{"id":151779,"date":"2020-01-20T12:00:28","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T12:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=151779"},"modified":"2020-01-16T11:31:30","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T11:31:30","slug":"james-murdoch-criticises-fathers-news-outlets-for-climate-crisis-denial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/01\/james-murdoch-criticises-fathers-news-outlets-for-climate-crisis-denial\/","title":{"rendered":"James Murdoch Criticises Father’s News Outlets for Climate Crisis Denial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rupert Murdoch\u2019s <\/em>News Corp and <\/em>Fox cited for \u2018frustrating\u2019 coverage of Australian bushfires.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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James and Kathryn Murdoch have issued a statement criticising Rupert Murdoch\u2019s firms for \u2018ongoing denial\u2019 on the climate crisis. Photograph: Joel Ryan\/Invision\/AP<\/p><\/div>\n

14 Jan 2020 – <\/em>Rupert Murdoch\u2019s son has strongly criticised his family\u2019s news outlets for downplaying the impact of the climate crisis, as bushfires continue to burn in Australia.<\/p>\n

James Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, issued a rare joint statement directly criticising his father\u2019s businesses for their \u201congoing denial\u201d on the issue, which has been reflected in the family\u2019s newspapers<\/a> repeatedly casting doubt on the link between the climate emergency and the bushfires.<\/p>\n

\u201cKathryn and James\u2019s views on climate are well-established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well-known,\u201d a spokesperson for the couple said, confirming a report in the Daily Beast<\/a>. \u201cThey are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more: The Australian says it accepts climate science, so why does it give a platform to ‘outright falsehoods’?<\/a> <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

James Murdoch was most recently the chief executive of the family\u2019s 21st Century Fox entertainment business, leaving when it merged with Disney. He is making media investments through his own Lupa Systems company but continues to sit on the board<\/a> of the family\u2019s newspaper business, News Corp, which also owns the Times and the Sun.<\/p>\n

The bushfires have focused attention on the likes of Andrew Bolt, a political commentator for News Corp\u2019s Australian newspapers who is known for promoting the views of climate science deniers, and for his own attacks on \u201calarmists\u201d and his derision of climate change science.<\/p>\n

He also has a programme on the Murdoch-owned Sky News Australia, where he has criticised<\/a> the \u201cconstant stream of propaganda\u201d on the public broadcaster ABC about the role of the climate crisis in the bushfires.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoliticians who should do better are out there feeding the fear and misinformation,\u201d he said in a recent broadcast criticising politicians who said carbon emissions needed to be cut to avoid future fires. \u201cAs if that would stop a fire. You\u2019d have to be a child like Greta Thunberg to believe that fairytale.\u201d<\/p>\n

US viewers have also heard commentary from Fox News<\/a> presenters such as Laura Ingraham, who has said that \u201ccelebrities in the media have been pressing the narrative that the wildfires in Australia are caused by climate change\u201d, before introducing guests who cast doubt on this interpretation.<\/p>\n

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Read more: James Murdoch: ‘There are views I really disagree with’ on <\/a><\/strong><\/em>Fox News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

James Murdoch\u2019s criticism sheds light on the family\u2019s internal rifts, amid speculation over his 88-year-old father\u2019s succession plans. James\u2019s older brother Lachlan is still actively involved in the family businesses as the US-based chairman and chief executive of the slimmed-down Fox Corporation, which owns Fox News.<\/p>\n

Last year, Rupert Murdoch told shareholders<\/a> \u201cthere are no climate change deniers\u201d around his company and said his business was early to commit to \u201cscience-based targets to limit climate change\u201d and was working to reduce its climate emissions.<\/p>\n

However, he has been publicly critical about the \u201calarmist\u201d approach to the issue. In 2015, he used his Twitter account to describe himself as a \u201cclimate change sceptic not a denier\u201d.<\/p>\n

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A climate change skeptic not a denier. Sept UN meets in NY with endless alarmist nonsense from u know whom! Pessimists always seen as sages<\/p>\n

— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) August 27, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n