On Sept. 21, 92-year-old billionaire and media proprietor Rupert Murdoch stepped down as chairman of News Corp and the Fox Corporation, entrusting the position to his son, Lachlan Murdoch. He made a statement in a note to employees clarifying that he was not stepping down due to poor health, saying, “Our companies are in robust health, as am I. We have every reason to be optimistic about the coming years — I certainly am, and plan to be here to participate in them. But the battle for freedom of speech, and ultimately, freedom of thought, has never been more intense.”
Murdoch and his media empire have had enormous influence on the political direction of numerous Western countries, impacting the United States in particular. When Fox News was launched in 1996, it coincided with the rise of conservative talk radio, along with an increasingly polarizing political climate that featured hardline conservative politicians in Congress such as Newt Gingrich. The network’s influence only seemed to grow bigger as the years went by, and it became the dominant cable news subscription network in the United States. Hosts such as Bill O’Reilly, Hannity and Tucker Carlson have been known as personalities that were able to significantly influence public opinion on crucial issues, particularly on the conservative audience that watch the channel. So, with a media conglomerate that is so prominent, why would Murdoch step down now? Perhaps it’s because he’d rather have others deal with the mess his company helped create.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Dominion Voting Systems initiated a defamation lawsuit against Fox, regarding many of their hosts, including Tucker Carlson, Maria Bartiromo and Sean Hannity, and their statements that Dominion’s voting machines had been “rigged” to steal the 2020 presidential election from former President Donald Trump. In the pre-trial discovery, it was found that many of the hosts repeating these false claims knew that they were false but continued to do so to retain viewership, which made Fox look even worse in the trial. In 2023, the two sides reached a settlement, with Fox agreeing to pay Dominion $787.5 million. It became the largest known media settlement for defamation in U.S. history. While this lawsuit can be perceived as having done significant damage to Fox and its reputation, the firing of the network’s biggest star can be a bigger reason for Murdoch stepping down.
Tucker Carlson Tonight was Fox’s flagship show, as it was one of the most-watched cable news shows in America, averaging over 3 million viewers nightly. It also differed from other Fox nightly shows in that Tucker attracted a younger conservative audience than his network contemporaries such as Hannity and Mark Levin, perhaps due to his “populist” persona. When his show was abruptly taken off Fox News in April 2023, many wondered why Fox would take its cash cow off the air with no explanation. Some outlets speculated that Carlson was fired for his involvement in the Dominion lawsuit, while others thought it was because of his coverage of Jan. 6. Some suggested it was because of his views on the war in Ukraine or because of the hostile and bigoted environment in his workplace. We will never know for sure. What can be observed, though, is the decline of Fox’s influence since Carlson’s firing.
In the wake of Carlson’s firing, many prominent conservatives on social media claimed that Fox was no longer a place where those on the right could honestly state their views and said that Carlson was fired because of his authenticity. Others said, for reasons besides Carlson’s firing, that Fox was going “woke.” Many encouraged conservatives to consume alternative, online forms of right-wing media, such as the Daily Wire, as opposed to “legacy” cable media, such as Fox, which appeared to be outdated. While these claims may have appeared to be unsubstantiated at first, when Nielsen ratings came out in May, it showed a significant decline in Fox viewership, with the network averaging 1.42 million viewers in primetime, which was a 32% decline from April. While one report shows that Fox’s ratings are making a slight comeback with new host Jesse Watters replacing Carlson’s 8 p.m. time slot, it can be argued that Fox’s loss is much bigger than their former star’s. Carlson is now getting views on X (formerly known as Twitter) that, according to Elon Musk, are “more than the population of the United States.” While Musk’s statement is likely to be an exaggeration, it is true that Carlson’s new show on X has had clips that have reached almost 100 million views.
What is most important to note is the larger theme throughout this tumultuous time for Fox. And that is, despite the network’s over 20-year dominance in cable television, its uncontested position as the centerpiece of conservative media may be coming to an end. As cable television continues to decline, and online spaces like X and YouTube become increasingly popular platforms for political pundits and personalities, the landscape of the news in general becomes more splintered. While most people got their news from the same sources back in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, everyone today is getting their news from a different outlet, which makes it harder for Americans to find common ground in an increasingly polarized world. As even conservatives who were once loyal to Fox have abandoned it for more right-wing pastures, more corporate entities that were once considered apolitical are now being forced to choose sides in culture wars. For corporations that are deemed “too woke,” which Fox is now a part of, the right is now planning to create alternatives wherever they can be made.
With his company roiled by controversies in the past few years and the audience he once had an iron grip over splintering, it makes sense that Rupert Murdoch would want to step down. While he said in his statement that he is “optimistic about the coming years,” the future of traditional cable news may be in jeopardy. At 92 years old and with children to pass his legacy along to, why would Murdoch want to partake in the chaos that will ensue in the next few years?
Ben Oppenheimer, FCRH ’24, is a film and television major from Hempstead, N.Y.
