White House war on Fox: Echoes of Nixon-Agnew
I have been writing for several months about how thin skinned the White House has been about press criticism -- especially when it comes to the Fox News Channel. I have compared the current administration to the White House of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, and believe me, I did not do that lightly. Nixon-Agnew was a very dark time for the First Amendment.

I have argued that whether or not you like Fox News, all of us in the press need to be concerned about the administration of President Barack Obama trying to "punish" the cable news channel for its point of view.

Yesterday, Howard Kurtz had Anita Dunn, the point person for the White House war on those who would dare to criticize it, on his CNN media show "Reliable Sources." Take a look for yourself, and you tell me if this is an administration that respects press freedom.


By the way, Dunn is absolutely wrong about Fox's coverage of the election last fall. I did watch it every day and wrote about it several times a week for this blog. And while I didn't like a lot of what I saw with soft interviews and only favorable coverage of Sarah Palin, it wasn't all about Bill Ayers and ACORN by a long shot. In fact, I saw Shephard Smith take down Joe the Plumber after that GOP-created character came on Fox and said, "A vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel." I wonder if Smith was acting as an "arm" of the Republican Party on that one. I have to say I was suprised to hear a senior White House staffer sounding so uninformed and blantantly biased. This campaign by the Obama administration is dangerous to press freedom, and it should concern everyone in the press, not just Fox. If you want to get a sense of little regard Team Obama has for the press in general, check out this "Time" magazine article. You have to wonder who else is on this administration's enemies list. Disclosure: I was a guest on "Reliable Sources" Sunday, but not during this segment.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2009/10/fox_news_channel_anita_dunn_ba.html




When an administration feels compelled to go after a news organization, then it's a whole new ball game.

Some of us know how the current administration does not like opposing voices but this cannot be allowed.

I despise CNN, do I complain and cause problems? Uh no, I just don't watch them. This administration needs to suck it up and face the facts that he's not everyone's hero. Get a grip obama.

I haven't heard anything in a few months but at one point he was trying to take over and control the internet, I'm sure Al Gore had something to say about that one being that he invented it.

The whitehouse has to battle untruths somehow. I doubt it will shut down Faux news which would do us all a favor...lol

It is the worst news station in accuracy than any other station. It is also the worst with political spin than any others.

while I am no fan of Fox news, the government should be disproving the news with actions that proves otherwise, if there are "lies" and "misinformation" spread by any news channels.

I personally watch news channels for entertainment purposes, then go and compare news from as many sources I can and then get a general idea of what really goes on.

I only partly agree with the OP. I don't consider Faux News a "real" news outlet, as they present information with a heavy bias (same as the other outlets). However, if pressure from Faux prevents censorship of the internet, more power to 'em. I eagerly anticipate the time when the power of the webbernet can bring down the government and give the people back the freedom that was taken by the State. :)

Yes, kinda like one should disprove lies from other new organizations.

As far a Faux news, Fox new does show both sides, completely different from Communist News Network.

communist news network = CNN



Let's not go that far, but I have seen CNN caught spreading misinformation. MSNBC has really gone ultra-liberal ever since the elections.

Fox news shows both sides? It's very, very biased .

Yep, surely your opinion just like CNN to me is the worst in America.

The issue is this administration just needs to deal with it. Bush had to deal with CNN. All former presidents had to deal with it, is obama the almighty where he cannot be questioned??

That's the point here. If someone doesn't question an authority figure, then that leaves a a very wide door open.

The guy who wrote the article is a democrat, he is right in his article holding a hound dog accountable.

They are all! I personally like the PBS (public broadcast)channel as the least biased.

Coming from your point of view is biased, CNN has been biased and one sided for so long.

Atlantis, you're right MSNBC has gone blatantly one sided.

people only say that because they don't want to hear what's said on the fox news channel.. hear no evil, right?

Just because you don't agree with it or don't like what you hear doesn't mean it's fake (faux) or biased.

Yes, there are opinionators that get air time but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't call Geraldo Rivera or Greta or Juan Williams mouthpeices for the right..

Odd that many of the people I kow who diss Fox News are meny of the same who Colbert and Jon Stewart almost religiously, not that either are news but lots of people "get their news" from those shows.

I didn't say others weren't. I was just commenting specifically on what she said about Fox.

there's no way you can consider PBS to be unbiased.. it claims to be and I like NewsHour but they're so in the tank for Obama and always have been. It's really pretty blatant.

For the record it is BSCNN!

Not true and the only way to know it is do your own research.

Not true.

I hear things I don't want to hear on all news stations. But on most stations I cannot verify the inaccuracy of the news provided as often as I can with Faux news.

So, you're saying Fox is not biased at all?

That's because you don't look, you are too busy buying everything in the huffington post.