Mar 22, 2019 - Economy & Business

Former Murdoch exec resigned over Fox’s approach to covering Muslims

Photo: Kevin Hagen/Getty Images

The former senior vice president of Rubert Murdoch’s News Corp., Joseph Azam, revealed to NPR on Thursday why he felt compelled to exit the company in 2017, saying he left due to the method by which Fox News covered Muslims, immigration, and race.

The big picture: Fox News has been facing a barrage of criticism in recent days over its handling of Muslim issues in particular. A news producer said she quit Sky News Australia — a cousin company of Fox News — last weekend because of its coverage of Muslims following the fatal shooting at 2 Christchurch, New Zealand mosques. New Zealand also pulled Sky News Australia from the air over its coverage of the massacre as well. This comes days after Fox News had to rebuke one of its star anchors, Jeanine Pirro, for her suggestion that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-N.Y.) followed Sharia law just because she wore a hijab.

Azam told NPR:

"Scaring people. Demonizing immigrants. Creating, like, a fervor — or an anxiety about what was happening in our country... It fundamentally bothered me on a lot of days and I think I probably wasn't the only one."

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 11:30 p.m. ET: 20,014,574 — Total deaths: 734,755 — Total recoveries — 12,222,744 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 11:30 p.m. ET: 5,089,416 — Total deaths: 163,425 — Total recoveries: 1,670,755 — Total tests: 62,513,174 — Map.
  3. Politics: Trump claims he would have not called for Obama to resign over 160,000 virus deaths — House will not hold votes until Sept. 14 unless stimulus deal is reached.
  4. Business: Richer Americans are more comfortable eating out.
  5. Public health: 5 states set single-day coronavirus case records last week — A dual coronavirus and flu threat is set to deliver a winter from hell.
  6. Sports: The cost of kids losing gym class — College football is on the brink.
  7. World: Europe's CDC recommends new restrictions amid "true resurgence in cases."
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