I just wanted to set the record straight. AP was never owned by Saudis. UPI is not owned by Saudis.
However, I wouldn't be very surprised if some owners of news companies do influence the editorial line and the way the news is slanted. Owners can, after all, hire and fire employees and make their preferences known.
Obviously true. Murdock does. Conrad Black does. But what can't happen is to stray too far from the party line. Saudi-backed media which attempted to take a pro-Arab line would get raked over the coals.
When Black attempted to bring a genuinely conservative media voice to the Canadian scene, he was repeatedly attacked from every direction. Eventually he gave in and sold out to the liberal Izzy Asper. BTW, for what it's worth (and I think it's worth precisely nothing), Asper is a Jew and Black is married to one.
Murdock's FOX News gets beaten on simply because it is balanced.