President Obama and FOX News
I have followed politics for a long time and I have to say I have not seen such a disagreement between a single administration and a news organization as I see between the current White House and FOX News. It is getting to the point that it is slightly ridiculous.
President Obama made his rounds of the Sunday morning news shows last month, in an effort to push for health care reform. Those stops included every major news organization but FOX News. To say they do not get along is a major understatement. At the heart of that disagreement is the way FOX speaks freely against the agenda that is being pushed by President Obama and his administration.
Glen Beck and Sean Hannity are certainly making a name for themselves in their criticism of the Obama White House. Beck has been the most vocal, having called Obama a racist and it is true that those kinds of remarks did not and will not help the situation. The political climate is very charged at the moment and Beck has been showing his true colors. He no doubt knows how to get more viewers and higher ratings and that is what he is doing. I know some of my readers are big fans of Mr. Beck and I apologize, but that is how I see him. He is nothing more than an entertainer, as is Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Of the three I would give Hannity the highest ratings, but not too high.
This is not to say I agree with the tone taken by the Obama administration. They are clearly biased against FOX News, with good reason. They know FOX is the only major news organization to have much to say against the agenda they are trying to push. The rest have been acting like they are the official spokesman for the White House, much as FOX News has been accused of being for the Republican Party. I thought news programs were supposed to report the news. Are there any that do that today?
I found it laughable when I heard that senior Obama advisor David Axlerod had said that FOX News and it’s programming was geared more towards making money than actually reporting news. Is he not aware that any broadcasting group is geared towards making money? That’s the way the system works and it is the only way any of them can stay in business.
To be honest, I think all of the major news organizations could be a little less biased in their reporting. However, going back to the way the Obama administration is going after FOX News, this is standard operating procedure for the President and his team of advisors. Give them someone who does not agree with them and the first thing they want to do is trivialize their opponent. Even though I do not necessarily agree with some of the programming on FOX, it can not be denied that they are among the few voices who are willing to be public in their opposition to President Obama. The other news organizations have all gone “wide-eyed” in their admiration of the President. How does that make them anymore of a news organization than FOX News?
UPDATE: This story seems to be growing every day, as the White House continues their attacks on FOX News. For more insight into what is happening, read Some Thoughts On The Media, over at Conservative Hideout 2.0.
I have no problem with Obama shunning Fox News and in his shoes I’d do the same thing. It’s not that Fox is any more righ than MSNBC is left; but rather Fox is just so hypocritical and so anti-Obama that they have lost all perspective. And the absolute perfect example of that is the Fox reaction to the loss of the Olympics. I will never, ever understand that response. Americans, by a HUGE margin, supported our Olympics bid and were extremely disappointed when we lost — but not Fox. They celebrated it as Obama’s loss. Honestly, how can they possibly continue to tout their two taglines: Fair and Balanced, and We Report, You Decide. That is really a joke, isn’t it? They need to change it to “We decide and then we report.” There’s a big difference between voices of dissent and Fox. Read David Brooks, Peggy Noonan, Charles Krauthammer, Pat Buchanan, Newt Gingrich, and Geroge Will to name just a few. These are intelligent crtics of Obama policies — Fox has nothing like this because they are in the entertainment business.
Having said all that, Bill O’Reilly seems to have found somebody he hates more than Obama — Glenn Beck — and he has actually found a voice of reason that was hidden for so long. He came out in support of Obama’s trip to Denmark and was very disappointed by the loss. He thought Obama’s receipt of the Nobel Prize was weird and blatantly political (quite true) but he also called it a good thing for America in the eyes of world opinion. He has come out in support of a public option in health care reform if it functions to lower insurance prices. O’Reilly sounds almost moderate and, for the first time ever, I can actually listen to the man and agree with him from time to time. If I was Obama I would consider granting O’Reilly an interview; but if he chooses to continue to punish Fox I can’t say I blame him.
obama and his people are certainly on the warpath against FOX\. Its not just the commentors like Beck and Hannedy who can say anything they wish, but the regular straightg news folks the are the subject of this attack. Personally I think its a fools mission and such attempts will fail and only increase FOX’s viewership. It seems these days its often the commentors that break the stories and the other news organs are dragged kicking and screaming to their mikes. Its starting to look as FOX’s commentors are exposing stories that the news organs at other networks including FOX itself are leading the pack in investigative reporting and this is great. Movement in this country never comes from the center it always comes from the extremes and those calf-eyed souls in the middle are dragged along for the ride.
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FOx News is an organization that, by its own admission, was created to support and highlight the conservative view point. “Fair and Balanced” is the most brilliant slogan of the last fifty years, in that it capitalizes on what the right’s message machine excels at- thought control of the masses- rather than communicating any sort of higher ideal. But it certainly does make a lot of people who agree with the slant feel smug and correct, facts be darned.
When the right first got serious about regaining control in the early 90s, it looked first to incorporate what cognitive brain experts have found through research: If you want to “imbed” a philosophy into the masses, use negative messages and images to do this. FOX News is an orgainzation that, by its OWN ADMISSION, was created to support and highlight the conservative point of view. Not at all “Fair and Balanced”- according to FOX News’s founder. If Obama decides not to grant interviews that a self-admitted slanted network could edit to make it seem as though he said almost anything-well, it’s just seems like good politics. They can (and do on a daily basis) just edit his live speeches to achieve the same effect
We all sometimes forget that the media is and has always been used by politicians. What made it different in the past was that there were dedicated investigative reporters who dug for the truth-behind-the-truth. Budget cuts, lazy broadcasting and printing, and a generally polarized populace who (in the majority) really only want to hear what they beleive regurgitated have pushed these investigators to the fringe. So we get a press that cheerleads the invasion of Iran AND one that cheerleads a President. On balance, I think it’s fair to say we’ve all lost quite a bit.
BTW, there’s a great book from several years back called “Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Jounalism” by Eric Burns that does a great job of explaining the evolution and deevolution of our press. Eric is a former FOX News commentator/show anchor who has himself been the subject of “media bias” claims, but the book is a fairly straightforward, well-researched read.
I agree with your assessment of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck, these people are entertainers. They should not be expected to give an unbiased opinion, either should Obberman or the others on the left.
I also find it laughable that the administration uses Fox’s desire to make money as a reason for its bias, they must feel that this plays well to their anti-capitalist left base. It seems like the president should have more important things on his mind than going after a news organization– is he this thin skinned?
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For me the real difference is in the “opinion shows” on FOX. Hannity and Beck openly state their political affiliations. When one tunes into those shows, one knows what they are getting. However, on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and MSNBC, claims of objectivity are made. They have many opinion shows, they are almost exclusively to the left. Additionally, these shows are NOT advertised or disclosed as being of a particular political slant.
Considering that the networks that Emanuel and Axelrod referred to as “real” news networks declined to cover the following,
1. ACORN
2. The President’s, Barney Franks’s, Jean Shankowski’s, (And others) advocacy of a single payer plan.
3. The stated intent of the above named people that the “public option” is meant to lead to single payer.
4. The statements, writings, and histories of the “czars.”
5. And so on…
There is good reason to beleive that the MSM is biased to the left.
Should any network be biased? No.
Should there be opinion shows? Yes (just be upfront with where you are coming from!).
I think you raise an important point, Matt. FOX News is at least up front about where they are coming from with their opinion shows. While I am not a fan of Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity myself, they do at least raise questions about the policies of the Obama administration that the other networks seem to ignore.
I’m not quite sure I understand what you mean about FOX News “advertising” the perspective of their shows. How so? If you go on the FOX websites for the television shows-Hannity and Beck, for example- there is no “conservative” banner. Only the “Fair and Balanced” tag in the upper lefthand corner. Hannity does have a “candid, controversial and completely unleashed” tag,so maybe that’s it.
We’re talking about editorial decisions and what organizations decide to prioritize. Just because Matt states things as “fact” (Obama, in fact, did not come out and say he favors single payer as the route for our country-check out what he really said, not just the edited sound bites that are played in the conservative media) doesn’t mean they necessarily are. And Matt’s use of a popular term of the right (“czars”) makes me wonder about his objectiviity. Is it really “news” he wants to hear, or just something to support his perspective? Those are two different things. FOX definitely puts out an editorial viewpoint that some want to hear, but it doesn’t make FOX more “factual” than other media outlets.
If you watch the shows, they openly state their affiliation. Too many people make judgments without actually watching. I force myself to watch ABC news almost daily. I occasionally view the others. I view websites for multiple networks daily,. as well as some of the left leaning newspapers.
Err, regarding single payer and Obama. I have screen captures and links to Obama’s website from his Senate Campaign. http://conservativehideout.com/wordpress/?p=1593
I also made a video in which I show a full minute of the allegedly edited footage available here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nUYRPdX6Wc He says “everybody in, nobody out…a single payer plan.” Pretty much unmistakable, isn’t it?
We’re not making it all up. The evidence is out there. The media simply ignores it.
Thanks for sharing this information, Matt.
Matt, you sound sincere in your convictions but I just happen to think you’re wrong. I’m sure I watch and read as much as you but I don’t find the networks and CNN nearly as biased as you claim. Comparing ABCs left agenda with FOXs conservative agenda is extremely unfair and inaccurate (MSNBC, yes). And I find CNN to actually be fair and balanced and am not clear on what the gripe is about them. Rick Sanchez is from the left. Lou Dobbs is from the right. The others seem a pretty mixed bag. Simply because FOX reports on something that suits their political agenda does not necessarily make it news worth reporting. Personally I had put the ACORN story in that category up until the time the sting operation broke — then it became a real story. Prior to that I never understood all the hype.
Mike,
Thanks for approaching the topic with opinions rather than insults. I have to state that the MSM is biased due to the selective coverage that they give the issues. It just wasn’t the ACORN sting that the MSM whiffed. The charges of voter registration fraud in a dozen states were largely ignored. It’s the discovery of ACORN’s manual on having incentives for the number of voters registered. It is the single payer issue, as well as Obama’s support for it. It’s Jennings statements, as well as the association with a know supporter of NAMBLA. It’s ignoring the writings of John Holdren and Ezekiel Emanuel. It’s the ignoring/under-reporting of the Tea Parties, as well as the insulting of anyone who attended one.
I would again state that most of FOX’s programming is unbiased. Even Gibbs has pointed to Beck and Hannity as the problem. The opinion shows are just that, opinions, and are stated as such. The MSM distorts, ignores, and denies, while at the same time claiming to be unbiased.
When one considers that the 3:00AM show on Fox, which features a talking NEWSPAPER as a character, gains more viewers than CNN’s 8:00 PM program, I think one can conclude that there are several networks that are out of touch.
Matt, I think you will find that is the case with Mike and Laurie. They may not agree with our point of view on a lot of things, but they are respectful about it. That is much more than I can say for some conservatives I have ran across. That is one of the biggest reasons I have allowed Mike to post his own articles on Political Realities, along with the way he is able to articulate his opinions.
Thank you as well for keeping it respectful. That is what makes for a good discussion instead of a yelling match.
Larry,
A fun follow up to this discussion and another case where things got blown out of proportion…As the administration stated they will “take their media opportunities as they come”.
I just saw the first of a two part (at least) interview with President Obama and FOX’s Major Garrett, on FOX of course. The first part had great range and the questions were very fair. After it was over, the FOX anchor interviewed Major Garrett live and asked him what the atmosphere with the White House surrounding the interview. Garrett said it was calm. The anchor tried to bait him into the whole FOX vs Obama thing, and Garrett shut him down simply by saying that he wasn’t a subscriber to all the hoopla (he said it better, but I don’t have the quote) and that he had no problems with any of the process.
Done and done.