CNN Is “Using Our Phrase,” Trying To Become More Fair & Balanced –Murdoch

By Brian 

In a dialogue with The Hollywood Reporter, Rupert Murdoch talks about his influence on news:

  THR: You have revolutionized news: The newspaper scene in London has gone on to influence newspapers the world over, Fox News changed television news, and you have made a big impact on sports.

Murdoch: News — communicating news and ideas, I guess — is my passion. And giving people alternatives so that they have two papers to read (and) alternative television channels. In this country, Fox News has gotten a big, big audience that appreciates its independence. There’s passion there, and it’s pushed. … It has taken a long time, but it has now changed CNN because it has challenged them — they’ve become more centrist in their choice of stories. They’re trying to become, using our phrase, more fair and balanced.

THR: Have you used news as a catalyst for change?

Murdoch: No, I just think that if people know, objectively, everything that’s happening — if they know alternative views about what’s happening — then the democracy wins. People aren’t stupid; you give them the facts, and you can also stimulate their thinking. I have a commentator on all sides.

Murdoch also compliments Roger Ailes: “One of the most creative people on staff but also an extraordinarily good manager. When you say someone is a micromanager, it sounds like a bad thing, but in Roger’s case, there is no limit to how much he can micromanage — the way he handles the talent, the way he watches the costs and the advertising and so on. He’s a really outstanding executive.”

> Also: In THR’s main story, Ailes says FNC has changed American news presentation “tremendously…”

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