James Murdoch Quits Family Media Empire After 'Disagreements'

James Murdoch resigned Friday from the board of directors of News Corp., the publishing arm of his family's media empire, which includes the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Harper Collins.

Murdoch didn't divulge details and wrote a very short letter to the board.

"My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company's news outlets and certain other strategic decisions," he said.

Murdoch is know to have more liberal views on both politics and climate change than either his father or his elder brother, Lachlan, who leads the company.

In recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal editorial section has been criticized for its characterization of the protests against racism and police brutality, and the pandemic. Some of that criticism has come from its own journalists. Similarly, a News Corp employee in Australia accused the company of a "misinformation campaign" because its news outlets did not link devastating wildfires there to climate change.

News Corp. is one of two media companies controlled by the Murdoch family, the other being 21st Century Fox. [Copyright 2020 NPR]