Controversial publishing player Judith Regan claimed in a lawsuit this week that she was smeared by executives in Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp., allegedly to guard the political prospects of Rudolph Giuliani. That prompted news outlets and blogs to recall how diligently Giuliani worked as mayor a decade ago to help Murdoch’s Fox News Channel gain a slot on a city cable franchise run by competitor Time-Warner, owners of CNN.
One interesting historic footnote: mayor-to-be Michael Bloomberg played a cameo role in that court case — which Giuliani ultimately lost. His Bloomberg Television News entered the fray, getting in on Fox’s bid to secure a channel on city cable.
We chatted with Fran Reiter, who was involved in the issue as a Giuliani deputy. Reiter, now a private consultant who supports Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, insists that the goal was altruistic and the mayor would have done the same for any New York-headquartered company unfairly cut out of the action.
Politically, she feels, it was unnecessary to have fought this battle and lost when ultimately, the corporate entities involved would reach a private settlement months later.
Dan Janison