James Murdoch says acquiring New York magazine and Vox has nothing to do with his father. But in some ways, it’s a tribute.
It is an enduring feature of our nation’s leading (for now) media dynasty, the Murdochs, that they continually generate news — as a force in politics and culture, as a bellwether of their industry and as a family whose fights have been soapy enough to inspire four seasons of “Succession.”
The family’s story arc, though, appeared to reach its zenith last September. That was when Rupert Murdoch ended a wrenching family legal battle over future control of his conservative media empire with three of his four oldest offspring — James, Liz and Prue — and made their more right-leaning brother, Lachlan, his undisputed business heir.
Driving the drama was Rupert’s fear that upon his death, James would swoop in with his sisters to pull the Murdoch news outlets, including Fox News and The New York Post, to the left. Rupert’s liberal critics hoped for — pined for — the same outcome. But Rupert and Lachlan, who now runs the companies, came to an accommodation with the wayward children in which they would cede their claims in return for more than $1 billion each. That seemed to be that.
Then came news last month that James would buy New York magazine, Vox.com and the Vox Media podcasting network for an estimated $300 million.
Small by the standards of today’s media deals, the purchase nonetheless grabbed attention because of what it represented: the most visible move by James to leave his father’s gargantuan shadow. It signaled a break from a legacy that James has publicly associated with climate change denialism and the “insidious and uncontrollable forces” that caused the Jan. 6 riots. He holds that his father’s empire has spread toxic political content in pursuit of ratings and revenue, degrading civic health and its own corporate standing.
Coverage of the deal has portrayed James as acquiring “an ideological competitor” to the outlets run by his brother. Though it would be the equivalent of fighting a destroyer with a speedboat, the notion made sense. The family fight had always taken place within the family media business. Now it would play out through rival media businesses.