As Fox News’ Dominion defamation case embroils the network in scandal, Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post has been shy about discussing the story. Since Dominion filed its lawsuit, the Post has not published one article about it.
Recent filings in Dominion Voting Systems' lawsuit against Fox News for pushing lies about the company after the 2020 election show that top brass knew the network was spreading false information about election integrity but either didn't intervene or even discouraged fact-checking, sometimes explicitly for financial reasons.
While the New York Post has the sixth highest circulation of U.S. newspapers, the paper has long focused on putting partisan politics ahead of news reporting, following the lead of its corporate cousin Fox News in pushing right-wing talking points on behalf of the GOP. A Media Matters Factiva search revealed that the Post stayed silent on the story for almost two years while its New York counterpart, The New York Times, has published 15 pieces on Dominion’s suit since it was filed in March 2021. Other top outlets the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post published 9 and 8 articles, respectively.
Meanwhile, the paper is not uninterested in media stories. The New York Post has recently published pieces attacking “media’s climate change propagandists,” calling out former CNN boss Jeff Zucker for bias, and criticizing the Pulitzer Prize in journalism as “empty” and political — all while leaving Murdoch’s name out of its headlines.
The other Murdoch-owned U.S. paper, the Wall Street Journal, managed to publish 6 pieces on the lawsuit, although they were buried in the business section. The paper’s coverage stands in stark contrast to the directive Fox media reporter Howard Kurtz received at the Murdoch-controlled network, where he was prevented from covering the lawsuit on air.
It is unclear if the Post is unable to exercise editorial control independent from the Murdochs or if it is uninterested in breaking away from its tabloid journalism style and reputation as a conservative mouthpiece.