Major New York Times Exposé Rips Lid Off Fox News

The New York Times reports:

Rupert Murdoch, the founder of a global media empire that includes Fox News, has said he “never asked a prime minister for anything.”

But that empire has given him influence over world affairs in a way few private citizens ever have, granting the Murdoch family enormous sway over not just the United States, but English-speaking countries around the world.

A six-month investigation by The New York Times covering three continents and including more than 150 interviews has described how Mr. Murdoch and his feuding sons turned their media outlets into right-wing political influence machines that have destabilized democracy in North America, Europe and Australia.

The Wrap reports:

Citing three people close to the mogul, the Times reported that Rupert Murdoch referred to then-presidential candidate Donald Trump as “a [expletive] idiot” — until he secured the Republican nomination and won the backing of the Murdoch (as well as the Fox News empire). Through a spokeswoman, Murdoch denied to the Times that he ever used this phrase.

When Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson sparked an advertiser boycott for an on-air statement that immigration “makes our country poorer and dirtier and more divided,” Lachlan Murdoch sent the host personal text messages of support, the Times reported.

Mediaite reports:

Much has been made of the symbiotic relationship the Trump administration enjoys with Fox News, but the article describes host Sean Hannity as “effectively been a member of his campaign team,” who’s 9 p.m. show has become a “nightly hourlong campaign infomercial.”

As hard evidence of Hannity’s support, the report alleges that during the 2016 campaign the Fox News host encouraged Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, to seek out women who might present a problem for the then-candidate.

The full Times exposé is here. Very worth your time.