Fox Biz covers issue that parent company had given money to defeat

Brian Stelter of the New York Times writes Monday that Fox Business Network spent considerable time last week reporting on a story about a California ballot initiative that its parent company, the News Corp., had spent $1.3 million to defeat.

Stelter writes, “Kevin Magee, an executive vice president at Fox Business, said in an interview on Friday, ‘We didn’t know that News Corporation had made a contribution to No for 24.’ He said such disclosures were normal ‘if you know it and if it’s germane to the story.’ He said that had he known in this case, he thought the network would have disclosed the donation.

“Mr. Magee said ‘The War on Business’ was one of the channel’s weekly themes to focus attention on business issues. Other themes have included ‘They’re Burning Your Money’ and ‘Is the World Broke?’

“He said the network’s tone was not ‘pro-business’ per se, but that it was ‘making sure that businesses get heard.’

“The owner of Cambridge of California, Ben Nielsen, who was featured in the reports, said the people who brought him in for the interview ‘were the people that are handling the campaign,’ No on 24.”

Read more here.