A statement: ‘We stand by our reporting and we welcome Lachlan Murdoch’s writ.’

Lachlan Murdoch has filed a defamation suit against Crikey. We look forward to testing what honest public debate means in Australia.

Peter Fray and Eric Beecher

Aug 24, 2022

Crikey stands by its story and we look forward to defending our independent public interest journalism in court against the considerable resources of Lachlan Murdoch.

We are determined to fight for the integrity and importance of diverse independent media in Australian democracy.

We welcome Lachlan Murdoch’s writ. Crikey’s Lachlan Murdoch letters series this week reveals how media power works in this country. We believe that coverage of the events of January 6 at the US Capitol, and the role of Fox News in those events, is absolutely legitimate.

We welcome the chance to test what an honest, open and public debate actually means for free speech in Australia. We stand by our reporting.

About the Authors

Peter Fray

Former editor-in-chief @PeterFray

Peter Fray is Crikey's former editor-in-chief and managing editor of Private Media. He is also formerly the editor-in-chief of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun-Herald, the editor of the SMH, The Sunday Age and The Canberra Times and the deputy editor of The Australian and The Sun-Herald. In 2013, he started PolitiFact Australia, the country's first stand-alone fact-checking website.

Eric Beecher

Chairman of Private Media

Eric Beecher is the chairman and co-founder of Private Media, publisher of Crikey, The Mandarin and Smart Company, chairman of Australian Communities Foundation and a board member of PIJI, the Public Interest Journalism Initiative. He's been an editor and executive at Fairfax and News Corp and was co-founder of Text Media.