I ordinarily laugh off conspiracy stories about News Corp., the Rupert Murdoch company that owns all the various Fox television and movie properties. To see News Corp. as politically monolithic, you have to be awfully myopic.
Is The Simpsons right-wing? Nip/Tuck? The global-warming-is-killing-us-all flick The Day After Tomorrow? The fact is, the dominant ideology of News Corp. is making money, and its various units and divisions do it any way they can, without discernible political direction from the boss.
But once in a while, Murdoch's hand is visible. He's made no secret of the fact, since purchasing the Wall Street Journal last year, that he views the New York Times as a competitor and target. This weekend, while Fox News was covering Republican complaints about a pungent Times profile of Cindy McCain, it gave the story a little extra juice, as you can see from this screen grab.