News Hounds

Fox Downplays Saudi/Al Qaeda Connection

I don't mean to sound like a broken record but I think the news that the LA Times has found proof of Saudi support for Bin Laden is major, major, major. And the fact that Fox News did not include it in their top of the hour news headlines is just as big a deal. But tonight, at 7:00 pm MDT, the top news headline was that the police in Saudi Arabia had surrounded a house in Riyadh connected to the kidnappers of Paul Johnson. No mention of the LA Times story. And, of course, no mention of Bush/Saudi ties.

Where's the Outrage?

Fox News reported today at 4:32 pm MDT on an LA Times story that our "allies" in the war on terror, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia aided Bin Laden (www.latimes.com, available with free registration).

It's worth noting that Fox sometimes reports news unflattering to the Bush administration (though it's probably just a matter of time until this particular situation, like so many others, is blamed on Clinton) despite the fact that the piece was loaded with references to Saudi Arabia's efforts against Al Qaeda. Of course, the close ties between the Bush family and the Saudi royal family were never mentioned.

Still oddly silent: The Bush administration. No comment, apparently, from Dick Cheney or George W. Bush, unapologetic about having invaded Iraq over far flimsier evidence of Bin Laden ties.

Don't Expect a Saudi Probe

As reports of the beheading of American hostage Paul Johnson in Saudi Arabia hit the airwaves, Fox's Dayside shows plenty of dramatic shock and horror: Audience members hold hands for comfort, host Linda Vester looks stricken and speaks haltingly as if she can hardly put words to the atrocity. What you don't see, and probably never will on Fox, is any substantive questioning of the US (and particularly the Bush family) connection to the Saudis.