Trouble in Paradise

Cliff Kincaid - the angst-ridden chihuahua in charge of the conservative "media watchdog group" Accuracy in Media - continues his entertaining jihad against Fox News. Having formerly accused Roger Ailes of making common cause with Hillary Clinton, Kincaid now raises the volume on ultra-right accusations that Rupert Murdoch is in the back pocket of the notorious Saudi billionaire Al-waleed bin Talal:

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.

Earlier, Frank Gaffney had expressed dismay over Al-waleed's involvement with Murdoch and NewsCorp (Fox's parent company), particularly as regards NewsCorp's deal with the Prince's own Rotana Audio Visual Company, which Gaffney accuses of producing jihadist agitprop:

Rotana Audio Visual Company, which operates TV channels in the Middle East, has signed a deal with DirecTV, the TV-satellite firm controlled by NewsCorp. As a result, it would seem Rotana will be able to beam its programs into U.S. cable boxes without interference from federal regulators, or anybody else....Can we rely on Rupert Murdoch to keep the Saudi prince from abusing his new platforms? Perhaps not. After all, Mr. Murdoch is having succession, financial, and other problems with his business empire.

Given the Right's indulgent standards for proof of conspiracy, Kincaid's article effectively proves that Fox has put its resources and "credibility" at the service of international Islamofascism, just as Gaffney feared it would. Interestingly, Kincaid calls liberal media critic Danny Schechter as a witness for Murdoch's prosecution, despite having proclaimed elsewhere that Schechter is dishonest. It seems that any stick will serve for beating up Murdoch, at this point.

This week, Kincaid also attacked Bill O'Reilly for being a hypocrite, a money-grubber, and a toady to Murdoch.

Happy holidays, and pass the popcorn.