Posted on 03/17/2010 8:29:57 PM PDT by reprobate
THE FUTURE OF FOX NEWS – AT 10:15 P.M. ET: Those on our side have come to depend on Fox News as one of the few outlets where our views get a fair hearing. But will that always be the case?
There have been some disturbing signs in recent days. Fox, of course, is under the control of Rupert Murdoch, pro-American stalwart and something of a media genius. But Murdoch is aging, and it's widely reported that his son, James, who's becoming increasingly powerful in the parent News Corporation, which owns Fox, has views rather different from those of his father. In particular, James has an affinity for the Arab world, despite the fact that freedom of the press doesn't exactly thrive in that culture.
Fox News has received an infusion of Saudi money, primarily from a Saudi prince who spreads money around the United States to buy influence. Fox announced a few weeks ago that its Mideast headquarters would be in Abu Dhabi.
The obvious question is whether these changes will affect Fox's reporting. Several commentators have already noticed, as have I, a subtle change to a more pro-Arab line in some Fox news reports. A report by Amy Kellogg about the Golan Heights last night was particularly disturbing, coming from a reporter who's been reliable in the past. Left out completely, and shockingly, was the fact that the Golan had been used as an artillery platform by Syria to pound villages in Israel proper before Israel seized the Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War. Some of the reporting from Jerusalem has also been leaving out the context that Fox has normally supplied in the past.
How far will this go? Hard to say. But I'm afraid the signs aren't good. Rupert Murdoch will fade away. Money talks. It is frightening to think of the influences that may come into play in the Murdoch empire in the future, an empire that includes Twentieth Century Fox studios, the Times of London, and the The Wall Street Journal. We may find Fox taking the side of the very people who would deny it the freedom to report freely.
So far I haven't seen any anti-American slant creeping into Fox's reporting, but one can legitimately have concerns. James Murdoch is British, but educated in the United States at Harvard, from which he dropped out. His wife works for a Bill Clinton-sponsored organization, the Clinton Climate Initiative.
March 17, 2010
Well I guess that we can stop watching Fox just like we stopped watching NBCCBSABCCNN. There are still places where we can hear the truth like Rush and the Internet!
Fox News NEVER, EVER says anything critical about the Chicoms. They kissed their ring some years ago to sell SkyTV in their neighborhood.
Regardless of any influence by the Saudis or the junior Murdoch, the basic point still remains: We need an alternative to FNC! We cannot put all our eggs in one basket - especially considering the age of the senior Murdoch.
There is no point in worrying about what might happen. FNC has been in an extended golden age. Should that end, something else will fill the vacuum.
The Islamists and the leftists use the same tactics for the same ends. When push comes to shove, though, the Islamists will eat the leftists alive.
Dajjal, I think this is your area of interest and expertise. Any comments?
Little people like me can’t get the attention of people like Rush or Breitbart.
Yes...it’s very alarming the intrusions being made throughout our country..successfully at that. Threat Matrix has a host of videos and articles of the latest...I visit there often just to stay on top of what’s happening.
Fox News has at least as many liberals as conservatives on staff. O’Reilly goes out of his way to say that he is not conservative. Sheppard Smith is a liberal, as are a lot more of them at Fox.
O’Reilly is “green” and anti-gun. He is very sneaky about his liberal views. Sean Hannity is conservative. Charles Krauthammer articulates conservative views better than everybody else.
I believe the HQs move is a move from Hong Kong to Abu Dhabi.
Thanks for the link, reprobate. The author appears qualified to raise the question.
Brett’s interview today was a win for America!
Clearly, whatever was O’s plan, it failed.
It is not always possible to get even a single answer from a guest that is nonresponsive, evasive, controlling and intimidating. Usually the next best thing is to remain polite and allow the difficult guest to sputter and ramble as Brett did.
The interview also suggests
- Roger Ailes at the moment yet controls the format at FOX;
- the O Team may not be as efficient as some believe; and,
- while perhaps remote, it placed O in such a bad light that one or more insiders may, in fact, be working for O’s downfall.
As you point out, how much longer will we have FOX?
Time to tell William Katz’s doctors that he needs more thorazine. The Murdochs are in the business of making money. The last thing their going to do is mess with their ginormous ratings.
Thanks for the post and the ping.
Yes, Brett did an excellent, ballsy interview.
Did you see him interviewed on O’Reilly? He specifically said that his goal was to ask the questions nobody else was asking. He did that in spades.
yep
About the author, Willaim Katz
William Katz has, during an extensive career, been an intern for a U.S. senator; an officer in the Central Intelligence Agency; an assistant to Herman Kahn, the nuclear-war theorist; an editor at The New York Times Magazine; a comedy writer for Bob Newhart; an interviewer for The Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson; and the author of ten novels published in many languages. A number of his books have been sold to Hollywood, about which nothing more need be said.
What do politics, the CIA, journalism, comedy writing, fiction, and Hollywood have to do with each other? Think about it.
In addition to running Urgent Agenda, William Katz actively blogs at Power Line. He’s a graduate of the University of Chicago and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
He is married, with two daughters, neither of whom agrees with him.
Walid Shoebat told Chad Groening that he and others like him were not being invited on Fox News anymore. See “Islamophobes unwelcome at Fox News” OneNewsNow.com, 2/17/10.
I hope FOX doesn’t go too far Muslim and put their women in burkas.
I posted this on another thread on this subject. Walid Shoebat has said that he, Brigitte Gabriel and Robert Spencer are no longer receiving invitations to appear on Fox News. Of Course, they are critics of Islam, but did appear on Fox fairly often in the past.
I haven’t watched Fox enough recently to know if they still appear periodically or not (also, Steve Emerson). But if Fox is getting pressure from Arab shareholders or the Murdoch son, then some suppression of criticism of Islam would be a logical and easy place to start. The Muslims definitely do not like to hear criticism, and are very active in trying to suppress it and label any critics as Islamophobes.
That will be something to watch, and probably one of the first indicators if there are attempts to suppress the free reporting on Fox.
I've noticed that too: in particular the reporting on Obamacare takes essential elements of the Dem spin as part of the "framing" or "background info, taken for granted" of the story.
Many bad words deleted.
Cheers!
Their Middle East HQ was in Hong Kong?!?
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