Monday, April 10, 2006
Does Balance Equal Ignorance?
If you work for the Faux News Channel, the answer to that question would appear to be a resounding "yes!"
The network that parades as being "Fair and Balanced" and being "America's Newsroom" (as if to suggest all others are part of some foreign government conspiracy), seems to believe that the American people ought not hear from the man representing America's-Plumber-in-Chief.
After official court documents revealed that President Bush may be the source of the leak that resulted in the indictment of Scooter Libby (Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff), White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan took some heat about the apparent hypocrisy in the President's actions.
Normally, FNC carries McClellan's press briefings live as they happen, especially if he's pimping the Iraq war. The particularly heated briefing about the leak, however, got no live coverage. Other networks, meanwhile, carried the briefing live as usual. It's one of those things that makes a viewer go "hmmm...".
In addition to ignoring the press briefing, FNC went out of its way to play down the story. FNC's DC guy, Brit Hume, got mad at a member of the technical crew. FNC's justice gal, Greta Van Susteren, said she decided to let other media outlets cover the story.
To borrow an old phrase, let's roll the film.
The fishbowlDC blog has insight on FNC's lapse.
The TV Newser blog has more on Hume and Susteren.
The Crooks and Liars blog has footage of Hume and the sheep in his audience.
The Media Matters for America website has a complete rundown. In an example of actually being "Fair and Balanced," Media Matters also goes after CNN's David Ensor.
To sum it up, I'm going to make another play on an FNC slogan. They didn't report, because they've already decided.
The network that parades as being "Fair and Balanced" and being "America's Newsroom" (as if to suggest all others are part of some foreign government conspiracy), seems to believe that the American people ought not hear from the man representing America's-Plumber-in-Chief.
After official court documents revealed that President Bush may be the source of the leak that resulted in the indictment of Scooter Libby (Vice President Cheney's former Chief of Staff), White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan took some heat about the apparent hypocrisy in the President's actions.
Normally, FNC carries McClellan's press briefings live as they happen, especially if he's pimping the Iraq war. The particularly heated briefing about the leak, however, got no live coverage. Other networks, meanwhile, carried the briefing live as usual. It's one of those things that makes a viewer go "hmmm...".
In addition to ignoring the press briefing, FNC went out of its way to play down the story. FNC's DC guy, Brit Hume, got mad at a member of the technical crew. FNC's justice gal, Greta Van Susteren, said she decided to let other media outlets cover the story.
To borrow an old phrase, let's roll the film.
The fishbowlDC blog has insight on FNC's lapse.
The TV Newser blog has more on Hume and Susteren.
The Crooks and Liars blog has footage of Hume and the sheep in his audience.
The Media Matters for America website has a complete rundown. In an example of actually being "Fair and Balanced," Media Matters also goes after CNN's David Ensor.
To sum it up, I'm going to make another play on an FNC slogan. They didn't report, because they've already decided.
