control

Rupert Murdoch, the founder of Fox News and owner of the center-right Wall Street Journal, may soon lose editorial control over both publications following his failed legal bid to appoint his eldest son to lead his media empire.

A Nevada commissioner ruled against the 93-year-old’s attempt to amend his family’s trust in order to ensure that his son Lachlan would be given total control over programming at the Fox News Channel, according to a sealed document obtained by the New York Times. In it, commissioner Edmund J. Gorman Jr. concludes that Murdoch acted in “bad faith” by attempting to change the terms of the irrevocable trust which divides the company equally among his four adult children after his death. Scathing sections of the ruling accuse Murdoch of orchestrating a “carefully crafted charade” to “permanently cement Lachlan Murdoch’s executive roles” inside the empire “regardless of the impacts such control would have over the companies or the beneficiaries” of the family trust.

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In a statement, Murdoch’s other children, James, Elisabeth, and Prudence rejoiced. “We welcome Commissioner Gorman’s decision and hope that we can move beyond this litigation to focus on strengthening and rebuilding relationships among all family members,” they wrote.

Lachlan Murdoch has chaired News Corp. — the conglomerate umbrella encompassing Fox Corp., the Journal, the New York Post, and other conservative media outlets — since 2023 following his father’s decision to step down. He previously served as an executive at Fox News during its formative years and helped shape the right-wing ecosphere that casts a long shadow over both the media landscape and American politics. Although Murdoch has always intended to bequeath his media company to his children, that desire is now at odds with his equally cherished wish to keep his news outlets from becoming run by left-wing editors and columnists.

James and Elisabeth are both known to hold far less conservative views than their father and could take Fox News, the Journal, or other prominent outlets in a more mainstream direction. Murdoch argued in court that giving Lachlan total control over their editorial departments would ensure that the outlets stay center-right and thus maintain profitability. Without a success in court, Lachlan may now be considering whether to buy his siblings’ stakes in the media company. He must contend with James, his younger brother with whom he is not on speaking terms, and is believed to be coordinating a coup with Elisabeth and Prudence to oust Lachlan from the top perch after their father’s death.

Fox is already under siege from farther-right news outlets champing at the opportunity to peel off swaths of its robust audience. On Monday, One America News announced that it had secured a primetime show for Matt Gaetz, while Newsmax recently surpassed CNN in a Nielsen ratings sweep. If Fox’s conservative bent falls, it would represent the greatest realignment of news media in the 21st century and fundamentally alter where conservatives would be most likely to gather their beliefs and opinions.

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