When the story broke last week that FOX News’ parent company News Corp had given an astounding $1 million corporate contribution to the Republican Governors Association, it was irrefutable proof of what you and I already know: FOX is no legitimate news organization. It’s an integral part of the right wing’s propaganda machine, with a formal political agenda to promote right wing ideas and elect right wing candidates.
But this contribution crosses a line that FOX has never crossed before, and takes its bias to a whole new level.
Objective media outlets don’t report on elections while simultaneously making million dollar contributions to influence them. And if FOX doesn’t want to behave like an objective news organization, then we can’t let its “fair and balanced” charade continue on the air.
It’s time for FOX to own up to its bias. During FOX’s 2010 governors race coverage, FOX must disclose News Corp’s million dollar support of Republican gubernatorial candidates.
Of course, FOX insists that this contribution will have no bearing on its news coverage,1 but that claim has already proven to be laughably absurd. When this story broke, dozens of major media outlets devoted time to covering it — but not FOX. There was little to no mention of this contribution on FOX News or its website.2
This huge breach of journalistic objectivity — and FOX’s refusal to own up to its political agenda — comes at a very dangerous time. In 2010 there are a record 37 governors seats on the ballot, and the winner of each contest will play an influential role in redrawing their state’s congressional district boundaries next year. So the outcome of this election could have a dramatic effect on the balance of power in Congress.
FOX can no longer claim to be an impartial observer in this election. But FOX’s election coverage will be watched by millions of voters, and those voters deserve to know that FOX and its parent company are deeply invested in the outcome. That’s why FOX must disclose News Corp’s contribution to its viewers.
Now that News Corp and FOX have finally put their money where their mouth has been, the jig is up. Let’s make sure they feel the heat for this jaw-dropping political contribution and that FOX can’t keep pretending on-air that it’s an objective news organization, when its off-air actions so clearly betray blatant political motives.
