# Christane Amanpour, White House intimidation and a total BITCH from Fox News. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 16, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882 "2003-09-16T03:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/1 "2003-09-16T03:05:36Z")
[USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2003-09-14-media-mix_x.htm) > [@](#): > > CNN’s top war correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, says that the press muzzled itself during the Iraq war. And, she says CNN “was intimidated” by the Bush administration and Fox News, which “put a climate of fear and self-censorship.” > As criticism of the war and its aftermath intensifies, Amanpour joins a chorus of journalists and pundits who charge that the media largely toed the Bush administrationline in covering the war and, by doing so, failed to aggressively question the motives behind the invasion. > > \ > > Said Amanpour: “I think the press was muzzled, and I think the press self-muzzled. I’m sorry to say, but certainly television and, perhaps, to a certain extent, my station was intimidated by the administration and its foot soldiers at Fox News. And it did, in fact, put a climate of fear and self-censorship, in my view, in terms of the kind of broadcast work we did.” Amanpour goes on to say the press was intimidated into not being aggressive on questions and investigations into the motives for the war, and the WMDs in particular. What gets this story into the pit instead of GD for me is the following comment by Fox News mouthpiece, Irena Briganti: > [@](#): > > Fox News spokeswoman Irena Briganti said of Amanpour’s comments: “Given the choice, it’s better to be viewed as a foot soldier for Bush than a spokeswoman for al-Qaeda.” FUCK YOU!!! This piece of idiotic slander is utterly typical of Fox News and absolutely proves Amanpour’s point. Any criticism of Bush or suggestion that the White House has tried to manipulate the press and Chrisiane Amanpour, whose credentials and credibility far exceed anything at Faux News, is now an “al Qaeda spokeswoman.” Could anybody go any sleazier any quicker? Could there be any better example of how Fox News protects Bush and helps to create a climate where criticism of Bush is declared the equivalent of terrorism? Fuck Bush for lying about the war and then bullying the press into supporting it but fuck Fox News even more for becoming nothing but journalistic goons whose only purpose is to squelch dissent and promote White House propaganda. FNC is the new fucking Pravda. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/2 "2003-09-16T03:18:51Z")
Why not fuck CNN for having no balls? Why the heck would they care what Fox News has to say anyway? I’m no Bush fan, but I think it shows a lack of character for Amanpour to be pawning off her journalistic failures on a competing news station. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/3 "2003-09-16T03:22:04Z")
As usual, the false dichotomy of “Follow Bush or follow Al Qaeda” is used to blindly support the Bush administration. That bit never seems to get tired, does it? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/4 "2003-09-16T03:28:03Z")
Since CNN doesn’t actually cite any specific instances where the Adminstration or FNC ‘intimidate’ them, I am going file this one in the ‘Whining ratings-losers bitch to anyone that’ll listen’ category. I’ll leave it to the tiny-brained idiots to believe, hook, line and sinker, what some hack at CNN has to say. Huzzah! To Rupert for making Ted his little bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/5 "2003-09-16T03:29:48Z")
Intimidated by Fox News??? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/6 "2003-09-16T03:38:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brutus \* > \*\* Huzzah! To Rupert for making Ted his little bitch. \*\* You know, I could’ve lived out my life quite happily without THAT little mental image in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/7 "2003-09-16T03:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*You know, I could’ve lived out my life quite happily without THAT little mental image in my head. \*\* You need to add some leather to that image. Black patent leather. See how much better it is now? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/8 "2003-09-16T03:43:05Z")
So how the hell did Fox News intimidate them? ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/9 "2003-09-16T03:44:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brutus \* > \*\*Since CNN doesn’t actually cite any specific instances where the Adminstration or FNC ‘intimidate’ them, I am going file this one in the ‘Whining ratings-losers bitch to anyone that’ll listen’ category. I’ll leave it to the tiny-brained idiots to believe, hook, line and sinker, what some hack at CNN has to say. > Huzzah! To Rupert for making Ted his little bitch. \*\* Beautiful 🙂 CNN’s reporters are a bunch of pussies and it’s Fox’s fault? Puhleze! “Waaaaaaaah, our ratings suck, it’s a Right Wing Conspiracy!” The madder they get, and the more their asses get stomped in the ratings, the more fun it is to watch 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/10 "2003-09-16T03:48:09Z")
This is all well and good, but isn’t that quite a different issue from the quoted Fox News statement, which I find pretty frown-worthy completely on its own? ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/11 "2003-09-16T03:49:57Z")
Clearly, Ms. Briganti erred. What she doubtless meant to say is that it’s better to be seen as a foot soldier for Bush than a [spokesman for Saddam Hussein](http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/11/opinion/11JORD.html?ex=1063771200&en=4b7c2eae56da363d&ei=5070). ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/12 "2003-09-16T03:52:10Z")
**Diogenes** , where was your outrage when it came out that CNN had been deliberately not reporting atrocities its reporters had witnessed under Saddam Hussein’s regime? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/13 "2003-09-16T04:03:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fang \* > \*\ ***Diogenes** , where was your outrage when it came out that CNN had been deliberately not reporting atrocities its reporters had witnessed under Saddam Hussein’s regime? \*\* They were trying not to get any more people hurt. It wasn’t politically motivated. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/14 "2003-09-16T04:03:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Faux News _snicker_ ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/15 "2003-09-16T04:30:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*So how the hell did Fox News intimidate them? \*\* By setting a tone where any dissent is synomous with supporting the enemy. ---
**Author:** ![Linear\_Crack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Linear\_Crack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linear_Crack)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/16 "2003-09-16T04:33:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cheesesteak \* > \*\*Intimidated by Fox News??? :rolleyes: \*\* You know, I’d really like to see a _Battle of the Cable News Stars_ show. It’s not that I’d like to see Sean Hannity and Aaron Brown kick the livin’ shit out of each other, it’s more along the lines of a lingerie pillow fight between Laurie Dhue (FOX, literally) and Erica Hill (CNN). 😃 Now _that’s_ Fair and Balanced[sup]TM[/sup] -LC ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/17 "2003-09-16T04:39:29Z")
**By setting a tone where any dissent is synomous with supporting the enemy.** If Fox is such a weakling compared to the Great and Almighty CNN, why does CNN care so much what Fox thinks? Why is CNN letting Fox “set the tone” ??? ---
**Author:** ![Fang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/18 "2003-09-16T05:15:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*They were trying not to get any more people hurt. It wasn’t politically motivated. \*\* Bullshit. They could have gotten their people out and reported what they saw. However, it was far more profitable to remain in Iraq and not report the stories they had access to. This is just a bunch of fucking martyrdom crap. Fox doesn’t have the power to say what CNN has to report, so you can’t blame them for CNN’s pattern of being intimidated. Fucking Christiane Amanpour whinging on about how CNN reporters are oppressed, trying to equate “self-censorship” with censorship, and using some stupid claim about “intimidation” (we all know how Bush and his Fox News cronies like to kill CNN reporters’ pets) gets zero sympathy from me. Just shows that CNN has no balls, and doesn’t even have the balls to admit it has no balls. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/19 "2003-09-16T05:38:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > \*\*Why is CNN letting Fox “set the tone” ??? \*\* For quite a while (though it seems the tide has turned) CNN had little choice because Fox was spanking them in the prime time ratings. Fox continues to dominate MSNBC. Unfortunately, the television trend of “follow the leader” has not made its way into news reporting as well, so if CNN changed tone to try to stay on par with Fox, it’s not surprising. What is surprising is that a veteran television broadcast journalist like Christiana Amanpour would blame **Fox** for this instead of CNN’s editorial policymakers who were, presumably giving the green light to any self-censorship happening at their network. Unless the Fox folks were actually writing or approving CNN reporters’ on-air copy, it seems disingenuous, at best, to foist all the blame in their direction. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882/20 "2003-09-16T05:40:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fang \* > \*\*Bullshit. They could have gotten their people out and reported what they saw. However, it was far more profitable to remain in Iraq and not report the stories they had access to. > > This is just a bunch of fucking martyrdom crap. Fox doesn’t have the power to say what CNN has to report, so you can’t blame them for CNN’s pattern of being intimidated. Fucking Christiane Amanpour whinging on about how CNN reporters are oppressed, trying to equate “self-censorship” with censorship, and using some stupid claim about “intimidation” (we all know how Bush and his Fox News cronies like to kill CNN reporters’ pets) gets zero sympathy from me. Just shows that CNN has no balls, and doesn’t even have the balls to admit it has no balls. \*\* It wasn’t just _their_ people it was their contacts within Iraq. There was no way they could have protected everyone that was in danger. What about the comment by Brignati? Is it legitimate to call Amanpour an “al Qaeda spokewoman?” Is Amanpour just part of a grand liberal conspiracy to make your precious president look bad? She’s not the only one saying this stuff. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christane-amanpour-white-house-intimidation-and-a-total-bitch-from-fox-news/201882.md?page=2)