MoveOn.org is trying to launch an ad campaign targeting News Corp. over the phone-hacking scandal, according to a donation solicitation e-mail to MoveOne supporters late last week, a copy of which was obtained by B&C/Multi.
"Could this be the end of [News Corp Chairman] Rupert Murdoch and Fox News?" asks the e-mail of MoveOn members. MoveOn is starting with an ad campaign if it can raise the cash, and asked members to chip in $5 "to hold Murdoch accountable."
The goal is to put pressure on the U.S. government to investigate the company, which the FBI is already doing according to various reports and Rupert Murdoch himself, who said last week he did not believe the FBI had turned up any evidence of alleged hacking of 9/11 victim cell phones.
"In the U.K. we've seen what a tough investigation spurred by public outrage and pressure can do to expose the truth," said the fund-raising e-mail, "We deserve the same here in the U.S....We're ready to ramp up a campaign for accountability right away by hitting the airwaves with our new ad as soon as we can raise the money."
Sens. Jay Rockefeller and Barbara Boxer are among a handful of legislators who have asked for investigations, while British Prime Member David Cameron has indicated the thinks Rupert Murdoch and his son James, chairman of News international, have more to say to Parliament about the phone hacking at the now-shuttered News of the World British tabloid.
