Former Senator and current presidential candidate John Edwards is calling on other Democratic candidates to “refuse or refund contributions from FNC parent News Corp. to protest its purchase of The Wall Street Journal,” writes Broadcasting and Cable‘s John Eggerton.
Edwards, who pulled out of a Fox News-sponsored debate earlier this year, says “a strong democracy begins and ends with a strong, unbiased and fair media – all qualities which are pretty hard to subscribe to Fox News and News Corp.”
But Edwards has already taken a pretty penny from the company. The Washington Post‘s Howard Kurtz writes, News Corp.’s “publishing unit, HarperCollins, paid Edwards a $500,000 advance — and $300,000 in expenses — for his 2006 book “Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives.”
“We assume the senator is going to give back the money from his advance,” News Corp. spokesman Brian Lewis told Kurtz.
Brit Hume reported on Edwards’ comments during FNC’s Special Report last night. Hume says the Edwards statement is really a jab at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Hume says Sen. Clinton has received more than $20,000 from News Corp. executives.
The News Corp.-owned NYPost has an item on this today, too…