White House officially takes on Fox News

[expression]

Wiki's background on Fox news:

“By the end of the first quarter of 2009, Fox News Channel was beating CNN and MSNBC combined in the ratings and is now the second highest rated cable network… The quarter ending June 30, 2009, Fox News shows held all ten positions for cable news with an overall increase of 33% in viewership.”

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpu...s-part-34.html

In June, President Obama said of Fox, "I've got one television station entirely devoted to attacking my administration… That's a pretty big megaphone. And you'd be hard-pressed, if you watched the entire day, to find a positive story about me on that front."
The administration has in recent months faced a barrage of criticism from Fox News personalities, such as Glenn Beck, as well as critical news stories on controversial now-former administration officials such as environmental adviser Van Jones. Some of the stories have been perfectly valid, such as questions the White House now admits it has about the community activists at ACORN, others -- the president's speech to students last month, for example -- tempests in teapots.

http://features.csmonitor.com/politi...loves-are-off/

10/12 - White House communications director Anita Dunn commented, “As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave,” …She said that Fox News acts “almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party.”
… The White House went so far as to post a “reality check” on its website, refuting various claims made by Mr. Beck about the effort. It concludes with a link to another website that claims to debunk “even more Fox lies.”
Fox News senior vice president Michael Clemente said the president is not distinguishing between the network’s opinion programs and its actual news content. “The average news consumer can certainly distinguish between the A-section of the newspaper and the editorial page, which is what our programming represents.”

First there's this conspicuous cult growing around this President, which may be explained away as being routine.

But now this President is showing official obsession in a news channel voicing criticism. No, this is not normal. Whether the criticism is grounded/reasonable is irrelevant. I haven't heard of a leader from a democratic country declaring war on a specific news outlet. Not even Bush. Obama isn't furious because he is unpopular, he is furious because he feels entitled to being worshiped. And the disturbing thing is he doesn't feel the need to hide his displeasure.

I don't like this, and I sincerely hope this is just my own old-age crisis. I hope I'm being oversensitive, but I feel disturbed with the direction America is going.

[expression]

On a less personal note:
- Have more class, Obama, that’s one thing you can learn from Bush – he was fired from all sides 24/7, you only have one while the others kiss your posterior 24/7.

- Criticism is healthy and necessary. This is called freedom of the press. By definition, the content and degree of criticism should not be determined by the one being criticized.

- Left or right, all news/media are biased one way or the other. They cater to different market needs.

- The TV talk show hosts are celebrities hired to talk, also catering to market needs, while you, Mr. President, have been voted to actually get things done, not catering to celebrity needs.

- The White House high-profile hypersensitivity will boost Fox further – I’ve never watched Glenn Beck before but now I might take a peek – unless they are planning to censor it.

- President O, fire this Anita Dunn woman now, seriously, she is making you look very, very bad. This comment: “As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave” sounds dangerously close to: “Fox is not behaving legitimately because it dares criticize the Emperor/Chairman, which is not what the press should be doing under this totalitarian regime. As such, we are solemnly declaring disciplinary action to silence them. We don’t need to pretend this is a free country anymore. ” Last time I heard of something similar was from China, and they say it more eloquently.

- Gosh I’m spending all this time digesting this and I’m not even American, just a foreigner trying to make an honest living here. I can pack up and go back to my wimpish country if things go bad … what about you Americans?

[Trien Chieu]

For the liberals, Obama can do no wrong, can't be criticized. If anyone disagrees with him, it's racism. Even former president Carter used the race card against people who disagree about public healthcare.

[Guo Xiang]

This is akin to declaring war on Rupert Murdoch. Is he going mad?

[jiang bao]

Oh really? Is Obama the only President sensitive about the media not saying favorable things? Hmmm... Let's see:

http://mediamatters.org/research/200603240001

http://www.yuricareport.com/Media/Ba...fThePress.html

Come on.

[expression]

Sure, Ah Bao, of course every human, including the President, will be sensitive about their reputation. The point is, Obama's administration is the first to name and target a specific news media, calling it a "war".

And putting it back in the scope of things, Bush got the extreme bad end of the stick - he was battered 24/7 by CNN, MSNBC, ABC, Washington Post, Huffington Post, USAToday, New York Times ... you name it. All these mainstream media kissed up Obama - all but one Fox. It's like comparing Peter sulking while being stabbed by a gang vs. Paul shooting a boy who yelled at him.

[xJadedx]

Where is the option for "Who Cares" but includes reading the news. Not everyone who doesn't give a crap falls under the "don't read news" section.

[Ren Ying Ying]

I think fox news is crap, but it doesn't mean i want it censored...

[jadebunny9]

Perhaps I'm biased because I've always hated Fox News. It's a joke to me. How people even consider it to be real news is just amazing.

[expression]

Well thanks for replying even if you don't care.

The discussion here is not whether Fox is trash; it is about whether the President should pay so much attention to a particular news outlet, trash or not. Actually it is worse if he is obsessed about trash. @_@

[xJadedx]

Well thanks for replying even if you don't care.

I happened to click on the link as I was going through the new posts of the day, and none of the options fit my opinion, so I decided to post. I posted because I cared about the thread poll options, not the actual topic itself.

I also continue to post because I want some form of entertainment/activity as I eat my dinner.

[expression]

Well I hope this disappointing poll enhanced your dinner experience.

[Banh Mi]

Well thanks for replying even if you don't care.

The discussion here is not whether Fox is trash; it is about whether the President should pay so much attention to a particular news outlet, trash or not. Actually it is worse if he is obsessed about trash. @_@

Is it the right move to just ignore rumours and lies? Would you say it's just him trying a different way to tackle PR as opposed to other public figures who just ignores what everyone says about them. I think the man has a right to defend himself, and correct any lies made about him. Maybe if he got a bit too personal then that might be bad.

[Ren Ying Ying]

Well thanks for replying even if you don't care.

The discussion here is not whether Fox is trash; it is about whether the President should pay so much attention to a particular news outlet, trash or not. Actually it is worse if he is obsessed about trash. @_@

I don't think he's paying THAT much attention to it nor do I think he is actually trying to ban/censor Fox news.

in fact, wouldn't it be a good thing that he actually does watch Fox news, to actually pay attention to what his critics are saying? Trash or not, Fox is a large "news outlet" and reaches a wide audience (the average American isn't always that knowledgable). It's essentially the same thing as rebutting a political opponent. Sure politics makes things nasty, but it's part of life.

But in truth, I really could care less what he says about Fox news. It's not as if he is actually planning to censor it or anything.

[expression]

At best, I think the President and a local news channel are of a different class. The Pres should be worried about the bad economy, Afghan war, Iran, the health care debate etc, not getting personal about what some talk show host has to say.

At worst, the Pres should not blatantly try to steer the media. All administrations will, but at least, pretend to give some freedom of the press on the surface. If it is trash news, all the more for the Pres to maintain his calm.

[Candide]

WTF is wrong with Americans? Everything has to be a war on something.

[Ren Ying Ying]

i don't think class should make a change here. if the president wants to address the people, he will have to address the news at some point or another. being verbally attacked by a politician or news anchor should not make a differnce.

but my dear, it was one sentence out of a gazzillion, and he was hardly attacking it. i don't pay attention to all his speeches, so i'm not sure, but does he make a habit of doing so? If he makes a habit of it, perhaps there's room for concern, but otherwise, it's really a matter of fact though that happened to come up.

[jiang bao]

Fox News, to draw an analogy, is like putting Kanye "Bush Hates Black People" West on as anchor and presenting him as a legitimate journalist. (Glenn Beck basically said Obama is racist) There's a line you have to draw between real journalism and hate-mongering propaganda machine that Fox IS. Fox News is on tv at the gym I go to. I see some of the garbage that goes on there. They promote opposition meetings where Obama is characterized as a Nazi (I mean, jeez, at least compare him to a commy if they wanna smear him). I am not aware of CNN or any major news network promoting anti-war protesters.

I don't think Obama is looking to censor Fox anyway. His folks are just saying Fox will be treated differently, not as a legitimate news org.

[expression]

WTF is wrong with Americans? Everything has to be a war on something.

And only a non-American gwanny finds it creepy... and that's just because of her hormonal imbalance.

but my dear, it was one sentence out of a gazzillion, and he was hardly attacking it. i don't pay attention to all his speeches, so i'm not sure, but does he make a habit of doing so? If he makes a habit of it, perhaps there's room for concern, but otherwise, it's really a matter of fact sentence.

Not just a sentence:

Time White House correspondent Michael Scherer writes that in the face of criticism from the right, "the White House decided it would become a player, issuing biting attacks on those pundits, politicians and outlets that make what the White House believes to be misleading or simply false claims.”

Fox News, to draw an analogy, is like putting Kanye "Bush Hates Black People" West on as anchor and presenting him as a legitimate journalist. (Glenn Beck basically said Obama is racist) There's a line you have to draw between real journalism and hate-mongering propaganda machine that Fox IS. Fox News is on tv at the gym I go to. I see some of the garbage that goes on there. They promote opposition meetings where Obama is characterized as a Nazi (I mean, jeez, at least compare him to a commy if they wanna smear him). I am not aware of CNN or any major news network promoting anti-war protesters.

Talk show hosts are not journalists. Fox have official news anchors. Everyone recognizes that... or maybe not. Other networks also have prime time opinionated shows. White House is mixing these show hosts with news and getting all fired up.

I don't think Obama is looking to censor Fox anyway. His folks are just saying Fox will be treated differently, not as a legitimate news org.

I don't think he'll censor it either, he can't. That poll option was a joke. But singling out Fox and treating it differently is a good step towards that direction.

Nancy Pelosi also said townhall protesters are carrying swastikas (Nazi). Don't know about that? It was downplayed by mainstream media.

See my point? There is this underlying current, something wrong that I can't explain very well. Perhaps it is indeed my hormonal imbalance, and I hope this is so.

[Ren Ying Ying]

Not just a sentence:

Time White House correspondent Michael Scherer writes that in the face of criticism from the right, "the White House decided it would become a player, issuing biting attacks on those pundits, politicians and outlets that make what the White House believes to be misleading or simply false claims.”

isn't that just normal politics, though?