A group of news organizations filed an emergency petition Thursday, asking Nevada’s highest court to unseal the ongoing family succession battle playing out in a Reno courtroom that will determine the future of Rupert Murdoch’s vast media empire.

Rupert Murdoch looked frazzled but defiant. We were having what was supposed to be a friendly coffee, but this was 2006 and he was under siege from bankers who were trying to cope with his financial over-reach.

A probate court in Nevada is set to begin reviewing evidence this week in a behind-closed-doors dispute that could determine who will control Rupert Murdoch’s media empire after his death.