OPINION:
LONDON — To read and watch the reaction of people who have hated Fox News from its creation, one might think it resembles dancing on someone’s grave. But at 92, Rupert Murdoch remains very much alive, and his influence, not only on Fox News but on much of journalism, will likely continue for some time.
It may be coincidental, or not, that the announcement of Mr. Murdoch’s stepping down as chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp. coincides with the release this week of Michael Wolff’s book “The Fall: The End of Fox News and the Murdoch Dynasty,” which predicts the end of the cable network.
Mr. Wolff and others may wish it so, but I am doubtful. Again, critics have been predicting and hoping for the network’s demise since it was launched in 1996. Why the antipathy toward a network that should be considered part of the diversity of ideas many claim to endorse?
The answer comes from Mr. Murdoch’s note last Thursday to his employees: “Self-serving bureaucracies are seeking to silence those who would question their provenance and purpose. Elites have open contempt for those who are not members of their rarefied class. Most of the media is in cahoots with those elites, peddling political narratives rather than pursuing the truth.”
If you didn’t attend the same schools as these elites, if your material doesn’t appear in elite newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post, you are considered illegitimate and trespassers on their territory. They tolerate those breaking our laws to cross our southern border but have no tolerance for those with a conservative worldview who seek to “invade” their spaces.
I spent 19 years as a Fox News Channel contributor and believe there would likely be no Fox News Channel or talk radio were it not for the monopoly the left has enjoyed for years in deciding what is news and what isn’t and slanting their reporting to fit their mostly liberal political positions. If the broadcast news divisions had hired some openly conservative reporters and producers, Fox News might never have happened.
Ideology and elitism have overcome sound business decisions. Opinion polls consistently show that most Americans no longer trust the media.
Mr. Murdoch and Roger Ailes, the man he hired to create the network, saw a market that felt ignored and stereotyped when attention was paid. Like any good business — and journalism is a business — they set out to reach that market. Ratings, profits and viewer loyalty quickly followed. Fox News continues to dominate cable news and has occasionally beaten broadcast network ratings.
Rather than learn from Fox News’ success, the elites continue to deride it, deepening the loyalty of people who see the network as defenders and proclaimers of their beliefs. One of the canards hurled at Fox News for years has been that it tells people what to think. Rather, it reflects beliefs conservatives already hold.
Will things change now that Mr. Murdoch’s son Lachlan has been passed the torch? It’s hard to predict, but he inherits a goose that is laying ratings golden eggs, and while he may understandably want to put his own imprint on the network, caution is advised. Other conservative networks, such as Newsmax, are waiting to jump in should Fox News falter.
Rupert Murdoch believes in old-school journalism. He bought and saved The Wall Street Journal, and the same might be said of The Times of London, which he also purchased.
He deserves the gratitude of conservatives. He ought to have the gratitude of everyone in journalism. That he doesn’t get it proves his point about elites and “self-serving bureaucracies.”
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).
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