White House Loses Bid to Exclude Fox News From Pay Czar Interview

[kpete]

Source: FOX

White House Loses Bid to Exclude Fox News From Pay Czar Interview
The Obama administration on Thursday tried to make "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg available for interviews to every member of the White House pool except Fox News. But the Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV networks decided that none of their reporters would interview Feinberg unless Fox News was included.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/23/white-house-... /

[WriteDown]

1. The press will always stick together...

Most of the time they've gone from network to network and back again so they all know each other.

[vadawg]

4. or they see it as a first they came for fox news and we didnt stick together thing

then they came for me scenario, pesky thing about freedom of the press is we have to put up with what we believe to be the good and the bad. Would anyone here seriously want the government to control the media both good and bad...

[onehandle]

5. They're not the press.

Well, at least we and the White House know that.

[depakid]

34. They sure didn't stick together when Republicans were in power- and excluded people

[Politicub]

2. The other networks don't know what to do without Fox giving them their marching orders

So they pout and support the network that manifestly has the goal of inciting hatred and violence that could lead to an assassination attempt.

At least we know the leopards by their spots. Fuck them.

[emulatorloo]

9. Yes they sure seem to get lots of their "Spin" from Fox. n/t

[valerief]

3. Well, we know who runs the country now. nt

[tyne]

8. The only one proof of this is

fox.

[valerief]

11. Ha! Good point! nt

[glowing]

6. I would schedule fox last.. and then oops cell phone emergency..

sorry, catch you next time. LOL.

[BootinUp]

29. lol, brilliant.

[bluestateguy]

7. Fine. Next time they do that just throw in a reporter from the Huffington Post & a Daily Kos blogger

nt

[TheCoxwain]

10. Call their bluff .. cancel all interviews ..

Fuck those bastards

[valerief]

12. Love your scale graphic! nt

[TheCoxwain]

13. thanks

I made it on a whim .. have got a lot of compliments for it .. I guess people relate to it.

[Lasher]

16. That's the obvious best move.

Maybe offer an exclusive to one of the other networks. If that doesn't work forget about it.

Wayne

[Hugin]

19. Yeah, great graphic.

Really does illustrate the situation.

[BootinUp]

28. I agree. nt

[hedgehog]

35. Why are the other networks treating Fox as an actual news source?

[Hyper_Eye]

14. The front page of foxnews.com looks like a tabloid site.

When a "news organizations" website doesn't look any different from a tabloid in the checkout line at the supermarket what is one to think? If you talk like a tabloid, read like a tabloid, and have the same crazy subscribers as a tabloid... your nothing but a tabloid! They can call it news all day long but calling it such doesn't make it so.

[katkat]

15. okay, no interviews

That's what I would have said. But then I have a spine, which apparently the White House does not.

I will now pause a moment to enjoy thinking about the MSM sinking into more financial quicksand. I hope they are soon gone forever.

[Mr. Sparkle]

17. They should'nt have gave Fox the interview, and if the networks don't like it, they can suck on it..

I bet this episode has overshadowed any news that Kenneth Feinberg might have had.

It is also a prefect excuse to look at media reform laws, and that is to try and take as much profit out of the news, where the end result is that the American people are given straight news. I remember what a horrible bunch of scumbags the "media" were to Clinton in the last few years. I also remember the fear with which the media had for Bush during his presidency where it took until 2005 to start running stories against his administration, in fear of repercussions.

As far as i am concerned it is Corporate media rather than a free media.

[Frances]

18. I won't believe anything Fox says until

it's confirmed by a reputable source

[go west young man]

20. The U.S. media are just another useless monopoly really.

The Deregulation Act back in the 90's just solidified their already ridiculous way of being. They all report the same crap. They all get the same talking points. They all covered up the wars and the crimes associated with it. They all show the same distraction stories. The CIA infiltrated them years ago and they have become watered down drivel ever since. They stick together because they are all right wing. MSNBC/GE/The Rockefeller's lean a little left these days only because they have seen the danger in the way America is heading. The rest of em are all well behind the curve. Obama should stick to his guns and block Fox. Faux is the enemy and the head of the hydra. Cut off the hydras head and we're all better off. Fuck Faux.

[janx]

21. Wow, Fox is really whining!

I keep seeing stories about this--from Fox News.

[TomVilmer]

22. Stupid idea to bully FOX...

I live in a small country, where our prime minister for years tried to avoid answering questions about an illegal war, your former president lured him into. Specially one critical journalist pissed him off, and our problem was, that the media here was not as brave, as yours are.
The press at my country could have supported this outcast, as your press does - but they did not. He works for one of our biggest news papers, but it took this lone guy more than 500+ letters for an interview, before he finally got it.

I guess you would have screamed, if Bush only wanted to talk to FOX. Give them the break, they would never give you!

[Cha]

31. Poor fucking fauxsn00ze.

faux is the fucking bully and they are being stood up to and they can't take..little whiny ass bullies.

[fascisthunter]

33. just say no to fascist propaganda

the admin is free to turn down any media network it wants.

[TomVilmer]

46. No freedom of (hate) speech?

"Just say no to fascist propaganda". The enigma is, to prevent the wrong (fascist) opinions to be heard, is a clear path to fascism.

It is a complicated question. As a journalist, I support my colleges right to all have same access to our public leaders. The governments duty as our public servants is to treat all of the press equally. And Obama is doing this wrong, giving Fox a good reason to bash him.

But speech has consequences. In Rwanda, journalists were helping to coordinate the killings. In many ways this is how I think about Fox and Glen Beck. But "we" should be better than "them". Not worse. There must be a smarter way...

[struggle4progress]

49. Well, of course. But this is just more dishonest noise: the WH didn't bully Fox. See #48 below

[Kitsune]

23. They should invite other non-news orgs, then. Quilting magazines, random people with personal blogs,

Drive the point home that if Fox is included, the bar regarding content has been lowered to the point where any joker with a pen and paper has just as much right to be there as whatever robot Fox sends.

[Hugin]

25. They should invite the two old heckler guys from "The Muppet Show". n/t

[katkat]

43. quilting, I love it n/t

[Hutzpa]

24. The individual that made this

decision (has to be an individual) needs to be monitored closely, thats the
channel that gets all the fake news out to the public. This stick togetherness
helps no one but their selfish deeds, in spite of the BS they fed out about free
press, they would not know what a free press looks like even it hits them head on.

[Cha]

32. I'm thinking the White House

is smarter than these so called "news" outlets and it's not over yet.

[benld74]

26. Fox News DOES NOT have to be called on just because they are present

[tomm2thumbs]

27. then 'none' it is - next

[Vidar]

30. Give the only interviews to The Guardian and Le Monde.

[The Stranger]

36. Then fuck all of them. If this isn't proof that the media is all bought off, given that they are

supposed to be REPORTERS TRYING TO SCOOP ONE ANOTHER, I don't know what is.

[harun]

45. As others have said they should give the time to good bloggers, LinkTV

and alternate sources. It would scare the shit out of the Corporate Media if the Pres. did that. They couldn't backpedal fast enough.

[high density]

37. OK, exclude them all

TV 'news' is worthless.

[SnakeEyes]

40. Worthless is subjective

To the WH, the TV news is still important when it comes to getting their message out there.

This was a round robin interview. This is where each news source sends someone to one location and they each get a turn to do a sit down interview with Feinberg. The purpose is for the WH to get their messages out to the masses. Excluding them all would have defeated the purpose. This was to benefit the WH, not give a handout to the media. The media actually doesn't gain much here, other than something else to fill the news cycle, since it's not an exclusive interview for anyone and Feinberg is hardly a well known name. There was no media bluff to call.

[hileeopnyn8d]

42. Can you help me

find a source that doesn't trace back to Fox News? Why are none of the other players speaking about this alleged memo? Especially since they were so quick stick up for Fox?

[SnakeEyes]

44. Not sure.

I haven't seen a mention of an actual memo. I'd be guessing there was, unless it was just stated to the pool as part of instruction for the round robin interviews.

Also haven't seen any WH response. If this story were bogus I'd think the WH would be out denouncing it as more Fox propaganda, trying to further isolate them.

[Honeycombe8]

38. How embarrassing. Stupid move on the W.H.'s part w/o knowing ahead

of time whether the others would go along with that. Like the famous lawyer saying goes....Never ask a question, when you don't know what the answer will be. Could be, in this instance, never make a decision against one member of a group, when you don't know what the reaction of the other members will be.

[SlingBlade]

39. Better to not have even tried this

Than to have tried and then backed down. It's pure foolishness and shows weakness

I don't remember an uproar when Bush silenced the grand old lady of the press Helen Thomas, They even
moved her to the back seats. And lets not forget the pay to play shenanigans of Williams and the phony Jeff Gannon ploys.

There are many that would have stepped in to do that interview including Democracy Now

The person who came up with this idea certainly didn't show the courage of their convictions
and only succeeded in legitimizing FixedNews as a real news organization

Someone there needs to fix this and reprimand its author

[Robb]

41. I'd like to see someone besides Fox and blogs reporting this, frankly.

Anyone have emails for the bureau chiefs?

[Dude_CalmDown]

47. I think it was completely wrong for the WH to exclude them from the interview.

Don't get me wrong - I can't stand Fox in any way. I will laugh and laugh and laugh the day all their stupid fucking heads blow a fuse and knock that entire network out in one big brainfart. And I agree completely with the WH calling them out on the fact that they are nothing but a huge pathetic load of shit. But don't exclude them from things. While they are nothing but right wing propaganda, it's not like the rest of them are anything more than a pile of vacuous presstitutes living each day on their knees propping up whatever absolutely bullshit crap they must in order to continue to hear their own voices. CNN is in my opinion worse in every way than fox because there are a whole lot of sorry fucks that watch that shit thinking this is news - fox is a bunch of crap. Nothing ruins a jog on a treadmill more than realizing that Wolf Blitzer is on and you can't change the channel. MSNBC is the most tolerable of them but they've still got that asshat Tweety on every day half truthing his ass off, inviting on right-wing talking point machines to spout un-refuted line after un-refuted line while spending his entire program pretending that what is true doesn't matter nearly as much as who is winning the race. And can anyone name a day that goes by where that racist shitfuck Pat Buchanan isn't on and treated like he ever had anything worth hearing ever in the history of his entire existence? And when is he going to be on "Olberman's Worst Persons" list? And what the fuck is the purpose of Morning Joe and that twit that sits next to that other twit? It should be known fact that most of the whores pretending to give the news these days are a group of asshats that are loud, stupid and lost fools that are heard and listened to by a lot of people that for some reason think they're getting the news. Keeping any of them out of anything is only going to cause these fucktards to band together and pull whatever they need to pull out of their asses to avoid covering real news - so don't give them the chance. Call them on it when they lie but don't exclude these fucktards because they don't need any help to avoid covering real news - they're more than capable of doing it all the time already.

[struggle4progress]

48. ... The version Fox has pushed all day is that the network was excluded from an interview roundtable

with Feinberg yesterday, and that bureau chiefs from ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN came to Fox's defense ...

Feinberg did a pen and pad with reporters to brief them on cutting executive compensation. TV correspondents, as they do with everything, asked to get the comments on camera. Treasury officials agreed and made a list of the networks who asked (Fox was not among them).

But logistically, all of the cameras could not get set up in time or with ease for the Feinberg interview, so they opted for a round robin where the networks use one pool camera. Treasury called the White House pool crew and gave them the list of the networks who'd asked for the interview.

The network pool crew noticed Fox wasn't on the list, was told that they hadn't asked and the crew said they needed to be included. Treasury called the White House and asked top Obama adviser Anita Dunn. Dunn said yes and Fox's Major Garrett was among the correspondents to interview Feinberg last night ...

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/wh-were-happ...

[struggle4progress]

50. Tiff over White House camera crew and Fox (AP)

By DAVID BAUDER (AP) – 3 hours ago

NEW YORK — ... The White House said it had received requests from TV networks to speak to Feinberg and had asked that the interviews be recorded through the networks' pool arrangement. The pool is set up and paid for by ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox to save time and resources, so a single camera crew can record interviews done by separate network correspondents.

The White House said Fox had not asked for an interview and the White House sent its request for a pool reporter without including Fox. Bureau chiefs held a quick conference call and decided that their networks would not do the interviews unless Fox was given the opportunity, said a network executive who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person did not wish to be a part of the White House-Fox tiff.

After this decision was relayed, the White House quickly agreed to include Fox, the person said Friday ...

Fox representatives Irena Brigant and Dana Klinghoffer did not immediately return a phone call and e-mails seeking comment ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5grZ9q...

[defendandprotect]

51. Corporate-press vs White House . . .

[maddezmom]

52. locking

see this link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...