The White House may be criticized for engaging in war with a Fox News to the extent of saying it is not a recognized news network, however hasn't Fox News taken it too far by engaging in this war? Fox News could be in danger of being regarded as partial in its reporting which could hurt its reputation and affect the size of its audience. The White House has alleged that Fox News network is more biased in favor of the Republicans and against the Democrats. According to this article found at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/12/white-house-escalates-war-words-fox-news/
Anita Dunn,White House communications director, on CNN is quoted to have said, "What I think is fair to say about Fox -- and certainly it's the way we view it -- is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party." "They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."
In response, Fox News senior vice president Michael Clemente is quoted saying, "It's astounding the White House cannot distinguish between news and opinion programming," Clemente said. "It seems self-serving on their part."
This is a war that Fox News Network should handle very carefully to avoid falling through the cracks and compromising its reputation and objectivity, although it is agreeable that the White House is not embarking on a worthwhile strategy by waging war on the network.
*More about this article can be found at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/12/white-house-escalates-war-words-fox-news/
NB C-notes
14 years ago
1 comment:
Hi Florence,
I would have to disagree with what you wrote. News writers and editors are traditionally very liberal, so I would argue that for Fox to take a very conservative slant just evens the playing field. Further, Obama and his staff should know better than to wage a a war with Fox as they have done. The ever-wise and sensible David Gergen, said it best, "the press has the last barrel of ink." It is a losing war for Obama to go after Fox or any other media outlet. It also appears to lessens his respect for the intelligence of the American people who can decide for themselves which news stories are credible.
Finally, this study from the highly respected Pew Research Center seems to negate the accusations by Obama's staff," (it) showed that 40 percent of Fox News stories on Obama in the last six weeks of the campaign were negative. Similarly, 40 percent of Fox News' stories on Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, were negative.
On CNN, by contrast, there was a 22-point disparity in the percentage of negative stories on Obama (39 percent) and McCain (61 percent). The disparity was even greater at MSNBC, according to Pew, where just 14 percent of Obama stories were negative, compared to a whopping 73 percent of McCain stories -- a spread of 59 points."
Anita Dunn,at the White House, should have looked at Pew's results before she waged war and called Fox 'a wing of the Republican Party' then went on to say, "let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."
Rose
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