Posted on 12/12/2007 7:13:55 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Sean Hannity, the conservative Republican commentator who takes on such controversial issues as Hillary Clinton's legal work in a communist law firm, could be on his way out of the Fox News Channel as a result of Rupert Murdoch's decision to turn the company over to his liberal son James.
James Murdoch, 34, who buys into global warming hysteria, has in recent days been labeled the "News Corporation Heir" and "Son King" because of changes in the company that have dramatically increased his power. The Fox News Channel is one part of Murdoch's News Corporation.
While James Murdoch is based in London and is now being given control of News Corp's business in Europe and Asia, he is scheduled to take control of U.S. operations when Peter Chernin, the president of News Corporation who is based in New York, steps down. Chernin is himself a prominent Democrat.
James Murdoch is said to have convinced his father, 76, to "go green" in a major May 9 speech. In the speech, Rupert Murdoch sounded like Al Gore, saying that "Climate change poses clear, catastrophic threats" and that "We may not agree on the extent, but we certainly can't afford the risk of inaction."
Marc Gunther of Fortune magazine commented that "Murdoch has boldly promised to make News Corp. carbon neutral by 2010 and to weave environmental issues and themes into his newspapers, TV shows, movies and online properties―a tricky business, particularly when it comes to news." (emphasis added)
The Hillary front organization known as Media Matters has challenged Murdoch to rein in the various Fox News personalities, including Hannity, who have voiced skepticism about the man-made global warming theory. The group complains that conservative voices on Fox far outnumber "progressive" voices and that Fox anchors, reporters, and guests inject pro-Republican views into the shows.
Murdoch's decision to hand the European and Asian operations of his company to his son James has been widely interpreted as a sign that James will soon inherit control of the entire company. That means that James' liberal philosophy on environmental and other matters could become the party line not only of News Corporation but the Fox News Channel. Fox News already has come under conservative criticism for airing a Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. special that claimed human activity was causing global warming.
The New York Times has described James Murdoch as "steadfastly liberal" and notes that he "has supported Bill Clinton and Al Gore whose daughter he befriended at Harvard." James Murdoch, who dropped out of Harvard, runs BSkyB, a part of News Corporation which is airing Current TV, a television project sponsored by Gore, and the foreign--financed Al-Jazeera and Al-Jazeera English television channels.
The London Telegraph reports that "Thanks to friendships with Al Gore and Bill Clinton, he [James Murdoch] has developed deep green instincts..." His father made a $500,000 gift to the Clinton Global Initiative.
"I've gotten to know Al [Gore] in a number of different contexts in the last number of years," James Murdoch told the Financial Times in an interview. (web site) We "think the same way about the necessity of being realistic concerning the climate crisis," Gore piped in during the same interview.
While the liberal media establishment is concerned about Murdoch's News Corporation taking control of Dow Jones & Company, which owns a paper, the Wall Street Journal, with liberal news pages, conservatives are concerned that Rupert Murdoch has been moving rapidly to the left over the last several years.
A year ago, AIM went to the News Corporation annual meeting with a series of questions about James Murdoch's increasing influence in the company. The questions included:
James Murdoch wrote an article for the Guardian attacking the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute for dispensing "inaccurate propaganda" about the global warming issue. But many conservatives regard the theory of man-made global warming as a hoax. Has James Murdoch been persuaded by Al Gore to embrace it?
James Murdoch has criticized the Western media for focusing on China's human rights abuses. Observers say this was an effort to ingratiate the company with Chinese Communist leaders because of News Corporation's extensive business dealings with China. What is your view on that?
At the meeting, where Rupert Murdoch cut the questions short and refused to discuss his successor, AIM also questioned him about his support for Hillary Clinton. He hosted a fundraiser for her, and his New York Post newspaper endorsed her Senate re-election bid.
In Australia, where he was born, Murdoch just recently engineered an endorsement of the left-wing candidate, Kevin Rudd, as Prime Minister by his national newspaper The Australian. Rudd beat the pro-American candidate, John Howard.
On July 7, when the LiveEarth concerts were staged around the world, Murdoch's Foxtel television network was the exclusive Australian broadcast partner for the event. Here, the concerts were aired by the networks owned by GE, whose chairman Jeffrey Immelt also contributes to the Clinton Global Initiative.
Proceeds from the LiveEarth concerts went to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a group headed by Al Gore.
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Cliff Kincaid is the Editor of Accuracy in Media, and can be contacted at cliff.kincaid@aim.org.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.
I don’t get it necessarily that the son is a business moron. Sure, replace Hannity with Garafolo. Then explain the ad revenue delta.
If a Dem wins and Fox goes south,, talk radio and the internet will not be far behind. I can only imagine the propaganda that will be reported once the mainstream media realize they will have no one left to check them. News would truly just be made up.
Rush needs to buy a network.
(quickly)
Before Dems are in a position to stop him from doing so.
Like Warren Buffett?
ABC is owned by Disney
NBC — is owned by GE
MSNBC — is co-owned by NBC and Microsoft
PBS — is owned by a quasi gubmint agency.
And for the record, Viacom owns CBS.
...also for the record, Kingdom Holdings, a Saudi firm, owns a significant stake in News Corp.
True enough. And the rest of the MSM will welcome the company. Some other 'conservative' news media will have to emerge...
Cant see any silver lining in this.
Wonder if this is an appeasment to get the libs off his back for buying up more media. Wouldn’t doubt it.
I doubt that the Great Pantsuit would be able to tame the internet (keep any ideas she doesn’t approve of from being expressed)—too many millions of Americans are used to saying what they think, and taking them all on would be a losing battle. They weren’t able to shut down the “conspiracy stream of conservative consciousness” or whatever they called it back during their first two terms, and that was when the number of internet users was much smaller than it is now.
Well this would explain FoxNews jump to the other side. I am very disappointed with their coverage of Conservative candidates. They never gave FRED a chance, and will have egg on their faces when he sweeps the nomination.
FRED THOMPSON (true consistent Conservative Federalist) - NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERT (I’ll do whatever it takes to stop the bastards, include water-boarding) - 2ND AMENDMENT ADVOCATE (arm all legal citizens and criminals will become more hesitant) - SECURE AND SEAL THE BORDERS (don’t give them sanctuary anywhere, don’t hire them, don’t rent to them, don’t give them credit, don’t give them rights they don’t deserve, report all crimes committed by them, they will go home or we will deport them) - LAW AND ORDER (enforcement first and foremost with the laws currently on the books) - SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM (reform a program that can’t sustain itself and will bankrupt this nation) - DEFEAT THE DEMOCRAT (any fool they put up) – TAX SIMPLIFICATION (choice for the tax payer) - WON’T PUT UP WITH CRAP FROM THE MSM (including stupid questions by moderators) - PING!
I could see CNN and MSNBC moving more to the center to try and collect some ex-Fox viewers.
Ad $$$ is a powerful motivation.
Murdoch’s support for leftists is hardly new. He supported Tony Blair in Britain from Blair’s first election, before FOX News was a glimmer in Murdoch’s eye. If he sees a market for conservative leaning news, he will fill it. As for his son, I have no idea.
Too bad. This is what has happened to most media empires, which is why they are all liberal. The woosy 2nd and 3rd rich lazy generations get hold of them, and their guilt forces them to join the socialist cause—out of the backs of their limos, of course.
Rush already has a network. He needs to expand and start EIBTV.
Never underestimate the arrogance of the murdochs.
Yes he does.
A true conservative channel is a fortune waiting to be made.
I can see how the leftist affliction worsens - more rubbing of elbows with the glitterati, Hollyweirdos, DNC people, etc. But to be susceptible, at best, you have to have weak idealogical moorings to begin with. There is nothing wrong with making money - but those of us who inject our own beliefs, and put emotional stock, into such an enterprise are in for a rude awakening when we are sold out for more profitable demographics.
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