Interfamily politics can be messy, I’m sure a fair few of us have had our own yearly dose after our own Christmas get-togethers where Grandma Rose whispers some snarky comments about Aunty Patties Pav recipe, but in some cases, it may turn out to be a dub for the rest of us especially when the feuding is between Rupert Murdoch and son James.
Here’s the lowdown, James and Wife Kathryn have moved away from the conservative ways of his father especially on the matter of climate. They have expressed to a spokesperson who told The Daily Beast: “They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.”
The Murdoch News branches have been accused of downplaying the magnitude of the Australian Bushfires, stating they aren’t anything more than what we have seen in the past, and using arson as a scapegoat from the real glaringly obvious reasoning. News Corp Australia also had its own internal drama, when a ‘misinformation campaign’ was revealed by Emily Townsend, a commercial financier manager at the company.
“I find it unconscionable to continue working for this company, knowing I am contributing to the spread of climate change denial and lies. The reporting I have witnessed in the Australian, the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun is not only irresponsible, but dangerous and damaging to our communities and beautiful planet that needs us more than ever now to acknowledge the destruction we have caused and start doing something about it,” she wrote when speaking The Guardian leaked emails from inside the company.
She accused Murdoch owned enterprises of downplaying the real issues and diverting attention from Climate to arson, as well as a continued spread of misinformation of the effects of the fires in Australia.
Back-peddling swiftly followed Townsend’s comments, one more ludicrous sentiment was expressed by the Australian. “The Australian’s journalists report facts about how to tackle bushfires and about how to deal with the impact of climate change. Second, we host debates reflecting the political division that exists in Australia about how to address climate change without destroying our economy.”
Yikes.
James has tried to make a very public exit from his father’s ventures as he took a step back from the day to day roles within the business as well as a failure to cash in his stock completely which would have given him the opportunity to step away from the empire completely. While his Wife Kathryn has been a climate activist for over a decade and recently become more vocal on twitter where she denounces Trump, and post solutions to beating the climate emergency.
So, Daddy and Bubby are having words, but unfortunately, we are still waiting on any rebuttal by NewsCorp or Papa Murdoch, this can only hold hope for the change within the company. As James still sits and operates on the board for News Corp, his modern thinking and honestly realistic sentiment will hopefully bleed into the minds of the Newscorp Big-wigs, but at the end of the day; this is Rupert Murdoch we are talking about.
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