The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Something not likely to be clearly stated on FOX

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Fox Admits on CNN That It Traffics in Opinion Not News
Jon Ponder | October 12, 2009
After a brief but concerted challenge by the White House to the credibility of Fox News Channel as a legitimate news organization — including a detailed takedown by Communications Director Anita Dunn on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” on Sunday — a spokesman for Fox made a de facto admission that the channel is nothing more than a propaganda arm of the Republican Party and the conservative movement:

In a written statement given to CNN, Fox News said its programming was comparable to the editorial page of a newspaper.

“An increasing number of viewers are relying on Fox News for both news and opinion,” Fox News Senior VP Michael Clemente said in the statement, “and the average news consumer can certainly distinguish between the A-section of the newspaper and the editorial page, which is what our programming represents.

“So with all due respect to anyone who might still be confused about the difference between news reporting and vibrant opinion, my suggestion would be to talk about the stories and the facts rather than the [sic] attack the messenger . . . which over time has never worked.”

Not surprisingly, even this statement from Fox was carefully crafted to obfuscate the truth from hapless readers. Like the classic non-denial denial, it is a non-admission admission.

For example, while it is true that “an increasing number of viewers are relying on Fox News for both news and opinion,” the fact is a majority of those viewers are not media savvy, and would be shocked to lear that even Fox admits that what it is pushing at them as “news” is in fact Republican talking points and propaganda.

Fortunately, few Americans are fooled by the Fox channel. A poll in August found that among all Americans, Fox was considered trustworthy by just 35 percent, while 41 percent felt it was untrustworthy. Among Southerners, however, the poll found that 46 percent thought Fox was trustworthy, compared with 27 percent in the Northeast and 33 percent in the Midwest and the West.

It is also true, as the Fox VP says, that “the average news consumer can certainly distinguish between the A-section of the newspaper and the editorial page.” What he doesn’t say but surely knows is that Fox viewers are below-average news consumers.

A recent study by Magna Global that was reported in Variety found that “[among] ad-supported cable nets, the news nets (along with older-skewing Hallmark Channel, Golf Channel and GSN’s daytime sked) sport the most gray, with Fox News Channel’s daytime and primetime skeds the absolute oldest, clocking in with a median age above 65.” (Emphasis added.)

While there are certainly millions of elderly people who are average and above-average news consumers, they are, by definition, more likely to agree with the majority of Americans that Fox is not trustworthy. Media savvy people, no matter how old they are or where they live, know better than to depend on Fox for fact-based information about newsworthy events.

The Fox exec’s final assertion is rich. He suggests that the White House should “talk about the stories and the facts” rather than attacking Fox — meaning: Fox would prefer it if the White House would get off the offensive and return to defending itself against Fox’s lies, spin and propaganda.

This does not seem likely. Fox’s statement admitting that it is propaganda outlet came just hours after Anita Dunn from the White House made “>these assertions on CNN:

* “If we went back a year ago to the fall of 2008, to the campaign, that was a time this country was in two wars that we had a financial collapse probably more significant than any financial collapse since the Great Depression. If you were a Fox News viewer in the fall election what you would have seen were that the biggest stories and the biggest threats facing America were a guy named Bill Ayers and a something called ACORN.”
* “The reality of it is that Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party. And it is not ideological… what I think is fair to say about Fox, and the way we view it, is that it is more of a wing of the Republican Party.”
* “Obviously [the President] will go on Fox because he engages with ideological opponents. He has done that before and he will do it again… when he goes on Fox he understands he is not going on it as a news network at this point. He is going on it to debate the opposition.”
* “[Fox is] widely viewed as a part of the Republican Party: take their talking points and put them on the air, take their opposition research and put it on the air. And that’s fine. But let’s not pretend they’re a news organization like CNN is.”

And Dunn’s smackdown of Fox is a follow-up of the White House’s slap at Fox three weeks ago when the president chose to do all the Sunday political shows except Fox’s. When Fox complained, the White House responded:

“We figured Fox would rather show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ than broadcast an honest discussion about health insurance reform,” a White House deputy press secretary told ABC News on Saturday. “Fox is an ideological outlet where the president has been interviewed before and will likely be interviewed again; not that the whining particularly strengthens their case for participation any time soon.”

The White House is winning this battle. Let’s just hope they don’t back down.

On the other hand, don’t be surprised if Fox’s admission that it is a broadcast version of a newspaper’s opinion page to be the most un-reported story of the year.