They are Rupert Murdoch — the founder of the corporate news media giants 21st Century Fox and the News Corporation — and President Trump.
The latest news about the Murdoch-Trump axis is acutely problematic for the leadership at The Wall Street Journal — owned by News Corp. — as it seeks to quell a rebellion by a group of staff members who believe
that the paper has held them back from more aggressively covering Mr. Trump, they suspect, under pressure from Mr. Murdoch.
But the relationship between the president and Mr. Murdoch has implications well beyond The Journal, given the global breadth of Mr. Murdoch’s media holdings,
his history of putting them to use for political leaders who then help him with his own business needs and Mr. Trump’s own reactivity to the news media.
But The Journal’s news pages — the most authoritative of Mr. Murdoch’s American news outlets — are another matter.
That means the whole time that Mr. Murdoch’s highly influential news organizations were covering Mr. Trump’s campaign
and transition, their executive chairman was entangled in a financial arrangement of the most personal sort — tied to his children’s financial (very) well being — along with the president’s daughter.
And Fox News’s Inauguration Day announcement that it was adding to its contributors lineup the pro-“Brexit” British politician —
and Trump ally — Nigel Farage, was not only another move in Mr. Trump’s direction but a reminder of Mr. Murdoch’s transnational reach.
Fox News provides powerful backing for Mr. Trump, starting with its morning show “Fox & Friends”
and ending with its 10 p.m. program, “Hannity,” though its day is interspersed with straight news from journalists like Shepard Smith, Bret Baier and Catherine Herridge.