Murdoch Makes Oil Deal, Derides Copenhagen Climate Talks: Could There Be a Connection?

A BuzzFlash reader kindly pointed out a suspicious sequence of events. Shortly after News Corp. signed a new deal with Saudi Prince Al-Walid bin Talal for a stake in the prince’s media group, Rotana, Fox News and other Murdoch media arms began working diligently to discredit any attempt to take climate talks seriously at Copenhagen.

Murdoch's connection to Al-Walid dates back far longer than the new media deal, but the two have not always seen things the same way. Prince Al-Walid happens to own a 5.7% share in News Corp. and has previously claimed responsibility in altering media coverage on Fox to curb anti-Islam sentiments. However, in 2001, Fox analysts heavily criticized Prince Al-Walid and described him as “a bad guy” for comments he made suggesting the U.S. policy in the Middle East may have helped precipitate the 9/11 attacks. Fox's Bill Sammon went on to criticize the $10 million Al-Walid attempted to donate for 9/11 disaster relief as “blood money” that Rudy Giuliani rightfully spurned.

Eight years later, that purveyor of “blood money” owns a stake in the company besides hailing from the biggest oil-producing nation in the world. Rather than continue the old attacks against Prince Al-Walid, Fox and the rest of News Corp. diverted its attention toward heating up the scandal on its self-created story of “Climate-gate.” Fox successfully runs the story despite glaring lapses in fact, and now the competition feels the need to cover the story, as well.

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