News Corp and Fox News Have a Long, Chummy Relationship with Giuliani

This post, written by Matt Corley, originally appeared on Think Progress

In a new lawsuit, former book publisher Judith Regan, who ran HarperCollins, claims that an unnamed executive at her parent-company, News Corporation, "encouraged her to lie to federal investigators about her past affair with Bernard B. Kerik." Regan says the "executive wanted to protect the presidential aspirations of Rudolph W. Giuliani."

Though a News Corp. spokesperson dismissed the lawsuit as having "no merit," Giuliani and the company -- specifically its subsidiary Fox News -- have a long-history of friendship and preferential treatment. In fact, Fox's start was directly aided by Giuliani when, as mayor of New York City, he "intervened" after the company was "blocked from securing a cable station in the city":

In 1996, when Mr. Ailes and Rupert Murdoch started Fox News, Mr. Giuliani intervened as mayor after Time Warner cable refused to carry the new station in the city. Time Warner, which had 1.1 million subscribers in the city, said it had room for only one more news station, which it had just awarded to MSNBC.

Fox accused Time Warner of trying to protect CNN, which Time Warner was buying. On Sept. 20, 1996, Mr. Ailes called Mr. Giuliani to ask for help. A flurry of meetings followed, but Time Warner did not budge. Three weeks later, the Giuliani administration said it would broadcast Fox News on a municipal-run station, citing the benefits of offering diverse news sources and protecting the 600 jobs Fox had created. [...]

But a federal judge blocked his plan, calling it "special advocacy" to "reward a friend and to further a particular viewpoint." The companies came to terms the next year.