Fox Business pulls out of Saudi Arabia investment conference

Fox Business Network, which had been the lone remaining international media partner participating in this year’s Future Investment Initiative in Saudi Arabia, dropped out of the event on Thursday, reports Hadas Gold and Oliver Darcy of CNN Business.

Gold and Darcy report, “Fox anchor Maria Bartiromo, who interviewed bin Salman on stage last year, had been scheduled to appear. The network said in a statement on Thursday that it will ‘continue to seek an interview with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’ at this year’s event.

“The network’s relationship with the crown prince goes beyond an anchor interview. Fox chief Rupert Murdoch hosted him in March for a dinner in California, along with business and media A-listers like Disney’s Bob Iger. On that same American tour, the prince also met with major business figures like Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook.

“On air, Fox Business Network has been covering the Khashoggi situation in the same way as any other news outlet. Anchors and guests have noted the complexities in the relationship between the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, asking questions about how to believe the information coming from Turkey considering the country’s own track record of stamping out an independent press and political dissidents.”

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