News Corp. President Endorses Kerry
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/4/2004 12:44:00 PM
According to the Kerry for President campaign, News Corp. President and chief operating officer Peter Chernin has endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate. News Corp. owns Fox News Channel.
That would put Chernin in the ranks of some other Kerry-supporting media executives, including Barry Diller, Kirk Kerkorian (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.) and Harvey and Robert Weinstein, who backed the release of Michael Moore's controversial anti-Bush documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11.
The Chernin endorsement was among that of 200 business leaders announced Wendesday, with Chernin attending a Wall Street to Main Street summit held by Kerry in Iowa.
The move didn't appear to surprise News Corp. Chernin talked to Fox New Channel about the endorsement Wednesday. Appearing on Your World with Neil Cavuto, he said he was not anti-Bush but explained why he thought News Corp. would benefit from a Kerry presidency.
"I think the two things that will be most important to News Corp is--one is education. We're a company where we don't manufacture anything. We depend on ideas. We essentially export ideas around the world and our ability to create those ideas is based on a highly educated creative workforce and so I think more than anything education is the thing that will be of greatest value to News Corp.
" I think the other thing is a real global focus, a focus on, you know, it's a world-wide market of 5 billion people, and I think the more this country looks outward and develops close relationships with economies and countries around the world, I think it creates bigger markets for our products and our ideas.
"This democracy is about making choices," he said, "and my choice is that I believe that Mr. Kerry can do a good job moving our economy forward."
Chernin's fondness for Kerry is no secret. He held a fund-raiser for Kerry on the Fox studio lot earlier in the year.
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