Twilight of the Sun King | Warning over sex trial reporting curbs
And UK editors are united in their calls for legislation to tackle the scourge of SLAPPs
Good morning and welcome to your daily media news briefing on Friday, 22 September, in association with Norkon, the company behind the live-blogging platform Live Center. Watch their new webinar - Unlocking The Gen Z Code - for strategies to successfully engage with the next generation.
In Succession terms, this is the start of season one.
Rupert Murdoch's move to chairman emeritus role could change everything or nothing.
Lachlan has already been running Fox and CEO Robert Thomson the rest of the business.
Rupert remains the controlling shareholder so time will tell the extent to which he will continue his role as political king-maker when it comes to influence over his more malleable editorial assets: Fox News, The Sun and New York Post.
Lachlan is in the driving seat for now. But the real succession drama will begin when the sometimes warring sibs - Lachlan, James, Elisabeth and Prudence - inherit their equal 40% shares in the family trust. Murdoch’s two younger children to Wendy Deng don’t get a vote.
The questions which now come into view include:
Will a Murdoch successor be as devoted as he has been to The Sun with its massive historic legal bills and declining print circulation?
Will the new chairman seek to wield political influence and power as overtly as Rupert has or stick to business?
Will Lachlan, or another future successor, share Rupert's undoubted passion and commitment to journalism and the news business (beyond the purely financial aspects)?
We have the story here (along with Rupert's memo to colleagues in full).
Today we also have an open-justice warning from crime reporters over proposals to limit coverage when complainants give evidence in sexual offence trials.
Leading UK editors are united in their calls for legislation to stop the rich and powerful from silencing critical coverage by swamping publishers with cynical and costly legal actions.
And former ITV Central News editor Dan Barton has rung the alarm bell for regional newspapers which he fears may be at a tipping point in their circulation decline.
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New from Press Gazette:
Rupert Murdoch to step down as News Corp and Fox Corp chairman
“In my new role, I can guarantee you that I will be involved every day in the contest of ideas. Our companies are communities, and I will be an active member of our community.”
Journalists fear ‘secret justice’ over proposed one-reporter limit in sex trials
“This proposal runs the risk that reporting would be skewed, materially imbalanced by what is heard in public, and what has been withheld from most reporters in a private hearing.”
UK’s top editors call for standalone anti-SLAPP bill
“There is no reason why a standalone Anti-SLAPP Bill shouldn’t be included in the King’s Speech.”
Is regional press approaching print decline tipping point?
“Anyone who wants to be a journalist these days must be bonkers,” writes Dan Barton on our letters page.
News in brief
There will be no further action against Boris Johnson for breaching ministerial rules with his Daily Mail column job as it would be "disproportionate", Oliver Dowden has said. (Press Gazette)GB News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos has said of Bev Turner and Andrew Pierce's dispute over Russell Brand: "GB News’ coverage has displayed the very essence of due impartiality with two presenters exercising their right to free speech by having a robust conversation with opposing views." The GB News added that allegations against Dan Wootton that they have not been "admitted or proved by an independent body. GB News continues to monitor the situation". (Press Gazette)The founding editor of the Newham Recorder, Tom Duncan, died on Monday at the age of 86. (Press Gazette)The Sun’s chief political correspondent Natasha Clark is joining LBC as its political editor. (Press Gazette)Jewish News and Jewish Renaissance magazine are together launching a free Emerging Journalists Programme with a writing competition, panels and masterclasses from the likes of Hugo Rifkind, Emma Barnett and Jonathan Freedland. (Jewish News)British freelance journalist Matt Broomfield was held at Luton airport for five hours last month without arrest and asked questions like "do you consider your reporting objective?". He has previously worked in the Kurdish-controlled part of Syria. (The Guardian)The Guardian's new Europe edition launched on Wednesday. Editor Kath Viner said: "Our intention is not to supplant the national news publishers across Europe with which the Guardian often collaborates, but to supplement what they offer." The launch coincides with an advertising push for The Guardian across Europe and the UK which proclaims the reader-funded publisher is "not for sale".The National AIDS Trust has criticised Mail Online for a story claiming three Iceland staff contracted HIV after being attacked with needles while on shift. The NAT said on Twitter that transmitting HIV this way "is almost impossible". Earlier this year the trust told Press Gazette that common false claims in the media about needles, bites and spit spreading HIV have “consequences for stigma" for those living with the virus.Journalists have been ordered to leave the catastrophically flood-hit city of Derna in Libya following protests against the authorities - though officials claimed the large numbers of reporters were impeding rescue work. (The Guardian)The News Movement chief executive and former Telegraph editor Will Lewis has told Bloomberg "we have the support" to buy The Telegraph at its upcoming auction - but declined to say who from, beyond that his backers are not, as rumoured, Saudi business partners. (Bloomberg)There will be no further action against Boris Johnson for breaching ministerial rules with his Daily Mail column job as it would be "disproportionate", Oliver Dowden has said. (Press Gazette)Sky invested £130m in Sky News last year and the channel employs some 800 journalists, according to a new report which claims Sky overall contributed £20bn to the UK economy in 2022. (Sky Group)National World journalists are set to strike again today and once more on Monday. The NUJ said Monday's strike saw the company use "generic front-page campaigns across titles", including one urging children to look up from phones when crossing the street.Podcast 56: Is the future looking brighter for Future? Jon Steinberg CEO interview
CEO of Future plc Jon Steinberg explains why he believes his company still has the right ingredients for success (whatever the stock market may currently seem to think).
He also talks about how he has tackled taking over from a highly successful predecessor, what he thinks about AI in publishing and how the company is just starting to generate revenue from digital subscriptions.
Previously on Press Gazette
The News Movement partners with Persephonica for move into audio
Trust-focused Money Saving Expert builds AI chatbot but warns users it ‘may cock up’
Sky’s Stuart Ramsay on why he undertook his most dangerous mission yet
Survey reveals global newsroom adoption of AI at early stage but set to increase
Radio Times at 100: Magazine still ‘highly profitable’ fuelled by subscriptions
