I guess I am writing this as a way to seek out public opinion on a matter I find most upsetting. Simply put, I cannot figure out why mainstream media outlets have not reported on the connection of Saudi Prince Al-waleed Bin Talal to Fox News parent company, News Corp.
While I am sure Fox News would not like this bit of information exposed to their average viewing audience, the fact remains that Prince Al-waleed Bin Talal is indeed one of the one of the biggest http://mediamatters.org/blog/201008200055shareholders of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., with owned shares at somewhere around 7 percent. This is easily accessed from a simple Google search, as I admit it took me mere minutes to educate myself after gleaming bits and pieces of this supposed alliance. News Corporation supposedly also bought a 9.09 percent stake in Rotana Group in February to further develop its postion in the media sector in the Middle East and expand its horizon. Rotant Group is the Arab world's largest entertainment company and is owned by Prince Al-waleed Bin Talal amongst other investors.
With the constant debate that is engulfing our nation at this time over the possible building of a "Ground Zero Mosque", why is that mainstream media outlets are not reporting on this rather interesting relationship amongst foreign entities, especially when both parties involved, Fox News and Prince Al-waleed Bin Talal, are highly tied to the heart of the matter. Prince Al-waleed Bin Talal is a principal investor in the purported mosque and is also an invested supporter of News Corporation, hence also Fox News. Fox News, via its likes of Hannity and company, bash the proposal of building a mosque so close to Ground Zero on the grounds that they would like to know where the money would be coming from. Well, frankly Mr. Hannity and company, in a sense it is coming from someone who is basically your boss, or at the very least, has the ability to influence what is reported on Fox News.
Why did it take Jon Stewart and company on Comedy Central to report of this phenomenon? I learned of this while following The Huffington Report's stream on Facebook. Links in question can be found below:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/23/stewart-fox-prince-alwaleed_n_692234.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/24/news-corp-executives-actu_n_692790.html
Why does Fox News constantly question the source of potential funding for this mosque when a rather sizeable shareholder of its parent company is openly a contributor of funds? I only see 2 disturbing options: Fox News is either highly inept at reporting or it is intentionally misleading its audience. Both are highly troublesome for a company that is supposedly "Fair and Balanced".
Why does CNN not pick up on this story? Or other media outlets for that matter? What form of power does Fox News or News Corp. (or Saudi investors for that matter) hold over mainstream media reporting in America in this day and age? What ever happened to a really good scoop?
All this is highly troublesome to me. If CNN was any bit the liberal-leaning media outlet that Fox News commentators claim it to be, you would think it would jump at an opportunity to damage a competitor news outlet with such a story.
I like CNN...I really do. I enjoy the format of the website. That is primarily the reason why I frequent the site, sometimes many times in one day. I have a hard time believing that not a single intern or reporter for CNN is a fan of either The Daily Show or The Huffington Report. Is CNN unwilling to expose such connections between News Corp. and a Saudi Prince? If not, why does it not run what I would expect to be a most sensational news story?
These are all questions that should be pondered. I shudder to think of all these CNN iReporters as just potential sheep to the CNN flock as are the faithful viewers of Fox News. I want to believe there are not financial reasons why CNN would not want to be involved with this story, as if the case, the integrity of CNN as a news outlet should be highly scrutinized.