The $1M donation of News Corp. to the Republican Governors Association drew a predictable negative response from the Democratic Governors Association. And it stands out when compared to political giving from the other big three network operators, both in size and in balance.
DGA’s Nathan Daschle said, “Time and time again, Fox News has defended itself against accusations that it is nothing more than a tool of the Republican Party. We know now that the reality is so much worse: they’re bankrolling the GOP. FOX’s news division is ignoring the fact that its own parent company made a direct and unprecedented partisan contribution to defeat Democrats. This is hypocrisy at its worst, and is a sad day for all of us who believe that an independent and impartial media is vital to our democracy.”
A Fox spokesman, Jack Horner, said that the donation was separate from its newsgathering operations, stating, “It’s patently false that a corporate donation would have any bearing on our news-gathering activities at Fox News or any other of our properties.”
Washington Post’s media watchdog Howard Kurtz reported gubernatorial activity of the other three network operators. GE/NBC has given $450K, $245K to Democrats and $205K to Republicans; Disney/ABC has donated only $31K, with $20K going to Republicans and $11K to Democrats; and CBS has given only $14K, with $13K going to Democrats and $1K to Republicans.
