The White House’s War Against Fox News

Posted on October 20, 2009

I’ve been behind the curve on this story, because I guess I dismissed its importance to the bigger picture….but slander in an attempt to muffle free speech and free press to this degree can’t go ignored. Jake Tapper pinned down Gibbs with the essential question:

Tapper: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one –

(Crosstalk)

Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.

Tapper: But that’s a pretty sweeping declaration that they are “not a news organization.” How are they any different from, say –

Gibbs: ABC –

Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?

Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o’clock tonight. Or 5 o’clock this afternoon.

Tapper: I’m not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I’m talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a “news organization” — why is that appropriate for the White House to say?

Gibbs: That’s our opinion.

Ed Morrissey asks:

What do they have to fear from Fox News, after all? It makes them look petty and craven, instead of simply responding on each story and letting other news organizations tell their side of the story. After all, they have no lack of volunteers for that task.

Mike Allen and Josh Gerstein have the answer: Containment

The rationale of the White House offensive against Fox News has been a topic of much puzzlement lately. Is this just the White House lashing out? Are they trying to rally the base?
But I think Mike Allen and Josh Gerstein nail the real explanation in their story today: The White House is working to prevent stories born on Fox from crossing over into more widely-viewed media. Most Americans still haven’t heard of Van Jones, for instance; and the strategy is now all about containment…

Michelle Malkin points out the leftwing extremist groups giving the White House their talking points.

Bernie Goldberg thinks there is a deeper motive:

And if FOX hadn’t run those videos showing ACORN employees in several cities giving advice to a “pimp” and his “ho” on how to set up a brothel in this country featuring young (very young) girls from Central America … there’s a good chance that none of those so-called unbiased “mainstream” news operations would have run the videos or covered the story.

That’s why the White House has gone to war with FOX: to discourage other news organizations, friendly news organizations that have been slobbering over the president since he started running, that they should not lower themselves and “legitimize” a story that pretty much only FOX cared about.

And, let’s be honest: If the White House were really concerned about fair play, about calling out news operations with biased “perspectives,” Axelrod and Emmanuel would have said something about MSNBC. That operation is one great big biased “perspective.” But they didn’t. Why? Because they have no problem with “perspective” as long as it’s their perspective that’s being peddled.

But I don’t believe that this is simply a strategy aimed at the media. This isn’t only about trying to convince ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC and the print press to shy away from “FOX stories.” No, I think the strategy goes way beyond that. This is, I believe, a long term game plan aimed at influencing not just their journalistic pals, but also the bigger American culture in general.

If the White House can get the word out that FOX is not legitimate, that FOX is a political outfit not a news organization, if they can repeat the mantra long enough, perhaps, over time, it just might become an idea that is widely and uncritically accepted – mainly by Americans who are not especially political, and more than likely don’t even watch FOX News.

Nice Deb has several videos.

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