DISH Network and Fox News have been at odds after DISH removed FNC from their channel line up December 20th. Both organizations have been blaming the other, with Fox News releasing an ad accusing DISH of censorship. DISH blames the blackout on contract complications. Either way, it stinks for the 14 million DISH subscribers. (At least, the conservative ones.) MRC’s Dan Joseph seems to think it’s more than just a “contract problem.” As it turns out, Dish Network’s founder and chairman Charles Ergen is a huge donor to the Democratic Party and has a history of pushing his own political agenda. From MRC via IJReview: According to Open Secrets, Ergen donated a total of $64,000 to the Democratic Senatorial campaign Committee in 2014. In the 2014 cycle Ergen gave almost exclusively to Democratic candidates particularly to endangered Senate Democrats including Kay Hagen(NC), Mark Pryor (ARK.), Mark Warner (Va) and Mark Begich (Alaska). image: speed.pointroll/PointRoll/Media/banners/trans.gif?PRAd=2002444&PRCID=2002444&PRplcmt=2491266&PRPID=2491266 Of course, Mr. Ergen’s generosity to the Democratic Party in the last cycle does not necessarily mean that he is targeting Fox News due to a disagreement with the network’s content. But, Ergen may have a history of abusing his position of power to promote his political preferences. This isn’t the first time Ergen has run into trouble. In 2012, company executives filed a federal complaint against him, arguing that he used intimidation tactics to bully them into donating to his preferred candidates. If that’s any testament to the kind of man he is, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that similar things could be happening with the DISH and FNC relationship. The claim was filed by an unnamed company insider who accused Ergen of “forcing” Dish Network’s Chief Operating Officer Bernard Han to donate to a Democratic Party candidate in the 2009/2010 election cycle. The complaint also claimed that Han was “encouraged” to attend Democratic functions and fundraisers and that other Dish employees were strong-armed by Ergen in a similar way. What do you think? Is it just a coincidence?
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 19:25:35 +0000
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