Fox News Media Buzz host Howard Kurtz talked about the legacy of Rupert Murdoch, who announced that he will be stepping down from his position as the head of both Fox and News Corp. boards.
In a letter released last week, the 92-year-old media mogul explained that his son Lachlan will replace him as the sole chairman of both companies. While Rupert Murdoch will retain the title of chairman emeritus, his son will take over the reins of the two media giants.
“Rupert Murdoch started out 70 years ago after inheriting a small Australian newspaper from his father,” said Kurtz on Sunday. “He acquired other papers over the years, The New York Post, and The Wall Street Journal, whose character he pledged to preserve and did.”
Kurtz said it’s hard to overstate the scope of the industries that Murdoch transformed. Murdoch created a fourth TV network, which was the Fox Broadcast Network.
“Which such iconic hits as The Simpsons,” Kurtz said. “Stunning the sports world by outbidding CBS to air NFL games, and of course, the creation of Fox News.”
Murdoch also got into book publishing by purchasing Harper Collins and became a movie mogul by buying 20th Century Fox before selling the studio to Disney four years ago.
“The billionaire leans right, but he’s a pragmatist, supporting politicians of different stripes from Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair to Ed Kotch of New York,” Kurtz continued. “He often spoke to President Trump but distanced himself after the tragedy of January 6th.”
“While the Fox haters have been out in full force, it’s no accident that Fox News is watched by plenty of Democrats and independents.”
Kurtz added that in the decade that he’s been at the network, he’s only talked to Murdoch a handful of times, which he says undercuts the notion that tells his hosts what to say.
