Trump vs. Murdoch

Brian Stelter: “At a time when other media outlets are hesitating and capitulating, Rupert Murdoch and the Wall Street Journal just stood up to President Trump and scooped one of the biggest political stories of the summer…”

“And yet… Murdoch’s Fox News has not mentioned the story once. So let me take a stab at answering all the questions I’m getting about the media mogul and his role.”

“Murdoch, age 94, wants to have it both ways. He wants to be a newsman (that’s how he sees himself) but also needs to be a businessman. He wants a muscular Journal breaking big stories but he also needs Fox News to keep printing money for his family and other shareholders.”

“It’s been readily apparent for years that Fox succeeds when it is The Trump Show. So Fox does what it does, ignores what it ignores. But Murdoch, who has always cared most of all about old-fashioned newspapers, derives satisfaction and a sense of power from the Journal.”

Oliver Darcy notes the White House — including Trump himself — pressured Murdoch to not publish the story.