Media mogul told staff he was leaving after seven decades and ‘take on different roles’
- Full report: Rupert Murdoch to quit as Fox and News Corp chair
Here are some reactions from industry experts on Rupert Murdoch’s announcement, Reuters reports:
Art Hogan, chief market strategist and B Riley Wealth says:
“Murdoch who is 92, is stepping away after a tumultuous year at Fox’s TV network. While his decision comes as a bit of a surprise, there is certainly some logic to the decision… Broadcast TV is in secular decline, and Fox has lost both on air talent and ratings. As one of his sons will be taking over the leadership role, we wouldn’t expect to see much of a reaction in the stock, which is unchanged on a year-to-date basis.”
“Logically one would always have expected him to step aside at some point given his age, and the transition to Lachlan has been conveyed to the world for some time… His legacy for the industry – and the world – it’s mixed…
Clearly he’s done a lot for journalism, and many of his enterprises still produce a lot of important news which helps keep the world informed in ways that might not have occurred were it not for his leadership… But it’s impossible to ignore the other side of that, where Fox News amplified toxicity in the US political environment, and other properties similarly impacted other territories.”
“[Murdoch’s legacy is] huge, good and bad. I think he was the first to make news really entertaining, but his decision to move Fox to the right created MSNBC and politicized news forever.”
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