Times suggests Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch bought off top US senator

John ByrnePublished: Sunday June 24, 2007
The New York Times plans "a look at how Rupert Murdoch has used his media empire to advance his personal and political agendas" in Monday's editions, a source familiar with the paper's planning tells RAW STORY.
The piece opens with the suggestion that Murdoch staved off legislation that could strangle his US business interest by buying off a senator.
"Congress was on the verge of limiting any company from owning local television stations that reached more than 35 percent of American homes. Mr. Murdoch’s Fox stations reached nearly 39 percent, meaning he would have to sell some," the Times reporters write. "In a late-night meeting just before Thanksgiving of 2003, Congressional leaders agreed to raise the limit — to 39 percent."
Sen. Trent Lott had opposed raising the limit.
"But in the end, he, too, agreed to the compromise," reports the Times. "It turns out he had a business connection to Mr. Murdoch. Months before, HarperCollins, Mr. Murdoch’s publishing house, had signed a $250,000 book deal to publish Mr. Lott’s memoir, 'Herding Cats,' records and interviews show."
The story is a fascinating one for New York's newspaper of record. As a massive investigative piece written by some of the Times' finest reporters and organized by the Times Managing Editor herself -- Jill Abramson -- it stands to have a major impact on a pending deal between Murdoch and the Times' New York competitor he is seeking to buy, The Wall Street Journal. >>>cont

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