Help defend Crikey: support our defence fund against Lachlan Murdoch’s defamation suit

To donate to Crikey’s GoFundMe, click here.

On August 23, the billionaire chairman of Fox News, Lachlan Murdoch, sued Crikey over an article published in June that covered the role of Fox News in the January 6 2021 insurrection in Washington DC. That article did not name Lachlan Murdoch (rather, one paragraph referred to “the Murdochs”); the headline mentioned the word “Murdoch”. 

Based on those two references, published on a small independent news website in Australia, Lachlan Murdoch has unleashed his legal and financial forces against us. 

We are determined to fight for freedom of speech and a free press — for our right as journalists to cover and analyse matters of public importance. What we published was tame compared with hundreds of articles and commentaries about the role of Fox News and the Murdochs in the US (where, as public figures, they can’t sue for defamation). But here in Australia, if we lose the case in court, the cost to Crikey could be millions in damages and legal costs.

People have been asking how they can support our legal defence. 

The single best way is to become a subscriber. This gives us room to use your contribution to defend our case both in the court of law and in public, and to continue to hold all forms of power to account. Subscribe here.

However, if you would like to contribute exclusively to our legal fees, please contribute to this GoFundMe. 

All the money raised from this crowdfunding initiative will be used for legal costs to defend the defamation action that has been commenced by Lachlan Murdoch, as well as any costs or damages we are ordered to pay by the court.

If the court makes a costs order in our favour, this could mean that we end up raising more money than we need to pay our legal costs. If this happens, we will make a donation of any surplus funds to the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom.

The AJF, an independent not-for-profit, was started by journalist Peter Greste, lawyer Chris Flynn and strategic consultant Peter Wilkinson. It is not influenced by its donors or sponsors and is totally independent of Crikey and its publisher Private Media. Its aims are to promote media freedom and the right of journalists to report the news in freedom and safety.

Surplus funds from our campaign will include any amount recovered through a costs order, as well as any funds raised that exceed the total amount charged by our lawyers.

Thanks for your support.

This article is part of a series about a legal threat sent to Crikey by Lachlan Murdoch, over an article Crikey published about the January 6 riots in the US. For the series introduction go here, and for the full series go here.