http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/26/rs.01.html Now let me turn to the coverage of the war overall, because there was a study this week by the Project for Excellence in Journalism which said that in the second quarter of 2007 on --we're talking about newspapers, radio, TV -- 22 percent of -- I'm sorry, 22 percent in the first quarter of the year of the time on newspapers and TV devoted to the war. Fifteen percent in the second quarter.
And here you see on the screen the breakdown of the cable networks devoted to the war. CNN, 18 percent. MSNBC, 15 percent. FOX News, 8 percent.
Now on Thursday, the day that John Warner late in the day made his call for at least a partial, symbolic withdrawal from Iraq, big news in most places. It got exactly one mention in primetime on FOX News during a news cut-in.
Instead, here is what was going on on FOX that evening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS: There's no excuse for local officials to not help the feds track down bad guys.
In the "Thursdays With Geraldo" segment tonight, the Phil Spector trial is wrapping up.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: Edwards is also picking a fight with his favorite target, Ann Coulter, calling her a she-devil.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS: Good evening, Allan.
And tonight, breaking news from Hollywood. Lindsay Lohan is going to jail.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KURTZ: Michelle Cottle, is FOX liberally playing down the war?
COTTLE: Well, you know, I'm sure that the argument could be made that FOX is happier when the war is going well or whatever. But I think just more broadly, a lot of this has to do with the political battle, was what was so hot about the war going up to the election. And the Republicans took a beating, and so now what you're seeing is -- you know, it's depressing war.
War news is depressing. Lindsay Lohan is hot. It's sexy. It's -- you know, now that the political battles aren't quite as -- aren't quite as big a deal, or everybody kind of assume that things are going in a certain direction, you know, it's...
KURTZ: My sense is that all the networks are suffering from Iraq fatigue.
TUMULTY: I think so. And I think the same study suggested that a lot of that air time is now being taken up by the presidential race.
And you can argue that horse race coverage of a presidential race is probably not the best use of air time either. But the fact is, most Americans have decided what they think about this war. The public has made up its mind.
KURTZ: But soldiers are still fighting and dying.
TUMULTY: That's right. That's right. But I think that in some ways, the more important coverage of the war is coming not in sort of the tradition media, but in the blogs, in the advertising campaigns that we're seeing kicking up right now. And interestingly enough, it's being waged on the op-ed pages.
KURTZ: But John Fund, for FOX not to devote a single segment to Warner's somewhat politically important announcement that day just surprised me.
FUND: Especially in August, because there's not much news.
KURTZ: Except for Lindsay Lohan. There is news for you.
FUND: But, you know, let's look at this perspective of the troops. A lot of them can actually get U.S. coverage by satellite.
My nephew Michael is over there with the 7th Marines. What they notice is, when wars in Iraq are going badly, the news coverage goes up dramatically. When the American troops are doing well, news coverage drops.
That is not a good psychological message for our troops. Frankly, they think that the Americans tend to ignore them when news is going well and when they're doing their job.
**8% of their coverage is about IRAQ, but FAUX has the gall to complain about a news anchor reporting from Iraq. Guess that falls in line....more coverage about INFORTAINMENT news, an anchor in Iraq, is yet another segment where they don't have to address real news in Iraq.