---
title: "Murdoch family settles future control of media empire"
description: "☀️ Happy Thursday! The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information. Sign up here! In today’s email: 🔥 Featured story Lachlan Murdoch, eldest son of Rupert Murdoch, will maintain corporate control of the family’s media empire in the coming decades, according to a settlement reached by the family this week. Its properties include […]"
date: "2025-09-11"
authors:
  - name: "lwang"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/murdoch-family-settles-future-control-of-media-empire/"
---

# Murdoch family settles future control of media empire

**☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing is your guide to the world of news and information*.* [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)*

**In today*’*s email:**

- **Featured story:** Murdoch family settles future control of media empire

- **In other news:** Charlie Kirk’s impact on conservative media

- **Looking ahead:** Anthropic agrees to $1.5 billion copyright settlement later paused by judge

- **Chart of the week:** Is it acceptable for journalists to advocate?

🔥 **Featured story**

**Lachlan Murdoch,** eldest son of **Rupert Murdoch,** will maintain corporate control of the family’s media empire in the coming decades, [according to a settlement reached by the family](https://www.axios.com/2025/09/08/murdoch-family-trust-lachlan-news-corp) this week. Its properties include **Fox News, The Wall Street Journal** and the **New York Post,** among other media outlets in the U.S. and around the world.

The announcement ends a [long-running dispute](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/magazine/rupert-murdoch-succession-family-trust-fight.html) 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’s other children – James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch and Prudence MacLeod – are [each expected to receive about $1.1 billion](https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/real-life-succession-ends-lachlan-murdoch-takes-control-siblings-take-cash-2025-09-08/) in the deal.

While Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to get news from [Fox News](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/feature/news-media-tracker/fox_news), that is not the case for [The Wall Street Journal](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/feature/news-media-tracker/the_wall_street_journal) and the [New York Post](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/feature/news-media-tracker/new_york_post), 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%).

📌 **In other news**

- After **Charlie Kirk** was shot and killed Wednesday, a look at his [impact on conservative media](https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/10/media/charlie-kirk-tpusa-maga-conservative-activism)

- **CBS News **hires former head of conservative think tank as [new ombudsman](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/08/business/media/cbs-news-ombudsman-kenneth-weinstein.html)

- **The New York Times **launches [family subscriptions](https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/09/the-new-york-times-launches-a-family-subscription-with-separate-wordles-for-everyone/)

- **Will Lewis, **now publisher of** The Washington Post,** [advised Boris Johnson](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/10/washington-post-boss-will-lewis-secret-adviser-boris-johnson-leak) when he was UK PM

- **Univision** warns viewers that **YouTube TV** [may pull the broadcaster](https://www.axios.com/2025/09/09/televisaunivision-youtube-carriage-contract) from its basic bundle

- **Florida radio station **[rebrands itself](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-radio-station-borrows-trump-face-name/) as “Trump Country”

- **NPR **names [new editor in chief](https://www.npr.org/2025/09/11/nx-s1-5536569/npr-thomas-evans-news-editor-in-chief)

📅 **Looking ahead**

Last week, Anthropic agreed to pay a $1.5 billion settlement in a class action lawsuit brought by **authors accusing the AI firm of training its models on copyrighted books.** But then a judge raised concerns about the settlement and [put the deal on hold](https://www.theverge.com/news/775230/anthropic-piracy-class-action-lawsuit-settlement-rejected).

Many Americans in a [February 2024 survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/03/26/many-americans-think-generative-ai-programs-should-credit-the-sources-they-rely-on/) (54%) said **AI programs that generate text and images need to credit their sources.** A much smaller share (14%) said such programs don’t need to credit sources. About a third (32%) were not sure.

📊 **Chart of the week**

This week’s chart comes from our [recent report](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2025/08/20/how-americans-view-journalists-in-the-digital-age/) on how Americans view journalists in the digital age.

Most Americans say it is at least sometimes acceptable for journalists to **advocate for the communities they cover** 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 *rarely or* *never *acceptable for journalists to publicly express their political or religious views in their reporting.

![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/PJ_2025.08.20_role-of-journalists_0-06.png?w=640)

*👋 That's all for this week. *

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.

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