Lachlan Murdoch pays Private Media $1.3m costs, ending high-profile defamation saga

Lachlan Murdoch has stumped up more than $1.3 million in legal costs incurred by Private Media, publisher of Crikey, throughout the duration of the publisher’s defence, concluding one of Australia’s highest-profile defamation battles in recent memory.

In a letter sent on August 14, Murdoch through his lawyer agreed to cover Private Media’s costs of $1.3 million in full — more than the $1.1 million asked for — on the condition the company donate all $588,735 secured from supporters of its GoFundMe defence fund to the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom.

Murdoch withdrew his defamation case against Private Media from the Federal Court in late April after filing a claim against Crikey in August last year for publishing an opinion article that carried the headline “Trump is a confirmed unhinged traitor. And Murdoch is his unindicted co-conspirator”.

As part of the claim, the Fox Corporation chief executive sued Private Media, its former editor-in-chief Peter Fray, and the article’s author, political editor Bernard Keane, and later listed the company’s chairman Eric Beecher and chief executive Will Hayward as defendants.

On Tuesday, Hayward said he was “delighted” to be able to pass the on the funds donated by Crikey’s supporters: “This money was raised from the goodwill of people across Australia who believe in the importance of free speech. These funds will now go to support the alliance and its team as they champion that cause across the world.”

The outcome provides certainty to the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom, to which Crikey promised all leftover defence funds. Its executive director Peter Greste said he was both “grateful and humbled” by the donation.

“We will put the funds to good use, to promote greater press freedom, which is essential to a healthy democracy. This includes campaigning for a media freedom act, supported by a voluntary membership that will recognise quality journalism,” he said.

Murdoch’s lawyer John Churchill said on Tuesday his client remains confident that the court would have ultimately found in his favour.

“Mr Murdoch said when he discontinued the proceedings that he did not wish to further enable Crikey’s use of the court to litigate a case from another jurisdiction that has already been settled and facilitate a marketing campaign designed to attract subscribers and boost their profits,” Churchill said in a statement. He said the costs payment will enable Private Media to keep its commitment to donating all funds raised to the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom.

In the weeks leading up to Murdoch’s withdrawal, Private Media was given time to update its defence to add what’s known as a “contextual truth defence” to the case. The move aimed to include correspondence between members of the Murdoch family into the case, revealed in a separate case brought against Fox Corporation in the US around the same time by Dominion Voting Systems.

Dominion sued Fox over claims Dominion played a role in facilitating voter fraud through the 2020 US presidential election. The US$1.6 billion defamation case was set to go to trial for about six weeks before plans were scuppered after a US$787.5 million settlement.

The Dominion filings suggested that election fraud programming broadcast on Fox News was discussed by editorial leadership at twice-daily meetings from November 2020 through March 2021. These meetings, the filings claim, were “at times” attended by both Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch.

Murdoch’s barrister, Sue Chrysanthou KC, described the proposed update to Private Media’s defence as an “incomprehensible waste of time” that risked turning the case into “something that resembles some sort of inquiry”: “They don’t care if they win or lose. They are happy to martyr themselves in this litigation, to seek more money from the GoFundMe campaign.”

For more information on the events that led to this defamation case, read more here.