Saudi billionaire stock owner brags of manipulating FOX NEWS coverage

http://www.aim.org/press_release/4222_0_19_0_C

Saudi Billionaire Boasts of Manipulating Fox News Coverage

December 7, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Accuracy in Media (AIM) is urging a full inquiry into a report that a Saudi billionaire caused the Fox News Channel (FNC) to dramatically alter its coverage of the Muslim riots in France after he called the network to complain. The Saudi billionaire, Al-waleed bin Talal, is a friend of News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch and controls an influential number of voting shares in the company.

"This report underscores the danger of giving foreign interests a significant financial stake in U.S. media companies," declared Cliff Kincaid, editor of Accuracy in Media.

The controversial comments came at an Arab media conference featuring representatives of Time magazine, USA Today, PBS, The Wall Street Journal, and other news organizations. The conference and the Saudi Prince's growing influence in News Corporation are among the subjects of a new December-A AIM Report that has just been posted at the AIM website (www.aim.org). The report raises the specter of Arab money influencing News Corporation and other U.S. media companies.

Liberal journalist Danny Schechter, a participant in the conference, reports that Al-waleed, who is a member of the Saudi Royal Family and investor in the Fox News parent company News Corporation, gave an interview boasting that he had called Fox to complain about coverage of the "Muslim riots" in France. He said he "called as a viewer" and "convinced them to change" the coverage because "they were not Muslim riots but riots against poverty and inequality." And "they changed" the coverage, the Saudi reportedly said.

Another report on the comments, carried by the Dubai-based newspaper the Khaleej Times, says that Al-waleed personally called Rupert Murdoch to complain. The Saudi said, "After a short while, there was a change" in the coverage.

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http://www.aim.org/press_release/4225_0_19_0_C/

AIM Reveals Saudi Billionaire Has Another Link to Parent Company of Fox News

December 9, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Amid growing concern over a billionaire Saudi Prince's reported personal intervention in the news practices of Fox News Channel, Accuracy in Media (AIM) has uncovered the fact that Fox parent company News Corporation has just published an "authorized biography" of the prince.

"This story gets more curious as we learn more about it," declared AIM editor Cliff Kincaid. "It appears that the Saudi connection to News Corporation, the parent of Fox News, is deep and substantial. The evidence is growing that Saudi Prince Al-waleed bin Talal is using his influence in News Corporation to promote himself and the Arab/Muslim cause. Conservatives who have depended on Fox for fair and balanced coverage of controversial issues have to be extremely alarmed."

As AIM was the first to note in a press release on Wednesday, Al-waleed bin Talal owns an influential and significant number of voting shares in the company and claims that he forced Fox News to eliminate on-air references to the Muslim role in the recent riots in France. He claimed to have accomplished this by speaking to News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Fox News has responded to AIM with a statement saying the network became aware that the Paris riots "were caused by a number of different factors which we characterized in various ways" and that a Fox contributor by the name of Father Morris had said "this was a cultural assimilation issue, not a religious one."

Kincaid commented "It is significant that Fox is not denying that Al-waleed did play a significant role in the change of coverage."

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