Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Buying Fox News
FrontlineMag.com ^ | Dec 13, 2005 | Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen

Posted on 12/12/2005 6:16:23 PM PST by John Jorsett

Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal boasted in Dubai earlier this week about his ability to change the news content that viewers around the world see on television.

In early September 2005, Bin Talal bought 5.46% of voting shares in News Corp. This made the Fifth richest man on the Forbes World's Richest People, the fourth largest voting shareholder in News Corp., the parent of Fox News. News Corp.  is the world's leading newspaper publisher in English. It operates more than 175 newspapers, in the UK, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and the US, and distributes more than 40 million papers per week. In addition, News Corp. owns and operates an international collection of TV outlets, radio stations, magazines, book publishers and film studios.

 

After bin Talal purchased his voting shares in News Corp., on September 23, 2005, he stated in an advertising supplement to the New York Times, “When I invest in a group like CITICROUP, the Four Seasons, the News Corp. or Time Warner, my objective is not to manage those companies.” But this is not quite accurate, considering the Prince’s December 5, 2005 statement given to Middle East Online regarding his ability to change what viewers see on Fox News. Covering the riots in Paris last November, Fox ran a banner saying: "Muslim riots." Bin Talal was not happy. "I picked up the phone and called Murdoch... (and told him) these are not Muslim riots, these are riots out of poverty," he said. "Within 30 minutes, the title was changed from Muslim riots to civil riots."

 

News Corp did not comment, but referred us to FOX NEWS, which responded with the following statement: “Over the course of our extensive coverage, it became clear that the Paris riots were caused by a number of different factors which we characterized in various ways as we continued to report the story and discover new information. In fact, one of our contributors, Father Morris, who was in Paris covering this story, was prominently on our air saying this was a cultural assimilation issue, not a religious one.”

 

However, there is evidence to the contrary as documented by international terrorism expert B. Raman. He wrote that “Pakistani, Algerian and Moroccan members of the London-based Hizbut Tehrir (HT)” mobilized and sustained the riots. Also, the Parisian editor of Valeurs Actuelles, Michel Gurfinkiel observed that, “the fact remains that only ethnic youths are rioting, that most of them explicitly pledge allegiance to Islam and such Muslim heroes as Osama bin Laden, that the Islamic motto - Allahu Akbar - is usually their war cry, and that they submit only to archconservative or radical imams.”

 

Interviewed on December 2, 2005, by the Financial Times, bin Talal elaborated further, “When I meet Mr Murdoch of News Corp, that owns Fox News, and BSkyB, or when I meet Mr Parsons, who controls CNN, Fortune magazine, People, Time, America Online, I don’t intrude into the management of these companies. However, I do convey to them the message about where I believe they went wrong. It’s their discretion to decide what to do. My job is to open their eyes to things they may not have seen.”  If indeed he was successful changing FOX NEWS’ reports of the Paris riots, he got a big bang for his bucks.

 

And bin Talal is not alone in the Saudi efforts to silence criticism of its drive to spread its national religion, Wahhabism, around the world, and to hide its agenda. Using the British libel laws, which are pro-plaintiff, Khalid bin Mahfouz has sued, or threatened to sue, more than 30 publishers and authors, including Dr. Ehrenfeld. These lawsuits served to chill media reports naming individual Saudis involved in financing terrorist organizations.

 

Controlling the news media seems to fit into the Saudis long-term plan, which Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal revealed on December 6, 2005.

 

In the preparatory ministerial conference to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), al Faisal laid out a 10-year "plan of action to confront the challenges of the 21st century." The 57-nation Organization held a meeting last week, to approve the "Mecca Declaration." The heart of the declaration, according to the Prince, is to change the “harsh offensive on Islam from enemies abroad and some of its own children with deviant ideologies".

 

The Turkish OIC secretary general, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, praised the “Mecca Declaration” as the “roadmap for Islamic common action".

 

Bin Talal has been advocating for years that this policy can be best achieved by leveraging Arab wealth. On May 1, 2002, in an interview with Lachlan Carmichael for the Saudi daily Arab News, Bin Talal stressed the importance of developing an Arab economic dominance over the U.S. Instead of boycotting American businesses, he said, “Arabs… stand more to benefit from maintaining trade ties with the US because the trade balance between the Arabs and the US is in our favor."

 

The Arab News reported that according to bin Talal, Arab countries can influence US decision-making. He said: "if they [Arabs] unite through economic interests,” they would achieve influence over the U.S. decision makers. “We have to be logical and understand that the US administration is subject to US public opinion," he said.

 

 Bin Talal concluded in the 2002 Arab News interview: “to bring the decision-maker on your side, you not only have to be active inside the US Congress or the administration but also inside US society."

 

And bin Talal is moving fast. On December 5, Reuters reported from Dubai that bin Talal complained: “We in the Arab world are not doing the job of explaining ourselves properly.” To remedy the situation, and to bring the proper message to America’s brightest minds, bin Talal said that he established special centers dealing with Arab and Islamic studies at Harvard and Georgetown universities. In addition, he announced his plan to shortly launch a television channel called ”The Message,” which, within two years will broadcast to the United States to “spread the right message”.

 

A free press is one of the pillars of Democracy. We should do everything to ensure that it stays that way.

Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed—and How to Stop It, is director of American Center for Democracy and member of the Committee on the Present Danger and Alyssa A. Lappen is a freelance journalist who frequently contributes to FrontPageMagazine and other online journals.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: foxnews; houseofsaud; influence; newscorp; royals; saudiarabia
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last
To: irish guard
is he a good witch or a bad witch? ......a good Saudi Prince or one of the thugs that supports terrorism? There are so many princes, I can't keep em straight.

God can sort them out.

21 posted on 12/12/2005 6:39:28 PM PST by LK44-40
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: irish guard
Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal ....is he a good witch or a bad witch?

He's a Saudi. That's really all you need to know.

22 posted on 12/12/2005 6:40:20 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Islam Factoid:After forcing young girls to watch his men execute their fathers, Muhammad raped them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: irish guard
Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal is a Wahabist thug who has funded terrorists.
Then Mayor Giulliani made headlines by refusing his donation after 9-11.
23 posted on 12/12/2005 6:42:51 PM PST by rmlew (Sedition and Treason are both crimes, not free speech.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: E. Pluribus Unum

But keep in mind the UN is trying to leverage control of the internet and give it to turd world countries as an act of fairness.......
But you are right about the power of the internet as the leading source of fair and balanced news...
I get most of my news off the net and then compare the reports to the local paper and local tv network broadcast.
One source is not enough!


24 posted on 12/12/2005 6:43:12 PM PST by o_zarkman44
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: o_zarkman44
But keep in mind the UN is trying to leverage control of the internet and give it to turd world countries as an act of fairness.......

Not since Condi told them to shove it where the sun don't shine.

Not in so many words, of course.

25 posted on 12/12/2005 6:44:57 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (Islam Factoid:After forcing young girls to watch his men execute their fathers, Muhammad raped them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: DougJ

This is where I learned about Fox's sell out.


26 posted on 12/12/2005 6:45:51 PM PST by lancer (If you are not with us, you are against us!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: neodad

What ever happened to Al's big venture?


27 posted on 12/12/2005 6:50:19 PM PST by PeoplesRepublicOfWashington (How long do we have to pretend that the vast majority of Democrats are patriots?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: irish guard
Any percentage of Saudi ownership over Fox News is bad news (just as is any Saudi influence over the Bush administration).

That is all one needs to know and makes it easier to sort out.

28 posted on 12/12/2005 6:55:59 PM PST by Freedom of Speech Wins
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: ozoneliar

Didn't "W" say it?


29 posted on 12/12/2005 7:09:30 PM PST by LucyT (All I Need To know About Islam, I learned On 9-11 ...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: John Jorsett

You cannot destroy fair and balanced news now.

Buy up Fox News and turn it into another CNN and
very quickly a newcomer will take up the torch and
quickly ascend to the top spot again.

There is a proven market for news without the liberal
slant...and there are too many savvy business men that
would step in to fill the void.


30 posted on 12/12/2005 7:14:41 PM PST by Bobalu (This is not the tag line you are looking for.....move along (waves hand))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LucyT
Didn't "W" say it?

Correct. You get 10 points!

31 posted on 12/12/2005 7:15:12 PM PST by ozoneliar ("The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants" -T.J.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: John Jorsett; Calpernia

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1320747/posts?q=1&&page=57#57

Background leading up...............


32 posted on 12/12/2005 7:24:40 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

can we get the prince to say he is sick of fox reporting on natalie hollaway 24/7? maybe he can buy it and call it Natalie Holloway News Channel?


33 posted on 12/12/2005 7:26:15 PM PST by Kewlhand`tek
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Pride in the USA; Stillwaters

FYI. Quite disconcerting.


34 posted on 12/12/2005 7:32:58 PM PST by lonevoice (Vast Right Wing Pajama Party)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Freedom of Speech Wins

"Any percentage of Saudi ownership over Fox News is bad news (just as is any Saudi influence over the Bush administration)."

Believe me, the Saudis have much less influence with the Bush administration than they did under Clinton. Remember those fishy Louis Freeh trips to Saudi Arabia?


35 posted on 12/12/2005 7:45:13 PM PST by DougJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: John Jorsett
There will come a day when there will be nor more oil in Saudi Arabia or anywhere else in the Middle East (or the world, for that matter), but before that great day, an alternative energy source will (have to) be discovered.

The money will dry up as well as the oil and the water. A true desert it will be...and the people of the world will rejoice! The tyrants will have no viable economy as they squandered said surplus on debauchery in Dubai and elsewhere for decades, instead of investing in their homeland. Oh well, the nouveau riche sand pipers will slither back into the dirt from whence they came. The end. :o)
36 posted on 12/12/2005 8:41:14 PM PST by khnyny (Merry Christmas)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: John Jorsett

Oh, and just to clarify any possible confusion:

nou·veau riche ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nv rsh)
n. pl. nou·veaux riches (nv rsh)
One who has recently become rich, especially one who flaunts newly acquired wealth.



37 posted on 12/12/2005 8:47:49 PM PST by khnyny (Merry Christmas)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: fight_truth_decay

Truth_Decay's link is part of this bump list. An important thread to review. And emphasizing the post 57 to this thread.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1320747/posts
George Soros, Media Connections - Bump List


38 posted on 12/12/2005 9:24:08 PM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: John Jorsett

bump


39 posted on 12/13/2005 5:47:22 AM PST by Velveeta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: lonevoice

I read about this in the recent past, but the article did not go into any details. This should be another wake up call to America. Do you think the majority of us will ever hear about it?


40 posted on 12/13/2005 6:23:35 AM PST by Pride in the USA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson