The cat is out of the bag at the New York Times. The Times has exposed, albeit passively, the true motivation behind the White House's Fox News attacks. Contrary to the administration's claims, it is deriding Fox not because it doesn't report the news, but rather because it does.
It is news, after all, when an organization potentially receiving billions in federal funds aids and abets what it thinks is a criminal organization. It is news when a high-level White House adviser, responsible for the distribution of $80 billion in federal funds, is outed as a communist and a 'truther' conspiracy theorist. It is news when the president's chief communications officer admits her admiration for a murderous dictator.
... officials at the White House had decided that if anything, it was time to take the relationship to an even more confrontational level. The spur: Executives at other news organizations, including The New York Times, had publicly said that their newsrooms had not been fast enough in following stories that Fox News, to the administration's chagrin, had been heavily covering through the summer and early fall - namely, past statements and affiliations of the White House adviser Van Jones that ultimately led to his resignation and questions surrounding the community activist group Acorn...
There followed, beginning in earnest more than two weeks ago, an intensified volley of White House comments describing Fox as "not a news network."
"It was an amalgam of stories covered, and our assessment of how others were dealing with those stories, that caused us to comment," Mr. Axelrod said in describing the administration's thinking...
Mr. Clemente suggested that the fight was part of a larger White House strategy to marginalize critics. He cited a report in Politico about a strategy session in August at which officials discussed plans to move more aggressively against opponents...
"This is a discussion that probably had to be had about their approach to things," Mr. Axelrod said. "Our concern is other media not follow their lead."
There you have it. The administration's attacks are a means to prevent other news organizations from picking up on stories that originate at Fox. The White House knows that without Fox's megaphone, controversies such as that surrounding former Green Jobs Czar Van Jones would have fizzled and died, and would not have created the public uproar that it did.
If these stories were not newsworthy, there would be no pressure on the mainstream media to cover them, and the New York Times certainly would not apologize for delaying its coverage.
The fact that Fox News actually reports news that is important to Americans, thereby forcing other outlets to report the story, is what concerns the White House. As Rich Lowry stated at The Corner, "their problem is not that Fox isn't a real news organization, their problem is that it is."
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Comments Policy
BTW Beck is killin' right now!
October 23, 2009 - 16:12 ET by MightyMouthHe's got a baseball bat and he's gonna use it! ROFL!
"The bureaucracy is growing to meet the needs of the growing bureaucracy"
Hey Mighty Oen... I've
October 23, 2009 - 16:49 ET by bigtimerHey Mighty One...
I've been watching this as well today...he's been cracking me up!
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
Beck is really
October 23, 2009 - 18:31 ET by 10ksnookerTaking the bat to the Chicago mob ...
Must see TV ...
"WTF"
October 23, 2009 - 16:13 ET by mad53PAMan,
I have got to stop drinking this early on Friday!
Did I just read that the NYT's is saying that Fox News is attacked because it is reporting the news!!
I take that back, maybe I should toast them just once!!!
mad
October 23, 2009 - 18:59 ET by RESTLESS 1Right you are about drinking early on Fridays. However, every other day of the week is good as far as I'm concerned.
Hmmm, but then again, why should Fridays get the shaft. I'll tell you what, you heave one for me, and I'll heave one for you. :)
"If the man, with the power, can't keep it under control...some heads are gonna roll." -Judas Priest
One mans opinion
October 23, 2009 - 16:22 ET by TomoramaPart of the other media outlets coming to their defense is just what is written here, Fox, breaks stories that the others didn't want to touch and at first it was one story, then two and then three and finally people started talking ON BLOGS LIKE THIS that WTF, IF Fox can do this, WHY can't the other networks?
Independents started running from the fraud in chief as THEY like many REAL smart citizens (save the BS about how smart you are libs, I forget more than you know) realized that fool me once as the adage goes.
Fox started getting BUZZ even though it is not new, but because it was RUNNING THE NEWS CYCLE FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY and THEY all had to play catch up and EXPLAIN "How and why did you miss or not run this story"?
What we do here MATTERS, the pussy can call it cable chatter and the blogosphere noise, but we "aint" letting him get away with it anymore.
I don't think they (the rest of he media) likes Fox, but if they know what is smart in the short term and maybe the long term, they need to at least push back a little bit themselves.
The pussy in chief isn't going to like it, but you play with FOX FIRE, you get burned coward.
A great man once said, YOU only get out of life what YOU put into it, he obviously wasn't a liberal.
My liberal brother snidely
October 23, 2009 - 16:23 ET by Chris NormanMy liberal brother snidely asked me why I watch Fox News. I replied I watch it because I happen to like ALL the news.
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
the dude got off easy - i
October 24, 2009 - 01:12 ET by TruthMongerthe dude got off easy - i think we are way too nice at these family things - obot apologists are sitting ducks this thanksgiving as far as i'm concerned
Congratulations Jimmy Carter!
"...a strategy session in
October 23, 2009 - 16:28 ET by Chris Norman"...a strategy session in August at which officials discussed plans to move more aggressively against opponents..."
I shudder to think what Phase 2 of this plan to "move more agressively against opponents" is.
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
Step 1. Move aggresively against opponenets.
October 23, 2009 - 16:39 ET by JustRussStep 2. ------
Step 3. PROFIT
See how easy that was?
Wh 'Phase 2' ?
October 23, 2009 - 18:54 ET by Forest for the TreesYep, good question - if this is Phase 1, how overt & aggresive will Phase 2 be - perhaps more Chavez-like?
A few months ago, I told
October 24, 2009 - 01:13 ET by lnthompA few months ago, I told some people that President Obama's lack of criticism for the violence by the Iranian government against the protestors was an indication that he (President Obama) would like to be able to use that kind of attacks against people who criticize his administration. At the time, I was told by a couple of people that I sounded crazy. I didn't and still don't think that idea is as crazy as I wish it was.
Lee T / USN(ret) / Oregon City, OR
Be careful -- the U.S. Department of Homeland Security thinks I'm dangerous because
1. I'm a U.S. military veteran.
2. I'm not in favor of the government spending money it doesn't have.
3. I believe free speech is for everyone, not just those who agree with the man in charge.
what took so long?
October 23, 2009 - 16:32 ET by mjfitchROTFLMAO what took them so long to realize what so many of us knew? I'm guessing they finally see the writing on the wall, that they have become propaganda parrots for the leftnut retards in charge, and it's starting to get old...OR, they want to stop the bleeding of renewed and canceled subscriptions? :-)
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -Winston Churchill
Or...
October 23, 2009 - 16:51 ET by Thinking.ManThey thought they were in a sucide pact, but as they were rowing out into the ocean it suddenly occured to them that B-Daddy had a life jacket on...
Jilted lovers are often the worst kind, this will take a while, B-Daddy is still telling them "Just calm down, baby, you know I still love you" and oh how they want to beleive.
This is going to get very very interesting.
Newspaper Circulation
October 23, 2009 - 16:33 ET by srqvetAs luck would have it we received our 5th call from the Sarasota Herald Tribune today asking us to restart our subscription. The Herald is part of the NYT. Finally cancelled the paper in September due to their lack of coverage for the Tea Party event in DC.
Told the salesperson: "If I wanted news, rather than liberal propoganda, I would take Pravda". I asked her to tell her bosses. She advised I was the second person today to make the Pravda comparison.
Good things happening out here folks!
Well color me shocked twice
October 23, 2009 - 16:34 ET by bigtimerWell color me shocked twice in one week...
The Press Pool and the NYTs standing up for Fox...no matter their motives...still a shocker.
May be they are looking on down the road with some trepidation that they may someday end up in the same shoes.
No matter...for this I do say 'Cheers!'
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
Maybe they are...
October 23, 2009 - 16:42 ET by JustRussMaybe they are actually figuring out that the country is moving to the right and they don't want to get left behind. Money trumps idealism most of the time.
They do not even have to lambast the President and his Administration, nor do the opinonistas on their shows have to take a hardline attitude against them.
They just need to report the news, as it happens, JUST as it happens, and let people decide for themselves, or listen to a commentator like Olberman as he tries to spin the story.
As long as they stop kissing up and wipe that spot off of their noses.
JR... $$$ is always a
October 23, 2009 - 16:51 ET by bigtimerJR...
$$$ is always a reason.
Good point as well.
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
You have to read the whole NYT article
October 23, 2009 - 16:53 ET by SickofLibsSo Ailes reaches out to Axelrod and the two of them actually meet alone in a deserted restaurant ala The Godfather (sans the gun planted in the men's room) in late September to reach an agreement.
Then Axelrod goes back to the WH and launches WWIII.
To call the guy a lowlife snake is an insult to snakes.
SoL... You know...I had
October 23, 2009 - 16:55 ET by bigtimerSoL...
You know...I had forgot all about that...I more than thank you for the reminder.
Low-life snake is too kind...but about as low as we can go here on the boards...lol.
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
Lower than a coprolite in
October 23, 2009 - 18:31 ET by MikeBLower than a coprolite in the Marianas trench?
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
So low that he could jump
October 24, 2009 - 12:30 ET by pbanks7So low that he could jump rope under a pregnant ant.
MSM - shaping all the perceptions you need to believe, then confirming it with a poll.
It's not like they want to do it...
October 23, 2009 - 17:04 ET by Thinking.Manbut B-Daddy is giving them little choice.
The smarter ones will step off the Obama suicide express, the dumb ones will be pouring more gas onto themselves while crazily singing "Who's sorry now"
Wooing didnt work, so now Obama is going to try to buy newspapers with our tax dollars, problem is hardly anyone reads them anymore.
The FCC and doing away with freedom of speech is B-Daddy's only hope, otherwise I can hear the faint sounds of the bagpipe dirge for this administration even as I write this...
T.M... Now that is one
October 23, 2009 - 17:21 ET by bigtimerT.M...
Now that is one time I would love to hear the sound of those pipes myself...the sooner the better.
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
So the Obama
October 23, 2009 - 17:10 ET by RMRSo the Obama administration, fearful of Fox News and desperate to shut them up, decided that stealing Keith Olberman’s old worn out “Fox News is Faux News” shtick will do the trick? Next time David Axelrod should consult Gore Vidal.
Maybe the administration
October 23, 2009 - 18:53 ET by Radical1979Maybe the administration should have looked at Olberman's ratings before jumping on his bandwagon. Having Olby and Maddow over to the White House isn't going to improve how any of this looks.
And what might that news channel
October 23, 2009 - 18:30 ET by 10ksnookerBe exposing? hmmm ... mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmnph
Might be the Fascism coing from the Obammunism propaganda department.
FNC is NOT a 'news organization'.
October 23, 2009 - 19:49 ET by TailgunnerDemocratic lies, corruption, media manipulation and anticonstitutional usurpations of unaccountable power by unvetted and unconfirmed 'commissars' isn't exactly news.
As GUN CONTROL has nothing to do with GUNS, so HEALTH CONTROL has nothing to do with HEALTH.
Tyranny is rarely felt save by those who OPPOSE it. (unknown)
He wanted to be Head Chef
October 23, 2009 - 20:40 ET by HogTideRebelCatsHe wanted to be Head Chef but can't take the heat in the kitchen.
ObamASS is such a loser
Fox Rocks
Beck's Batting with Balls
October 24, 2009 - 00:50 ET by AbraxosCould it be that some at the NYT are losing their taste for Obama's Kool-Aid cocktails?
Has the White House finally crossed a line that even CBS can't stomach?
Has Glenn Beck so unnerved the One and his One-ions that they've abandoned the war in Afghanistan to battle a deadlier enemy, FoxNews?
Is the Left suddenly so quiet because they're too busy trying to find the guy they elected?
It's not just the questions that go unanswered, but answers that go unquestioned.
Newsbusters, you da bomb.
The white
October 24, 2009 - 09:25 ET by jessieHThe white house is acting like a spoiled child who can't get his way. They are evil, spitefull, children who just happen to be in a place of power.