At 9 pm ET on Saturday, Fox News will air a one hour special about the top commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, who recently argued in Congressional testimony that President Bush’s “surge” in Iraq is working. The program, titled “American Commander: Gen. David Petraeus” and hosted by Jon Scott, will look at Petraeus’ “life and times”:
Today’s conflicts require that a modern American General be a student of history. In this one hour FOX News special, join veteran correspondent and anchor Jon Scott as we take an in-depth look at the life and times of General David Petraeus from his childhood in Cornwall, New York to his historic mission in Iraq.
Fox has gone all-out in aggressively boosting Petraeus and his Bush-friendly testimony. As Media Matters has noted, when Petraeus testified to the House on September 10, Fox featured seven pro-escalation analysts who gave favorable reactions to Petraeus’ testimony and only one critic. Watch a 90 second condensed version of Fox’s unbalanced coverage here:
Later that evening, Fox News Washington Bureau chief Brit Hume hosted an exclusive hour-long interview with Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker. In the interview, which Fox labeled “A briefing for America,” Hume gave Petraeus roughly 16 uninterrupted minutes to make his case, turning the Fox News “interview” into a powerpoint presentation on national TV.
Petraeus also sat down for an interview with Fox’s Chris Wallace on September 12.
President Bush has said, “People listen to Petraeus, not to me.” And Fox News is doing its part to make sure of that.