Wolff: Murdoch brought in Obama to criticize Ailes for Fox’s coverage.
Wolff: Murdoch brought in Obama to criticize Ailes for Fox’s coverage.
Sometime last summer, Barack Obama reportedly met secretly with Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and the network’s owner Rupert Murdoch in an attempt for both parties to “clear the air,” after Obama had received some unfavorable coverage from the network. Yesterday on CNN, Michael Wolff, author of a recent Murdoch biography — “The Man Who Owns The News” — said that Murdoch brought in Obama to criticize Ailes for Fox’s unfair coverage of Obama:
WOLFF: When he arranged for the summit between Murdoch and Obama, the first time that they met, he brought in — he brought Ailes to this exactly so that he could let Obama take on Ailes. Murdoch himself didn’t want to say, you know, change your coverage, you’re unfair here. He specifically brought Ailes into the room so that Obama could say, what are you doing?
Watch it:
Host Howie Kurtz appeared to be skeptical of Wolff’s reporting, noting that Murdoch “is not exactly shy about meddling with the journalistic operations of his properties.” But Wolff countered that Ailes is the one who is actually contractually in charge at Fox News and that Murdoch is “scared of him.”
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Murdoch afraid of the big fat pig Ailes?
¶ AIO
December 8th, 2008 at 1:44 pmThey are cracking up, folks.
¶ AIO
December 8th, 2008 at 1:49 pmThis whole story is F’in stupid.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:49 pmAgreed, stewartjr.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:51 pmWhy can’t Murdoch tell his own employee to straighten out his act, if that was the purpose? This whole story has a Machiavellian stench to it.
Murdoch and Ailes are both scumbags of the first magnitude.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:52 pmYeah right. Murdoch is scared of his employee Ailes. I wonder what Murdoch thinks about the book this guy wrote about him. I haven’t heard him objecting to the things Wolff is saying he said.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:56 pmAnd I read somewhere recently that Murdock despises Bill O’Rielly.
Oh please, what a load of BS.
Murdock is FULLY in control of his empire… and he’s a MASTER at propaganda and disinformation.
He’s a predatory control freak and all his employees, Ailes, Hume, Hannity, O’Rielly etc. are just his sockpuppets… period.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:59 pmSupposedly both Murdoch and Ailes detest Bill O’Reilly, yet won’t dump him because of his ratings and the money he pulls in.
They are willing to put money over even their own shoddy principles. This is not journalism.
December 8th, 2008 at 1:59 pm.
ABCNNBCBS&FOXPRAVDA
… Where’s the story?
.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:01 pmI’m with stewartjr. With each “revelation” from Wolff’s book, the less plausible it sounds.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:05 pmMurdoch is real buddy-buddy with the Clintons, I’ve heard. Maybe Rupert is going to start throwing some of his more despicable employees under the bus, at least to outward appearances…
December 8th, 2008 at 2:09 pmMurdoch is “scared of him.”
Yeah, right, I’m totally buying this….NOT.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:12 pmCompassionate Conservatism.
Military Intelligence.
Black Republicans.
Objective Journalism.
And
Fox News.
All oxymorons, and All irrelevant.
RIP
December 8th, 2008 at 2:13 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
I call bullshit and Wolff is a tap dancing fool.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:16 pmmethinks murdoch is realizing that his ‘base’ isn’t as strong as it once was, so he’s trying to play good cop to Ailes’ bad cop and try to keep some sort of relationship with the incoming administration….
December 8th, 2008 at 2:21 pm>>But Wolff countered that Ailes is the one who is actually contractually in charge at Fox News and that Murdoch is “scared of him.”<<
That’s such a load of BS. It’s Murdock spin plain and simple. ‘Oh, I didn’t mean to dump on your Barack. It was Roger Ailes, Roger made me do it. I’m quacking in me boots over Roger.’ ~Rupert Murdock.
Murdock need only lift his finger and Ailes is history. I don’t care how big the buyout on his employment contract is, no matter the price it does not amount to a pimple on Murdock’s financial @ss. What exactly is Wolff saying? That Roger Ailes has pictures of Murdock fornicating with animals? Absurd … at least I think it is absurd! There is no earthly reason for Rupert Murdock to fear his employee Roger Ailes. Wolff has some ’splaining’ to do if Murdock truly fears to Ailes.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:44 pmraynman Says:
… and try to keep some sort of relationship with the incoming administration….
We’re seeing a lot of this, aren’t we? And a whole mess of “independents” who look and sound strangely like repugnicans. Sychophants (a quality brainwashed into repugs) are good at puckering up, and some are downright artful about it.
Considering the quantity and quality of the pervasive lies and propoganda spewed by faux JUST over the course of the campaign should be enough for Obama to dismiss these charlatans.
And Murdoch is a complete wussy: he can’t straighten out his employee? He can’t even apologize or try to explain to Obama for the trash his POS propoganda outlets vomited forth?
Relegate them to the garbage.
December 8th, 2008 at 2:54 pmWell, hey, my boss is scared of me, too.
/snark
December 8th, 2008 at 2:59 pmWho knows whether this story is true? If it is, it didn’t work.
December 8th, 2008 at 3:43 pmWendy said “You do this, Rupie, or your wrinkly a*s stays in the guest room.”
December 8th, 2008 at 5:39 pmFor once I agree with Unterfuehrer Kurtz.