FOX News: We Deceive, You Decide
American Progress
After Kerry's strong performance
during the debate Thursday night, it was no secret that Republicans and
the right-wing media were desperate to find a way to criticize Kerry.
But no one knew they were this desperate.
Carl Cameron, the top political reporter at Fox, made up ridiculous quotes which he attributed to Kerry
and posted on Fox's website as news. Cameron – who bills himself as an
objective journalist – falsely quoted Kerry saying, “Didn't my nails
and cuticles look great? What a good debate!” and “Women should like
me! I do manicures.” Coincidently, Cameron's quotes parrot Republican
talking points that aim to depict Kerry as patrician and Bush as a man
of the people. Another Cameron doozy attributed to Kerry: “I'm
metrosexual – [Bush is] a cowboy.” Fox pulled the story from its
website after journalist and blogger Josh Marshall exposed it as a
complete fabrication. Fox spokesman Paul Schur said that Cameron “made
a stupid mistake which he regrets. And he has been reprimanded for his
lapse in judgment.” But Schur refused to say what discipline Cameron
faced, later saying “we're simply moving on.” Cameron has declined to
discuss the incident and continues to report from the campaign trail.
Write Fox and tell them that Cameron lacks the objectivity to cover the
presidential race.
FOX NEWS
DOESN'T LEARN: The day after the Cameron incident, Fox News posted an
interview with a group called Communists for Kerry, which it presented
as a legitimate, pro-Kerry organization. Fox quoted 17-year-old
Komoselutes Rob, a member of the group, as saying, “We're trying to get
Comrade Kerry elected and get that capitalist enabler George Bush out
of office.” The report concluded, “it is unclear whether the Kerry
campaign has welcomed the Communists' endorsement.” What Fox didn't
mention: Communists for Kerry is a parody by a Republican front group.
Fox News later retracted the article and claimed it wasn't at fault
because “FOXNews.com's reporter asked the group's representative
several times whether the group was legitimate and supporting the
Democratic candidate, and the spokesman insisted that it was.” If Fox
would have bothered to click the “About Us” link on the group's
website, it would have discovered “Communists for Kerry is a campaign
of the Hellgate Republican Club, a tax exempt non-partisan public
advocacy '527' organization that exists for the purpose of; Informing
voters with satire and irony.”
CAMERON
PALS AROUND WITH BUSH BEFORE INTERVIEW: This isn't the first time that
Carl Cameron's objectivity has been called into question. In a scene
captured in the film “Outfoxed,” Cameron is caught palling around with
Bush moments before an interview during the 2000 presidential campaign.
Cameron: “My wife has been hanging out with your sister.” Bush: “Yeah,
good.” Cameron: “She's been all over the state campaigning, and Pauline
has been constantly with her.” Bush: “Yeah, Doro [Bush's sister] is a
good person.” Cameron: “Oh, and she's terrific. When she first started
campaigning for you, she was a little bit nervous, but now she's up
there—” Bush: “Getting her stride?” Cameron: “She doesn't need notes,
she's going to crowds and she's got the whole riff down.” Bush: “She's
a good soul.” Moments later, the cameras turned on and Cameron slipped
instantly into his “objective journalist” persona. Cameron later said
that “The whole thing is, in retrospect, an embarrassment that I feel
really bad about.”
CAMERON
REPEATEDLY DESCRIBES KERRY AS OUT OF TOUCH MILLIONAIRE: On July 3,
Cameron “reported” that “The problem for Kerry may be who he is. An Ivy
League millionaire, who has rubbed elbows with the world's wealthiest
sophisticates, while most of rural America is considered Bush country.”
Cameron made no mention that Bush attended Yale, is a millionaire, and
has spent as much time as anyone rubbing elbows with “wealthy
sophisticates.” On June 29, Cameron similarly noted that “Kerry has
always been one of the haves, educated at the finest schools [and with]
a billionaire wife.”
Find out more about how Fox News anchors'
“reporting” often becomes indistinguishable from Bush campaign
propaganda.
CAMERON
PUSHES MYTH THAT BUSH NEVER SAID MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: On Sept. 27,
Carl Cameron “reported” that “Though the banner said mission
accomplished, the president never actually use[d] those words.
Nonetheless, a new Kerry attack ad repeats the charge.” One problem:
Bush did say “mission accomplished.” On June 5, 2003, Bush said to
troops in Qatar, “America sent you on a mission to remove a grave
threat and to liberate an oppressed people, and that mission has been
accomplished.”
BRIT
HUME SAYS CAMERON IS FAIR TO KERRY: Days before Carl Cameron presented
fake Kerry quotes as news, Brit Hume, Fox's Washington managing editor,
said, “our day-in, day-out coverage by Carl Cameron has been extremely
fair to Kerry.” Of course, Hume himself isn't the most objective
observer, either. In June, July and August, Kerry's evaluations on
Hume's show, Special Report, “were negative by a 5 to 1 margin.”
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