James Murdoch criticized the coverage of Australia's wildfires by his own family's news outlets, exposing a rift in the media empire built by his billionaire father, Rupert Murdoch.
In a statement originally reported by the Daily Beast, a representative for James Murdoch said that he and his wife, Kathryn, have taken issue with climate coverage by the family's businesses, including News Corp. and Fox Corp. Stories on the fires in particular have promoted the denial of global warming, the statement suggests.
"Kathryn and James's 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," the representative said. "They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary."
Murdoch, 47, stepped down as chief executive officer of 21st Century Fox Inc. after it sold the bulk of its entertainment operations to Walt Disney Co. last year. The remaining business, now called Fox Corp., is run by his older brother, Lachlan.
James Murdoch remains on the board of News Corp., which split from Fox in 2013 and owns newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal, The Australian and the New York Post.
News Corp. declined to comment. The company said Monday that it would donate $3.1 million to Australian fire relief.
The Australian drew outcry for reports blaming the fire crisis on arsonists, rather than the effects of climate change. In an editorial last week, the newspaper said its coverage has been misinterpreted by publications such as the Guardian and The New York Times.
The editorial argued that "the evidence of global warming since the Industrial Revolution is clear," but also that The Australian has reported on seasonal factors and "the interrelated build-up of very dry forest fuel loads," which it said require prescribed burning.
"We have reported this accurately," the editorial read, "just as we have covered the well-attested role of arson in igniting fires, a risk that deserves more attention in times of climate change."
Information for this article was contributed by Christopher Palmeri of Bloomberg News.
Business on 01/15/2020