Fox News. They Report

What Saudi Arabia tells them to report.

It seems that the ultra-right wing propaganda channel is aligning itself with the ultra-right wing Islamic Theocratic state in an effort to enhance their fairness and balencyness.  Think Progress reports:

Top Republican Rep. Issa Indicates Openness to Probing Saudi Ownership of Fox News

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal owns the fourth largest stake in News Corp — the parent company of Fox News — making him the largest shareholder outside the family of News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch. According to the Financial Times, News Corp announced today that it is purchasing a $70 million dollar stake in Prince Alwaleed’s Rotana Media, a Middle Eastern music and news conglomerate. Boasting about the increased cooperation between the Murdoch empire and his own media corporation, Prince Alwaleed said, “This is a qualitative leap not just for Rotana but for the whole Arab world.” Because Prince Alwaleed has publicly acknowledged that he has forced Fox News to edit its coverage he disliked, conservative activists have attacked the business partnership as “really dangerous for America.”

Hmmm….”forced Fox News to edit its coverage he disliked.”  It appears he is doing what the president of the United States can’t.  Rep. Issa doesn’t seem too concerned about the foreign ownership and manipulation of a U.S. media outlet even though he expressed “openness” to investigate it because:

Well, I know Rupert Murdoch so I would certainly say he signs onto Rupert’s agenda, not the other way around.

It does appear though that the Saudi gazillionaire in question has broad interests:

When Issa says Fox News’ coverage does not seem to reflect Prince Alwaleed’s agenda, he isn’t taking into account the Saudi billionaire’s full range of interests. For instance, Prince Alwaleed owns a $4.3 billion dollar stake in Citigroup, and has announced that he opposes President Obama’s financial reforms like the banker speculation tax. On Fox News, the bank tax and other financial reforms have been smeared with misinformation and outright lies.

And I am sure Saudi interests would never come into play when it comes to the debate for clean energy sources and weaning ourselves from foreign oil.

So maybe Saudi Arabia and Fox really are two peas in a pod. 

They Manipulate.  You’re Deceived.