Murdoch’s News Corp. Courts Influence In Congress — And The White House

 Barack Obama, Campaign financing, Corporate Control, Democrats, Media, Republicans, Rupert Murdoch  Add comments
Jul 212011

(Image courtesy NY Daily News -- Monsivais/AP; Wilson/Getty)

The Washington Post is reporting that the political action committee of News Corp., Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire currently embroiled in an international phone hacking scandal, has stepped up its contributions to members of Congress and fundrasising arms of both major American political parties.

According to filings with the government, News Corp. contributed over $50,000 to lawmakers in June, a sharp increase over any single month’s contributions since last year. A slight majority of the money, over $32,000, actually went to Democrats.

News Corp.’s political action committee increased its donations in June, giving more than $50,000 to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, according to a disclosure report filed Wednesday evening.

The company’s PAC gave $5,000 to House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), $15,000 to the Democratic Party’s House race fund, $5,000 to House Majority Whip Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and $1,000 to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, among other contributions last month.

In total, the company gave $32,500 to Democrats and $20,000 to Republicans in June. The totals are more than twice as high as any month since September, when the company gave $75,000 in donations. The company’s PAC has typically favored Democrats by small majorities in the past few election cycles, campaign records show.

The dramatic increase in political cash flowing to lawmakers comes as the fallout from News Corp.’s hacking controversy and criminal case in Britain emanates to our side of the Atlantic. Many groups and some members of Congress are now actively calling for a congressional investigation into Murdoch, News Corp., and potential hacking incidents in the United States.
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The $50,000 contributed in June came before the most recent developments in the British hacking case came to light earlier this month, but some groups are questioning whether the media empire’s largess could influence lawmakers faced with decisions to make over whether Murdoch is investigated.
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“The question today for any member of Congress who took money is whether they will stand up to Rupert Murdoch and News Corp. by joining the growing demand for congressional hearings,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director for Public Campaign Action Fund. “With the severity of the acts perpetrated by News Corp. employees — and the possibility that Americans were targeted — I wouldn’t be surprised if they began to return these donations.”

Members of Congress are not the only beneficiaries of News Corp. cash. President Obama is the single largest recipient of financial contributions from the company itself, its employees, and their families.
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While Murdoch-owned conservative outlets such as the New York Post, Fox News Channel, and now the Wall Street Journal are known for their right-wing bent and sharp criticism of Democrats and the Obama administration, Obama and other Democratic candidates, campaigns and organizations actually lead Republi cans in News Corp. contributions.
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Political donations by News Corp., its employees and their families were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with President Obama the all-time leading recipient, according to a report from the Sunlight Foundation.

The transparency watchdog noted Tuesday that Democrats received 51 percent of contributions while Republicans received 49 percent, despite the firm’s highly publicized links to the GOP, such as a $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association in August.

News Corp. is the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and Fox News, among others. The firm is currently under scrutiny in both the U.S. and U.K. over allegations its subsidiary News of the World hacked into voice mail accounts and bribed public officials.

“Obama being listed as the company’s top recipient might surprise some people because of its highly publicized involvement with his political rivals, like Sarah Palin who was the vice presidential candidate in 2008 and reportedly still under contract with Murdoch-owned Fox News as a paid commentator,” wrote Sunlight’s Ryan Sibley.

The News Corp. page on Open Secrets has more on the media giant’s political contributions and lobbying activity. Please check it out…

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Posted by Matt Parker at 5:24 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

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