Lachlan Murdoch vs Crikey may turn out to be a misconceived adventure in reputation repair | Richard Ackland

The defamation case could produce hitherto unknown information about the operations of Fox News that, at the least, prove embarrassing

Lachlan Murdoch was never much of an inspirational figure in the pantheon of news publishing, having secured his place at the helm of Fox News by a process of primogeniture. His defamation action against Crikey, a relatively modest but worthwhile online subscription news and commentary service, reveals much - about ego, the drift of American politics and media, and defamation law itself.

It seems incongruous that the chief executive of the most watched cable network in the US and co-chairman of News Corp, with its global stable of newspapers, would be so troubled by an opinion piece published down under.