FOX News botched it this morning when a morning news host reported that President Obama watched an HBO documentary about his campaign last night.
(NEWSCOM)Photos (1 of 1)
Obama watched documentary last night? FOX botched this one…
By Jimmy Orr | 11.04.09
UPDATE: Late this afternoon, FOX News explained the erroneous report was a result of a misunderstanding.
——–
Whatever precipitated the ill feelings that the White House has toward FOX News, the network wasn’t doing itself any favors today.
Speaking on the morning broadcast (see video below), Fox News host Martha MacCallum reported that President Obama opted to watch an HBO documentary about his presidential campaign instead of last night’s election results.
Said MacCallum:
“Robert Gibbs, the press secretary, has been speaking with some reporters and he was asked, ‘So why didn’t the president watch last night?’”
“And Robert Gibbs said, ‘Well, he was actually watching, you know, the HBO special about his year-long campaign and how it all went.’ So he was watching that last night.”
The problem with that? It’s not true. Many news organizations attended the morning briefing and The Vote obtained a transcript.
Gibbs never said the president watched the documentary last night. He was asked that question but replied that he didn’t know.
He was asked if the president watched the returns. To that, Gibbs replied that the president was not sitting in front of the TV watching them.
On the topic of the documentary, Gibbs was asked if the president liked it. He replied that Obama had seen it before and did enjoy it.
How MacCallum came to her conclusion is a mystery. But the damage is done. Because as soon as the report aired, other organizations echoed the charge.
Take Newsbusters — the conservative media watchdog organization. They put up the video and reported what FOX said verbatim.
While the conservative “Townhall” website repackages the video, puts their logo on it, and makes it available not only their site but on YouTube.
Sure, FOX can issue a correction. NewsBusters and Townhall can remove their blogs. But the misinformation has already been spread. And putting the genie back in the bottle is impossible to do.
———-
Hey, we’ll never report you if you’re watching a documentary. But if we do, we’ll let you know about it on Twitter!
<< Election Day November 2009: What will it mean? | MainComments
3. Dan Barton | 11.04.09
This is why news organizations used to employ (well, some still do) this thing we call ‘fact checking’ before reporting on a story. FOX has never held a great deal of respect for this process, but this snafu shows the system has broken down in Rupert Murdoch’s empire in spades.
4. Canadian Geezer | 11.04.09
How this organization can maintain any credibility amazes us Canadians. Americans we trust are not that ignorant that they would rely on such a source for credible news. Absolutely amazing that it is clled a “News” organization as here in Canada they would be quickly laughed of of the box and advertisers sponsoring such tripe would take it in the neck.
5. dennis williamson | 11.04.09
you must be a cry baby. if this is all you can find wrong with the evil FOX network, dig deeper and i’m sure you will find bush is behind this….. you are allowing YOUR bias to shine through……..
6. TDK | 11.04.09
When I want unbiased information, I turn to FOX News, where I can expect an attactive blonde to deliver a snarky, sarcasm-laced, erroneous report about my communist President sitting around indulging his massive ego.
8. Dave | 11.04.09
This was a minor error with no ramifications. For those on the far left that that has a bias against Fox this is all they have?
9. Michael | 11.04.09
“This incident also hurts FOX’s legitimacy”? They don’t have any, they are just the propaganda wing of the GOP.
10. tiffany maas | 11.04.09
I hope you never misreport anything ever. the issue I have with the White houses insistence the Fox is not legitimate news is that the battle is one that they should not be in. The first amendment does not say we have free speech if we say what the white house wants to hear or reports what Washington feeds us. I question the legitimacy of all the journalist that report the criticism of fox as if it is legitimate like yourself. The way the mainstream shows a liberal swing on all stories shows how much they have lost touch with the purpose of the constitutional right the parade around quoting to defend their own stupidity on a regular basis. I think that anyone without a major in US, world history or constitutional law have no place reporting on politics. if that happened then maybe we might have a legitimate news media but the way I look at it main steam journalist are narcissistic, self important spot light seeking idiots that barely passed high school much less college history or political science and yet we the foolish public take anything you say seriously.
11. Dixon Haynes | 11.04.09
Jimmy, what’s up with you? I know you despise Barack Obama and admire Fox News. After a year of your anti-Democrat column attempts, that is obvious.
So why don’t you join the choir of your fellows–the Limbaughs of the world–and chortle that Obama experienced rejection yesterday?
Personally, I believe Obama has squandered the unprecedented mandate he held a year ago. He doesn’t know how to play political hardball. Or he won’t do so for whatever reason or reasons. He has spent a year talking in platitudes about “bipartisanship”–about cultivating the likes of Joe Lieberman–while you and other Republicans have been unrelenting in your attacks.
I fear that Obama’s tide began to recede in the essentially unimportant elections of November 3, 2009. He and his advisers have only themselves to blame. Americans trusted them with everything and they lacked the courage to run with the ball when they had possession.
Dixon Haynes
13. Eileen | 11.04.09
Please… nobody makes as many ‘mistakes’ as the Faux news station.
It is purposeful and intentional willful ignorance that they are spreading. They truly are a pox on this nation of ours.
14. Jose | 11.04.09
Ridiculous. I believe it was Mark Twain who said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” Fox news has made that a part of its strategy.
15. Leslie Wildesen | 11.04.09
Well, I finally figured it out, because I am in a hotel and have one of those printed listings of TV channels in my room. It’s called “FOX News Channel.” That’s like “cheese food product.” It is a “product,” or a “channel,” but it’s not real cheese, and it’s not real news. It’s just what it’s called. It’s its name, not its function. So why are we surprised when they get it wrong? It’s like being surprised when the “product” on your pizza tastes nothing like real cheese. What were you expecting? And, it’s true that both the product and the channel can cause some real (health) and (political) damage, if unchecked. BTW, that’s why I subscribe to the Monitor — I get real news. Thank you for being there.
16. Frances Smith | 11.04.09
What difference can it possibly make what President Obama did or did not watch on TV last night? Why would anyone care?
17. Candace | 11.04.09
I guess it’s not news when liberal news misquote a conservative - but HUGE NEWS when it’s vice versa. Typical!
18. bess | 11.04.09
Dixon Haynes: Are we reading the same blog? Jimmy is conservative, and a look at his bio will tell you that. But what I like about his blog, and his attitude, is that he is never fixed in one position, and he calls it like he sees it. He is open to the facts, and not blinded by a polarized political opinion. He isn’t so boxed in that he can’t hear anymore. Yes, I’m a fan, and also a “liberal”. If everyone were moderate enough to still have perspective, what a different world this would be.
19. Carol | 11.04.09
Y’all don’t get it!!!! FOX gets away with this because they count on the fact that the majority of their viewers do not watch anything but FOX, and they are correct. They continue to feed their base who lap it up and then proceed to unfortunately email me about it……. Why stop something that is working so well? In turn the “caller outs” are also speaking to the only ones who watch something other than and have likely seen the correct version.
20. Rob Riley | 11.04.09
“Fox lies!” There’s an earthshaking news flash. “Fox tells the truth!”- now THAT would be news!
21. Marc Darn | 11.04.09
to commenter Mark: “Please provide proof Gibbs did not say this off camera”… and while you’re at it, please provide proof that Martians did not land in New Jersey Saturday night, please provide proof the moon is not made of green cheese, and please provide proof that you’re not still beating your wife.
22. John | 11.04.09
We need absolute proof of what President Obama was watching last night. We also want proof of any snacks he ate while watching television and an accurate number of times he went to the bathroom. Making up stories is not the same thing as misquoting a liberal.
23. Tetla Walcott | 11.04.09
You Americans sure are weird. You have a President who is making headway in reducing the hate quotient of America worldwide because of your insistence of “America’s Interest” to the detriment of all others which has made you so insecure and fearful and you find ways to crucify him?
You needed a war to calibrate you from the self-indulgent brats you had become and you got two, that should at least let you sit up straight.
Will you all just behave yourselves like the world leaders you claim to be and keep your mess to yourselves. Like keep your brand of “freedom” which allows you to manufacture weapons of destruction both mas and minor and then expect that you won’t reap what you are sowing. Or promoting a level of immorality which is unprecedented since the fall of the Roman Empire and expect to still be a viable nation giving orders to everyone else. Dream on! Or is it a nightmare?
24. Ian McGinnis | 11.04.09
@Frances - It’s pretty clear that Fox thinks its viewers care what Obama watched, because THEY REPORTED IT. If it wasn’t a big deal, then it wouldn’t have been reported. But since it plays into the false image they and the rest of the right-wing pundits push of Obama as an elitist megalomaniac, they jumped right on “the story,” even if they had to make it up to do so.
And @Candace - you could sure make your point a lot better if you could cite *just one* example of the “liberal news” misquoting a conservative. But you can’t. You just imagine that it happens all the time.
25. Sheila | 11.04.09
Mark, how they know is by the TRANSCRIPTS, you do know what a transcript is right. Verbatim.
26. Sheila | 11.04.09
Mark please provide proof he did say it off the record! The proof rests on the accusor not the accused. Also if it was off the record then it must be reported as such, thats not how the “new” report was stated.
27. Thebob.bob | 11.04.09
“Many news organizations attended the morning briefing and The Vote obtained a transcript.”
More interesting is how the Murdock/Moonie press echos the false news.
‘as soon as the report aired, other organizations echoed the charge. ..Newsbusters — the conservative media watchdog organization. They put up the video and reported what FOX said verbatim. “Townhall” website repackages the video, puts their logo on it, and makes it available not only their site but on YouTube.
The vast right-wing conspiracy in action.
28. Alberta Treadway | 11.04.09
The problem is they didn’t just mis-report this small tid bit. Hannity has flat out lied, an taken story’s an made them into “big Fish stories”, as my dad would call them. They interview Drug addicts like Rush L. an treat him as if he is the head of the Republican Party, an represent him that way. It’s hurting the party, an their extreme reporting is out of hand. Not all reporters on Fox, but a lot of them. They are the one needed called down on it. It suppose to be true,fair an Balance news, remember? I never missed Hannity when colmes was their to keep him fair,debate on issue’s with balance.
30. Laryy Brown | 11.04.09
FOX News was dead wrong, but don’t be fooled by Mr. Gibbs. The POTUS was glued to the election returns with Axelrod and Emanuel sitting by his side.
31. Don | 11.04.09
Christian Science Monitor has had access to the Gibbs transcript. Fox News “got it wrong” (once again). And as the article says, with this kind of massive misinformation, it doesn’t matter if a retraction is given. And of course we also see what happens when the blogosphere runs with these kinds of errors (and rarely corrects itself). I’ll bet this was
even a headline on Drudge.
32. Sam | 11.04.09
Want a grasp on how FoxNews brainwashes its viewers….check out this video montage showing how it talked about the NY23 election before the election and how it dealt with it on election night. Hilarious. Sad but true…
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/11/4/800678/-Engineering-defeat
33. Shawn | 11.04.09
re: Mark’s (#1) comment: Please provide proof Gibbs did not say this off camera.
How do you prove that Gibbs didn’t say this to somebody?? Are you insane? How about the people reporting this prove that they actually HEARD it?
PS: Whitehouse.gov releases daily press briefing transcripts WITH video. Should be pretty easy to prove that Fox News lied to you - but if you’d rather not believe your own eyes/ears…
34. Julian Fernandez | 11.04.09
To believe that this report by Fox News was a “gaffe” is the height of naivete. This is today’s installment in a decades -long effort by the Right and their media minion at distortion and distraction.
From the “terrorist fist bump”, to quoting Al Gore as claiming to have invented the internet, to accusing President Clinton of murder. to non-existent “welfare queens”, we’ve endured a non-stop barrage of lies meant to anger and frighten and distract the gullible. For the love of God, we impeached a sitting President because he committed adultery on Easter Sunday.
All this while the laws and regulations that had protected our economy from a repeat of the great Depression were gutted. While the middle and lower classes were stoked into a credit and consumption frenzy. While we wrongfully and foolishly invaded nations resulting in the emptying of the Treasury into private hands and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocents. While we tortured.
Representative Joe Wilson wasn’t overcome with righteous indignation when he called the President a liar in the middle of a joint session of Congress. This was the culmination of a summer of pot-stirring; the ne plus ultra of town hall meetings. He spoke on cue, exactly as planned. The entire media establishment and thus the entire nation spent the next two weeks talking about Wilson instead of the rational, cogent explanation of proposed healthcare reform that President Obama was trying to get across.
These people are manipulative and without scruples on a literally historic scale. If you’re still sitting at home reading/hearing/watching this unfold on an hour-by-hour basis and in the least surprised, you’re missing the real show.
35. Frances Smith | 11.04.09
Ian, yes I see the point you are making but generally speaking most FOX viewers are not Obama supporters anyway. I still don’t see why they would care. The way FOX spins everything, no matter what Obama does, it’s wrong. If he spent the evening on his knees praying, they would say he was looking for a photo op!
36. manistan | 11.04.09
#24 Ian Mcginnis
And @Candace - you could sure make your point a lot better if you could cite *just one* example of the “liberal news” misquoting a conservative. But you can’t. You just imagine that it happens all the time.
–You don’t really want us to have to dig up the quotes CNN recited from Rush Limbaiugh to prove he was a racist, do you?
38. Publius | 11.04.09
This statement seems strange to me:
“Whatever precipitated the ill feelings that the White House has toward FOX News, the network wasn’t doing itself any favors today.”
What do you mean “whatever precipitated the ill feelings”? Is it some great mystery?
39. donahjj@comcast.net | 11.04.09
And if Obama hadn’t actually watched returns, so what. I didn’t. What if he had watched the HBO documentary? I did. (I dodn’t like it much, for what that’s worth, so I didn’t see all of it. I think I saw it in real time not too long ago.)
40. Pete | 11.04.09
Tell a lie often enough and big enough and it becomes the de facto truth. Who said that? None other than Adolf Hitler and FOX practices it.
41. Chris | 11.04.09
Sure, this was a mistake, like when they put a (D) next to Mark Sanford’s name after he was caught cheating on his wife.
http://potomac9499.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/fnc20090624sanfordror.jpg
42. Cynde | 11.04.09
I see many of you don’t like Fox. I am a Fox viewer… I also watch CNN, MSNBC and my local cable news station. You see, all of the media likes to put their own “spin” on the news - either on what they choose to report or how it is reported. I watch several different channels and they a decision for myself where the truth actually lies. Fox may get it wrong sometimes but atleast they are willing to report stories that the rest of the media ignores and even buries sometimes if it reflects badly on this Congress and president.
43. Randall | 11.04.09
Why can’t the FCC fine networks that [ verifiably ] create lies [ along with the ones that repeat same ] like this
It is, after all, essentially fraud [ and defamation ], very different from a simple mistake
44. Ron | 11.04.09
FoxNews is nothing more than TMZ disguised as a news organization in Brook Brothers suits. What a disgusting network.
45. CanaCon | 11.04.09
For all the people out there like “tiffany maas”; the First amendment is trumped by something else you “God-fearing Conservatives” folks choose to forget when it comes to your talking points……….”Thou shalt not bear false witness.” I can help some of you out here by explaining it in layman’s terms…….You shall not LIE!!!!!
46. Michael | 11.04.09
It’s always amusing to see liberals feigning outrage and pretending their pet news stations haven’t been guilty of the same thing and worse.
When CNN and MSNBC lie about Rush Limbaugh claiming that he “praised slavery” (thoroughly debunked), it’s no big deal. No apologies, no coverage whatsoever, and not a scratch on their credibility in the “world of news”.
Even when MSNBC’s “reporters” admit their bias, and brazenly proclaim that they are in the tank for Obama, that’s no big deal either. Liberals have reached a point where they no longer need to be careful. They control the playing field and wield the media like a weapon. They can do as they please unchecked and when you call out their unethical behavior, they will not be chastized. You may even be ridiculed by their blind followers. I guess it’s okay to be unethical as long as it promotes the liberal agenda.
48. John Frum | 11.05.09
Gotta love that neocon bias, which enables them to rationalize this gaffe into a demonstration of liberal bias. Got that? The proof’s right here on this page, reductio ad absurdum. Truly astounding.
49. Tom Shire | 11.05.09
It isn’t just Newsbusters and Townhall that is spreading the misinformation. Conservative website ‘The American Spectator’ is also playing a role…
50. Ronald | 11.05.09
Why is it that the truth is not good enough for Faux News to satisfy their economic bottom line? Instead they have to “improve” on the truth to make the right sound bites for the rabid right listeners.
53. AVillamil | 11.05.09
Fox: Great ratings,NO Credibility and rapidly declining reputation as a serious news reporter
56. To Mark | 11.05.09
try reading the followup, Mark! http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/11/04/fox-admits-blunder-in-reporting-obama-watched-documentary/
57. BillMmelb | 11.05.09
Fox News talent is former homecoming kings and queens and their friends. Real news is reported by former Valedictorians and their friends. Big difference. One cares about content, and one doesn’t.
58. Michael | 11.05.09
Fox “news” are a totally unscrupulous propaganda machine. So who’s surprised by yet another big lie from them? It’s become routine,
59. Marvin | 11.05.09
It’s so sad to me that there are people in this country that think Fox is a real news network.
60. grf67 | 11.05.09
Why would any of us care what fox says the president was watching during an off year election? First, fox has never been correct about anything and second, only fox watchers can do only one thing at a time.
61. Jean | 11.05.09
So Fox has reported something that is not true about president Obama. And this is this news? Anyone who’s watched this so-called news channel knows that facts are irrelevant to their agenda. Fair and balanced indeed!
62. JP | 11.05.09
Honestly, why does this matter? I don’t care what the President watches on TV or if he watches TV at all. He has plenty of advisers and czars who keep him posted as to the happenings in the world. I don’t care what his daughters do. I don’t care what his wife was wearing. Even if it was a president I wholly supported these things are trivial at best. As for the media even asking a White House press secretary ANY questions is a joke. You’ll never get a straight answer or even a real answer for that matter.
63. Nic | 11.05.09
I am intrigued by the fact that people actually care so much about a simple mistake. If the media wasn’t reporting on such a trivial matter as what Obama was watching, and when, no-one would even have known that it happened.
There are more pressing matters in the world today, that SERIOUSLY require the attention of EVERY human on earth, for if it is ignored, there will be no LIFE left to report on. Yet it is deemed important to continue waging pointless wars, and deforest our planet.
But I suppose the majority of the world population doesn’t actually care what happens to life else where on our planet, so long as there is food to eat and a TV to watch.
Selflessness is where it needs to go back to.. Selflessness and a concern for ALL LIFE!!!!! I don’t care if this message gets filtered out. At least I said it, and if someone in an office deems it necessary to filter this out, sorry, but this has got EVERYTHING to do with politics.
64. Roland Olsen | 11.05.09
….much ado about nothing. Other networks/bloggers reported that he was watching basketball, so it is obvious that he was plopped in front of the TV (aren’t there more pressing issues than basketball?) Given Obama’s outsized ego, I have no doubt he had the HBO special in the TV-in-TV function. I am amazed at the faux outrage in the comments posted here when the down right lies that were reported by the left-wing media in trashing Rush Limbaugh a few weeks back as they ignored the facts remains an acceptable practice. Meanwhile, FOX news ratings are skyrocketing.
65. LDAV | 11.05.09
What about CBS?????
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/04/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5524119.shtml
66. Janet | 11.05.09
Thanks to Bob. Those pre and post election clips from FOX were great. Watching Beck, Hannity, et al, salivating in anticipation of the “tidal wave” of support for Tea Party poster child Hoffman and then magically disappearing post election, dismissing the whole thing in less than 30 seconds. Priceless.
67. jbrantow | 11.05.09
Fox news…..dumbing down of America
This Study Is Still True-Study shows Fox News viewers misinformed about war, Iraq, WMD
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389×3563986
68. Keith | 11.05.09
Too bad this site doesn’t remove insane posts. Mark- the first to post a comment- clearly didn’t read the same article that everyone else has read. And he’s convinced that the transcript of the actual exchange between Gibbs and the press doesn’t matter. A transcript was obtained, and what Martha report Gibbs said is not true. Here’s what this article says, Mark:
“Gibbs never said the president watched the documentary last night. He was asked that question but replied that he didn’t know. He was asked if the president watched the returns. To that, Gibbs replied that the president was not sitting in front of the TV watching them. On the topic of the documentary, Gibbs was asked if the president liked it. He replied that Obama had seen it before and did enjoy it.”
Now, Mark, you’re asking for proff that he didn’t say it to someone else at some point? Insane! Where’s the delete button?
Fox News should report on the facts, and stop making up stories. Period.
70. geoffrey ellis aronson | 11.05.09
Mother: Why did you hit your brother?
Son: He called me a bad name.
Mother: Just because he called you a bad name is no reason for you to hit him.
So elementary. So many adults still don´t get it. Are they really adults or children whose bodies have exceeded their emotional maturity?
71. Tom | 11.05.09
you liberal commentators amaze me, you can sit back and do everything possible to trash a legitimate news organization for a mistake. Can we talk about the horrible lies about Rush Limbaugh that were reported as fact by nearly every single news organization for several days. Including running of many interviews with people continually repeating the false quotes. When it turned out that the quotes were false was there a huge retraction and apology? Of course not because liberals = Hypocrisy
72. Richard | 11.05.09
Hey,guys.
If you don’t like Fox News, don’t watch it. Simple solution, huh? You can find all the news you want, packaged and spun just the way you like it, at say, MSNBC,NBC,ABC,CBS,The New York Times, The LA Times, and I won’t continue with the list as it would reach from my keyboard to the moon. Of course, all of those news outlets are experiencing disatrous declines in viewer/readership. Might their liberal bias have something to do with it?
However, if you want to prove you are serious about getting to the “truth,” however you want to define it (hopefully, on the basis of fact and not fantasy) how about calling out a specific Fox News analysis and citing indisputable evidence that it is untrue, distorted or otherwise a malicious lie?
That said, I won’t hold my breath.
74. David S. | 11.05.09
Lets see.. MSNBC, CBS and ABC misreports a news item - nothing. A whitehouse spokesman, who changes his statements more often than the wind changes direction, says he was misquoted and all of a sudden this is evidence FOX is always wrong?
I’ll return to this discussion when the adults decide to start participating.
75. Vladimir | 11.05.09
Fox lied once-and the liberals blow it out of proportion. The mainstream medai that are 96% Left are lying or concealing information from Americans daily-and it’s OK with the liberal elitists because “the sheppard doesn’t have to tell the truth to the sheep, the sheep can’t handle the truth”.
The truth is that the Left is destroying their own country: the Europe disappears before our eyes because the socialist Nanny-State ruins the demographics, the “progressive” media brainwashed the populice with political correctness until they lose the self-preservation instinct and surrender to the Jihadism. The leftism, the statism that worships Its Majesty Almighty State is a dead end of civilization, it destroys their own countries with 100% garantee.
76. ryan rosaeles | 11.06.09
well i guess MSNBC, CBBS, ABC are more watched news than the FOX news, whenever the fox news reported there is always complaining about what they had reported and well i guess FOX is always wrong for their news article…
77. Matt | 11.06.09
This wasn’t a one-time, isolated event. Fox has been doing this for years. They, along with talk radio, have been successful in brainwashing their audience by creating an environment of constant fear. The tea-baggers and birthers are puppets…used by the media giants to achive their objectives. It’s really sad to see people used in this way, going out to make fools of themselves for the benefit of Wall Street.
78. Jason P | 11.06.09
This is to all of the conservatives who are passionately defending Fox “News”…the fact that you are going out of your way to bash the other networks and defend everything that Fox does is all the proof anyone needs to conclude that the network has a strong conservative bias. Period.
79. Eastsideroadtoad | 11.06.09
Is it *really* necessary for the Fox News network to use the header “Pres Obama Got Upd on Elections Last Night”…
I think we’d all be better off if we shut off the tv once and a while and quit trolling the web for ammunition, real or imagined, to slam each other with. Ugh.
80. curious | 11.06.09
Yes, indeed — thanks, Sam…and thanks jbrantow! Luv it when folks direct me to such funny — and fact-based! — llinks.
81. Susan Taylor | 11.06.09
Republicans voted in the primaries in record low numbers and got a nominee few of them wanted
That nominee selected a running mate few respected
Conservatives and Republicans elected Obama, not liberals
the reason they stayed home is they had been betrayed by the Outgoing President and his yes men in Congress
82. Snarked | 11.07.09
So the “News Alert” was a followup of an unsubstantiated story by their network earlier reporting of a “gaggle” off-camera. So who reported the “off-camera” gaggle? Lindsay Lohan? Nobody…there is no mention in this important “News Alert” of who said this other than the netowork made it up themselves. The snarky newslady reported the “news” about a previous “news” show on their network. Then “TownHall” and other gossip channels spread the story to fellow kool-aid drinkers. This is where Fox “News” gets into trouble. They disseminate information in the same way gossip is spread—by whispering behind people’s backs. The information is an obvious lie to everyone but the conspirators who choose to be arrogant and ignorant of verifiable and ethical journalism.
83. A. Ping | 11.14.09
Of course the “commie” news channel would never make a mistake. Instead they fabricate stories. For just one example that they have been forced to admit. When the “assault” weapons ban was getting ready to expire that got a law enforcement officer to fire two weapons. One a semi-auto hunting rifle the other a semi-auto AK-47. They arranged for the officer to shoot at some cinder blocks with both, but with the hunting rifle that had him actually bury the rounds into the ground, with the AK he hit the bricks. Thus breaking the bricks, “proving” that the AK was much more powerful. Of course in less than a day they had to recant the whole story as being false.
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Jimmy Orr has worked in politics for the majority of his professional career working for two U.S. Senators, two Governors and one President. Most recently, Orr served as White House Spokesman and Internet Director for President George W. Bush and Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger for Internet Communications.
David Cook is Washington bureau chief of The Christian Science Monitor and host of the Monitor's newsmaker breakfasts. He was the Monitor's editor from 1994 to 2001. Cook is a graduate of Principia College, served in the U.S. Army, was a Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and is a member of the Gridiron Club, Washington's oldest journalistic organization.
1. Mark | 11.04.09
How do you know Fox News botched it and Gibbs didn’t say it? Gibbs hasn’t denied saying it. Even ABC and CBS have only asserted that he didn’t say it. They don’t even contend that Gibbs told them he didn’t say it. Please provide proof Gibbs did not say this off camera. Thanks.