James Murdoch criticizes “media owners” who have “unleashed insidious forces” with allegations of electoral denial

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Murdoch did not explicitly mention Fox News, which is controlled by his father and brother Lachlan Murdoch. But it was clear that while he also considered other outlets, his focus was on the right-wing cable network when he made those comments in an interview with the Financial Times published Friday. Since the election for Joe Biden was called, some Fox News personalities have amplified President Trump’s false allegations of electoral fraud and sowed distrust in the voting system.

“The damage is profound,” Murdoch said, referring to the electoral misinformation that has circulated in the U.S. “The looting of the Capitol is positive evidence that what we thought was dangerous is very, very much so. Those outlets that propagate lies to their public have unleashed insidious and uncontrollable forces that will be with us for years.”

“I hope those people who didn’t think it was so dangerous now understand it and stop,” Murdoch added.

After the interview, he published a joint statement in the Financial Times with his wife, Kathryn Murdoch.

“Spreading misinformation, whether about elections, public health or climate change, has real consequences for the world,” the two said. “Many media owners have as much responsibility as elected officials who know the truth, but prefer to spread lies. We hope that the terrible scenes we have all been watching end up convincing these facilitators because they repudiate the toxic policy they have promoted once and for all. “.

A Murdoch spokesman did not respond to any requests for comment.

Young Murdoch made a dramatic break with his family in August 2020, resigning from the board of directors of News Corp, his family’s publishing empire. Murdoch said at the time he was leaving the company over “disagreements over certain editorial content published” by his media and for “some other strategic decisions.”

It would not be the first time James Murdoch has spoken out publicly about the media coverage of his father’s media empire. A spokesman for James and his wife Kathryn told the Daily Beast that the couple were frustrated “with some of News Corp and Fox’s coverage” about climate change as wildfires ravaged Australia last year. In an interview with The New Yorker in 2019, he said, “There are views that I really don’t agree with on Fox.”

Murdoch has shown other signs of disagreement with the conservative views of Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch. He previously made a donation to Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and smoked over the denial of climate change.

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