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Why I watch Fox News (and don't apologize for it)
So the Whitehouse wants to battle Fox News (again).
I'm not a Republican. I'm even liberal in some of my views of how government can help people.
When Bush was in power, I was vehemently against the the Patriot Act and sickened at the sight of our government bailing out big business. As I watched MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox News - I was proud that each of the networks were critical of our government; after all, a free press is the institution of democracy. The press should always cheer on the people, but always be the watchdog of the government. Always.
But that's not what the Whitehouse is saying...
So much for the free press!
Now that Obama is in office, it seems that there's only one network that even bothers to question the government anymore. I want to watch a news channel that is in opposition with our government, not in bed with it. Our press shouldn't be cheering the government on, it should be investigating it. It should use every sneaky, underhanded, questionable approach to uncover every bit of impropriety that it can find.
The Whitehouse should hate the press, not be courting it. The press should be attacking the government, not providing public relations for it. It's the balance of a free press that keeps our governments healthy and honest... always wondering if someone is looking over their shoulder.
If you don't believe me... read the quote once again. Obama was right... a key institution of any democracy is the free press.
So - if you want to just be brainwashed into everything that the Whitehouse wants to feed you, watch the other news channels. They'll continue to spew the rhetoric that the Administration wants. If you want to question authority and keep our government in check, watch Fox News. That's why I watch.
And... I validate most of the stories through FactCheck.org.
There is no thing as a legitimate news organization... there's free or not free. If it's a blogger questioning the White House with preposterous claims... that's both free and legitimate. The White House should not only have to answer - they should have to provide proof of their response.
If the other organizations are 'legitimate', you can keep 'em. In my humble opinion, a White House Communications Director that handpicks the press based on whether or not they oppose the government isn't promoting democracy... it's promoting an oligarchy, where the political elite and media work together to hold the power of the country.
Just a note... I don't watch Hannity... which is pretty much the mirror image of Keith Olbermann.
"...we should be clear that the institutions of democracy – free markets, a free press, a strong civil society – cannot be built overnight, and they cannot be built at the end of a barrel of a gun." Barack Obama
I'm not a Republican. I'm even liberal in some of my views of how government can help people.
When Bush was in power, I was vehemently against the the Patriot Act and sickened at the sight of our government bailing out big business. As I watched MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox News - I was proud that each of the networks were critical of our government; after all, a free press is the institution of democracy. The press should always cheer on the people, but always be the watchdog of the government. Always.
But that's not what the Whitehouse is saying...
“We’re going to treat them the way we would treat an opponent,” said Anita Dunn, the White House communications director, in a telephone interview on Sunday. “As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.”
So much for the free press!
Now that Obama is in office, it seems that there's only one network that even bothers to question the government anymore. I want to watch a news channel that is in opposition with our government, not in bed with it. Our press shouldn't be cheering the government on, it should be investigating it. It should use every sneaky, underhanded, questionable approach to uncover every bit of impropriety that it can find.
The Whitehouse should hate the press, not be courting it. The press should be attacking the government, not providing public relations for it. It's the balance of a free press that keeps our governments healthy and honest... always wondering if someone is looking over their shoulder.
If you don't believe me... read the quote once again. Obama was right... a key institution of any democracy is the free press.
So - if you want to just be brainwashed into everything that the Whitehouse wants to feed you, watch the other news channels. They'll continue to spew the rhetoric that the Administration wants. If you want to question authority and keep our government in check, watch Fox News. That's why I watch.
And... I validate most of the stories through FactCheck.org.
There is no thing as a legitimate news organization... there's free or not free. If it's a blogger questioning the White House with preposterous claims... that's both free and legitimate. The White House should not only have to answer - they should have to provide proof of their response.
If the other organizations are 'legitimate', you can keep 'em. In my humble opinion, a White House Communications Director that handpicks the press based on whether or not they oppose the government isn't promoting democracy... it's promoting an oligarchy, where the political elite and media work together to hold the power of the country.
Just a note... I don't watch Hannity... which is pretty much the mirror image of Keith Olbermann.
Tags: amanda, communications, director, dunn, free, house, obama, press, white
Comment
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Comment by Michael R. on October 20, 2009 at 8:28am - Fox News is appropriately named because of all of the "Foxes" that work there...and, yes, that is the only reason I watch:)
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Comment by Rick Wilkerson on October 19, 2009 at 12:53pm -
Thanks, Cissi, I appreciate your thoughts.
By the way I agree that Obama should not have engaged Fox News. Better to ignore them than to spotlight them, especially since they're owned by Rupert Murdoch. Not good strategy no matter how you look at it.
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Comment by Cissi Sherlock on October 19, 2009 at 11:51am -
Rick, without your input the parameters of the discussion would be so much narrower.
Please continue to contribute on the political front. I like the adversity you throw into the fire.
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Comment by Steve Stuck on October 19, 2009 at 10:23am -
@Doug, your post is coming to life even more since Obama administration officials went on the Sunday talk show circuit basically begging the other news stations to side against FOX. The main question to be asked, Why are they spending their energy on this and are they prepared for the unintended consequences of this campaign effort?
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told CNN that President Obama does not want "the CNNs and the others in the world [to] basically be led in following Fox."
Obama senior adviser David Axelrod went further by calling on media outlets to join the administration in declaring that Fox is "not a news organization."
"Other news organizations like yours ought not to treat them that way," Axelrod counseled ABC's George Stephanopoulos. "We're not going to treat them that way."
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Comment by Rick Wilkerson on October 19, 2009 at 9:43am
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Glad to be entertaining, I suppose, since we will obviously never agree on this.
I generally stay away from political discussions on sites like Smaller Indiana because they can never be resolved. People tend to support their position no matter what.
I hope everyone has a great week!
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Comment by Steve Stuck on October 19, 2009 at 9:31am
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Rick, your really cracking me up. If Fox is intententionally doing all these things, then their ratings would be way down and all other news networks would be flourishing with business. The point is, the news agencies that continously side with the government usually are the ones that distorts facts and interject opinions. PBS is horrific with Bill Moyers and his left bent "Journalism". Will they be 100% accurate, no because it ran by humans.
Bottomline, no news agency should be getting money from the government and they should be covering all news stories from 2-4 angles for better accuracy. People also need to be mature and seperate news from commentary programming.
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Comment by Rick Wilkerson on October 19, 2009 at 8:36am
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Doug, I agree that the press/journalism should be adversarial. It really is their job.
But it seems to me that an effective adversary should be armed with facts, not hyperbole and distortions. If Fox can't be accountable to the truth, then how can they hold the Obama administration accountable for its actions?
Where was Fox News when Bush decided to take the US to war in Iraq, illegally and unnecessarily? I'll tell you--they were amplifying the administration's misinformation about Saddam Hussein's involvement in 9/11 and his "nuclear threat" that had no basis in fact. We wouldn't be in many of the messes we're in now if a different foreign policy was followed earlier in the decade.
It looks to me that Fox is only adversarial when it suits their political point of view.
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Comment by Cissi Sherlock on October 19, 2009 at 3:37am
- Fox Rocks!
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Comment by Douglas Karr on October 18, 2009 at 10:32pm - Every time these discussions happen, they always come back to "truth, accuracy, and misinformation". My point is none of these... my point is whether or not a news organization is on the side of the government or on the side of the people. Fox is on the side of the people right now - I wish the other outlets were as well.
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Comment by Rick Wilkerson on October 16, 2009 at 11:35am
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Steve, it's not my job to prove anything, or yours either. You can't prove that Fox is 100% accurate or that tries to be, nor do I expect you to.
Nonetheless, there is plenty of evidence out there of Fox's inability and/or unwillingness to embrace the facts. Search on "Fox News misinformation" and see what you find. Agree or disagree, it doesn't matter to me.
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