I loved the part where they show Cal Thomas’ hypocrisy. Classic.
People seeking the news have lots of alternatives. People seeking right wing propaganda have one, Fox,unless you count CNBC that has an appeal to the financially involved righties.
That was hilarious. Actually, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Jon Stewart is great.
FOX News is a political effort in disguise of a news network. Today is Halloween but they wear their costume every day of the year. FOX News declared war on Obama on January 20th and has not let up for one day since. Their sponsorship and support of the tea Bag rallies and protests removed the last shred of doubt that they are first a political propaganda effort.
The letter accuses ABC of “excluding opposing voices”. One would presume that the voices they will include will be those of the proponents of Obama’s health care reform. Let’s see - who could possibly be in favor of Obama’s health care reform plans? Oooh! I know! Obama and his staff!
Since apparently ABC can’t be trusted to report the conservative side of the debate without the RNC’s direct input, presumably they can’t be trusted to report on the liberal side of the debate without the White House or Democratic Party’s input.
I think it’s perfectly legitimate for the current administration to come out and state WHY they are not going to participate in any Fox News programs rather than simply refusing to do so and not explaining the rationale.
The characterization of Fox News as biased, partisan, and unreliable as a source of information is absolutely correct…they have earned this reputation through their own actions and it’s high time someone called them on it. Yes, it’s something everyone with half a brain knows already, but it doesn’t hurt to make it official, so to speak.
Fox News has consitently worked to undermine this administration and its goals with distortions and outright lies. As President Obama said re’ the health care reform issue months ago, honest debate is a good thing, but he takes issue with those who would use distortions and lies rather than legitimate arguments.
Fox continues to be instrumental in spreading lies and distortions re’ this issue and others and fanning the flames of the increasingly extreme opposition to this elected President. Their brand of “journalism” is divisive and irresponsible and not based in fact.
WTH should the WH contribute in any way to their “reporting”? Let Fox turn to the REAL news outlets for the inside scoop, or just keep making things up as usual.
Man, that is the most convoluted excuse for a citation I’ve seen. There is nothing in the RNC letter that says, accuses, or implies that ABC will run a piece “prepared by the White House.” Nowhere.
If you think there is, don’t indulge in roundabout psychological autopsies. Point to where they said the ABC piece was prepared by the White House. Because your handwaving, your “presumably” and “possibly”, mean nothing.
The RNC said the ABC report
and that the RNC
and that
But nowhere did they say that the piece was “prepared by the White House”. Not once. Not anywhere.
If you think they did, quote the sentence where they say it. Don’t just wave your hands and say it’s in there somewhere. Show us where.
InterestedObserver, thanks for the comments. However, you miss the point. It’s not whether the Administration is right in their characterization of Fox as biased. I don’t think anyone disagrees with that.
It’s whether it is smart of the Administration to get into a pissing match with Fox about the question. My original comments on the stupidity of the Administration’s actions still stand, viz:
So yes, I agree with you, Fox is biased and all the rest. The best thing the White House can do in general is to ignore them, stop pointing at them, cease to mention them, don’t draw intention to them.
And the best thing that the White House can do in specific is to call them, not on bias, not in general, not for being partisan, but when they make a provably and demonstrably untrue statement. Don’t call them out on it, don’t challenge them to a debate, just say “The WH notes that on October 10th at 7 PM, Fox Newscaster Jim Bloggs said that up is down. Here is a list of citations that prove that up is up.” Period. No character assassination. No innuendo. No generalizations. Just the facts, ma’am, as Sergeant Friday used to say.
In other words, don’t attack Fox … just attack falsehoods.
Once again, Jon Stewart nails it.
- Mark Twain
gonzomax, it’s all propaganda. What, like MSNBC doesn’t promote a point of view? So with a slight change I would agree with you. I would say:
That’s not true. There really aren’t any left wing equivalents to Fox (MSNBC is the closest, but it doesn’t pollute its news reporting the way Fox does, and it doesn’t sponsor it own political rallies), and right wing proganada is also avilable 24/7 on the radio and the internet. You can find left wing stuff on the internet too (and it has a minor presence on the radio), but there is only one tv “news” operation that acts solely as a propaganda arm for a political party, and that’s Fox.
Diogenes, all of the news organizations have a slant. Take a look at the reporting of the White House trying to bar Fox News from the press pool, only 48 hours after they said they wouldn’t do it.
Now, clearly all of the news organizations came out of the blocks at the same time on that story … but only Fox reported it right away. The other news organizations waited, and only reported it later. I won’t speculate on their motives other than to say I doubt that they were pure.
The same thing was true with the Van Jones story. None of the news organizations but Fox reported that Jones believed that the US Government was behind the 9/11 attacks until after Jones had already resigned.
Or look at stupid Anita Dunn, who quoted Chairman Mao … now to me, that’s news. Mao was a mass murderer, the largest one in history. Then she tried to squirm out of it by saying it was irony … how dumb is that when her speech is on YouTube? What, was she being “ironic” about Mother Teresa in the same sentence?
But all the other media looked away except Fox. And in a stunning twist of fate, Dunn is the one who was selected by the White House as the point person for the attack on Fox.
And MSNBC pretended that a black guy carrying a gun at an Obama rally was a white guy, and went off in a racism rant …
And it is not only Republicans who are saying MSNBC is biased.
The Project for Excellence in Journalism said (emphasis mine):
Now, that last quote is all about news. And they say that Fox News is “a mirror image” of MSNBC.
So if I were you I wouldn’t get so high and mighty about the nobility of the American news organizations. They are not in the business of reporting the news. They are not even in the business of making the news. They are in the business of making money. None of them are without bias.
Rendell was campaigning for Hillary at the the time.
MSNBC is not the mirror image of Fox. It’s the closest in that it has commentary shows hosted by Olbermann and Maddow, but it also has a morning show hosted by a Republican (Fox has nothing hosted by Democrats), and MSNBC’s actual news reporting is professional and legit. FOX is simply part of the Republican party. When Bush was President, Fox used to get daily talking points memos from the White House. These talking points were dutifully hammered in the fake "news’ segments as well as on the screaming head shows.
Yes, he was, and his point was clear. MSNBC was Obama’s pet network.
Dio, the quote that said MSNBC was the mirror image of Fox was not talking about commentary. It was measuring the news stories and how they were slanted. Please learn to read.
And if MSNBC’s news reporting is “professional and legit”, why did they crop the black guy carrying the gun out of the video, and then go on a rant about how white racists were carrying guns around Obama?
Is MSNBC as bad as Fox? I don’t think so, I think Fox is much worse. Are they both slanted, just in opposite directions? Definitely.
Why is the White House not rebuking many of the claims that Fox is making?
Because they now the truth is being told!
They can’t argue the message being told, thet just can critisize the messenger!
I think that any bad story on any network should be strongly rebuked and made to sit in the corner. Bad story! Bad bad bad story!
And I think that the White House should get down on their nees and acnowledge that Glenn Beck nows the real truth about them.
Ugh … the concept of Fox News telling the truth: Thet Offensive.
Something about that sentence is beginning to naw at me.
Because mentioning them legitimizes them.
Once, maybe. Maybe again someday. But not “now”.
Was Fox on the air in the 1960s?