What the fight for the Murdoch family media empire is really about

At the eye of the storm, Lachlan Murdoch looked calm enough as he strode through the press pack and up the steps of the courtroom in downtown Reno, Nevada, where a probate commissioner could decide the future of the family business once and for all. After being tapped on the shoulder by his father Rupert more than a decade ago, after running Fox Corporation for the past five years, and after being formally anointed the successor when Murdoch Senior retired in September, Lachlan believes he has been working to enrich his siblings and is entitled to the prize – unassailable control of the Murdoch Family Trust, just like his father enjoyed for the past 25 years. Rupert and Lachlan will argue that the commercial success, and therefore the economic value, of the Murdoch media assets, in particular Fox News, is intrinsically tied to their conservative editorial stance. New York Times' writer-at-large Jim Rutenberg, who broke the story of the Murdoch family trust dispute in July, told Australian Story that, "there's an evidence-based case to make that American democracy really is on the line, because democracy only works if the losers accept defeat … How Fox News treats this election if it comes down to a Trump loss and a Trump refusal to accept that loss will be critical.” As former New York Post political editor Gregg Birnbaum, who worked for Lachlan Murdoch two decades ago, told Australian Story in June: "Here's a chance for Lachlan Murdoch to tell the story to the Fox viewers, whether they want to hear it or not. "And I think that would really show that, hey, Fox has moved in a new direction … and that will go a long way toward making things right.” Apart from anything else, doing the right thing might strengthen Lachlan's hand in the Murdoch's family trust dispute.