ACTION: Tell Dems not to let themselves get screwed by Fox News

Posted by Joshua Holland at 10:54 AM on February 21, 2007.

Joshua Holland: It'll only take a minute.

Post Tools
EMAIL
PRINT
10 COMMENTS

Share and save this post:

Got a tip for a post?:
Email us | Anonymous form

PEEK RSS Feed

Main AlterNet RSS Feed

Also in PEEK

The Fraud Of Fraud
Digby Hullabaloo

Broken Glass
DCap DistributorCap

Bipartisan Concern About the Dangers of McPalin’s Hate-Mongering
Emptywheel Firedoglake

I'm reposting this from Chris Bowers at MYDD …

In response to the growing disgust over their decision to partner with Fox News to host a Democratic presidential debate, the Nevada Democratic Party issued the following statement last night:

FOX News' viewership in Western states and across the country does not always get to hear directly from Democrats in an unedited and uninterrupted fashion. The August debate in Reno will allow the Democratic Presidential candidates to speak to the Fox audience who may be hearing from them for the first time for ninety minutes unfiltered and directly.

Unfiltered, huh? Here are some "unfiltered" highlights from the last Fox News debate for Democratic presidential candidates:

[C]onsider the September 9, 2003 Democratic debate in Baltimore, Maryland, hosted by Fox News in partnership with the Congressional Black Caucus. Fox News graphics, as well as a banner over the stage, titled the event as the "Democrat Candidate Presidential Debate," a misconstruction of "Democrat" used as an an epithet. Fox News then summarized the debate with a story titled, "Democratic Candidates Offer Grim View of America," continuing with such jabs as, "The depiction of the president as the root of all evil began at the top of Tuesday night's debate…." Controversial questions included the accusation that Howard Dean had a racist gun policy by Fox News analyst Juan Williams. There were also multiple interruptions by protesters throughout the debate, leading to four arrests.

Insulting graphics, biased post-debate spin, loaded questions, conservative protesters--none of that sounds very "unfiltered" to me. Further, how much of the debate will Fox cut off entirely in order to have their in-house pundits offer negative commentary while the Democratic candidates are still speaking? Four years ago, in typically unfiltered fashion, Fox cut away from the Democratic debate they hosted a couple of minutes before it ended, in order to give arch-conservative William Bennett the first shot at post-debate spin. One also has to imagine what new ways Fox News can think of to distort the debate. For example, before it even takes place, it is not hard to imagine promotional ads along the lines of "watch to see which Democrat best remembers his Madrassa training!"

What particularly stuns me about the Nevada Democratic Party's decision here is that they first admit Fox News is biased against Democrats, and then use that as a justification for partnering with Fox News. If you believe, as the response from the Nevada Dems implies, that Fox News does not give Democrats a chance to speak in an "unfiltered" and "direct" fashion, then continuing to do business with them is entirely-self-defeating. All that does is lend Fox News, and their attacks against Democrats, credibility. At least Barack Obama and Howard Dean have both had the good sense to freeze out Fox News after they were smeared by the network. More Democrats should follow their lead, and stop shaking the hand that slaps them.

There are numerous outlets the Nevada Democratic Party could find to broadcast this debate besides Fox News: CNN, MSNBC, C-SPAN, or even live streaming video over the blogosphere. All of these outlets would provide the Democratic candidates with a much more "unfiltered" and "direct" platform to reach potential voters. Instead of providing Fox News with a means to reach a new audience--Democrats--and thereby stave off its slumping ratings, instead of giving them a golden opportunity to further distort the image of Democratic presidential candidates, and instead of providing them with credibility for all of their past and future attacks against Democrats, it would be best if the Nevada Democratic Party chose a different media partner to broadcast this debate.

In order to fight this, BlogPac has set up an email form that will allow you to contact several leading Nevada Democrats at once. Please, send an email to Nevada Democrats letting them know you oppose having Fox News host a presidential forum.

Tell Democrats to freeze out Fox News today. Remember, while we have provided you with a sample letter, a personalized email and subject header always helps.

Tagged as: fox news, election08

Joshua Holland is a staff writer at Alternet and a regular contributor to The Gadflyer.

Return to PEEK » Post Tools: EMAIL PRINT 10 COMMENTS PERMALINK

Also in PEEK
The Fraud Of Fraud The process of turning ACORN into a terrorist sleeper cell has begun and I see little hope that they aren't going to be successful. Post by Digby. October 11, 2008.	Broken Glass This is no doubt one of the ugliest periods in American political history. Post by DCap. October 11, 2008.	Bipartisan Concern About the Dangers of McPalin’s Hate-Mongering "I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate ..." Post by Emptywheel. October 10, 2008.

Comments	Turn comments off sitewide	Give us feedback »
Comments closed. The comments for this story have been closed. Thank you to everyone who participated.		View:
Real Simple [Report this comment] Posted by: NoPCZone on Feb 21, 2007 1:46 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Not in a Fox Studio, No Supers (overlaid graphics), No Commentary from off-stage, shown in full, with no edits. Can only be rebroadcast in full. Otherwise- no dice. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: eal Simple Posted by: Joshua Holland Fox Viewers [Report this comment] Posted by: Jeanne on Feb 21, 2007 2:56 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Anyone who tunes in to Fox for news isn't really interested in news. Dems have nothing to gain except mockery by going with Fox. Fox doesn't deserve the endorsement of the Democratic party nor the stamp of credibility that appearing on that network might convey. It is the "Not the News Channel". [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] una voce [Report this comment] Posted by: m/r on Feb 22, 2007 5:09 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] This is a pickle- why did the Dems do this !? Now it is damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they pull out- more grist for the fx mill. Setting rules will be difficult- but it's the only way at this point. I won't sign the pet., I have to believe the leadership out there knows what they are doing (!?!?) Could it be survey feedback that some western fx viewers are ready? [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] IT'S NOT ABOUT NEWS [Report this comment] Posted by: VZEQICVA on Feb 22, 2007 6:28 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] The Republicans don't have a single thing to brag about. All they can do is trash the Dems. They stand by their leaders and have no defense for years of incompetence and failure. They have given Bush a pass on the war in Iraq which could not have gone on this long without them. They gave us Tony Snow, the single most annoying and arrogant man on the planet.I believe that they have made a major contribution to our current nightmare. That's not news. Thanks, ANNA [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] FOX NEWS AND THE DEMOCRATS [Report this comment] Posted by: pfm on Feb 22, 2007 8:04 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] Fox News is not screwing the Democrats. Fox News is merely providing outside courage for them to take the "non-binding-lily-livered-positions" they are. The Congress is making one indelible mistake in taking IMPEACHMENT off the table. Pelosi will be a one term Speaker and the Democrats will lose the House, Senate and the Presidency in 2008. They choose not to hear and heed the will of the people following the Nov 2006 election. Beneath the surface is a smoldering latent anger waiting to be expressed. Woe to the person(s) upon which it is vented. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] frank67 [Report this comment] Posted by: frank67 on Feb 22, 2007 8:14 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] If the Nevada Democrats insist on using "Faux News," then they deserve to lose. And they will - FOX is just a RepubThug echo chamber. Dizzy Drudge and the Fat Drug Addict plus Gambler Bennett will have a field day! There are other real news organizations the Nevada Democrats SHOULD use!! [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Compelling Ideas, Facts and Presentation Should Prevail [Report this comment] Posted by: Ziv on Feb 22, 2007 10:29 AM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] I actually believe that this is a good decision by Nevada. Frankly, whether the Democratic candidates have to deal with Fox directly with the debate or via the normal Fox programming - the onus is on them to take REAL positions and present them effectively. That is, it is my belief that the winning candidate will need to develop SPIN-PROOF messages. This may actually force them to do so sooner and better. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] In some rural areas [Report this comment] Posted by: bettyn on Feb 24, 2007 3:21 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] cable companies will provide ONLY Faux News as the cable news channel for their basic cable customers. This was the case in the eastern Washington community that my husband worked in shortly before his retirement. (Hint: The major employer in the entire area was Bechtel Co.) We wonder why some of these yahoos always vote Repug? There's your answer. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] pharma [Report this comment] Posted by: vados on Mar 17, 2007 6:22 PM Current rating: Not yet rated [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] prozac rivotril rivotril addiction rivotril children buy on line rivotril online how rivotril works rivotril drug side effects of rivotril drug meridia meridia medication meridia buy meridia iud meridia weight purchase meridia meridia euclid meridia huron hospital [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

«	October 2008					»
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30	31

PEEK archive by date:

Use » and « to view other months.

Search:

» RE: eal Simple Posted by: Joshua Holland