Executives who helped create Fox News say network has become dangerous ‘disinformation machine’

Former execs claim Rupert Murdoch knowingly spread election lies

A group of men who helped establish Fox News say they now believe the conservative broadcaster has become a “disinformation machine” that’s destabilising democracy.

In a blog post on Wednesday, Preston Padden, a former lobbyist for the company, Ken Solomon, a former distribution executive, and Bill Reyner, a former lawyer for the then-nascent cable network, all offered a mea culpa.

“​​We never envisioned, and would not knowingly have enabled, the disinformation machine that, in our opinion, Fox has become,” the men wrote.

The Fox News logo is displayed outside Fox News Headquarters in New York, April 12, 2023

The Independent has contacted Fox News for comment.

The trio said that in the 1990s, as Rupert Murdoch was laying the groundwork to launch Fox News, they believed in his insurgent mission.

“At the time of our work in the 1990’s, we all greatly admired Rupert Murdoch and his vision and bold efforts,” the blog post reads. “We genuinely believed that the creation of a fourth competitive force in broadcast television was in the public interest.”

Now, however, the former Fox allies believe the network is causing direct harm.

“Arguably the worst has been Fox’s role in promoting Trump’s ‘Big Lie’ about alleged widespread fraud in the 2020 election and, in our opinion, Fox’s role in contributing to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol that undermined our democracy,” the post continues. “In fact, the connection between Fox and the January 6 attack is so strong that multiple Jan 6 defendants have pleaded not guilty arguing they were suffering from ‘Foxitis’ — a disease caused by watching false news on Fox!”

The post claims that Mr Murdoch admitted in emails with Mr Padden to knowing Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 election being stolen were false, despite Fox News heavily nonetheless featuring news and commentary that suggested the election was rigged.

In April, Fox News paid over $787m to settle a defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, which alleged the network repeatedly made false claims that the company’s voting machines were part of a conspiracy to steal the election.

As part of the suit, Mr Murdoch admitted that top Fox News hosts Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro “endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election.”

“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it in hindsight,” Mr Murdoch said, according to court documents.