{"id":311672,"date":"2025-09-11T14:36:25","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T18:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?prc_email_campaign=murdoch-family-settles-future-control-of-media-empire"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:15:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:15:52","slug":"murdoch-family-settles-future-control-of-media-empire","status":"publish","type":"prc_email_campaign","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/murdoch-family-settles-future-control-of-media-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"Murdoch family settles future control of media empire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!<\/strong>\u00a0<em>The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information<\/em>.<em> <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/sign-up-for-the-briefing\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/sign-up-for-the-briefing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Sign up here!<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In today<em>\u2019<\/em>s email:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li><strong>Featured story:<\/strong> Murdoch family settles future control of media empire<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>In other news:<\/strong> Charlie Kirk\u2019s impact on conservative media<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Looking ahead:<\/strong> Anthropic agrees to $1.5 billion copyright settlement later paused by judge<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Chart of the week:<\/strong> Is it acceptable for journalists to advocate?<\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udd25\u00a0<strong>Featured story<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lachlan Murdoch,<\/strong> eldest son of <strong>Rupert Murdoch,<\/strong> will maintain corporate control of the family\u2019s media empire in the coming decades, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/09\/08\/murdoch-family-trust-lachlan-news-corp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to a settlement reached by the family<\/a> this week. Its properties include <strong>Fox News, The Wall Street Journal<\/strong> and the <strong>New York Post,<\/strong> among other media outlets in the U.S. and around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The announcement ends a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/13\/magazine\/rupert-murdoch-succession-family-trust-fight.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">long-running dispute<\/a> over how the Murdoch family would divide control, during which the 94-year-old Rupert Murdoch reportedly sought to cement the conservative political orientation of many of his outlets through Lachlan. Three of Rupert\u2019s other children \u2013 James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch and Prudence MacLeod \u2013 are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/sustainability\/boards-policy-regulation\/real-life-succession-ends-lachlan-murdoch-takes-control-siblings-take-cash-2025-09-08\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">each expected to receive about $1.1 billion<\/a> in the deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to get news from <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/feature\/news-media-tracker\/fox_news\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fox News<\/a>, that is not the case for <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/feature\/news-media-tracker\/the_wall_street_journal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Wall Street Journal<\/a> and the <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/feature\/news-media-tracker\/new_york_post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New York Post<\/a>, according to a March 2025 Pew Research Center survey. For instance, 16% of Democrats say they regularly get news from the Journal, compared with 12% of Republicans. And Democrats are also more likely than Republicans to say they trust the Journal as a source of news (37% vs. 23%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udccc\u00a0<strong>In other news<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n\n<li>After\u00a0<strong>Charlie Kirk<\/strong>\u00a0was shot and killed Wednesday, a look at his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/09\/10\/media\/charlie-kirk-tpusa-maga-conservative-activism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">impact on conservative media<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>CBS News\u00a0<\/strong>hires former head of conservative think tank as\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/08\/business\/media\/cbs-news-ombudsman-kenneth-weinstein.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new ombudsman<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>The New York Times\u00a0<\/strong>launches\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2025\/09\/the-new-york-times-launches-a-family-subscription-with-separate-wordles-for-everyone\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">family subscriptions<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Will Lewis,\u00a0<\/strong>now publisher of<strong>\u00a0The Washington Post,<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/uk-news\/2025\/sep\/10\/washington-post-boss-will-lewis-secret-adviser-boris-johnson-leak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">advised Boris Johnson<\/a>\u00a0when he was UK\u00a0PM<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Univision<\/strong>\u00a0warns viewers that\u00a0<strong>YouTube TV<\/strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/09\/09\/televisaunivision-youtube-carriage-contract\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">may pull the broadcaster<\/a> from its basic bundle<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>Florida radio station\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/florida-radio-station-borrows-trump-face-name\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rebrands itself<\/a>\u00a0as \u201cTrump Country\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n<li><strong>NPR\u00a0<\/strong>names\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2025\/09\/11\/nx-s1-5536569\/npr-thomas-evans-news-editor-in-chief\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">new editor in chief<\/a><\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udcc5\u00a0<strong>Looking ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, Anthropic agreed to pay a $1.5 billion settlement in a class action lawsuit brought by\u00a0<strong>authors accusing the AI firm of training its models on copyrighted books.<\/strong>\u00a0But then a judge raised concerns about the settlement and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/news\/775230\/anthropic-piracy-class-action-lawsuit-settlement-rejected\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">put the deal on hold<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many Americans in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2024\/03\/26\/many-americans-think-generative-ai-programs-should-credit-the-sources-they-rely-on\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">February 2024 survey<\/a>\u00a0(54%) said\u00a0<strong>AI programs that generate text and images need to credit their sources.<\/strong>\u00a0A much smaller share (14%) said such programs don\u2019t need to credit sources. About a third (32%) were not sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\ud83d\udcca\u00a0<strong>Chart of the week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week\u2019s chart comes from our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2025\/08\/20\/how-americans-view-journalists-in-the-digital-age\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recent report<\/a>\u00a0on how Americans view journalists in the digital age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most Americans say it is at least sometimes acceptable for journalists to <strong>advocate for the communities they cover<\/strong> when reporting on an issue or event, including 51% who say this is always or usually acceptable. At the same time, more than half say it is <em>rarely\u00a0or<\/em>\u00a0<em>never\u00a0<\/em>acceptable for journalists to publicly express their political or religious views in their reporting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-640-wide\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e7dfd8\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e7dfd8;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/09\/PJ_2025.08.20_role-of-journalists_0-06.png?resize=480,615 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/09\/PJ_2025.08.20_role-of-journalists_0-06.png?resize=782,1002 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/09\/PJ_2025.08.20_role-of-journalists_0-06.png?resize=840,1076 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"820\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2025\/09\/PJ_2025.08.20_role-of-journalists_0-06.png?w=640\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-274334 not-transparent\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:25px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\ud83d\udc4b That&#8217;s all for this week.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Christopher St. Aubin, Luxuan Wang, Emily Tomasik and Joanne Haner. It is edited by Michael Lipka and copy edited by Anna Jackson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Do you like this newsletter? Email us at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:journalism@pewresearch.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><a href=\"mailto:journalism@pewresearch.org\">info@pewresearch.org<\/a> or fill out this <a data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/us1.list-manage.com\/survey?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&amp;id=449f3c3d35&amp;attribution=false\" href=\"https:\/\/us1.list-manage.com\/survey?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&amp;id=449f3c3d35&amp;attribution=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two-question survey<\/a> to tell us what you think<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!\u00a0The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today\u2019s email: \ud83d\udd25\u00a0Featured story Lachlan Murdoch, eldest son of Rupert Murdoch, will maintain corporate control of the family\u2019s media empire in the coming decades, according to a settlement reached by the family this week. Its properties include [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5674,"template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","prc_watchers":[],"footnotes":"","prc_email_subject":"Murdoch family settles future control of media empire","prc_email_preview_text":"Plus, is it acceptable for journalists to advocate?","prc_email_template_slug":"","prc_email_mailchimp_audience_id":"","prc_email_mailchimp_segment_id":"","prc_email_mailchimp_campaign_id":"","prc_email_mailchimp_campaign_admin_url":"","prc_email_mailchimp_campaign_status":"","prc_email_mailchimp_pending_send_at":"","prc_email_mailchimp_delayed_send_cancelled":""},"categories":[],"bylines":[],"prc_newsletter_list":[3083],"_post_visibility":[2643],"formats":[],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-311672","prc_email_campaign","type-prc_email_campaign","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","_post_visibility-hidden-on-index"],"label":"Newsletter","post_parent":0,"word_count":567,"canonical_url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/newsletter\/the-briefing\/murdoch-family-settles-future-control-of-media-empire\/","charts":[],"art_direction":{"A1":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=564&h=317&crop=1","width":564,"height":317,"chartArt":false},"A2":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"A3":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=194&h=110&crop=1","width":194,"height":110,"chartArt":false},"A4":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=268&h=151&crop=1","width":268,"height":151,"chartArt":false},"XL":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=720&h=405&crop=1","width":720,"height":405,"chartArt":false},"social":{"id":"5674","rawUrl":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png","url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2023\/07\/briefing_featured_image_2-1.png?w=1200&h=628&crop=1","width":1200,"height":628,"chartArt":false}},"_embeds":[],"prc_checklist":{},"watchChildPosts":false,"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Murdoch family settles future control of media empire","description":"\u2600\ufe0f Happy Thursday!\u00a0The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. 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