Murdoch meets Zelensky in Kiev amid globally 'blurred' attention
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with media mogul Lachlan Murdoch, hoping to restore global attention to the war in Ukraine.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaking with News Corp chairman Lachlan Murdoch for traveling to Kiev, Ukraine; November 20, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Office Press Services)
Lachlan Murdoch, the heir of the Murdock media empire serving as the Fox Corp chief executive, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev at a time when global media has shifted its focus from the war in Ukraine.
Murdoch visited Kiev, accompanied by a couple of News Corp journalists, Benjamin Hall from Fox News and Jerome Starkey from the UK tabloid The Sun.
Significantly, Hall had lost his leg covering the Ukrainian frontlines while his colleagues, cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian fixer Oleksandra Kuvshynova, were killed.
As per claims from Kiev, the meeting was a "very important signal of support at the time when the world’s attention is blurred by other events," seemingly referencing the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Read more: Zelensky may still visit occupied territories this month: Reports
According to the Ukrainian presidential website, Zelensky highlighted that journalist crews have been at the forefront of the war in Ukraine, stressing, "In particular, it is thanks to journalists from many countries that we now have such support in the world."
In that context, the Ukrainian president "thanked Lachlan Murdoch for his visit."
Business of empire
It is important to note that Murdoch became the sole executive in charge of Rupert Murdoch's global media empire after the latter announced he would be stepping down earlier in September of this year.
Murdoch’s company, News Corp, which has been headquartered in New York, owns hundreds of news outlets in the US, UK, and across the world. Across the US, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and book publisher HarperCollins are all owned by the company, which also owns Fox News, through the Fox Corporation, and subsequently, Sky News Australia.
As for operations in the UK, Murdoch owns The Sun and The Times, both of which are dailies, as well as the News of the World weekly. In Australia, News Corp owns The Daily Telegraph, the Herald Sun, and The Australian.
Previously, and until 2018, Murdoch owned British-based Sky News, and until 2019, he owned 21st Century Fox, the film company.
Containing Russia
Murdoch has not been the only mogul concerned with containing Russia and the Ukraine front.
Alex Soros, who had also inherited his father's empire, announced that his empire is concerned with containing Russia and "avoid creating a geopolitical vacuum."
Earlier in the year, US billionaire and founder of the controversial Open Society Foundation OSF George Soros announced the passing down control of his empire to his son Alexander Soros.
In turn, the OSF's new chair of the Board of Directors, revealed in an article written for Politico, that the OSF will be reducing its headcount and reorienting its priorities, but it will not be leaving Europe.
Europe has begun an eastward shift, and similarly, the priorities of the OSF, alleged Soros, will also shift to better handle current and future challenges.
In 2008, following the economic crisis, Soros explained, the foundation reappropriated its priorities to step up its work in Brussels and Western Europe.
The upcoming focus of the OSF, according to the new piece by Soros, will be to ensure Moldova and the Western Balkans ascend to the EU. The main purpose would be to end any possibility that Russia gets "an opening" in places such as Bosnia and Kosovo, allegedly.
The goal, according to Soros, would be to unite the Balkans with the EU to contain Russia and "avoid creating a geopolitical vacuum," while equally strengthening European security.
Read more: George Soros and son each cut $6,600 checks to Biden for 2024 election
