STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
In a court in Reno, Nev., 93-year-old Rupert Murdoch is acting to ensure his control of his media empire beyond the grave, especially Fox News.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Yeah, he's seeking to convince a probate official that the trust set up to grant his four eldest children equal say in his media empire after his death should be altered. He wants to give full control to his eldest son, Lachlan. The other three children are fighting him in court.
INSKEEP: NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik wrote the book on Fox News and has been covering the trial. David, good morning.
DAVID FOLKENFLIK, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: So what do you know about this proceeding?
FOLKENFLIK: Well, there's scant public details. And the reason is that the probate official running this procedure ruled against NPR and other media organizations and is doing this whole thing behind closed doors. But here's what we know. First off, we know that in court is Rupert Murdoch himself and his four eldest children. There are two others, who aren't said to get any control under this family trust but share in the financial bounty.
And here's the deal about that trust. It was set up a generation ago when Murdoch left his wife, Anna Torv Murdoch Mann, for his third wife, Wendi Deng. And she basically said, listen, I won't sue you for half of what you have. You give me - what turned out to be $110 million, but let's make sure that each of our four then-current children - one child by his previous marriage, three children by his marriage to Anna - they all share in control of the family media empire after you die. And he agreed with that. So that's what we know. We know that in court with him, interestingly, is former Attorney General Bill Barr, who served under George H. W. Bush and President Trump. And he's saying Barr should be the guy who helps him operate this trust in the future.
INSKEEP: OK, so now I understand why Murdoch would have trouble changing his own will because he had this previous agreement as part of divorce. But why would he say that he does want to change it in favor of one son?
FOLKENFLIK: Right. It was irrevocable, and now he wants to revoke at least some of the terms of it. He's arguing it on a couple of grounds. He says, listen, Lachlan Murdoch has helped me run these companies for the last, say, five years and/or six years, and that there's clarity - when he dies, it will avoid litigation. It will have a clarity of what the corporate structure is that benefits everyone.
He also says - and this is vital to what's going on - the other children might hurt Fox News' performance - Fox News is really the economic engine powering their wealth - by pulling the network to the center and away from the right-wing programs that have made it popular with its core audiences. And he's also kind of annoyed. Murdoch sold much of the entertainment holdings of Fox to Disney. Each of the children - all six of the children got $2 billion apiece. And he's like, look, I should be able to decide what happened with this huge media company that I built up from a single newspaper in Adelaide, Australia - my native land - to this globe-trotting behemoth that it is now.
INSKEEP: OK, so as we wrap up our review of this sequel to the TV series "Succession"...
FOLKENFLIK: Yeah.
INSKEEP: ...What arguments are James Murdoch and his sisters making that they should get more than that few billion dollars they've already received?
FOLKENFLIK: Well, there's been ongoing litigation and scandal on both sides of the Atlantic, most recently, the U.S. - a defamation suit for which the Murdochs had to pay $787 million for amplifying and embracing former President Trump's false claims of election fraud. They say the short-term gains are - for an aging audience are hurting the professionalism and credence of a company with news at its core.
INSKEEP: Oh, interesting. They want to actually change the editorial policies of this media empire. David, thanks so much.
FOLKENFLIK: You bet.
INSKEEP: That's NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik.
(SOUNDBITE OF NICHOLAS BRITELL'S "SUCCESSION (MAIN TITLE THEME)") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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