The New Hampshire Union Leader has partnered with major newspapers from Iowa and South Carolina to pre-empt Fox News' televised debate of GOP presidential candidates.

The publishers of the Union Leader, the Charleston (South Carolina) Post and Courier, and Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette, developed the forum because of "the narrow criteria that Fox News will use to limit Republican candidates in its Aug. 6 debate," according to a staff report from the Union Leader.

The Granite State's major paper ran its staff report about the details of its August 3 forum under the headline "Outfoxed: Voters forum to be first for GOP."

"Fox says only the 'top' 10 candidates, as judged solely by national polling, will be allowed on its stage," the publishers told the Union Leader. "That may be understandable later, but the first votes are half a year away, and there are a lot more than 10 viable candidates. The early primary process gives all candidates a chance to be heard. If networks and national polls are to decide this now, the early state process is in jeopardy, and only big money and big names will compete."

Several Republican presidential candidates have caught on to the dissatisfaction voiced by residents of the early nominating states. A press release from Sen. Lindsey Graham's, R-S.C., presidential campaign said the senator will hold a press conference in New Hampshire Wednesday about the state's role in selecting a candidate.

"He will address the importance of protecting the valuable role that the early primary states play in vetting and testing the candidates, the danger of nationalizing the primary and the Republican National Committee's responsibility to ensure that the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary, and the South Carolina primary remain significant," the Graham campaign's release said.

The 2016 committee, a super PAC supporting presidential candidate Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, is also looking to capitalize on the idea that the Republican Party's establishment is using the Fox debate to weed out candidates it dislikes.

"Political operatives everywhere believe that candidates failing to make the cutoff for this first debate will sustain a huge blow to their campaigns," wrote John Philip Sousa IV, chairman of a super PAC supporting Ben Carson, in a fundraising pitch. "The stakes are high and the GOP Establishment knows it. Starting this week, they'll do all they can to boost their favored candidates so that the late July polls reflect it. Establishment favorite John Kasich has even timed his official campaign launch to coincide with late July polls in order to make it into the top 10."

"We must make sure that Ben Carson locks in a spot in the debate."

The candidate forum will be held on August 3 at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College. C-SPAN and television stations from Iowa and South Carolina will broadcast the debate, as will a New Hampshire radio station.

The candidates expected to attend the forum three nights before the Fox debate include Carson, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Graham, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Kasich and former New York Gov. George Pataki, according to the Union Leader.