CNN's Howard Kurtz Recycled Myth Fox Censored Sally Field for Anti-war Bit

September 19th, 2007 9:31 AM

Washington Post journalist Howard Kurtz analyzes media issues on his CNN show “Reliable Sources.” But he created a media issue of his own by propping up the false story pushed by the many in the media that Fox censored actress Sally Field during her Emmy acceptance speech for making an anti-war statement.

However, that's not what happened. Instead, as the orchestra signaled her time was up, Fox cut Field's sound after she uttered “G******.” Fox also censored two other speakers for obscenity.

Kurtz was a guest on the September 18 Glenn Beck show to discuss infotainment drowning out hard news in the media. Then Kurtz claimed the story became legitimate once Fox censored what he falsely labeled as Fox silencing Field's anti-war comment (my emphasis):

KURTZ: Well, it's a non-story that became a story because of FOX pulling the plug on her anti-war sentiment. But look, the...

BECK: That's not what they did, Howard. They did -- they did not do that.

KURTZ: They didn't like the word she used, I know. But, look, there's no question -- this started with O.J. in the '90s, and then television got addicted.

Kurtz started out saying Fox pulled the plug because of Field's “antiwar sentiment,“ but once Beck objected, the newsman quickly admitted it was the profanity. So, what was he thinking? Did the exhilaration of slamming Fox override his journalistic instincts? Surely the host of a show that is supposed to dissect media accuracy wouldn't engage in deliberate deception. Was he just caught up in the moment?

Whatever the reasons, Kurtz knew the real story behind the censor cutting Field's speech and still stuck with the same left-wing propaganda. Maybe he can address it on his own show.

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