In my last post, “Bill O’Reilly, the FNC, & the ‘No Spin
Zone’ has Spun out of Control!” I wrote about how Fox News finally had enough
of Bill O’Reilly, the top-rated host in cable news, and his so-called
“misogynistic” behavior. The mainstream media and the Left crafted a story
which made people think O’Reilly’s “misogynistic” behavior was the reason he
was let go. This isn’t exactly true.
I debunked the claim about advertisers by showing that traditional
platforms (tv, radio, print) had been losing money in the last 15 years to
online platforms, i.e. Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. But the part about FNC
letting O’Reilly go, well, there is a sliver of truth there. Just a sliver
though.
The real reason O’Reilly was let go had more to do with 21st
Century Fox and Rupert Murdoch’s £11.7bn takeover bid of the remaining 61%
control of Sky than O’Reilly’s “alleged” sexual misconduct claims.
“On May 16 the British media regulator Ofcom is set to judge
whether the Murdoch’s are ‘fit and proper’ to own such a large media property” according
to New York magazine. Twenty-First
Century Fox already owns nearly a 40% stake in Sky and for an outsider such as Murdoch
to take 100% control brings up two issues.
Issue number one has to do with the possibility that the
public would be getting a reduction of media plurality and issue number two is
whether FNC is committed to the required editorial standards, such as accuracy
and impartial news coverage.
What is “plurality”? Plurality is the result of one owner
“or voice” having too much influence over public opinion and the political
agenda. Murdoch owns and runs the Times,
the Sunday Times, the Sun, and the radio group TalkSport through a separate company.
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This situation could be what section 58
of the Enterprise Act 2002 was meant to prevent. The need for “accurate
presentation of news” and “free expression of opinion.” So, the New
York magazine believes that “removing O’Reilly could appease critics (as
well as James Murdoch, the 21st Century Fox CEO) and help close the Sky deal.”
Could the Murdoch owned newspaper News of the World phone-hacking scandal, the revelation that the
voicemail of the 13 year-old murdered Milly Dowler's had been hacked come back
to haunt Murdoch and prevent him from gaining control of Sky like it did during
his previous takeover in 2011?
Could the takeover bid for Sky help lead to the downfall of
FNC? Not only did FNC abandon money maker O’Reilly for what appears to be
connected to the Sky deal, but former co-host of Fox & Friends Gretchen Carlson left the network after filing a sexual
harassment lawsuit against FNC’s founder, Chairman, and CEO Roger Ailes. Ailes
immediately denied the claims then resigned, and finally Megan Kelly left the
network for NBC News.
This is a big shake-up for a company. We’ll see if FNC can
weather the storm.
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You can check out more of my posts at iPatriot, Eagle Rising, my Facebook page, or my blog The New AmericanStatesman
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