Over the past few weeks the White House has made it clear which news outlet is their rival and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs used the jargon of baseball to describe their attack on Fox News: "The only way to get somebody to stop crowding the plate is to throw a fastball at them. They move." Considering their tactic is much more brutal, the Oval Office using an oval ball, engaging in a contact sport, yet without any set rules, it is no surprise that many are perplexed. Even though tensions developed between Fox News and the White House over the denied interview with President Obama during his Sunday Show media blitz last September, “game on” became evident with Anita Dunn’s verbal kickoff — getting the ball rolling by publicly discrediting Fox News. "It's opinion journalism masquerading as news”.
Continuing the more appropriate sports metaphor, the White House offensive linemen, David Axlerod and Rahm Emanuel, were quick to protect their quarterback, Obama, against criticism by attempting to brand Fox News as an “illegitimate” team in the game of news. And in an effort to score an early touchdown, this administration has been trying to influence public opinion against Fox News, going so far as to include an effort to persuade other news organizations to "not be led in following Fox.”
Meanwhile, this week, in an interview with NBC's Savannah Guthrie, President Obama compared Fox News to "talk radio," yet stated that he's "not losing any sleep over it." And yesterday, October 22, 2009, the White House stepped up its game with an unprecedented maneuver: a 63-yard field goal attempt. “The administration contacted the White House pool, a five-network rotation, that has for decades shared the cost and duties of daily coverage of the presidency and to which Fox News has belonged since 1997.”
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Holy shit. A Jason Elam reference out of nowhere. Are you hiding a Bill Gramatica card anywhere?
2 - Christine
Matt, I figured you'd find it. I even linked the video footage. Damn incredible if you ask me!
3 - Joanne Huspek
There is so much wrong with this targeting, I can't even begin. Not that I like Fox, and I do not care for many of its commentators, but this is only one example of strongarming the opposition. I'm sure a psychiatrist would have a field day with the analysis...
4 - Zedd
Christine,
Why? What are YOU cheering for? Do you even know luv?
5 - Christine
Zedd, not sure the question. The cheers are for the press that stood up! And not sure what you are getting at about the luv question?
6 - Baronius
This is what I was anticipating when I said that anyone who sides with the White House will look partisan, and anyone who sides with Fox News will make the White House look stupid. The White House is practically shaming the press into opposing them.
7 - Christine
Baronius, the White Houses' behavior IS shameful!
8 - Christine
Don't screw with freedom of the press!
9 - Baritone
All of this would be fine if FOX News was actually a news network. What little news that comes out of FOX is laughable.
No other supposed news outlet openly and actively sponsored anti-Obama and anti-government rallies across the country. No other news outlet has an owner and president so openly in opposition to the federal government in general and President Obama in particular. And no other news outlet employs an idiot on the level of Glenn Beck.
B
10 - Clavos
. No other news outlet has an owner and president so openly in opposition to the federal government in general...
All should.
All should be continually questioning and challenging every single move the government makes, and publishing not only their questions and challenges but also every one of the government's reactions.
That's what a free press is for.
11 - Dr Dreadful
Clav,
I agree wholeheartedly.
Fox, unfortunately, failed utterly to do this during the Bush administration.
12 - Seymour
I applaud this administration's efforts. I don't think I remember anyone criticizing the Bush Administration when it pulled Bill Maher off of the air. It's time for everyone to understand that this President must be respected like all those before him. If you don't like it, move to another country!
13 - Dr Dreadful
If you don't like it, move to another country!
Seymour, Seymour, Seymour...
You sound exactly like a Bush-era Republican responding to a criticism of Dubya.
Plus ça change...
14 - Dave Nalle
Seymour, the Bush administration had nothing to do with Maher being taken off the air. Maher was taken off by his network because people were offended that he had made a joke about 9/11 so soon after it happened. That's it. End of story. The WH played no role in it at all.
What this all reminds me of is the blacklist which started in the 1940s where Truman's administration began targetting businesses and particular figures in industry for blacklisting and exclusion from government contracts. The motivation is different, but the technique is very familiar.
Dave
15 - Arch Conservative
Btone proudly displays the fascist tendencies he shares with dek Komissar Obama.
Have we ever had such a thin skinned president?
Keith Olbemrann could hardly be called serious by any serious person yet I don't recall the Bush administration singling him out or picking fights with MSNBC.
What is it about the modern American leftist that makes him/her so obscenely intolerant of anything that differs from their own world view if even in the slightest?
It's been almost a year and the usual semantic hand grenade "racist" just doesn't pack the punch it once did. In fact it hardly packs any these days as the glitter of "hope and change" has turned to rust.
Big Bary has been in office for nearly a year and we have spent 1 trillion dollars on a stimulus which has produced only higher unemployment and an ever sinking dollar.
The guy, as I knew last November, is a complete and utter hack. He's not even good enough to get his own lefty agenda passed with a congressful of minions.
It's amusing watching moonbats the nation over trying to blame FOX news for Obama's sinking popularity and the ubiquitous futility of this administration. This is of course bullshit for if Big Barry truly were making changes that improved the lives of Americans no news organization or radio talk show host would be able to hide this fact.
Most Americans, even most of us steeped in the political rigormorale of the day, lack the knowledge of administrations generations ago to accurately rank just how bad our current one is shaping up to be in comparison. There can be no doubt however that if what we are seeing now is the best of what will be seen in the next three years
then this administration will surely go down as one of the worst in our nation's history.
This administration's penchant for couching reality in propaganda will be put to the test in a few short weeks as voters in NJ and VA will be going to the polls to decide who shall be governor in their respective states. NJ is a true blue state and it does not bode well for Big Barry and his minons were the governorship to fall into the hands of the "evil GOP."
1/20/13 can't come soon enough.
The end of a really bad joke.
16 - Silas Kain
Careful, Arch, you could be tried for thought crimes. Uber-conservative Savior Senator Jeff Sessions of the great inspired state of Alabama is against hate crime legislation targeting gays. He says that we're treading on thin ice as we legislate against thought crimes. He makes a good point. Senator Sessions has a proven track record of being a racist pig. He's probably more afraid of being prosecuted for his own thoughts. While his freshly starched KKK robes probably remain in his closet (along with other things), he's correct. We are treading on thin ice. While I would love to see Sessions whipped for his archaic, bigoted views I will fight to the end to defend his right to maintain them. Hate is hate regardless of the target. The Jeff Session brand of politics is poison and the more he speaks the more we can appreciate just how much he has in common with Hitler as opposed to Jefferson. Perhaps the antidote to people like Sessions is education -- and THAT, my friends, is something seriously lacking in Alabama.
17 - Ruvy
All of this would be fine if FOX News was actually a news network. What little news that comes out of FOX is laughable.
This is what the leftist press in Israel said when they campaigned for Arutz Sheva, the only relatively independent radio station in Israel, to be kicked off the air. Arutz Sheva was kicked off the air - but not the internet - so some truth still comes through to the Israeli public.
The TRUTH is that the leftist press will be running a self-hate campaign centered around the Rabin assassination, something planned and executed by the sitting president of the country, Shim'ón Péres, but blamed on a child molester, Yig'ál 'Amír.
People like Baritone are the perfect fall guys for wanna-be fascist dictators. Truly a shame. Fortunately for you all, your little Duce in Washington has no murders planned for you all - yet.
18 - Cobra
"White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer warns, “There are reminders to all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch what they do.” [Associated Press, 9/26/2001] Fleischer was responding to comments made by Bill Maher, the host of the discussion/comedy show Politically Incorrect. Maher said the hijackers were not cowards but that it was cowardly for the US to launch cruise missiles on targets thousands of miles away. [New York Times, 9/28/2001]"
This stuff doesn't wash away with time. All these exact quotes are instantly available.
--Cobra
19 - Christine
Hey Cobra, I tried to click on your music on your site, it didn't work.
20 - Cobra
How soon people forget... July 25, 2008:
"MATTHEWS: Did you see FOX television as a tool when you were in the White House, as a useful avenue for getting your message out?
MCCLELLAN: Well, I make a distinction between the journalists and between the commentators. Certainly, there were commentators and others, pundits, at FOX News that were helpful to the White House.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCLELLAN: Certainly, we got talking points...
(CROSSTALK)
MCCLELLAN: ... those people.
MATTHEWS: Did people say, call Sean, call Bill, call whoever? Did you do that as a regular thing?
(CROSSTALK)
MCCLELLAN: Certainly. Certainly. It wasn‘t necessarily something I was doing, but it was something that we at the White House, yes, were doing and getting them talking points and making sure they knew where we were coming from.
MATTHEWS: So, you were giving them talking points...
(CROSSTALK)
MCCLELLAN: But I would separate the journalists.
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: No, no, this is important.
MCCLELLAN: Yes.
MATTHEWS: You were using these commentators as your spokespeople?
MCCLELLAN: Well, certainly. I mean, certainly. I think that happens to both ways, when people go on other networks, as well, that are"that are favorable towards Democrats and so forth.
MATTHEWS: Well, nobody has ever fed me any crap like that, so I don‘t know what you‘re talking about."
--Cobra
21 - Cobra
And if Fox News' Talking Points weren't enough for Bush, remember Jeff Gannon, aka "James Guckert?"
Could you imagine if a so-called "liberal, MSM reporter" had THIS kind of folder on him or her while covering the Obama Whitehouse?....
"In what is unlikely to stem the controversy surrounding disgraced White House correspondent James Guckert, the Secret Service has furnished logs of the writer’s access to the White House after requests by two Democratic congressmembers.
The documents, obtained by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal Guckert had remarkable access to the White House. Though he wrote under the name Jeff Gannon, the records show that he applied with his real name.
Gannon’s ready access to President Bush and his work for a news agency that frequently plagiarized content from other reporters and tailored it to serve a conservative message may raise new questions about the White House’s attempts to seed favorable news coverage. Democrats have sought to paint Guckert in the context of other efforts by the Administration to “plant” positive spin by paying for video news releases and columnists to espouse their views.
Guckert made more than 200 appearances at the White House during his two-year tenure with the fledging conservative websites GOPUSA and Talon News, attending 155 of 196 White House press briefings. He had little to no previous journalism experience, previously worked as a male escort, and was refused a congressional press pass."
Unbelievably, it gets even more STRANGE:
"In March, 2003, Guckert left the White House twice on days he had never checked in with the Secret Service. Over the next 22 months, Guckert failed to check out with the Service on fourteen days. On several of these visits, Guckert either entered or exited by a different entry/exit point than his usual one. On one of these days, no briefing was held; on another, he checked in twice but failed to check out."
Could this Gannon/Guckert story have gotten anymore strange?....
You betcha!
"In most Beltway melodramas, the resignation ends the story. The problem for Gannon, whose real name is James Dale Guckert, is that he told The Washington Post and CNN's Wolf Blitzer last week that he never launched the Web sites whose provocative names he had registered, such as hotmilitarystud.com. But a Web designer in California said yesterday that he had designed a gay escort site for Gannon and had posted naked pictures of Gannon at the client's request."
Christine, I highly doubt Fox News did much coverage on Jeff Gannon/James Guckert during the Bush Administration, but given your fascination with the Obama Administration's ties to ACORN, and stories about prostitution, and video tapes, you must've blogged 24/7 on this "Gannon/Guckert-internet-porn-star-gay-male-escort-turned-fake-journalist-who-visited-the-White-House-200-times-sometimes-overnight-even-on-days-there-wasn't-a-press-briefing" story.
Now, to be fair...if you didn't blog on it back then, what is your opinion of this story NOW?
--Cobra
22 - Christine
Cobra, it is one thing to call out commentators, but to try to demonize and ENTIRE news organization is quite another!
23 - Cobra
Christine,
"Cobra, it is one thing to call out commentators, but to try to demonize and ENTIRE news organization is quite another!"
But...that's the strategy. Remember when the New York Times published a story about the Bush Administration's Warrantless Wiretapping program in December 2005? The author's of the piece weren't "demonized" (JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU). Nope. Nobody, except the Pulitzer Prize committee would recognize those two. Conservatives attacked the New York Times.
Christine, don't get me wrong. They all do it. You pick a fight with the biggest and most recognizable.
I watch media, too. Liberal, Conservative and otherwise. Unless there's a direct person to connect something to, say a "Scooter Libby", "William Ayers" or a "Jeremiah Wright"...media generally paints with a broad brush to indict...
"Mainstream Media", or "MSM"
"Pro-Life Movement"
"Secular Progressives"
"Christian Fundamentalists"
"Liberal Elites"
"Tea Partiers"
"Big Hollywood"
"Creationists"
"Community Organizers"
"Gay Activists"
On Fox News, it's not enough to go after NBC alone, but the parent company, General Electric, just as MSNBC goes after Rupert Murdoch.
Actually, this is very interesting, what President Obama is doing. Christine, even YOU have to admit that Fox News is the biggest critic of the Obama Administration that's even close to "mainstream."
By making these charges now, in the midst of crucial Trillion dollar Congressional Health Care Reform and pending Afghanistan War Troop level decisions, the Obama Administration has set the agenda of the 24 hour cable news cycle to be first and foremost about...
Fox News.
And Fox News has taken the bait, and their commentary hatchet men, and "news" reporters lead off and spend most of their time either defending themselves, or attacking the Obama Adminstration (self-perpetuation).
...
Sheer genius.
--Cobra
24 - Clavos
Sheer genius.
Says Rupert Murdoch, as he drives truckload after truckload of cash to the bank.
25 - Cobra
Getting rich is NOT neccessarily a sign of integrity or morality.
Jesus said, "What profiteth a man if he gain the entire world yet loseth his soul?"
Christine,
President Obama is not the first President to take Fox News head on. He's actually a helluva lot more polite about it than President Clinton was.
And for those who don't want to view it:
Transcript:
"MR. WALLACE: Do you think you did enough, sir?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: No, because I didn't get him.
MR. WALLACE: Right.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: But at least I tried. That's the difference in me and some, including all the right-wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try. They did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed. When I failed, I left a comprehensive anti-terrorist strategy, and the best guy in the country, Dick Clarke, who got demoted.
So, you did Fox's bidding on this show. You did your nice, little conservative hit job on me.
MR. WALLACE: But --
PRESIDENT CLINTON: What I want to know --
MR. WALLACE: But wait a minute, sir. I'm going to ask a question. You don't think that's a legitimate question?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: It was a perfectly legitimate question. But I want to know, how many people in the Bush administration you ask this question of. I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you ask, why didn't you do anything about the Cole? I want to know how many people you ask, why did you fire Dick Clarke? I want to know how many people you ask about this.
MR. WALLACE: We ask, we ask -- have you ever watched "Fox News Sunday," sir?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: I don't believe you ask them that.
MR. WALLACE: We ask plenty of questions --
PRESIDENT CLINTON: You didn't ask that, did you? Tell the truth, Chris.
MR. WALLACE: On the USS Cole?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Tell the truth, Chris.
MR. WALLACE: With Iraq and Afghanistan, there's plenty of stuff to ask, sir.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Tell the truth, Chris. Did you ever ask that? You set this meeting up because you're going to get a lot of criticism from your viewers because Rupert Murdoch's supporting my work on climate change. And you came here on false pretenses and said that you'd spend half the time talking about --
MR. WALLACE: I --
PRESIDENT CLINTON: About -- you said you'd spend half the time talking about what we did out there to raise $7 billion plus, in three days, from 215 different commitments, and you don't care.
MR. WALLACE: I -- President Clinton, if you look at the questions --
PRESIDENT CLINTON: I thought you'd (have an audience here ?).
MR. WALLACE: You'll see half the questions about it. I didn't think this was going to set you off on such a tear.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: You launched into it. It set off on a tear because you didn't formulate it in an honest way, and because you people ask me questions you don't ask the other side.
MR. WALLACE: Sir, that's not so.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: And Richard Clarke --
MR. WALLACE: That is not true.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Richard Clarke made it clear in his testimony --
MR. WALLACE: Would you like to talk about the Clinton Global Initiative?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: No, I want to finish this thing.
MR. WALLACE: All right.
PRESIDENT CLINTON: All I'm saying is, you falsely accuse me of giving aid and comfort to bin Laden because of what happened in Somalia. No one knew al Qaeda existed then.
MR. WALLACE: But did they know --
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Now, wait. Wait.
MR. WALLACE: -- in 1996 when he declared war on the U.S.? Did they know in 1998 --
PRESIDENT CLINTON: Absolutely.
MR. WALLACE: When he bombed the two embassies?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: And who talked about it?
MR. WALLACE: Did they know in 2000 when he hit the Cole?
PRESIDENT CLINTON: What did I do? I worked hard to try to kill him. I authorized a finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to kill him than anybody's gotten since. And if I were still president, we'd have more than 20,000 troops there, trying to kill him. Now, I've never criticized President Bush, and I don't think this is useful. But, you know, we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is only one-seventh as important as Iraq. And you ask me about terror and al Qaeda with that sort of dismissive thing, when all you have to do is read Richard Clarke's book to look at what we did in a comprehensive systematic way to try to protect the country against terror.
And you've got that little smirk on your face. You think you're so clever. But I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get bin Laden. I regret it. But I did try. And I did everything I thought I responsibly could. The entire military was against sending Special Forces into Afghanistan and refueling by helicopter. And no one thought we got do it otherwise because we could not get the CIA and the FBI that al Qaeda was responsible while I was president. And so, I left office. And yet, I get asked about this all the time.
They had three times as much time to deal with it, and no one ever asked them about it. I think that's strange."
My, my, my...
Now, Christine, Think Progress fact checked Chris Wallace's claims that he "asks plenty of questions" to Republican Officials.
Condoleeza Rice: No questions on the USS Cole, or the demotion of Richard Clarke, or amazingly, the August 6 PDB:
"Neither Chris Wallace, nor his predecessor, Tony Snow ever asked anyone in the Bush administration why they failed to respond to the bombing of the USS Cole, according to a Lexis-Nexis database search. Wallace and Snow have had plenty of opportunities:
Vice President Dick Cheney has been on Fox News Sunday 6 times.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has been on Fox News Sunday 9 times.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been on Fox News Sunday 23 times.
National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley has been on Fox News Sunday 4 times."
President Clinton was RIGHT in this interview about the Fox News Agenda.
President Obama is RIGHT about the Fox News Agenda.
Why can't they just be honest about it?
Cobra