Democratic presidential front-runner Howard Dean pledged Monday night to "break up" the Fox News Channel along with other conservative news outlets owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch.
"Eleven companies in this country control 90 percent of what ordinary people are able to read and watch on their television," the ex-Vermont governor complained to MSNBC's Chris Matthews, who then asked the candidate point-blank:
"Would you break up Fox? ... Rupert Murdoch has 'The Weekly Standard.' It has got a lot of other interests. It has got the New York Post. Would you break it up?"
Dean shot back, "On ideological grounds, absolutely yes."
A moment later the "Hardball" host pressed: "Seriously. As a public policy, would you bring industrial policy to bear and break up these conglomerations of power?"
At that point Dean seemed to sense that he had gone too far and began to equivocate, saying, "I don't want to answer whether I would break up Fox or not."
The leading Democrat then explained, "What I'm going to do is appoint people to the FCC that believe democracy depends on getting information from all portions of the political spectrum, not just one."
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