So, here's my opinion, for what it's worth:
Fox is just as legitimate as all the other media outlets. Sure, it's right-leaning but, if that's a problem, then outlets such as MSNBC -- and other networks -- which are left-leaning -- are also a problem. If swinging too far one way is an issue, then swinging too far the other way ought to be one, too. Dissenters -- organizations or individuals -- should never be threatened. And certainly not by those in the government.
In full disclosure, I have a degree in journalism and one of the things I fervently believe in is freedom of the press. Without freedom, all you have left is press. And that has a really heavy sound to it.
I think it's time to bring out that old trusty mirror -- and see that, whenever one points an accusatory finger, it's aiming right back at the pointer. Make sure there are no skeletons in your own closet before you start trying to clean out someone else's.
This is an editorial from The Augusta Chronicle. It says everything I would like to say but don't have the talent to express:
The Obama administration, so reluctant to finish the war in Afghanistan, wants to silence dissent and destroy the dissenters at home. Ground zero is Fox News.
The Obama campaign and administration have always treated the network as an adversary -- and, in fact, they seem more willing to engage rogue dictators and despots before sitting down with this American network.
Indeed, the White House strategy now has gone beyond avoiding Fox altogether: Officials recently declared that Fox is not a real news network. Moreover, Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel seemed to even fire a warning shot at the CNNs of the world, saying in a mafia sort of way that they shouldn't follow Fox's lead on stories.
You got a nice network here. I'd hate to see something happen to it.
Coming from a powerful and combative executive branch of the federal government, that's downright chilling.
Even Fox's competitors are recoiling. Unabashed Obama supporter David Gergen said on CNN that the White House is making a mistake by attacking Fox and not engaging with the network. And ABC News' Jake Tapper challenged White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs, "Can you explain why it's appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one?"
Moreover, Obama's attack on Fox ignores blatant liberal bias in other media. That's OK, though, since they're on Obama's side.
That's not the American way. Dissent is to be embraced, not silenced.
"This is an overtly political campaign" against Fox, writes Nile Gardiner in The Daily Telegraph of London, "and one that is doomed to failure, as it will ensure that even more Americans end up tuning in to Fox shows. The United States is a nation built around the principles of free speech, limited government, and free enterprise, and it is highly unusual for a U.S. administration to launch an authoritarian vendetta against an individual news station. It smacks of mean-spiritedness as well as desperation ...
"Fox News is succeeding in America precisely because it is not afraid to challenge the status quo, and to take on the power of big government. It is unique in broadcast media in going against the grain of the dominant liberal networks, NBC, CBS and ABC, by providing an alternative perspective in a nation where conservatives are still the largest ideological group according to Gallup. Television news in America has for decades been dominated by a left-of-centre oligopoly that has not reflected public opinion. That smug arrangement was shattered when Fox opened for business in the mid-1990s."
But this is even more than an attack on what Obama perceives as a conservative media outlet. It's a concerted, strategic and multifaceted effort to silence all enemies of state.
The campaign against Fox, writes the nonpartisan Politico.com, "underscores how deeply political the Obama White House is in its daily operations --- with a strong focus on redrawing the electoral map and discrediting the personalities and ideas that have powered the conservative movement over the past 20 years.
"This determination has manifested itself in small ways: This president has done three times as many fundraisers as President George W. Bush had at this point in his term. And in large ones: Beginning with their contretemps with Limbaugh last winter, Obama's most important advisers miss few opportunities for public and highly partisan shots at his most influential critics."
How sad -- especially since Mr. Obama promised hope, unity and bipartisanship.
It will be the biggest and most consequential promise he breaks.
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Nice post, Lynn! I am against the White House's opinion of FOX news. Although I am a huge supporter of MSNBC, I realize they are slanted more to the left because I am slanted more to the left. Just because a news organization is slanted in the opposite direction of my thinking, doesn't make it any less a news organization. I applaud FOX for standing up for their beliefs, just like I applaud MSNBC, CNN and others. This country was founded on free speech, and I think this should apply to everyone - not just the people I agree with.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bobbi. This whole "episode" has really rankled me -- government should be hands off the media. And I would say that if it were Republicans in power and they were going after an news organization which didn't agree with them. I agree that we all tend to lean toward the news outlet which "suits" us but I hope that all thinking people will realize that a difference of opinion doesn't equal wrong. At any rate, no media outlet is perfect but what they report or how they report it should be an internal matter. I am happy that journalists, from other networks, have questioned the White House on this. Freedom of speech -- or lack of it -- affects everybody in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about freedom of the press. It doesn't have to be antagonistic to be valid; it just needs to be free -- period. That means all the views (right, left, middle or whatever) should see the light of day,and if someone is caught flat out lying, sue their backside.
ReplyDeleteThe only concern I really have at this point is Obama's ability to write executive orders and his sweet deal of a democratic congress. Coupled with his mention of Fox News is troubling. He should not even go there.
But hey, what happened to the mainstream media positioning themselves as a watchdog of the government? Isn't that what Fox is doing? It seems the others have become mere mouthpiece's of the government. Sad and a bit scary at times.
Whatever happened to being afraid of the news outlets being too in bed with the government? That seems to have disappeared overnight -- like say the day of the inauguration. I don't remember Fox News or other media conservatives being quite this bad when Bush was in office. In fact, Rush Limbaugh and some other media conservatives were big critics of Bush at times. The predominance in the current media seems to be clapping seals.
You are so right -- the media -- all media -- should be watchdogs, not lapdogs. Maybe I'm overreacting but I find this a bit unsettling. No, more than a bit. A lot. As far as I know, it's just unprecedented.
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