Murdoch heir goes into battle over US Capitol riots criticism

The heir to the Murdoch media empire has launched an attack on an Australian news outlet over claims his family and Fox News are “unindicted co-conspirators” in the US Capitol riots.

Lachlan Murdoch, eldest son of Rupert and chief executive of Fox Corporation, threatened legal action against Crikey over an article published late last month.

Mr Murdoch’s lawyers say the article, which does not mention him by name, effectively accuses him of illegally conspiring with former president Donald Trump to “overturn the 2020 presidential election” and “incite a mob with murderous intent” in January.

On Monday Crikey’s editors hit back, publishing their correspondence with Mr Murdoch’s lawyers online and accusing him of an “abuse of media power”.

In an open letter to the media scion published in the New York Times, Crikey editor Peter Fray and chairman Eric Beecher said they had taken the unusual step of publishing his legal threats “so people can judge your allegations for themselves”.

They added: “You have made it clear in your lawyer’s letters you intend to take court action to resolve this alleged defamation.

“We await your writ so that we can test this important issue of freedom of public interest journalism in a courtroom.”

In an accompanying article also published on Monday, Crikey drew attention to the Murdoch family’s public calls for greater media freedoms and criticism of what some believe are overly restrictive libel laws in Australia.

They pointed to a speech that Lachlan, who is also co-chairman of News Corp, gave to Australia’s Institute of Public Affairs in March. The 50-year-old argued that efforts “to limit points of view, to obstruct a diversity of opinions and to enforce a singular world view” were “fundamentally anti-Australian”.

News Corp has sprawling interests across the globe, including Fox News and the Wall Street Journal in the US, The Sun, The Times, The Sunday Times, Times Radio and TalkTV in the UK and The Australian, Foxtel and Sky News, among dozens of other titles, in Australia.

Rupert Murdoch, 91, who was born in Australia but holds US citizenship, is executive chairman.

Crikey added: “Like the Murdochs, we believe in the public’s right to know.

“Exposing this legal assault is the only way we believe we can shine light on the actions of a powerful media owner to silence a small publisher by resorting to Australia’s defamation laws — laws that News Corp itself constantly argues should give the media more freedom to fulfil its mandated role.”

The legal threats from Lachlan Murdoch represent an unusual move for a member of the family, said one media law expert.

Mark Lewis, the lawyer who represented the family of murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler in the phone hacking scandal, said: “It seems odd that someone who is very much in favour of a free press would be threatening to use libel laws in this way.”

He added that Mr Murdoch’s aggressive letters could end up backfiring by drawing attention to claims that otherwise may have gone largely unnoticed.

“Libel claimants put themselves on trial for what is being said about them, that is what I always say to my own clients,” Mr Lewis added.

“Sometimes these things are best left unchallenged.”

Mr Murdoch has been described as the “crown prince” of the News Corp empire in recent years, following the exit of his brother James in 2020.

He previously left the family business in 2005 after reported clashes with other executives, saying he had “moved on”, but returned to the fold in 2014 as News Corp’s co-chairman.

In addition to his role at that company, he also owns a private family office, Illyria, which invests in start-ups.

The father-of-three is married to supermodel Sarah O’Hare and the couple have three children.

Last year it was reported that Mr Murdoch had returned to New York after a six-month stay with his family in their $50m mansion in Sydney.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, they moved back to Australia temporarily after the election of Democratic candidate Joe Biden as US president made things “rough” for Mr Murdoch and his family in Los Angeles.

Fox News has been accused by critics of uncritically amplifying unfounded claims by Mr Trump and prominent members of the Republican Party that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” through fraud.

In a separate legal battle in the US, Fox is facing a $1.6bn defamation claim from Dominion Voting Systems after airing baseless claims that the company's voting machines were used to rig the election in Mr Biden's favour.

Fox was asked for comment.