White House Communications Director calls Fox News ‘opinion journalism masquerading as news.’
White House Communications Director calls Fox News ‘opinion journalism masquerading as news.’
Late last month, the White House posted a “reality check” on its blog, debunking some of Glenn Beck’s claims about the Olympics. At the end of the post, Online Programs Director Jesse Lee added that “even more Fox lies” had been called false by Politifact. In an article today on the White House’s increasingly aggressive interaction with Fox News, Time’s Michael Scherer quotes White House Communications Director Anita Dunn dismissing Fox as an “opinion journalism masquerading as news“:
The general in this war is Dunn, 51, a veteran campaign strategist who arrived at the White House in May. She has been a force in Democratic campaigns since the late 1980s and helmed Obama’s rapid-response operation during his run. At the White House, she has become a devoted consumer of conservative-media reports and a fierce critic of Fox News, leading the Administration’s effort to block officials, including Obama, from appearing on the network. “It’s opinion journalism masquerading as news,” Dunn says. “They are boosting their audience. But that doesn’t mean we are going to sit back.” Fox News’s head of news, Michael Clemente, counters that the White House criticism unfairly conflates the network’s reporters and its pundits, like Glenn Beck, whom he likens to “the op-ed page of a newspaper.”
Dunn isn’t the first White House aide to take a shot at the legitimacy of Fox’s news operation. Dunn’s deputy, Dan Pfieffer, told the AP recently that Fox was an “ideological news outlet.” Explaining the decision not to grant Fox News Sunday an interview with Obama recently, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “Fox is an ideological outlet where the president has been interviewed before and will likely be interviewed again.”
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Hard to argue against.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:52 pmI think it is Fox that has trouble hiring reporters who act like reporters.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:56 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Mr.Duke says
Show me the Fox News equivalent of Joe Scarborough and maybe you’d have an argument.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:57 pmFox News will just say the liberal media lies too. The conservatives who like and watch Fox News will believe them. Intelligent people will wonder why Fox News never shows proof of liberal media lying. Sure liberal media is one-sided, they don’t have to lie though. Cause the truth seems to always be against conservatives.
October 8th, 2009 at 1:58 pmAgreed. Fox should stop calling themselves a news outlet.
Fox is no better then conservapedia.com, a conservative reaction against Wikipedia. (I.E. the world according to conservatives. For a laugh I highly suggest taking a moment and looking at their page on Obama!)
October 8th, 2009 at 1:59 pm“It’s opinion journalism masquerading as news,” Dunn says.
You’re to kind, Mr. Dunn
October 8th, 2009 at 1:59 pm“It’s opinion journalism masquerading as news”
Who would have known, thanks for pointing that out to me.
You might want to point out that they are traitors to the country also.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:00 pmWhite House criticism unfairly conflates the network’s reporters and its pundits, like Glenn Beck, whom he likens to “the op-ed page of a newspaper.”
– - Fair enough, but exactly who are the “news reporters” at FOX and when do they report the news? The network is gorged with op-ed pundits and its viewers are too stupid to make the distinction.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:01 pmIn reality, it’s actually batsh1t crazy, masquerading as opinion journalism, masquerading as news.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:01 pmFaux News watchers ONLY watch Faux News. They believe ALL MSM is ‘Liberal’. That’s right. CNN, C-span, Bloomberg…all of them. They honestly believe there is a conspiricy that the World is making them turn ‘Liberal’. What a bunch of loons.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pmMr. Duke:
White House Communications Director calls Fox News ‘opinion journalism masquerading as news.’
I could say the same thing about MSNBC. So what is the point?
There is a difference. MSNBC uses the truth to make conservatives look bad. Fox News has to lie to make the liberals look bad. Once in a while you’ll get some truth out of Fox News, cause nobody is perfect, even liberals.
I could go on and on displaying the lies Fox News Propagates. Iraq War, Ronald Reagan job creation, tax cuts increase tax revenues, defending conservatives when they are caught cheating on the wife, blaming Bill Clinton for 9/11, Claiming Bush inherited a recession even though it started in April of 2001, then blaming this depression on Obama even though it started in December of 2007.
Again I could go on and on. What examples do the conservatives have against the liberal media?
October 8th, 2009 at 2:07 pmMr. Duke, you could be right – at times – but the point you’re probably missing is that it’s FOX ‘News’ that is crying because the POTUS won’t play their game and pretend like its legit.
While I’m sure many at MSNBC would like a sit down with Obama, most there know what they are doing and make no bones about it. Facts, after all, have a liberal bias.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:08 pmMr.Duke says:
White House Communications Director calls Fox News ‘opinion journalism masquerading as news.’
I could say the same thing about MSNBC. So what is the point?
Hmm. I always thought, due to their ratings, that MSNBC was considered irrelevant to Fox. Hm. Guess I’m wrong. Or constructing a false equivalency. Whichever comes first.
But I suppose it merits a look.
Let’s see…how many press corps people at the WH are affiliated with MSNBC, and how many are affiliated with Fox News?
Hmmm…
By my count, I see…three from NBC News, but that’s not really MSNBC, if we were to nitpick.
But I see two from Fox News.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:10 pm.
FOXPRAVDA is NOT a news network…
… FOXPRAVDA is a political station.
.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:11 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Technically they are not traitors. A traitor is someone that aids an existing enemy.
They are, however, guilty of sedition and if they are not prosecuted, America will continue to be a nation that has no rule of law.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:11 pmas an “opinion journalism masquerading as news“:
Er, how about a “hate speech screechy tirade masquerading as enterainment”…
October 8th, 2009 at 2:12 pm.
Dear Mr Duke,
Palin lost. Get over it!
.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:12 pmHeh. *I* think that’s being way too kind.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:13 pmIf the Fox “pundits like Glenn Beck” are the equivalent of the op-ed section of the newspaper I assume that means there is a newspaper somewhere out there that is 98% opinion printed in crayon.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:15 pmFox News is the National Enquirer of the airwaves.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:15 pmNonsense! Fox News is fair and balanced!
Meanwhile at foxnation:
Regulatory Czar: Americans Too Racist for Socialism
October 8th, 2009 at 2:19 pmMore Shocking Comments From Safe Schools Czar
WH Laughs Off Questions on Czars
Palin Calls for Strong Dollar, Domestic Drilling
Palin Tells Obama ‘Act Like Commander-in-Chief’
Obama Triples Budget Deficit to $1.4 Trillion
Barney Frank Compares Immigration Debate to Holocaust
Politico: Pelosi, Reid at Odds Over War
Army Officers Punch Back at White House
Bo Leaves Number Two on Air Force One
Very Awkward Moments Between Reid and Pelosi
Obama Picks 1st Openly Gay Ambassador
Will Congress Allow Gay Marriage in Nation’s Capitol?
Coming Soon: $500 for Every Newborn?
Obama Handcuffs Sheriff Joe
Cindy Sheehan Moving to D.C.
Should School Kids Be Singing Obama Health Care Song on CNN?
WH Warns Media: ‘The Only Way to Get Somebody to Stop Crowding the Plate Is to Throw a Fastball at Them’
Pruden: Obama Dithers and Dithers
Kerry: Awesome Recession Is Helping Environment
Pay Czar Targets Salaries
Video: Light Bulbs vs. the Nanny State
Democrat Mayor Caught In Wig, Lingerie
Sharpton: ACORN Enemies Would Have Attacked Blacks at Polling Stations
Attorney General: ACORN Embezzlement Was $5M in Louisiana
NAACP Prison Vote Drive in Maine
Hoyer Blames Bush for Afghan Chaos
Report: Nearly 1 in 4 Worldwide Is Muslim
Victor Davis Hanson: Obama More Popular, Less Respected
Did Raiders Get Penalized for Thanking God?
Oh, that’s no fun – my last commenet is awaiting moderation!
What’s wrong with a couple of links from Media Matters. org?
Always a good place to see what kind of misinformation FAUX News is putting out…constantly.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:19 pmMy take is that the Limbaugh/Beck/FauxNoose machine targets the uneducated lowinformation, clearbeer drinking segment of society that lacks the critical thinking skills to do that tiresome chore for themselves. They crave an authoritarian 27 inch screen to tell them how to think.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:19 pmUnfortunatly, in America, there are several million folks that resemble that remark.
Unfortunat(e)ly, damn chell specker anyhoo.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:20 pm85% of the Republican Party is white male. That’s probably the reason why FOX News hires young blonde women who wear short skirts to sit on their shows. Unfortunately, all these young blonde women are driving Bill O’Reilly crazy.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:21 pmmary,
max TWO links in one post.
Three = moderation.
:/
October 8th, 2009 at 2:23 pmFox Noise is what it is, Ms. Dunn. The propaganda outlet for the KKKonservanazi republiKlan party.
With druggie limpballs as it’s primary leader, backed up by goofball beck and bill o’liely. ;)
“when fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag carrying a cross.” Sinclair Lewis
October 8th, 2009 at 2:23 pmFoxNews bears much of the responsibility of the partisan rancor and shrill tone today.
Please don’t waste your time on Murdoch’s media empire.
The chief aim of FoxNews is to further the transfer of wealth from the “small” citizen to the very wealthy.
FoxNews has conditioned the stupider among us to vote against their own best interests.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:24 pmLOLOLOL
I LOVE that the WH is calling them out BY NAME!
Now if the MSM channels would start doing the same.
P.S…On Wednesday, for the second time, I heard a report on Morning Edition / NPR, using an audio clip of Beck!
I wrote and told them that he’s NOT CREDIBLE and wondered why they continue to site him. I don’t know what has happened to NPR but they are tick’n me off big time.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:26 pmMorning Joe, Pat Buchanan, Alex Witless, Chucky T.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:29 pmI could go on but you get my drift.
Absolutely true, although “ringt-wing propaganda” should be added to the description.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:33 pmlow hanging fruit.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:34 pmFox “news” depends on the ignorance and cowardice of its viewership to survive
like all right wing media outlets, they provide a pre-tested for gullibility group for their advertisers to sell crap to
you’ll never go broke selling to the stupid
October 8th, 2009 at 2:36 pmSoapBox says, “I don’t know what has happened to NPR but they are tick’n me off big time.”
NPR took a hard right turn about ten years ago. When “Talk of the Nation” invites two guests on their show to debate an issue, one guest is right wing and the other is extreme right wing. It’s just like listening to FOX News.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:36 pmhttp://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/how_fox_news_opened_america_4liVlMvo3s1jxt8lql75fK
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/11-the-media-can-legally-lie/
It is hard to disagree since the FAUX people themselves have admitted to creating an alternate reality network and going to court to win a case that states they can legally lie since they are not a news organization.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:40 pmraynman said it best. I still haven’t seen a retort.
“Show me the Fox News equivalent of Joe Scarborough and maybe you’d have an argument.”
Also, I can’t turn on the network without hearing Pat Buchanan blathering on and on about something. Where’s the raving, loud-mouthed liberal over at Fox?
October 8th, 2009 at 2:43 pmjournalism ?
isn’t opinion journalism is an oxymoron?
News used to mean information about events. Does it now mean opinion about events as well?
October 8th, 2009 at 2:43 pmYeah, and Karl Rove is a ‘political analyst’…Right.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:43 pmBellow is afraid of heights
October 8th, 2009 at 2:43 pmRove is a mathematical genius!
October 8th, 2009 at 2:44 pmdelafield says:
SoapBox says, “I don’t know what has happened to NPR but they are tick’n me off big time.”
NPR took a hard right turn about ten years ago.
Hmmm, that’d be right about the time a certain Republiklan president took over, give or take a year or so…
October 8th, 2009 at 2:46 pmNo network worked harder to help GW Bush win in 2000 than MSNBC. Remember what Chris Matthews said about Al Gore?
“He doesn’t really even look American, does he?”
“He’d lick the bathroom floor to be President.”
“All he’s got is scare tactics and lies.”
I believe Keith was safe in hiding working for Fox Sports at the time. David Shuster was making money for Fox by harassing the Clintons about BJ’s.
Let’s not kid ourselves. These people make huge money and there has probably been a corporate decision to swing a little left to satisfy a growing demographic. For corporate cable news, it’s a rather bold move and I like it, but it’s hardly like a massive ideological operation as FOX is. Rupert Murdoch has openly said he built the network to advance Republican party interests. That’s really not the kind of thing that’s happening at MSNBC.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:50 pmCorrect me if I am wrong but FAUX didn’t exist until Clinton’s second term. I think that is when they tried to impeach him.
October 8th, 2009 at 2:51 pmMr.Duke… Duke… Duke…
I’m a person to be reconned with, from … magazine.
Mr. Duke, could I ask you…
Sorry, saw the name, and couldn’t resist a little Liberated Fantasy…
October 8th, 2009 at 2:56 pmJeez, it’s about time somebody labeled these ignorant jerks!!
Fox is irrelevant to anyone with just half a brain . .
Bottomfeeder votes do NOT win elections . .
BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO . .
October 8th, 2009 at 3:13 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Picky point:
To Masquerade as news, they at least have to make ***SOME ATTEMPT** to appear legitimate.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:18 pmGOOD! I’m glad the WH is pushing back against Fake News.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:42 pmI think Ms. Dunn was very generous for using the word “journalism” when referring to FOX. They deserve the harshest ridicule for lying to the public.
Beck is questioning whether the swine flu shot is safe or not, devoting equal time to each side. This is dangerous if it keeps people from getting the shot. It is very irresponsible to do what he is doing, and some people will be sick or even die. This is not journalism, it is disgusting.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:43 pmHannity and Beck are not journalists. I don’t think either graduated from college. Yet these two morons are lauded and hailed as experts. I despise them for feeding the lunatic fringe in America.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:47 pmFox occassionally has pure news stories, but rarely. The fact is all the cable “news” networks are really televsion versions of the National Enquirer. Some do a better job than others at mixing in some facts with their opitions. Most of the time, Fox doesn’t bother with facts.
October 8th, 2009 at 3:54 pmCL @50
OK, so today they’re fascists, yesterday they were Marxists? Kinda hard to be both at the same time, and most folks don’t switch ends of the political spectrum quite so quickly…
October 8th, 2009 at 3:57 pmTaxpayer. Just go kill yourself you ignorant pile of dogshit
October 8th, 2009 at 4:07 pmVery cool. It is time to stop Fox and the 24/7 Hate-Obama-thon.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:22 pmThe Republican Party has exhibited all 14 charictoristics of fascism, including the use of propaganda. Crazy Legs and tax payer are just fascist propagandists, and they call the other side fascist to distract us from that reality.
Crazy Legs and Tax Payer both belong in prison.
October 8th, 2009 at 4:24 pmMSNBC.. fair and balanced? Heck, they don’t even try to fake it. Loony lefties only need to apply.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:16 pmJust Hormiga says:
Hannity and Beck are not journalists. I don’t think either graduated from college. Yet these two morons are lauded and hailed as experts. I despise them for feeding the lunatic fringe in America.
I even remember hearing Olbermann say he was a “carnival barker”. It is all about TV ratings.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:17 pmRUCerious says:
Yeah, and Karl Rove is a ‘political analyst’…Right.
and MSNBC has a bunch of ‘politcal analyst’ … left.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:19 pmNinerFan says:
“He’d lick the bathroom floor to be President.”
So that is how Gore got so fat.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:21 pmMr.Duke says:
Was Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough always a “lefty”, or did his political affiliation magically change when he murdered an intern in his office?
October 8th, 2009 at 5:22 pmRUCerious says:
My take is that the Limbaugh/Beck/FauxNoose machine targets the uneducated lowinformation, clearbeer drinking segment of society that lacks the critical thinking skills to do that tiresome chore for themselves. They crave an authoritarian 27 inch screen to tell them how to think.
Unfortunatly, in America, there are several million folks that resemble that remark.
and MSNBC is above that…. LMAO.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:23 pmSerious question for Mr. Duke and CL:
In your own words, how would you describe Fox News? What is their role as “news” journalists, if you see them that way?
October 8th, 2009 at 5:49 pmI watch MSNBC ten times more than Fox. Why? I want to hear what they say. I enjoy hearing the other side. Plus, I find it pretty funny quite often. Humor is good. The same goes for this website.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:56 pmThe question still stands, Mr.Duke.
October 8th, 2009 at 5:57 pmPurple State says:
Serious question for Mr. Duke and CL:
In your own words, how would you describe Fox News? What is their role as “news” journalists, if you see them that way?
To answer your question, news journalists are endangered species. With the slow death of newspapers continuing, 99% of all “news” on cable and the internet is more opinion and ratings motivated agenda. I can see right through it. How many people on the internet and/or TV that claim to be giving the “news” do you know their political affiliation. You say a name and I will tell you their political views. It is the rare bird that hides its true feelings.
October 8th, 2009 at 6:02 pmMr.Duke says:
You say a name and I will tell you their political views.
Okay, tell us Pat Buchanan’s political affiliation.
Oh, wait, never mind. He’s on MSNBC, so you’ve already proclaimed that he’s a “lefty”.
October 8th, 2009 at 6:08 pmBuchanan = right
October 8th, 2009 at 6:10 pmChryon:
Juan Williams what is his affiliation?
October 8th, 2009 at 6:12 pmDaniels says:
Fox News will just say the liberal media lies too. The conservatives who like and watch Fox News will believe them. Intelligent people will wonder why Fox News never shows proof of liberal media lying. Sure liberal media is one-sided, they don’t have to lie though. Cause the truth seems to always be against conservatives.
Yep, all liberals are truthful and clean. Daniels, you need to get some air. …. LMAO.
October 8th, 2009 at 6:21 pmPoint taken, Mr.Duke, but you answered half the question.
How would you describe Fox News?
October 8th, 2009 at 6:32 pmI don’t think it’s accurate to say it’s opinion “journalism”. It’s far too un-informed and shoddy to be labeled journalism. It’s propaganda, pure and simple, with an emphasis on the simple. The few times I’ve been subjected to FOX, mostly airport lounges or at a bar in a crappy chain restaurant, I’m shocked not just by the obvious slant on the (and I use the word euphemistically) news, but at the tone in which it is delivered. Honestly, I have seen high school news reporters that are more polished. It’s almost as if they’ve been given the direction, “Either pretend that you’re speaking to first graders or, if not that, talk down to your audience, treat them like imbeciles.” I guess they know their audience pretty well, though. They know they are not very well educated and don’t want to be made to feel bad about it. It helps them with their hate the liberal elite meme.
October 8th, 2009 at 6:34 pmPurple State says:
Point taken, Mr.Duke, but you answered half the question.
How would you describe Fox News?
a ratings driven machine looking to make maximum revenue for the parent company.
October 8th, 2009 at 6:48 pmMr. Duke: “MSNBC.. fair and balanced? Heck, they don’t even try to fake it. Loony lefties only need to apply.”
Yes! That Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan are about the looniest lefties around! And David Shuster? Come on. He got his start harassing the Clintons about BJ’s for FOX News. And, can you think of a far left looney who has been on Chris Matthews’ show more than Tom Delay?
The network leans left through a significant portion of its programing these days. That’s all you can say. FOX is described by it’s owner as a means of spreading Republican party interests. He makes no bones about it. He feels like there should be a conservative network. Just because his guy Roger Ailes, a tired old fixer, likes the term “Fair and Balanced” doesn’t change a thing.
October 8th, 2009 at 6:53 pmPurple – you waste your time. Duke’s gonna tell you in a minute that if you can’t stand the heat… you know the rest.
October 8th, 2009 at 6:54 pmGod you are stupid Duke. You are ignorant beyond belief. You are also a liar and a fool. Most perplexingly you are inordinatly proud of your stupidity. Vultures would scatter in disgrace from your putrid remains
October 8th, 2009 at 6:57 pmGood, that’s all I asked for.
I’m glad you agree (indirectly) that Job #1 for Fox News is not to provide the news.
October 8th, 2009 at 8:01 pm“Fox News’s head of news, Michael Clemente, counters that the White House criticism unfairly conflates the network’s reporters and its pundits, like Glenn Beck, whom he likens to “the op-ed page of a newspaper.””
Then perhaps Fux should make it a little more obvious that Beck’s “show” is solely an opinion broadcast. Instead, Fux maintains their revolving “Fox News Channel” logo on the lower left of the screen, and the GB logo on the lower right. The implication to those who don’t know any better is that Beck is simply another of Fux’s “reporters”.
BTW, I haven’t been here much lately, where did the crappy new trolls come from?
October 8th, 2009 at 11:23 pmFor about seventy years, conservatives have whined and complained that their ideas weren’t being heard in the mainstream media. If is through the efforts of wealthy conservative families that conservatives now have their own cable network. It doesn’t report the news, it reinforces conservative ideology.
Fox News Channel likes to think of itself as “fair and balanced”, but there is nothing “fair” to the viewers about showing “both sides of an issue.” The underlying assumption is that neither side is right and that the truth must lie “somewhere in the middle.” This is wrong. The conservative viewpoints often espoused by FNC are not based in reality. In short, they lie, and they do it all the time.
Conservatives know that they can almost never win a debate based on the merits of their arguments simply because their arguments have no merits. Cutting taxes does not increase revenues to the government. When that happened under Reagan (their God who, surprisingly enough for a God, is dead), revenues tax increased because certain tax breaks ended. Only an idiot would believe that cutting taxes will raise more money. But since that’s the target audience that FNC is playing to, it works fine for them.
October 9th, 2009 at 12:02 ammy criticism of faux news understands the difference between the network’s “reporters” and its pundits. their news shows always frame any story that has a political aspectbusing today’s rnc taking points….
October 9th, 2009 at 4:19 pmWhite House Communications Director Dunn is wrong wrong wrong.
It’s bloviating bullshit pretending to be informed opinion faking journalism masquerading as news.
Remember this and remember it well; it’s the Flatulent Noise Channel and (Flatulent) Noise Corporation, Rupert “Murder” Murdock, Prop.
October 10th, 2009 at 2:56 pmHow in the world can the WhiteHouse keep this up? I work in the real world, and I am telling you, it’s getting pretty dicey out here. I believe the President needs clean house! It cannot be very favorable for his or any other Democrat’s election/re-election campaigns in the near future. I have always considered myself a Democrat, but I am seriously reconsidering my position.
October 13th, 2009 at 12:54 amThank you for your sharing.!
October 14th, 2009 at 9:39 amAll mainstream news is misinformation and distraction from the real issues. Anyone who’s paying attention will know this. lazer epilasyon
October 15th, 2009 at 4:44 am