Obama Team Continues Effort to Isolate Fox News
Senior Obama administration officials took to the airwaves Sunday to accuse Fox News of pushing a particular point of view and not being a real news network.

FOXNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/18/obama-team-continues-effort-isolate-fox-news/
Sunday, October 18, 2009


Senior Obama administration officials took to the airwaves Sunday to accuse Fox News of pushing a particular point of view, one week after the administration fired its initial salvo to try to isolate the news network by accusing it of being a GOP mouthpiece.

"A lot of their news programming, it's really not news. It's pushing a point of view," senior adviser David Axelrod said on ABC's "This Week."

"The way we -- the president looks at it and we look at it, is, it is not a news organization so much as it has a perspective," White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel added on CNN's "State of the Union."

The open assault on Fox News began last weekend when White House Communications Director Anita Dunn accused the network of being a "wing of the Republican Party."

"What I think is fair to say about Fox -- and certainly it's the way we view it -- is that it really is more a wing of the Republican Party," Dunn said on CNN. "They take their talking points, put them on the air; take their opposition research, put them on the air. And that's fine. But let's not pretend they're a news network the way CNN is."

Despite calls to the White House this week, the administration did not offer a guest for this weekend's "Fox News Sunday" to talk about Dunn's comments, although administration officials appeared on all four Sunday morning shows to speak on various issues.

President Obama has had interviews with all of the other Sunday talk shows except "Fox News Sunday," including a whirlwind weekend in late September where he appeared on all other Sunday talk shows.

Michael Clemente, Fox News' senior vice president of news, said the administration's strategy appears to be misdirected.

"Surprisingly, the White House continues to declare war on a news organization instead of focusing on the critical issues that Americans are concerned about like jobs, health care and two wars. The door remains open and we welcome a discussion about the facts behind the issues," Clemente said in a written statement.

Former Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove said Fox News' commentators have been tough on Obama but the White House appears to be confusing the news and opinion that appears on the network.

"They're conflating the news side and the opinion side in order to -- in order to attack a media outlet. Again, it's undignified for the president of the United States to be doing" Rove said on "Fox News Sunday." He added that it is the administration's practice to attack its critics full-throttle.

"I think this White House is dominated by Chicago- style politics, so if you don't like the questions that are being asked by Major Garrett or Wendell Goler or Chris Wallace, then you try and demonize Fox News," he said.

Though Fox News has won the cable news ratings race consistently for years and is closing in on network news numbers, Axelrod and Emanuel both encouraged other news outlets to not treat Fox News as a news organization.

"The bigger thing is that other news organizations, like yours, ought not to treat them that way, and we're not going to treat them that way." Axelrod told ABC.

Axelrod was quick to point out that though the White House views Fox News as biased, the administration would continue to interact with Fox News. "We're going to appear on their shows. We're going to participate, but understanding that they represent a point of view."

"President Obama's going to talk to all the networks," said former Clinton adviser and administration confidant Terry McAuliffe, who appeared with Rove on Fox News. "He's going to go out there. He loves competition. He loves being engaged in the battle."

Excuse my french, but this is the ugliest goddamn thing I've seen in my 61 years. But when "they" choke the news,madam,they choke ME.

I agree Moon, using Chicago street mentality certainly isn't the way to further this country. I find it totally pathetic the WH has nothing better to do than try to muzzle a news station just because not all the programs are kissing some Obama ass..Even Beck doesn't claim to be a news reporter, only a commentator..He scares the shit out of the WH , he has and continues to dig for the truth something the WH doesn't want to hear..

Obama Compares Fox News to Talk Radio, Says He's Not 'Losing Sleep' Over Controversy
Several top White House advisers have gone on other channels to criticize Fox News' coverage of the administration

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, October 21, 2009
President Obama spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday about his administration's portrayal of Fox News as an illegitimate news organization -- only to say he's not "losing sleep" over the controversy.

Obama, in an interview with NBC, at first attempted to deflect a question about the White House's criticism of Fox News, saying "the American people are a lot more interested in what we're doing to create jobs or how we're handling the situation in Afghanistan."

The interviewer then pressed, noting that Obama's advisers have targeted the network openly.

"I think that what our advisers simply said is, is that we are going to take media as it comes," Obama said. "And if media is operating, basically, as a talk radio format, then that's one thing. And if it's operating as a news outlet than that's another. But it's not something I'm losing a lot of sleep over."

Several top White House advisers have gone on other channels to criticize Fox News' coverage of the administration, dismiss the network as the mouthpiece of the Republican Party and urge other news organizations not to treat Fox News as a legitimate news station.

And on Tuesday, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said White House officials "render (that) opinion based on some their coverage and the fairness of that coverage."

But asked how Fox News was different from other news organizations, Gibbs mentioned the channel's 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. shows, in an explicit reference to "Beck" and "Hannity" -- even though those two shows represent opinion programming.

Informed that those hours are for opinion programming, Gibbs said: "That is our opinion."

Michael Clemente, senior vice president of news for Fox News, issued a statement Tuesday defending the company.

"Hundreds of journalists come to work each day at Fox News all deeply committed to their craft. It's disappointing that the White House would be so dismissive of their fine work and continue their vengeful war against a news organization," he said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------My Words : This is the most childish pathetic thing I have heard yet..Our great anointed one wasting time on trivial things..Is he such a panty waist he needs to encourage this banter.....BOO did FOX scare YOU

House Republicans Defend Conservative Commentators, Decry White House Feud
House Republican leaders on Thursday rushed to the defense of conservative commentators after President Obama dismissed Fox News as "talk radio."

FOXNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/22/house-republicans-defend-conservative-commentators-decry-white-house-feud/
Friday, October 23, 2009


House Republican leaders rushed to the defense of conservative commentators Thursday after President Obama dismissed Fox News as "talk radio" -- part of the White House campaign to marginalize opposing viewpoints.

Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference, said conservative commentators speak more for Americans than the national media outlets that have targeted them for criticism.

"Goaded on by a White House increasingly intolerant of criticism, lately the national media has taken aim at conservative commentators in radio and television," the Indiana Republican said on the House floor. "Suggesting that they only speak for a small group of activists and even suggesting in one report today that Republicans in Washington are 'worried about their electoral effect.' Well, that's hogwash."

Pence said the hundreds of thousands who filled town hall meetings this summer to protest Obama's sweeping health care reform legislation and marched in Washington in September prove there is widespread worry "about liberal social policies and runaway federal spending, deficit and debt."

"So to my friends in the so-called 'mainstream media,' I say, 'conservative talk show shots may not speak for everybody, but they speak for more Americans than you do."

Several top White House advisers have appeared on other news channels to criticize Fox News' coverage of the administration, dismiss the network as the mouthpiece of the Republican Party and urge other news organizations not to treat Fox News as a legitimate news network.

On Wednesday, Obama, speaking publicly for the first time about his administration's portrayal of Fox News as illegitimate, said he's not "losing sleep" over the controversy.

"I think that what our advisers simply said is, is that we are going to take media as it comes," Obama said when asked about his advisers targeting the network openly. "And if media is operating, basically, as a talk radio format, then that's one thing. And if it's operating as a news outlet, then that's another. But it's not something I'm losing a lot of sleep over."

Obama's comments also came after he met Monday with political commentators Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson, E.J. Dionne, Ron Brownstein, John Dickerson, Frank Rich, Jerry Seib, Maureen Dowd, Bob Herbert, Gloria Borger, and Gwen Ifill.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, derided White House criticism of Fox News as "Chicago-style politics."

"The White House and congressional Democrats know that their liberal special interest agenda is unpopular," he said at a news conference. "And now they are following a familiar pattern: when you can't win an argument based on facts, launch vicious political attacks.

"This is Chicago-style politics' shutting out the American people and demonizing their opponents," Boehner said. "Democrats are writing the health care bill in secret, despite the president's promise to do it on C-Span. Instead, Democrats are targeting those who don't fall in line immediately -- like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, doctors and Fox News. This administration promised to usher in an era of 'post-partisanship' in Washington, but what they are doing is flat-out despicable."

House Minority Whip Eric Cantor called the White House criticism "nothing more than a distraction."

"Under fire for its management of a wave of problems, the Obama administration has reached into its bag of tricks and pulled out a new bogeyman: Fox News," he said.

"This episode is about much more than just Fox News," he added. "Today the administration's target is Fox; tomorrow it could be someone else. The administration apparently feels entitled to receive friendly (or what it subjectively deems 'balanced') news coverage at a time when it is making monumental decisions that will have sweeping consequences for years to come.

"Its heavy-handed treatment of Fox is unseemly in a democracy that depends on the free flow of information," he said.

White House Loses Bid to Exclude Fox News From Pay Czar Interview
The Obama administration on Thursday tried to make "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg available for interviews to every member of the White House pool except Fox News. But the Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV networks decided that none of their reporters would interview Feinberg unless Fox News was included.

FOXNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/23/white-house-loses-bid-exclude-fox-news-pay-czar-interview/
Friday, October 23, 2009

The Obama administration on Thursday failed in its attempt to manipulate other news networks into isolating and excluding Fox News, as Republicans on Capitol Hill stepped up their criticism of the hardball tactics employed by the White House.

The Obama administration on Thursday tried to make "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg available for interviews to every member of the White House pool except Fox News. The pool is the five-network rotation that for decades has shared the costs and duties of daily coverage of the presidency.

But the Washington bureau chiefs of the five TV networks consulted and decided that none of their reporters would interview Feinberg unless Fox News was included.

The administration relented, making Feinberg available for all five pool members and Bloomberg TV.

The pushback came after White House senior adviser David Axelrod told ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday that Fox News is not a real news organization and other news networks "ought not to treat them that way."

The decision to boycott the Feinberg interview unless Fox News was included was cheered by media analysts, who said the administration's gambit was taking its feud with Fox News too far. President Obama has already declined to go on "Fox News Sunday," even while appearing on the other Sunday shows.

"I'm really cheered by the other members saying "No, if Fox can't be part of it, we won't be part of it,'" said Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik, calling the move to limit Feinberg's availability "outrageous."

"What it's really about to me is the Executive Branch of the government trying to tell the press how it should behave. I mean, this democracy -- we know this -- only works with a free and unfettered press to provide information," he said.

Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. said the administration was potentially in violation of the Constitution with its attempt to restrict access to the "eyes and ears" of the country.

"What was averted was a very serious Constitutional violation by the White House," he said. "There cannot be selective and arbitrary access to the White House based on some subjective determination."

Several top White House advisers have appeared on other news channels to criticize Fox News' coverage of the administration, dismiss the network as the mouthpiece of the Republican Party and urge other news organizations not to treat Fox News as a legitimate news network.

On Wednesday, Obama, speaking publicly for the first time about his administration's portrayal of Fox News as illegitimate, said he's not "losing sleep" over the controversy.

"I think that what our advisers simply said is, is that we are going to take media as it comes," Obama said when asked about his advisers targeting the network openly. "And if media is operating, basically, as a talk radio format, then that's one thing. And if it's operating as a news outlet, then that's another. But it's not something I'm losing a lot of sleep over."

Obama's comments also came after he met Monday with political commentators Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson, E.J. Dionne, Ron Brownstein, John Dickerson, Frank Rich, Jerry Seib, Maureen Dowd, Bob Herbert, Gloria Borger, and Gwen Ifill.

House Republican leaders rushed to the defense of conservative commentators Thursday after the comments.

Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the House Republican Conference, said conservative commentators speak more for Americans than the national media outlets that have targeted them for criticism.

"Goaded on by a White House increasingly intolerant of criticism, lately the national media has taken aim at conservative commentators in radio and television," the Indiana Republican said on the House floor. "Suggesting that they only speak for a small group of activists and even suggesting in one report today that Republicans in Washington are 'worried about their electoral effect.' Well, that's hogwash."