Fox News doesn’t warrant witch hunt
Over the past week, White House representatives have really been taking pains to make sure we know all about the war.
Not the war in Afghanistan, of course, or the situation in Iraq. Those can wait. No, I mean the other war the Obama administration is fighting: the war against Fox News.
Julia Vann | Daily Trojan
Because, obviously, that’s the one we care about most. I mean, people’s feelings might get hurt — and seriously, what could be worse?
Uh, pretty much everything — fights overseas that are killing American soldiers, for one — but no bother. Obama’s officials are being criticized, and clearly that takes precedence.
Thus, instead of a substantive national debate over war strategy in Afghanistan, we’re getting oversensitive White House staffers bellyaching on air about Fox News like a boohooing bunch of snobby kids. They sure have their priorities straight.
Of course, the logic of their position is deeply flawed to begin with. For instance, if Fox News is an illegitimate news organization — as Obama’s chief of staff and a number of his other political aides (incorrectly) believe — why should its views matter in the first place?
The White House’s clear intention is to delegitimize the network, but, by drawing more attention to it, they are doing the exact opposite. Not surprisingly, Fox’s ratings are up a reported 20 percent since last year, according to a recent article in the New York Times.
Surely turning a deaf ear to Fox News would have been a wiser, and no doubt more effective, strategy. Often the best policy is one of utter disregard. Most of us would rather be criticized than ignored. At least if we’re criticized, somebody cares.
This war, impolitic as it is counterproductive, should make us angry, but it doesn’t because we like the drama. We like the fiery back-and-forth between Fox personalities like Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly and White House heavyweights like Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod. We shouldn’t.
It is immature on the part of both parties — but especially Emanuel and Axelrod — to take up a sizable chunk of the national conversation with chaff of this inane sort.
Let us examine briefly the charges made against Fox News, in an effort to expose their pettiness, immaturity and general stupidity. To begin with, most administration officials do not believe Fox is a news organization, because it has a perspective.
And the New York Times and MSNBC — neither of which are at war with the White House — do not? For weeks, the New York Times would not acknowledge the Acorn scandal. Is that not a perspective? It was the editors’ choice — right or wrong — not to assign reporters to investigate charges of corruption within this national organization, whereas Fox News did.
Both news organizations gave their perspective. This notion of Fox alone having a perspective is sheer humbug, and Emanuel and his staff ought to be ashamed for making such a lame excuse.
Some take it a step further, saying Fox News is opinion masquerading as fact. Also lame. These might be facts with which administration officials disagree, or otherwise wish would go unsaid, but they are facts nonetheless, carefully researched and investigated like the rest.
This might sound like a defense of Fox News — it is not. No one can deny its conservative slant, much as no one can deny MSNBC’s liberalism. This is a critique of Obama’s political lollygagging, this ridiculous distraction from infinitely more important items on the national agenda. The White House will lose this foolish war against Fox News, for reasons obvious to all but its frontline fighters. Why waste any more time?
There is no easy answer to how the White House should interact with the media, but under no circumstance should it actively campaign against it.
In other countries, we take governmental interference in the media to be a sign of corruption, do we not? Obviously, the White House is not interfering at this point, but merely questioning — but to what end? There is nothing that can be gained, and a lot that can be lost. Obama’s priorities — seriously out of whack since Copenhagen — need quick reevaluation. Fox News shouldn’t even make the list.
This is one war Obama will surely lose. He should be working on winning the real ones.
Jason Kehe is a sophomore majoring in print journalism. His column, “Small Wonder,” runs every other Wednesday.
I agree that it would hav been more wise for the WH and the president to simply ignore Fox News, just like Bush and the WH at that time ignored CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, and the whole gang of “mainstream media.” Denying press access to just one media outlet is censorship. We need to worry if that is what this president wants to do. I also find it laughable that Obama said his staffers were the ones who are complaining about fox – not him. I also find it laughable that his Pay Czar made all those salary cuts (whether you agree with them or not) without his knowledge. Everytime Obama wants to take a stance on a controversial issue he just has one of his underlings take the flack. What else will Obama conveniently not know about? How can someone in his position not know what his administration is doing?
Now when the white house and president decide to call out the only major conservative news outlet it is okay.
But if a conservative president called out MSNBC for their opinions all hell out break loose.
Lets see what happens when the next conservative president comes into office.
Nicely put Christopher. Nicolas, Why the time to point out the apparent age of the articles writer? It’s kinda like the presidency going after FOX News -a way of directing attention away from the truth of the matter, which is incompetency within the White house. And, it’s really easy to understand what the writer was saying when he said “Surely turning a deaf ear to Fox News would have been a wiser, and no doubt more effective strategy”… It’s a true statement from both a social, and psychological perspective.
Good article.
I think that the president and White House should focus more energy on Fox News and less on stripping the populace of their money and civil rights.
Blech, this article is a mess. I used to really like reading the Daily Trojan, too.
I know it’s an opinion article, but saying things like, “Because, obviously,” “Uh pretty much,” and “I mean” is amateur. I’m sure the writer does not want to come across as a snotty kid, so it might help him to write in a slightly more sophisticated manner.
These articles are best when the writer, regardless of his or her side of the story, uses clear logic. I have a hard time believing some of what is written because it does not make sense. The part, “Surely turning a deaf ear to Fox News would have been a wiser, and no doubt more effective, strategy” is flawed. Ignoring a problem does not make it better. Just ask your doctor. Recognizing and treating the problem is the general procedure in eliminating it.
Overall, I completely disagree with the entire premise of the article, but I try to keep an open mind to other people’s opinions. Thank you for taking the time and energy to write it, but next time please try and do a better job coming off as a mature writer.
Indeed. And for all those journalism students out there–take note. Fox News is doing the job that journalists are supposed to do. News flash: Journalists shouldn’t be in bed with the administration, or Congress, or the Courts… they shouldn’t be “buddies.” Journalists in Washington shouldn’t be courting the folks in the halls of power; there should be a natural adversarial relationship (friendly but adversarial) — and that is SADLY lacking since Obama moved into the White House.