News Corporation CEO Rupert Murdoch wrote an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal this week with a pro-immigration stance that is at odds with News Corp.'s own Fox News. Murdoch's piece is called, "Immigration Reform Can't Wait." But Fox News has been frothing at the mouth over the very thought.
Media Matters has the details:
In a June 18 op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, Murdoch, also the executive chairman of the Journal’s parent company News Corp, urged legislators to pass comprehensive immigration reform, citing it as “one of the most immediate ways to revitalize our economy.”
…
Murdoch even urged lawmakers to provide “a path to citizenship” for “those individuals who are already here,” and called it “suicidal to suggest closing our doors to the world’s entrepreneurs, or worse, to continue with large-scale deportations.”
But as Media Matters notes, this directly contradicts the consistent message on Fox News. Here are some examples from our archives:
- Fox News regular Wayne Rogers called for impeaching President Obama and Attorney General Holder for giving “amnesty to illegals.”
- Arizona governor Jan Brewer got a friendly Fox platform to fundraise for her anti-immigration lawsuit against the United States.
- Fox News regularly hosts the virulently anti-immigrant Dennis Michael Lynch to fear monger about immigration.
- Bill O’Reilly has recently urged his viewers to boycott Mexico for “help(ing) the millions of people that are crossing its territory to enter the U.S.A. illegally.”
As Media Matters also notes, Fox has suddenly taken an “uncharacteristically sympathetic stance” on immigration since the op-ed appeared. Whether that’s a real change or just a temporary ploy to appease Murdoch remains to be seen.
Wouldn't you love to see Murdoch debate immigration reform with one of the Fox News hosts or regulars?