The anti-Murdoch pile-on gathers pace as governance failures line up

Legal documents in this case reveal his brother Prince William was paid a large sum of money to settle his phone hacking claim a decade ago – reportedly $1.8 million.

(Nothing generates headlines like the British royal family – other than a controversy that includes Rupert Murdoch and the royals.)

This week’s abrupt departure of Fox News’ marquee host Tucker Carlson looks to be the news organisation’s attempt to amp down controversy surrounding the cable news group.

Instead, this bolt from the blue staffing decision unsettled investors who sliced 5 per cent from its sharemarket value within minutes. Curiously, this was a larger fall than Fox Corp had experienced after the announcement of Dominion settlement.

The Dominion action discovery process exposed Carlson and others for peddling conspiracies that he privately knew to be false.

But it was Carlson that was singled out in a recent lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York, by former producer Abby Grossberg who accused him and Fox of sexism and harassment, alleging that his show’s workplace was replete with examples of misogyny.

“Tucker Carlson’s departure from Fox News is, in part, an admission of the systemic lying, bullying, and conspiracy-mongering claimed by our client,” Tanvir Rahman, one of Grossberg’s lawyers, said.

It has opened another can of worms.

And it isn’t the first time Fox’s corporate culture has been shown wanting. Its star performer Bill O’Reilly was abruptly sacked in 2017 after advertisers boycotted his top-rated The O’Reilly Factor show after it emerged the broadcaster had settled a series of sexual harassment claims, reported to be worth $US13 million ($19.7 million).

Founder of Fox News Roger Ailes was also seen off in the wake of numerous sexual harassment allegations.

The violent share price response to Carlson’s departure, however, seems to reflect a fear that Fox ratings (and therefore its appeal to advertisers) would be damaged.

Nothing generates headlines like the British royal family – other than a controversy that includes Rupert Murdoch and the royals.

There is also the possibility that Carlson may take his audience with him to another media outlet. This will be a test of whether it was Carlson or the network platform that was responsible for his popularity.

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(O’Reilly was Fox’s biggest audience draw card in 2017, but Fox didn’t really miss a financial beat after his departure.)

The statement about Carlson’s departure was brief and his exit was swift.

As to who inside Fox made the decision? It was another example of opaque governance.

It has been reported that Murdoch gave his blessing to his son, Lachlan – who is the chief executive of Fox – to lower the axe.