GRIM – AT 8:23 A.M. ET:  Fox News has become a major success story in the United States because it has given conservatives a voice.  Fox is the most-watched cable news network.

But what of the future?  Some signs make us uneasy.  Did you know that Fox is seven-percent-owned by Saudi interests?  Fox is run by Rupert Murdoch, who has been intensely pro-American.  His son, though, is gradually taking over operations, and he apparently does not share his father's views.  A new announcement by the elder Murdoch (surprisingly) cannot make us happy:

ABU DHABI (AFP) - – News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch announced on Tuesday that the Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi is to become the headquarters of his global media empire in the Middle East.

Addressing some 400 delegates at the opening of the Abu Dhabi Media Summit, Murdoch said his corporation had started out as a small Australian firm to become a US-based international company that employs 64,000 people.

"I have every confidence that Arab companies can do the same and more. I also believe that Abu Dhabi can lead the way."

Murdoch said News Corp would headquarter its Middle Eastern global online advertising operations in Abu Dhabi, and move a number of satellite television channels to the capital of the United Arab Emirates from Hong Kong.

"We will (also) establish a production office here for one of our documentary film-making companies," he said.

"When we look to the future, News Corporation is betting on the creative potential of the more than 335 million people who make up the Arab world," he added.

Frankly, I hadn't noticed that potential.  I wish they'd direct it toward democratizing their societies and improving their treatment of women.

This is a disturbing development.  A major news organization, which has been an alternative to the leftist news outlets we already have, will be influenced by its commitment to a part of the world where free journalism is emphatically not the norm.  When the son takes over, watch out. 

By the way, Halliburton, in better times headed by Dick Cheney, moved its worldwide headquarters from the United States to Abu Dhabi in 2007. 

But remember, 25 years ago we were told that Japan would take over the world. 

And we were once told by Charles Lindbergh and his crew that fascism was the wave of the future.

Some "intellectuals" said the same thing about Marxism.

We Americans have a way of pulling it out.  Let's look for the next Fox News.

March 11, 2010