# Fox News refers to Michelle Obama as "Obama's Baby Mama" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698 "2008-06-12T15:53:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/61 "2008-06-12T19:46:33Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] :dubious: [/QUOTE] Check the link. It’s in the “outraged email” she posted. On preview… > [@Liberal](#): > > That’s out of context, because they went on to ask how it feels to be called those kinds of names. It was a challenge, not a sentiment. Looking at the email again, you’re right. I doubt the message got through, but I wouldn’t expect much of anything to get through to Malkin. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/62 "2008-06-12T19:48:02Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] Huh. The women I knew who had only received a sperm deposit and occasionally money for the children would say “my baby’s father”, “my son’s father”, “my baby’s daddy”. Not mybabydaddy. Of course I’m not a familiar black person either. [/QUOTE] This is probably because the women you knew are not hoodrats. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/63 "2008-06-12T22:01:04Z")
FWIW, Fox News has issued an [apology.](http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0608/Foxs_addresses_baby_mama_drama_Producer_used_poor_judgment.html) : ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/64 "2008-06-12T22:09:50Z")
Although an apology has been issued, I’d like to add the post I was going to make before the message board went offline. [QUOTE=Marley23] Let’s not overlook this, folks - Fox News is largely a troll network, and they and people like Malkin rely on people getting pissed off at the dumb, but frequently non-malicious, things they say. [/QUOTE] How is this not malicious? Along with the fact that the difference in connotation between “my baby’s daddy” and “Obama’s babymama” has been explained, we need to examine Fox’s use of this phrase. At best, it’s an uninformed attempt to be hip and I would have to wonder why a putative newscaster (or producer) would choose to go for a hip idiom in describing someone who is a potential First Lady of the United States. At it’s very worst, the person knew what they were saying and, despite everyone having facts to the contrary, meant to imply that Michelle’s children had been borne of a casual liaison that brings up every “lack of family values” “slatternly, welfare-statist” and “look at why they’re still stuck in poverty needing affirmative action” meme regarding black people there is. It is also inflammatory, rabble-rousing and smacks of just plain smugness in knowing people are wiling to buy into any implication they can muster. The fact that they (Fox) don’t have the brain cells to think it through that deeply but nonetheless know the value of buzzwords doesn’t make it any the less deliberate and, therefore, malicious. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/65 "2008-06-12T22:13:35Z")
[QUOTE=El Gui] FWIW, Fox News has issued an [apology.](http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0608/Foxs_addresses_baby_mama_drama_Producer_used_poor_judgment.html) : [/QUOTE] Well, a half-assed one, anyway. Although he acknowledges that the producer “used poor judgment,” he never really says “we’re sorry”, or “we regret the use of” or anything remotely resembling remorse or embarrassment. I wonder if that twit Malkin will apologize for defending the use of it now, since she basically blamed the victim for having used a similar term, though with a very different meaning and connotation. HA! What am I thinking?! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/66 "2008-06-12T22:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] At best, it’s an uninformed attempt to be hip and I would have to wonder why a putative newscaster (or producer) would choose to go for a hip idiom in describing someone who is a potential First Lady of the United States. [/QUOTE] “Oh, stewardess! I speak Jive!” It was just such an undignified thing…this is possibly the next First Lady, and they’re using slang from the 'hood to describe her? Do they somehow believe that AAVE is going to become the official language of the US government if Obama wins? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/67 "2008-06-12T22:21:52Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] I wonder if that twit Malkin will apologize for defending the use of it now, since she basically blamed the victim for having used a similar term, though with a very different meaning and connotation. [/QUOTE] That’s my point-of-incredulity…the usage of it by Michelle Obama was a playful usage by the wife of the person in question. That does NOT translate to the use of the female version to describe the wife of a presidential nominee by what is supposed to at least pretend to be a news network. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/68 "2008-06-12T23:00:53Z")
McCain has a Baby Mama, doesn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/69 "2008-06-12T23:05:40Z")
A Hottie Mama, at least… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/70 "2008-06-12T23:41:44Z")
There’s also the point that what people call themselves is not the same as what other people are allowed to call them. ---
**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:** [June 12, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/71 "2008-06-12T23:55:37Z")
The elided sibilant makes all the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/72 "2008-06-13T01:17:33Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] Well, a half-assed one, anyway. Although he acknowledges that the producer “used poor judgment,” he never really says “we’re sorry”, or “we regret the use of” or anything remotely resembling remorse or embarrassment. I wonder if that twit Malkin will apologize for defending the use of it now, since she basically blamed the victim for having used a similar term, though with a very different meaning and connotation. HA! What am I thinking?! :smack: [/QUOTE] To add insult to injury, I swear they made up a word. Here’s what a senior vice president at Fox said (bolding mine): > [@](#): > > “A producer on the program exercised poor judgment in using this **chyron** during the segment,” I hadn’t seen the word “chyron” before, and [dctionary.com](http://dctionary.com) didn’t have it, either. I looked it up in the somewhat misnamed _Compact Edition Oxford English Dictionary_\* and it wasn’t there, either. I Googled Chyron and found a few references to a corporation by that name and one to a Wikipedia entry. The Wikipedia entry said it could mean " television graphics that occupy the lower area of the screen." Has anyone else heard this word? \*(volume 1 is 3" thick) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/73 "2008-06-13T01:23:48Z")
[QUOTE=Siege] I hadn’t seen the word “chyron” before, and [dctionary.com](http://dctionary.com) didn’t have it, either. I looked it up in the somewhat misnamed _Compact Edition Oxford English Dictionary_\* and it wasn’t there, either. I Googled Chyron and found a few references to a corporation by that name and one to a Wikipedia entry. The Wikipedia entry said it could mean " television graphics that occupy the lower area of the screen." Has anyone else heard this word? [/QUOTE] _raises hand_ When I was doing research about Jeopardy last year before my audition, there was a book written by one of the original writers of the current version of the show. He mentions, while describing how the questions (er…answers) go from the writers to the producers to the screens during the actual taping, and explains “chyron” fairly well. So I’ve known the word for over a year now. It does seem to be one of those very “industry-insider” type pieces of knowledge, though. I wouldn’t expect anyone who hasn’t actually been trying to learn stuff about the television production industry to know it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/74 "2008-06-13T01:24:10Z")
Chyron is the correct word, or at least the correct industry term. As for “malicious,” **5-4-Fighting** … I don’t know. I may have used the wrong word, but I can’t think of the best one offhand. Fox News basically trolls by being actually biased and then irritating people with little needling stupidities like this one. Using “baby mama” in a chyron is much more stupid than harmful, particularly compared to unending and sensationalist coverage of Rev. Wright, for example. It’s hard for me to figure out what they’re really doing because they’re so often on that line between cutesy and immaturely provocative. Are they suggesting the Obama kids are the product of a welfare mother? Are they just trying to dig in with a remidner that, as a black family, they’re, you know, _different_ from the Fox audience? I don’t know. I do know it’s also an attempt to be cutesy as the news networks increasingly imitate the style and language of E! How the hell does “baby mama” make its way into a story about the wife of a Presidential candidate, much less a pregnant pop star? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/75 "2008-06-13T01:26:38Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] I do know it’s also an attempt to be cutesy as the news networks increasingly imitate the style and language of E! How the hell does “baby mama” make its way into a story about the wife of a Presidential candidate, much less a pregnant pop star? [/QUOTE] Well, hopefully there’s little to no chance for Fox to talk about a “baby bump” in relation to the presidential race, anyway. God, I hate that term… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/76 "2008-06-13T01:28:57Z")
Here’s hoping. But if some consultant decides McCain needs to look youthful, or less likely wants to scare people about the oversexed black guy, watch out. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/77 "2008-06-13T02:39:49Z")
No nationally known commentator will call Obama a nigger. America’s closet racists have had decades to learn how to suppress that word. Even Michelle Malkin would probably have to be drunk to say it. Speaking of Malkin, though, I suspect she may soon attain the strange freedom that comes of never being taken seriously. She placed herself squarely in the loony bin with the Rachael Ray terrorist scarf bit. A few more moments like that and she will be able to say anything she wants without really hurting the conservative movement. Anyway, I can’t wait to see what Fox News dishes up next! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/78 "2008-06-13T02:52:42Z")
I think we should start a Barack Obama N-Word Pool. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/79 "2008-06-13T03:30:46Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] A Hottie Mama, at least… 😉 [/QUOTE] Ewwwww, no way! Fe-male Ann Coulter lookin’ girl! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2008, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698/80 "2008-06-13T04:05:24Z")
“Daddy, have you seen my Ebonics 101 book? Got a report on Favor Flav due tomorrow and…” “Your _what_?!” “Well, yeah, I mean, “word pup”. Mmmm, “up”. “Word up”. Ever since the Snizzle in Chief was elected, we don’t have take English no mo , mo fo. Oh, and can you sign that permission slip for my nine?..” (Muffled explosion, brain matter and cranial bone drift down like snowflakes…) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-news-refers-to-michelle-obama-as-obamas-baby-mama/452698.md?page=5)