--- title: "Rupert Murdoch to step down as chairman of News Corp., Afghan refugees in St. Louis find community through newspaper" description: "The Briefing is your weekly update on the world of news and information" date: "2023-09-21" authors: - name: "Jacob Liedke" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/newsletter/the-briefing/rupert-murdoch-to-step-down-as-chairman-of-news-corp-afghan-refugees-in-st-louis-find-community-through-newspaper/" --- # Rupert Murdoch to step down as chairman of News Corp., Afghan refugees in St. Louis find community through newspaper [![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/prc-logo.png?w=640){.aligncenter width=348}](https://www.pewresearch.org/prc-logo/) --- September 21, 2023 # The Briefing **☀️ Happy Thursday!** *The Briefing updates you on what’s happened and what’s coming in the news and information world – and what our data tells us about it. Not a subscriber yet? [**Sign up here!**](https://www.pewresearch.org/sign-up-for-the-briefing/)* **In today*’*s email:** - **Top story:** Rupert Murdoch to step down as News Corp. chairman - **Under the radar:** Afghan refugees in St. Louis find community through newspaper - **Looking ahead:** Disney reportedly in exploratory talks to sell ABC to Nexstar - **Chart of the week:** Views of investigative journalism in Western Europe 🔥 **Top story** Rupert Murdoch announced today that he is [stepping down as chairman of Fox News and News Corp](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rupert-murdoch-stepping-down-news-corp-fox-chairman/). His son Lachlan Murdoch is set to become the sole chairman of both companies. This change comes after Fox News agreed to a nearly $800 million settlement over a defamation lawsuit earlier this year, although audiences and revenue for the network both increased between 2021 and 2022, according to a [recent Pew Research Center analysis](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/cable-news/). - 🕵️ **Under the radar** - [Afghan refugees in St. Louis](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/with-new-newspaper-and-new-businesses-afghan-refugees-finding-new-community-in-missouri) find community through a **monthly newspaper** - A look at** Hasan Minhaj** and the [intersection of entertainment and opinion journalism](https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/hasan-minhajs-emotional-truths) - How an **investigative journalism network** aimed [to unite publications across borders](https://gijn.org/internation-worlds-first-maybe-international-journalism-network/) - The [role of political money](https://www.semafor.com/article/09/17/2023/medias-political-divide-plays-out-in-maine) in **Maine’s local media **landscape - After **protests in flood-hit Derna**, Libya’s eastern government [orders journalists to leave](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/19/eastern-libya-orders-journalists-flood-derna-protests-media-crackdown) - **Advance Local** to build a [New Orleans-based sports and news website](https://www.axios.com/2023/09/19/advance-gulf-coast-news-site-new-orleans?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosmediatrends&stream=top) after Times-Picayune sale - **The Atlanta Journal-Constitution** [aims to increase digital subscribers](https://www.wsj.com/business/media/atlanta-news-outlet-aims-for-half-a-million-digital-subscribers-in-under-four-years-66b59edb?st=h5esa33rmzadd4x&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink&utm_campaign=Need%20to%20Know%20newsletter&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=274760144&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--kKLm6A3Y6_Dzrz_jsWYW3zjaiBQgEPGNrRt9HQqYf7MEp3CAmrgfAYgNTJR1dzQfnRZoZsBFMHhb7ZnolHmihKlRY-Q&utm_content=274760144&utm_source=hs_email) by expanding local news coverage 📅 **Looking ahead** This week, we look ahead to the potential sale of ABC to Nexstar Media Group. [Disney has recently held exploratory talks about selling the subsidiary](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-14/disney-is-said-to-hold-initial-talks-on-sale-of-abc-to-nexstar#xj4y7vzkg), causing [concern among ABC newsroom staffers](https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/14/media/abc-disney-reliable-sources/index.html). A [recent Center analysis of industry data](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/network-news/) found that ABC had the largest average audience for evening news among network TV news organizations in 2022, at 7.6 million viewers, although advertiser expenditures for the evening news broadcast declined that year. 📊 **Chart of the week** The Global Investigative Journalism Network [recently examined their history and the history of investigative journalism](https://gijn.org/internation-worlds-first-maybe-international-journalism-network/) across Europe, Latin America and the U.S. A Pew Research Center survey in 2017 [examined views of the media across several European countries](https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2018/05/14/in-western-europe-public-attitudes-toward-news-media-more-divided-by-populist-views-than-left-right-ideology/), including how well the news media does at investigating the actions of the government. ![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2018/05/PJ_2018.05.14_Western-Europe_1-05.png) --- *👋 That's all for this week. * The Briefing is compiled by Pew Research Center staff, including Naomi Forman-Katz, Jacob Liedke, Sarah Naseer, Christopher St. Aubin and Emily Tomasik. It is edited by Katerina Eva Matsa, Michael Lipka and Mark Jurkowitz, and copy edited by David Kent. *Do you like this newsletter? Email us at [journalism@pewresearch.org](mailto:journalism@pewresearch.org) or fill out this [two-question survey](https://us1.list-manage.com/survey?u=434f5d1199912232d416897e4&id=449f3c3d35&attribution=false) to tell us what you think*. --- [Update preferences]({{ update_preferences }})* * [View in browser](http://{{ blog_post }})* * [Unsubscribe]({{ unsubscribe_link }})* * [Facebook](https://facebook.com/pewresearch) [Twitter](https://twitter.com/pewresearch) [Instagram](https://instagram.com/pewresearch) Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank. As a neutral source of data and analysis, Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. © 2023 Pew Research Center