I guess you've all heard by now that Rupert Murdoch's Fox nutwork is preparing to blur the line between politics and sports during Sunday's Super Bowl. NewsCorp, Fox's parent company and the media wing of the GOP won the rights for the games and they are planning to exploit these rights and a captive American audience in whatever way they can in a desperate attempt to swing this year's election. However, this should come as little surprise to anyone as Fox News has proven itself to be a reliable Republican outpost over the years. They campaigned heavily for Bush's election and re-election in 2000 and 2004 and have closely aligned themselves with the White House and RNC ever since.
An article written by David Carr in the Business section of the New York Times dated Monday, January 28, 2008 outlined exactly how this campaigning will take place. The day will begin with an hour of "Fox News Sunday" where host where host and Republican moderate Chris Wallace will cover the political battle in 22 states on Super Tuesday as well as the match in Phoenix that night. One can expect all the major Republican Candidates on this program and a heavily biased conservative panel to provide their analysis. A two-hour special, with the anchor Shepard Smith (I know he's a Republican but I think he's cute) - transplanted from cable to the main network - as host, will then use reporting from various Fox affiliates around the country to create a blend of football and right wing politics which is intended to build interest in both football and political contests and conveniently promote the Fox brand. The article went on to sum it up like this "The Super Bowl is one of the last bastions of mass media in a fractured universe, and trust the News Corporation to make the most of it."
I bet some of you think I'm stretching it and making much ado about nothing. Reporting isn't exactly campaigning you might add and It's not like they are going to run ads for the Repubs and actively campaign on their behalf but I am not prepared to give them the benefit of a doubt. It's not a matter of are they capable of this, the fact is they have done it in the past and will continue to do it as long as they can get away with it. Sean Hannity is the best example of this, he is a self confessed conservative Republican. He often run Republican ads on his program and has actively campaigned and fund raised for Republicans on several occasions. Roger Ailes, the manager of fox news was a former Repbulican Operative and he was a big part of the now disgraced Guiliani's campaign for mayor.
Anyways, I'm not loosing any sleep over this. The height of NewsCorp's power is long gone. They tried desperately to drum up support for the war in Iraq but it was to no avail. They have slowly diminished with the Bush Regime. As for the Super Bowl, I home the Giants win.