Bartiromo appears to be backing away from Saudi conference

Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo appears to be backing away from appearing at a Saudi Arabia investment conference that she spoke at last year in the wake of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, reports Jeremy Barr of The Hollywood Reporter.

Barr reports, “But, based on Bartiromo’s comments Tuesday morning, the well-known financial journalist seems to be leaning toward backing away from the conference, at which she spoke last year as well.

“‘It just feels like it flies right in the face of this expectation that this was the guy to modernize Saudi Arabia,’ she said on Tuesday’s Mornings With Maria of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

“After a guest questioned whether Khashoggi should be considered a journalist (or, instead, an ‘activist’), Bartiromo responded: ‘It doesn’t matter what he is, we’re talking about human rights. The question becomes: Do you do business with a killer?’

“Dubbed ‘Davos in the Desert,’ the conference (Oct. 23-25) has been shedding media partners in the wake of Khashoggi’s disappearance, including CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Nikkei and The Financial Times. Several other prominent speakers from the worlds of media and finance, including Viacom CEO Bob Bakish and Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, have also dropped out of this year’s event.”

Read more here.