A group of news organizations filed an emergency petition Thursday, asking Nevada’s highest court to unseal the ongoing family succession battle playing out in a Reno courtroom that will determine the future of Rupert Murdoch’s vast media empire.
Murdoch is seeking to amend the family trust that he established decades ago, giving his four oldest children equal votes over the future of his conservative media empire, including its highly profitable crown jewel Fox News, after he dies. The 93-year-old patriarch wants to change the structure so that his eldest son and chosen successor Lachlan – who is more politically aligned with his father than the other children – will remain in charge for decades to come and maintain its right-wing editorial bent. But his three other eldest children, who have more moderate views, are fighting the change.
The family battle is taking place behind closed doors in a Washoe County courtroom. Nevada offers one of the most private court settings for issues like family trust decisions, allowing parties and judges to lock the cases behind closed doors to such an extreme degree that their very existence is not even publicized on court dockets. The Murdoch case was only revealed after The New York Times published a report revealing its existence in July.
Last week, a coalition of six news organizations including CNN, The New York Times and Washington Post, petitioned the Washoe County court for access, arguing that the secrecy violated a constitutional right to access.
“The public has immense interest in which of Murdoch’s children will succeed him,” the news outlets said in their petition. “The succession will affect thousands of jobs, millions of worldwide media consumers, and the American political landscape.”
But the district court denied the request, and the evidentiary hearings, with Rupert and his eldest four children in attendance, proceeded this week behind closed doors.
In an emergency appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday, the news outlets argued that sealing the case “violated the weighty First Amendment presumption of access to civil proceedings,” and that “Nevada law does not permit the blanket sealing ordered here.”
Attorneys for Murdoch family members said in court filings last week that the case should remain sealed because it would otherwise reveal confidential information related to Murdoch’s business, which includes companies like the right-wing cable outlet Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, and could jeopardize Murdoch’s physical safety.
In its petition to the high court, the news outlets argued that selective redactions can be made to protect truly private information.
“Given the potential of this proceeding to determine the direction of a media empire with immense influence over the American political landscape, the public interest is certainly at an apex,” the news outlets said.
