Rupert Murdoch and his crew of Murdochs may be getting ready to cut the heads off at Fox News after a report from New York Magazine claims that the Australian version of a less-charismatic Charles Kane is unwilling to release a statement in support of co-presidents Bill Shine and Jack Abernathy.
Shine is expressing concern about his future at the network. According to three sources briefed on the conversations, Shine has told friends he recently asked Rupert’s sons James and Lachlan — the CEO and co-chairman, respectively, of network parent company 21st Century Fox — to release a statement in support of him, but they refused to do so. The sources said Shine made the request because of withering press coverage of Fox News in recent weeks. A source added that Shine has privately complained that Rupert “isn’t fighting for him” in the press, which is why he wanted explicit support from the sons.
Through a Fox News spokesperson, Shine denied personally going to James and Lachlan for a statement. A Murdoch spokesperson said Shine did not directly ask for a statement.
The Murdochs have been slow to shake things up at the network, and finally got around to firing both Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly only after the never-ending information of how criminally grotesque they were became too loud a roar for them to ignore. Sean Hannity is sure as fuck freaking out about this rumored bit of intel.
Somebody is totally freaking out. Oh man that’s great! The dark cloud in this story of silver linings is that the only reason the Murdochs are even considering these moves is a hope that they can be perceived as running a “fit” news organization. See, the Murdochs are trying to merge their 21st Century Fox interests with the United Kingdom’s Sky.
European anti-trust regulators have given their blessing to a £18.5 billion ($22.9 billion) deal struck in December that would give 21st Century Fox full control over Sky.
But a more comprehensive review by U.K. media regulator Ofcom is pending, with a decision due by May 16.
[...]
Ofcom could also kill the deal if it decides that Murdoch and 21st Century Fox do not meet the standard of "fit and proper" owners. The criteria for the designation are broad: Ofcom says it considers "any relevant misconduct" when administering its "fit and proper" test.
And while the obvious anti-public trust of Murdoch’s media empire should be enough to do away with such a merger, it seems that perception is more important in today’s climate than actual reality.