Obama sticks it to Fox
We're pleased to see that Sen. Barack Obama is taking our advice to heart and dealing sternly with Fox Noise Channel.
(Well, actually we're confident that Obama is smart enough to think of it himself. But you know what they say about great minds.) Via MyDD comes this wonderful account from a Washington Post blog called The Sleuth:
As someone said in comments at MyDD, it's probably time for all Democrats to simply give Fox the cold shoulder. They don't report the news, they act as a propaganda channel for the White House and the GOP.
There's a lesson here for Democratic officials at all levels. While in the abstract it may be nice to talk about responding to reporters' questions as a responsible part of the job, there are limits. It's a judgment call, but when an outlet becomes not only hostile to Democrats but an active participant in smear-based politics, no Democrat is under any obligation to answer questions from employees of that outlet.
There have certainly been instances of Republicans at the state legislative level refusing to talk to certain outlets because those outlets published the truth.
When an outlet insists on promoting wingnut Swift Boating, Democrats need to react swiftly and punish that outlet. It's a dumb game, of course, but propagandists deserve contempt.
We didn't invent the current media landscape, and it's taken our side an awfully long time to come to grips with it, but that's the way it is. The rightist stink tanks and their propaganda mills aren't going away any time soon.
(Well, actually we're confident that Obama is smart enough to think of it himself. But you know what they say about great minds.) Via MyDD comes this wonderful account from a Washington Post blog called The Sleuth:
These are chilly days on Capitol Hill ... and on the campaign trail for Fox News journalists -- at least when they're anywhere near Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).This is how you deal with Fox Noise Channel and any other alleged news outlet that is part and parcel of the GOP. Let Nixonian scumbag Roger Ailes crawl on his belly some more.
Sources tell The Sleuth that the Obama camp has "frozen out" Fox News reporters and producers in the wake of the network's major screw-up in running with the erroneous Obama-the-jihadist story reported by Insight magazine.
---snip---
Since the madrassah incident, Obama has given interviews to ABC, CNN, CBS and NBC -- pretty much every other network except Fox. Sources close to Obama acknowledged that they're not thrilled to play ball with Fox journalists, but they stopped short of saying they are freezing the network out.
---snip---
No one is suggesting the icy conditions are permanent. In fact, a thawing of sorts may already have begun thanks to two telephone conversations Fox News Channel CEO Roger Ailes had with Obama.
As someone said in comments at MyDD, it's probably time for all Democrats to simply give Fox the cold shoulder. They don't report the news, they act as a propaganda channel for the White House and the GOP.
There's a lesson here for Democratic officials at all levels. While in the abstract it may be nice to talk about responding to reporters' questions as a responsible part of the job, there are limits. It's a judgment call, but when an outlet becomes not only hostile to Democrats but an active participant in smear-based politics, no Democrat is under any obligation to answer questions from employees of that outlet.
There have certainly been instances of Republicans at the state legislative level refusing to talk to certain outlets because those outlets published the truth.
When an outlet insists on promoting wingnut Swift Boating, Democrats need to react swiftly and punish that outlet. It's a dumb game, of course, but propagandists deserve contempt.
We didn't invent the current media landscape, and it's taken our side an awfully long time to come to grips with it, but that's the way it is. The rightist stink tanks and their propaganda mills aren't going away any time soon.
