James Murdoch resigns from board of News Corp over 'disagreements' about editorial content

Media mogul’s younger son steps down over editorial and strategic decisions by news outlets

James Murdoch, the younger son of press and media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has resigned from the board of News Corp, amid ongoing dissatisfaction with its editorial direction.

Mr Murdoch, 47, who has emerged as one of Joe Biden’s larger donors and supporters, said he was standing down because of disagreements over editorial content published by the company, whose assets include Dow Jones and Company, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post.

In the UK, it is publisher of The Sun and The Times, while it also owns News Corp Australia.

The company also includes the publisher, HarperCollins, among its portfolio of holdings.

News of the decision was contained within a company filing with the federal financial regulator, the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

“I hereby tender my resignation as a member of the Board of Directors of News Corporation (the “Company”), effective as of the date hereof,” said the letter posted on Friday.

“My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions.”

On Friday, Mr Murdoch’s father, the executive chairman of News Corp, and his elder brother Lachlan, its co-chairman, confirmed his standing down in a joint statement

“We’re grateful to James for his many years of service to the company,’ they said. “We wish him the very best in his future endeavours.”

James Murdoch and his wife, Kathryn, have long been known to disagree with the political inclinations of Rupert Murdoch, 89, and the many conservative media outlets he owns.

In January, the couple issued a statement condemning News Corp and Fox News for playing down the threat of climate change.

“Kathryn and James’ views on climate are well established and their frustration with some of the News Corp and Fox coverage of the topic is also well known,” a spokesperson for the couple told The Daily Beast as wildfires raged in Australia.

“They are particularly disappointed with the ongoing denial among the news outlets in Australia given obvious evidence to the contrary.”

In July, it emerged Mr Murdoch and his wife were among the biggest backers of presumptive Democratic nominee campaign.

The Washington Post said that each contributed $615,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in June, according to Federal Election Commission filings.