Fox News VP makes network’s agenda clear

November 15, 2006

At a certain point, the debate just appears silly. We know that that Fox News Channel is an extension of the Republican machine. The network’s viewers know it, their competitors know it, their staff knows it, the politicians know it. Occasionally we’ll run across an activist or two who’ll go through the motions and insist that FNC is a quality, objective news source, but you can tell their heart really isn’t in it. The argument is just silly on its face.

And yet, as far as the network’s official public line is concerned, Fox News is a credible outlet for impartial reporting. Once in a great while, however, a network official will slip and accidentally tell the truth. This happened publicly in June 2005 when Scott Norvell, Fox News’ London bureau chief, acknowledged in a European newspaper that its viewers “know what they are getting” and the network is “honest about it.” As Norvell explained, “[W]e at Fox News manage to get some lefties on the air occasionally, and often let them finish their sentences before we club them to death and feed the scraps to Karl Rove and Bill O’Reilly.”

And then, of course, there’s the internal FNC evidence that we rarely get to see.

Huffington Post has obtained an internal Fox News memo written by the network’s Vice President of news. The memo details Fox’s game plan the day Democrats won control of both the Senate and the House.

The HuffPo published an image of the FNC memo, but I’ve excerpted the key portion below.

[typos in the original]

The elections and Rumsfeld’s resignation were a major event, but not the end of the world. The war on terror goes on without interruption. Jennifer Griffin sent in info on Hamas’ call for attacks on American interests. And let’s on the lookout for any statements from the Iraqi insurgents, who must be thrilled at the prospect of a Dem-controlled congress.

The question of the day, and indeed for the rest of bush’s term, is: What’s the Dem plan for Iraq? THis could be a very short live shot for Jim Angle, but he’ll try.

In the House, the newly empowered Dems will shed some fraternal blood before settling in. Murtha will challenge HOyer for the leadership. A former hawk v. a political hack. Garrett will observe.

We’ll continue to work the Hamas threat to the US that came hours after the election results. Griffin and Tobin will include in their lives. Just because Dems won, the war on terror isn’t over.

The message and language is surprisingly similar, though slightly less articulate, than many of the far-right blog posts responding to the election results last week.

Except this wasn’t just some guy telling his friends how dangerous he thinks the Dems are; this was Fox News Channel’s Vice President of news in a memo to the news team about covering the major political stories of the day.

Granted, this should come as a surprise to absolutely no one; the memo merely confirms a fact reasonable people understood years ago. Nevertheless, it’s helpful to have documented proof once in a while. The next time you hear someone suggest [tag]Fox News[/tag] is a reliable source for credible news, you can remind them of this [tag]memo[/tag].

Naw. The story here is how it got out.

  • Yes. Very interesting in light of the current reports that Fox, through an intermediary, paid $2 million to the terrorists for the release of its reporters, and the terrorists are bragging that the money whent to purchase weapons to kill their enemies.

    But the Dems are the problem.

  • In spite of the voting public having come back to to life last week, I’m still not sure that anyone gives a damn about journalistic integrity. From the days of Hearst’s “yellow journalism”, illustrated in the movie “Citizen Kane” (in fact, all the way back to the Roman mob, skewered by Shakespeare in Marc Antony’s funeral oration), the public wants entertainment. So far Fox “News”, along with the drug-addled gasbag Limbaugh, has given it to them.

  • Coming on the heels of the goopers’ tepid spin of the latest Al Quaeda tape, I’m not surprised. The insurgency was usually a much more stalwart supporter of FoxNews. But when the transcript of their latest tape reads more-or-less, “The Dems won, but please don’t leave us,” I can see why they need to look elsewhere for war support.

  • Make it the Republican Network for real – have the Democrats in Washington tell them they don’t talk to the Republican propaganda machine. No Dem on there. No loss, since they’ll distort anything anyway. Just make it official, cut off their press pass to Congress and Senate, tell the Republicans they can go out on the Mall to talk to them.

    Basically, fuk’m.

  • The interesting story here is that the Bushites have managed to take an organization (Hamas) that had for years avoided direct confrontation with the United States, and apparantly made it into one willing to attack us.

    And somehow they think this is because the Democrats won?

    Effing morons.

    The headline should be BUSH FINALLY GOES TO VIETNAM.

  • Tom C–YOu are correct. And it should not stop at Fox News. The Dems should say the same to all the Russert types as well, and reward the Olbermann types with access and scoops.

  • Hey baggers! (All)

    Can you say WTF?

    CONYERS DID SELL OUT!!

    [editor\’s note: abbreviated for being spectacularly long and stupid. -CB]

  • Um, Sally, chill out. Talk about putting the cart before the horse. Talk about swinging hot and cold. Dems aren’t in power for a couple months. See where they go with investigations. See where the evidence leads. That is what rational adults are supposed to do.

  • When I hear Fox say the elections were “not the end of the world” (for them, of course) it gives me a lot of hope, because whatever they say is almost always wrong.

    It might be the end of the world for them, now that their hero is almost in the 20’s, and the Dems are looking into restoring the fairness doctrine. Of course, since Fox is so Fair And Balanced, they really shouldn’t object to that 🙂

  • ***Fox – the network for losers.***
    ————————————————————Jim B

    Actually, I think of them as “the unofficial mouthpiece for America’s official minority politial “loser” party.

    But then, that’s just me….

  • I find this story a lot more offensive:

    Someone allegedly paid terrorist organizations $2 million for release of FOX News reporters
    http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/11/someone-allegedly-paid-terrorist.html

    I know its a World Net Daily story but if the story is true that Fox News paid for the release of their journalists and the terrorists are claiming that the ransom money was used to carry out further terrorist attacks on Isreali’s I think it could mark the end of Fox News as the RW network of choice (probably not but its fun to imagine)

  • You know they are are full Witch Hunt mode at Focks Snooze HQ, is there a way to pin blame for the leak on O’Lielly?

    However, am I the only one who thinks the lower case spelling of Bush speaks volumes about F’s opinion of Fearless Leader? I hope he finds out because that vindictive imbecile will want blood for the failure to use his correct title: His Royal Chimpimperial Highness.

  • Doesn’t Fox News enjoy the media exemption under FEC guidelines? Couldn’t a congressional committee conduct hearings and, among other things, compel the FEC to explain why Fox should continue to enjoy that exemption? Does anyone know which committee(s) would have jurisdiction over such matters?

  • Paul Waldman has it exactly right in his article at TomPaine.com today:

    The Fox News Channel has been a reliable megaphone for White House talking points, a veritable RNC house organ proclaiming that Republicans are noble public servants and Democrats are whiny hippies who, if not engaged in an actual conspiracy with al-Qaida, are certainly serving the ends of America’s enemies. It has also functioned as a safe haven for Republicans to run to when things look bad. Shoot a guy in the face, and you can do your first interview with Brit Hume, secure in the knowledge that he won’t ask any tough questions.

    So Democrats should say the following to Fox: You want to spread GOP propaganda all day? Be our guest. After all, it’s a free country. But don’t expect any Democratic newsmakers to legitimize you with their presence. We’ll go on every other network, be interviewed by every legitimate news organization. But we don’t consider ourselves under any obligation to pretend that buffoons like Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly and John Gibson are news professionals who deserve a moment of our time. We’re not going to try to fight you; we’ll just act like you don’t exist.

    This can be a lesson to the rest of the media—not a threat, but an indication that they need to change the way they think about Democrats. For years, journalists have looked on Republicans as tough, smart and skilled—in short, winners. Democrats, in turn, were viewed as wimpy, stupid and weak—losers. If Democrats want the media to treat them like winners, they should start acting accordingly. Stop worrying about getting reporters to like you, and start thinking about getting them to respect you. And if the David Broders of the world start complaining that you aren’t playing nice, that’ll be evidence that you’re doing something right.

  • #18 FEC to explain why Fox should continue to enjoy that exemption? Does anyone know which committee(s) would have jurisdiction over such matters?

    Comment by Rich C

    That’s a damn good point. They call themselves a network.

    And, unless I’m mistaken “the people” own Rush’s airwaves too.

    Fairness Doctrine

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