Fox Corp CEO Lachlan Murdoch on Thursday addressed Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit, defiantly calling the claims and the way they’ve been covered “really about politics.”
“A news organization has an obligation to report news fulsomely, wholesomely and without fear or favor and that’s what Fox News has always done that’s what Fox News will always do,” he told a Morgan Stanley investor conference on Thursday. “I think a lot of the noise that you hear about this case is actually not about the law and it’s not about journalism and it’s really about politics and that’s unfortunately more reflective of just that sort of polarized society that we live in today.”
Murdoch reiterated that the trial with the voting technology company is slated to start in April.
“We’ll all be waiting for that,” he added.
Lachlan’s comments come after his father, Rupert Murdoch, recently admitted in a deposition that some of the channel’s top hosts, including Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Jeanine Pirro and Maria Bartiromo, “endorsed” a false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.
“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” Murdoch said, according to the filing.
In a statement on Wednesday, Fox accused Dominion of attempting to silence the press and said its lawsuit is “nothing more than another flagrant attack on the First Amendment.”
“FOX News will continue to fiercely protect the free press as a ruling in favor of Dominion would have grave consequences for journalism across this country,” the statement concluded.
In addition to commenting on the Dominion case, Murdoch touted Fox News’ “incredibly strong brand,” noting that it has allowed the company to launch new businesses including Fox Weather and its subscription video on demand service Fox Nation.
“[Our viewers] see Fox News as not just a news channel but really a channel that speaks to the sort of middle America and respect the values of middle America and the media business that is most relevant to them as opposed to simply a news channel,” he said.
He added that Fox finished February as the highest rated channel in all of cable television in the United States and that its panel show “The Five” is the No. 1 rated news show in America.
“Fox News has the best demographics and the best diversity of any news channel. We have more Democrats and independents watching Fox News than watching CNN or watching MSNBC. We have more Hispanics watching Fox News, we have more Asians watching Fox News than watching CNN or MSNBC,” he continued. “So the position of the channel is very strong and doing very well.”
He credited the network’s success to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott and her team.
“They’ve done a tremendous job running this business and building this business,” he said. “This is a hard business to run and I think Suzanne Scott has done a tremendous job.”
