WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2009
White House Takes Aim at Fox News
Obama Adviser David Axelrod Says Cable Network Shouldn't be Treated as a News Organization
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Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod (AP)
Last week, White House communications director Anita Dunn said Fox News operates "almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party." On Sunday, Rahm Emanuel, President Barack Obama's chief of staff, said, "It is not a news organization so much as it has a perspective."
In response to the criticism, Fox News executive Michael Clemente on Sunday accused the White House of continuing to "declare war on a news organization" rather than focusing on issues such as jobs and health care.
"The door remains open and we welcome a discussion about the facts behind the issues," said Clemente, senior vice president of news, in a written statement.
Fox News commentators Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity have been strong Obama critics, and Bill O'Reilly has taken tough looks at the administration. Obama avoided "Fox News Sunday" when he visited five Sunday morning news shows last month; three aides carried the administration's message on Afghanistan, health care and the economy this Sunday to ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC, but not Fox; and a recent White House blog post accused Beck of lying. Beck has called Obama a racist.
Karl Rove, a Fox News contributor and former White House adviser to President George W. Bush, said the Obama administration is trying to demonize Fox News for asking questions officials do not like. He compared Obama's approach to that of President Richard Nixon, who included journalists on an "enemies list."
"This is a White House engaging in its own version of the media enemies list," Rove said on "Fox News Sunday." "And it's unhelpful for the country and undignified for the president of the United States to so do."
Appearing on ABC's "This Week," senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said Fox News shouldn't be treated as a news organization. "And the bigger thing is that other news organizations, like yours, ought not to treat them that way, and we're not going to treat them that way," he said.
Still, Axelrod said administration officials would appear on the channel. He shrugged off News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch's remark to shareholders last Friday that since the White House began criticizing Fox News commentators their ratings have risen.
"You know, I'm not concerned. Mr. Murdoch has a talent for making money, and I understand that their programming is geared toward making money," Axelrod said. "The only argument Anita was making is that they're not really a news station. ... It's not just their commentators, but a lot of their news programming. It's really not news. It's pushing a point of view."
Emanuel appeared on CNN's "State of the Union."
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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- "White House advisers pledged on Sunday to book administration officials on Fox News despite claims by the president's inner circle that the cable network is a GOP mouthpiece whose programming "is geared toward making money."
You mean they are trying to make money? Those rat bastards, who do they think they are?
Nice to know the CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN and the lot are not into making money. That is way they are going broke and want a government bailout. Mark my words, this is on the horizan. State news coming to a hometown near you.
What the MSM talking heads have going over them is the people are only going to take so much. - Reply to this comment
- Sloughfoot ,
Ok, I will debate them. Here is my source of debate:
http://www.newshounds.us/ - Reply to this comment
- Guess it was OK when tv news chanels picked on GWB and Sarah?
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- Guess it was OK when tv news chanels picked on GWB and Sarah?
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- Does anyone remember Sam Donaldson or Dan Rather, this isn't new however I guess Major Garret is the Sam or Dan. i am just surprise there isn't a Dan or Sam at CBS.
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- Does anyone remember Sam Donaldson or Dan Rather, this isn't new however I guess Major Garret is the Sam or Dan. i am just suprise there isn't a Dan or Sam at CBS.
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- It is clear that Fox is a biased opinion outlet. That should be clear to anyone? I mean they hired Mike Huckabee after he dropped his bid for President. Why didn?t they offer John Kerry a show? Or Kucinich?
They express outrage and claim indoctrination when one class of school children sang a song about President Obama. Yet, in their ?reporting? of the story they failed to mention that school children were singing about President Bush and FEMA. How is that balanced?
They might have an up tick in ratings but that doesn?t mean that people are watching because they think that Fox is correct. They could be watching for falsehoods. They could be watching because they like watching Glenn cry. They could be watching for many reasons?
I read their stories because I want to see how different they are for the rest of the media outlets, not because I trust them. - Reply to this comment
- Either debate them or ignore them-Name calling and finger pointing is for the weak and uninformed so pick your poison.
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- Cable stations are supposed to make money. Exactly what is the real issue here anyway? The WH wants to have total control of all media outlets and refuses to work with the only dissenting station, Fox. The WH is being hypocritical. Free speech isn't what the WH wants. They want no dissension, no one questioning, no one criticizing, no one challenging and no one condemning. The WH is acting like a bunch of sill-butt spoiled over-indulged entitled brats and needs to have a ginormous timeout.
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- Leftist's as usual, can only tolerate dissent when they are dissenting(Castro,Chavez,Barbara Streisand, Barack Obama). God forbid any one disagree with them. "They must be evil doers, don't they know that we leftists know what's best for everybody? And what's best for everyone is for us to be in charge and everybody else shut up." No thank you Comrade Obama.
The rest of the media is treating this as a spat between two political spectrum's, but my God, could you hear the screaming and flailing if even Bush-1 or Reagan tried this on CBS or NBC? We'd still be cleaning their diarrhea up. - Reply to this comment
- fox is the only news network that tells the truth and the whole story. obama and his boys are nothing but whinny little babies because fox is exposing their screw ups. isn't that what a new organization is supposed to do? you libs loved it for the last eight years, but now all of a sudden you want the msm to further the white house agenda? hillary said that disent is a good thing and you all agreed. what happend since then to make you change you little minds? i pitty you all for being so deranged and uneducated. as they say, you can't fix stupid.
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- We have parental control set on the FOXBogus Channel and block it on our other TVs. We watch them periodically to get their slant on things, but we don't want to expose our kids to their nonstop nonsense.
Too many stories were overly conserned with sexual deviates, violence and murder. We also forbid them to watch Nancy Grace. Sensationalistic journalism can pull in certain types of viewers, but is not healthy for a child's upbringing. - Reply to this comment
- Fox News????? are those goof balls still on the air?
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- I personally like to view or read reports from several news media outlets. If Fox is lying, just lay out the lie with the correct facts! Prove them wrong! To simply state that they are biased or report faulse news only discredits those in opposition. Prove it! Anyone that can state that cbs and nbc networks weren't biased against Pres Bush, haven't been reading but just passing on the same regergetation. Check the facts with all of the news sources and quit listening to politicians to lead you in your thinking. If you need sources for the bias of cbs or nbc, I would be glad to provide them.
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- FOX NOISE / FOX NEWS
Well lets see they gave Mark Fuhrman a job as a comentator.
They hired Glen Beck and CNN was glad to get rid of him.
Sean Hannity is a JOKE to watch.
Bill O'Reilly > Crazy Bill and his twisted crazy Right wing Rants.
If you want Tainted News that is shifted Far Right watch Fox NOISE and get your facts all figures all wrong. - Reply to this comment
- FOX NOISE / FOX NEWS
Well lets see they gave Mark Fuhrman a job as a comentator.
They hired Glen Beck and CNN was glad to get rid of him.
Sean Hannity is a JOKE to watch.
Bill O'Reilly > Crazy Bill and his twisted crazy Right win Rants.
If you want Tainted News that is shifted Far Right watch Fox NOISE and get your facts all figures all wrong. - Reply to this comment
- Maybe if Obama got Emanuel to send a dead fish to each of the FOX news commentators they would follow the party line.
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- ianlou October 19, 2009 1:37 PM EDT
Obama has had more interviews and public speaking events in less than one year than Bush had his entire administration, Bush never took questions and would only speak to crowds of millitary personel who were told to clap, cheer and keep their mouths shut.
He has had interviews with reporters who do not ask difficult questions and has had more public speaking events because all he knows how to do is campaign so that is what he does. - Reply to this comment
- I think the problem with conservative news organizations and the people who watch is that all other news organizations seem horribly biased in comparison. Fox news is s far to the right that even a center right commentary seems leftist. listen to NPR../watch the BBC America...get off the US media news bandwagon because they will all lead astray.
America is a nation of rampant and gross consumerism...we like to be fed, and out appetites have never been healthy. Our media and news organizations, being directed under profit driven models, have no hope but to reflect this reality. If you had a head on your shoulders, you would reject them all out of hand and get your news from those who have the least to gain by providing a perspective. - Reply to this comment
- While the Obama WH 'pitbulls' aka Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod are frothing and snapping at FoxNews on his orders, our POTUS has quietly increased US troops in Afghanistan.
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