This Just In – This should be a spoiler to absolutely no one: the HBO series “Succession” is not about functional families who work it all out. It’s about the death of a media empire’s patriarch – Logan Roy – and what happens next.
If that’s a “spoiler” for you, I have some very, very bad news about “Titanic.”
Note: You have to admire the audacity of James Cameron in pitching the plot of Titanic to the studios. Here is a sequel-proof iconic and tragic story, no surprises for the audience and a nightmare to create on screen.
With “Succession”, we started out a few years ago with Logan’s health crisis that had his children spinning about who would take over his FoxNews-like company. In revealing the characters, we learned about all their conflict, often grown out of childhood incidents, and saw the palace intrigue that’s expected when the torch is about to be passed.
The company’s stock price was an issue. The rise of competitors was a problem. A scandal involving cruise ships in a subsidiary company was discovered and covered up … unsuccessfully. Of course, there was deviant sex, illegal drug use and rock n’ roll. It’s HBO.
Fairly early in the first season, Logan Roy mucked up the kids’ power struggle. He woke up from his coma. Slowly, he recovered. He learned about the kids’ jousting for control of his company. He was not amused, though this family has provided a lot of wonderful dark turns in the humor department.
Now in its fourth and final season, the creators of this wonderful series have managed to surprise us with the completely expected plot twist. Suddenly (and off-camera), Logan is dead. There’s no “get ready” for viewers, just BAM. No waking up this time.
After years of anticipation, the balance of the series will be about its thematic promise. Spring, at last, is here. New life, new direction, new stock prices.
As I absorbed these plot twists, I turned to the news this week, popcorn in hand, ready to watch the beginning of the Dominion vs. FoxNews defamation lawsuit, whose pre-trial period has brought us amazing revelations.
When I trained in journalism, I learned about the NY Times vs. Sullivan defamation case. We studied this case to learn how to avoid defamation. Spell names correctly. Have multiple sources. If the story contains a potentially devastating accusation, check, double check, have documents. If your mother says she loves you, check it out.
Starting this week, journalism students will learn about Dominion vs. FoxNews and how no one in the FoxNews organization was ever in the news business. They were (and continue to be) cartoonish impersonators. I have more medical training from watching Grey’s Anatomy than FoxNews anchors have in journalism.
By way of the legal process of discovery, the Dominion voting machine company has placed into the public record clear documentation that those on the air on FoxNews knew that they were telling a false story about 2020 election fraud. They knew that several of their regular guests (most of whom are also being sued by Dominion) were telling lies – big, defamatory lies – and the anchors on the network continued to book them for appearances and nodded and agreed as they spewed out nonsense.
Even as a host on an opinion-driven program, you don’t get to falsely accuse people or companies of horrible wrongdoing. That’s well beyond anyone’s opinion. In his deposition, Rupert Murdoch was asked if he knew about this. “Yes” was his answer. Could he have stopped it? “Yes,” he said, “but I didn’t.”
In this journalism class, this is where we pause and explain that this is the definition of “reckless disregard for the truth.”
As many of us watched, knowing all these facts before the day of trial arrived, we watched to see this loss for FoxNews unfold, but then came the plot twist. After a special master was appointed to investigate the concealment of evidence by FoxNews and a jury was seated and sworn in, Murdoch pulled out his checkbook and surrendered to the tune of $787.5 million.
There will be no dramatic testimony. There were never going to be cameras in the courtroom. There will be no appeal. There will be that amount of money … right now.
The real succession begins here. Who among these on-air buffoons will survive? When Murdoch is ejected by his Board (some of the shareholders are suing him), who will take over this media giant whose fear of and contempt for its audience is now in the sworn public record?
Stay tuned.
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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