"Succession is Real," declares New York Times reporter of his Rupert Murdoch empire exposé

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The New York Times Magazine's Jim Rutenberg and Jonathan Mahler have written a detailed account of the power struggle inside the Murdoch empire between sons James and Lachlan Murdoch. "Yes, in case you are wondering, this story is -- one one level -- the non-fiction version of the HBO show, Succession," tweets Mahler. In their story, Rutenberg and Mahler write: "The second season of HBO’s Succession, whose fictional media family, the Roys, bears a striking resemblance to the Murdochs, airs this summer. But what we as reporters had not fully appreciated until now is the extent to which these two stories — one of an illiberal, right-wing reaction sweeping the globe, the other of a dynastic media family — are really one. To see Fox News as an arm of the Trump White House risks missing the larger picture. It may be more accurate to say that the White House — just like the prime ministers’ offices in Britain and Australia — is just one tool among many that this family uses to exert influence over world events." ALSO: James Murdoch's plan to hire then-CBS News president David Rhodes to succeed Roger Ailes at Fox News was rejected by Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch.