Politics

White House Again Hits Fox News

By Brian Montopoli

October 8, 2009 / 5:50 PM EDT / CBS News

(CBS)

In an interview with Time Magazine released today, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn offered a blunt assessment of Fox News: "It's opinion journalism masquerading as news," she said. "They are boosting their audience. But that doesn't mean we are going to sit back."

As CNN notes, the White House has long had an adversarial relationship with the conservative news channel. President Obama pointedly left the network off the list when he made the rounds at the networks in September to push his health care plan, and it slammed Fox News in a blog post last Wednesday, complaining of a continued "disregard for the facts."

It may not be all acrimony, however: Politico reported on Tuesday that White House senior adviser David Axelrod met with Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes in September. The "cordial" conversation reportedly revolved around Fox News's coverage and the relationship between the network and the White House.

Fox News host Glenn Beck has called Mr. Obama a "racist", and commentators on the cable network have regularly attacked the president.