The Huffington Post reports that all three of the front-running Democratic candidates have received money from Fox News executives in this campaign cycle. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both have the largest shares of Fox exec money, but then, they’re also leading in fundraising, generally.
As much as it does make the front-runners look bad, this also points out a fundamental problem with media executives endorsing or funding candidates. The article points out that Fox News does actually have a number of Democrats on the payroll, but just the appearance of endorsement from a news organization, especially one so completely one-sided, drags the whole process down:
Hillary Clinton Shuns Fox Debates, But Pockets Murdochs’ Money – The Huffington Post
But in her most recent filing at the FEC, Hillary Clinton reported two large donations from the very top of the Fox corporate structure. On June 5, Rupert Murdoch, chairman of the News Corporation, gave her presidential bid $2,300. A few weeks later, his son, James R. Murdoch, chief executive of British Sky Broadcasting in London, gave $3,400. Altogether, NewsCorp/Fox executives gave at least $40,000 to the Clinton campaign.
Obama has taken more $14,000 from NewsCorp/Fox executives, although none came from the Murdochs themselves. In the broad network of NewsCorp/Fox holdings, with many Hollywood and entertainment entities, there are a substantial number of Democrats on the payroll.
Edwards received substantially less than Clinton or Obama. His contributions from NewsCorp/Fox executives Louis Supowitz, Jonathan Sarrow, Sean A. Riley, and Jonathan Sarrow total just under $1,000. There was no immediate comment from the Edwards campaign.
Vive la CMCE!
Technorati Tags: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Rupert Murdoch, Fox News, 2008, President, Donation, Campaign Finance Reform, Clean Money, Clean Elections
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