Much of the media world is understandably agog at the size of the million-dollar donation Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation gave to the Republican Governors Association, or RGA. "Looking at the quotes from News Corp, they seem pretty open and comfortable with what they are doing," said Amy Mitchell, the deputy director of Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism. "I don't think News Corp is trying to deny or step away from what these actions suggest. I think the most important thing is, we don't know why they are doing it."
Jack Horner, a spokesperson for the company, explains that News Corp. has always believed in the power of free markets, and organizations like the RGA, which have a pro-business agenda, "support our priorities at this most critical time for our economy." The New York Times reported, however, that "a late-afternoon search of Fox News' Web site produced no mention of it." Nothing to see here. Keep moving along.
To be sure, it was an audacious move. After all, the RGA is not exactly hurting for cash. According to Politico, the Democratic Governors Association lags $18 million behind the RGA in fundraising for the first six months of the year. Nathan Daschle, the DGA's executive director, said what many were undoubtedly thinking when he observed, "Time and time again, Fox News has defended itself against accusations that it is nothing more than a tool of the Republican Party. We know now that the reality is so much worse: they're bankrolling the GOP."
But while media commentary focuses exclusively on News Corp's ownership of Fox News, this misses much of the point. The News Corp empire is vast and wide, and it deliberately slants the news while shamelessly promoting blatant disinformation in platform after platform all over the world.
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