I’m mildly surprised that nobody has made a thread about this yet. The Obama administration has explicitly decided to regard Fox News as “an opponent” and “not a news organization.” Yesterday they went so far as to tell other news outlets that they should not regard Fox as a news station.
This seems to me a very bad idea both, for the nation and for Obama himself (politically speaking). Criticisms of this approach have appeared in NYT and The Nation. But there are some that think it’s a great idea.
Truthfully, Obama may not win over anyone with this approach, but considering some of the lies and propaganda spread by Fox already, I hardly think this would somehow intensify their hate of Obama. This is a network that funded and supported a supposed “grassroots” movement calling for revolution AND thinks that the president isn’t born in the country. Having Obama call them out on their BS is just another topic for them to talk about, I don’t think it adds anything to the crap their spewing already.
I don’t see an upside to the overtness of it, really and plenty of chances for the administration to just look petty and stupid. I’d rather see them just stop sending people to the Sunday talk shows if they don’t like the Fox punditry.
Seems a short-sighted move by Obama & Co and one I’m kind of disappointed in.
Emanuel went on John King Sunday morning and flatly stated that Fox News is a network with an agenda, not a news organization. Yeah, and? Who’s going to get upset, other than the folks who honestly believe Fox delivers the news, and is not a 24-hour right wing commentary network?
Even when Mark Halperin told his people to spin their coverage against Bush, the White House didn’t try to create this kind of shit.
Looking at it from Obama’s point of view, it makes sense - if he can succeed in classifying Fox News as not a news outlet, then he will have to worry less about extraneous stuff like the First Amendment.
Looking at it from my point of view, it means that Obama and Co. are such weaklings that they cannot stand even one media outlet that is critical.
Nine months in, and he is starting an enemies list. So much for openness and reaching across the aisle and all that.
It’s both petty and stupid. Fact is, Fox filled a gaping hole in the new media business. The media was seen, often rightly so, to have a left wing bias. Slight bias in my opinion but the bias was there. This opened the door for Fox (MSNBC is hardly balanced either). For Obama to come out against a news source smacks of arrogance or desperation. Maybe both. Stupid move.
If Fox is not considered a news organizations, what happens then? I mean, labeling Fox as “an opponent” is supposed to do what? Make people listen less to Fox? Save for those who are certainly not in Obama’s camp, who listens to them, anyway?
And now Fox can label itself as a “victim” or a “martyr” to the altar of “balanced reporting” (at least to its viewers). This is a stupid move.
that it’s legal for Faux News to call itself a news station
I mean, in bookstores they have this separation between fiction and non-fiction, why don’t they have this distinction for TV stations? E.g. “news” and “comedy”
Really, what’s Fox going to do, turn on him? Attack him? Run negative stories about him? Make stuff up? Organize protest rallies? What are they going to do that they’re not already doing?
The Obama administration is just being truthful. Fox is a political organization, not a news organization, and both the White House and the legit media should treat it accordingly.
MSNBC was at least open about making themselves the liberal answer to Fox with Olbermann & Maddow. They pretty much just came out last year and said “This is what we’re going to be now”. They’re not trying to sell themselves as “fair & balanced”.
Frankly, it seems a bit petty to me. I seriously doubt that any viewers of FOX Opinion (what the network’s name really should be) will decide to stop watching just because the Kenyan-born Muslim imposgter who is currently claimed to be President (or his aides) say they shouldn’t.
The administration, like all administrations, should address non-factual statements by FOX or other news organizations whenever they are worth refuting, and ignore the trival or pure opinion. Annoncing that what is rightly or woringly widely regarded as a legitimate news network is an opponent, rather than a journalistic outlet, inevitably suggests an effort at using the weight of government to suppress free speech, even if the effort stops at jawboning.
I don’t think there are any legal standards for calling yourself a news organization.
The White House should at least pull all FNC press passes, though, and shut them out of all press conferences, Presidential addresses, etc. Treat them like the bogus, tabloid frauds that they are.