RUPERT MURDOCH STEPPING DOWN
The creator of Fox News has become a force in American politics
Magnate Rupert Murdoch’s surprise announcement Thursday that he’s stepping down as leader of his two companies leaves his son Lachlan firmly in the line of succession at Fox and the rest of the media empire.
The 92-year-old Australian billionaire’s creation of Fox News Channel has made him an enduring force in American politics. He inherited a newspaper in Adelaide, Australia, from his father in 1952 and eventually built a news and entertainment enterprise dominant in the United States and Britain.
Fox said Murdoch would become chairman emeritus of both the news network’s parent company,
Fox Corp., and the News Corp. media holdings, effective in November. Lachlan will become News Corp. chairman and continue as
chief executive officer of Fox Corp.
Lachlan Murdoch said that “we are grateful that he will serve as chairman emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel.”
Fox News Channel has profoundly influenced television and national politics since its start in 1996, making Murdoch a hero to some and pariah to others. The 24hour network converted the power and energy of political talk radio to television. Within six years, it outrated CNN and MSNBC, and still does.
But it’s been a rough year for Fox, which was forced to pay $787 million to settle a defamation lawsuit related to its coverage of false claims following the 2020 presidential election. Fox also fired its most popular personality, Tucker Carlson.
Stock in Fox Corp., while positive this year, began to decline early in 2022, due in part to lawsuits and investor anxiety.
Besides Fox News, Rupert Murdoch started the Fox broadcast network, the first to successfully chal
union’s stated strategy is to “keep the companies guessing.” Rather than striking all of the companies’ plants at once, the UAW has taken the unconventional approach of striking at a few plants while other union employees continue working. This approach has allowed the union to tap its $825 million strike fund more slowly. The union is paying striking workers $500 a week out of its strike fund.
Another sticking point for the union has been the tiered pay structure, adopted during the 2008 financial crisis.
Under this model, newer employees earn less in wages and receive fewer benefits than more-veteran workers. And many can be stuck in “temporary” status for years, making it difficult for them to move up the pay scale.
The union is demanding that all workers reach top pay after 90 days on the job.
The companies have made some concessions, offering to shorten the time it
takes workers to reach the top wage rate and proposing to lift starting wages for temp workers by 20 percent, to $20 an hour.
Leaders at GM and Ford have been pushing back against messaging from the union on companies’ offers. GM President Mark Reuss, in an op-ed published Wednesday by the Detroit Free Press, rejected the UAW’s claims that with record profits, GM can afford to adopt the union’s demands, calling them “untenable” as the company transitions to “an all-EV future.”
GM spokesperson David
Barnas said in a statement Thursday that the company is “continuing to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”
Ford said it has given significant ground in the talks and remains focused on getting a deal.
Beyond 20 percent raises over four years, Ford is offering some cost-of-living adjustments to wages, increased contributions to workers’ retirement savings and more paid time off.
As the strike moved into a seventh day, the companies appeared to be issuing
more temporary layoffs, following announcements of layoffs of some workers at Ford and GM facilities last week at plants not on strike.
GM confirmed on Wednesday that it was idling its Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kan., which employs roughly 2,000 workers. The company attributed the layoffs to a shortage of product that is typically supplied by the company’s Wentzville, Mo., plant, which is on strike.
Also, Stellantis said Wednesday that more than 350 additional layoffs could take place at its Jeep facilities “as a consequence of strike action,” including 68 employees confirmed to be laid off at the Toledo Machining Plant in Perrysburg, Ohio, because of limited storage space. The company also said it anticipates similar layoffs at facilities in Kokomo, Ind.
GM and Ford have said that workers are ineligible for unemployment insurance, but the UAW has been offering laid-off workers $500 a week in strike fund benefits.