White House Communications Director Anita Dunn disclosed that Obama’s presidential campaign was working toward controlling what the press reported and “making” the media report what the campaign deemed beneficial.
Dunn was quoted saying the following:
"Very rarely did we communicate through the press anything that we didn't absolutely control… a huge part of our press strategy was focused on making the media cover what Obama was actually saying as opposed to why the campaign was saying it."
“...we did so many of the David Plouffe videos… because it was a way for us to get our message out without having to actually talk to reporters... So it was very much we controlled it as opposed to the press controlled it."
"The White House stopped providing guests to "Fox News Sunday" in August after host Chris Wallace fact-checked controversial assertions made by Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs."
I think the White House has waged a war against Fox News because of their continued fact-checking. They've attempted to make Fox an "example" for other network news: If you oppose us or attempt to make us look bad, we'll slander your name.
The White House's attempts to berate Fox News appears to be backfiring. Since the Obama administration began it's latest barage of attacks on the network, its ratings have experienced a sudden bump.
Many speculate that this sudden increase in viewers is being fueled by those curious about what all the ruckus is about.
The problem for the White House is that those viewers tune in expecting to hear/see news "as-hyped" by the Dems/Libs/Obama... but they find themselves liking the objective news coverage and agreeing with the commentators more than they agree with Obama.
CNN has recently shifted gears in their coverage format and have become more critical of Obama recently... Do you think they're attempting to gain Obama's ire for the purpose of reproducing Fox's ratings success?
It's great to be back. I've been away for far too long.
Now cite examples of other successful marketing efforts that DIDN'T attempt to control the press they received.
As for Fox News... don't trust anything they run in the daylight hours and be skeptical of what you see overnight. They're running some libertarian oriented programs overnight but from what I've seen, they don't accurately represent the ideology.
"Now cite examples of other successful marketing efforts that DIDN'T attempt to control the press they received."
The key word in that sentence is "attempt". Of course everyone "attempts" to garner favorable coverage. However, it's rare tha one successfully "controls" the coverage. In this instance, the mainstream-media was all too eager to do Obama's bidding and provide him with fawning coverage. Heh... they *still* are!
Say what you want about Fox, but they appear to be the only network in the US that isn't "state sponsored" or scared to challenge and question this administration's effectiveness (or rather, *ineffectiveness*).
All (smart) Politicians try to manipulate public opinion. That's the name of the game. They can't have people actually thinking for themselves, nothing would ever get done (for them).
" If you oppose us or attempt to make us look bad, we'll slander your name."
So they took a play out of the Bush administration with the only difference being they don't want to put the president on a station that is nothing except editorial shows, the fact they are editorials and not news was confirmed by Fox VP Clemente so any questions about what Fox exactly is over.
It seems you were gone for a little too long and missed what Fox said about themselves Ca, otherwise you wouldn't have said this: "but they find themselves liking the objective news coverage and agreeing with the commentators more than they agree with Obama."
Fox VP already compared Fox to the editorial pages rather than the A pages, so really this does two things and that is #1 they are not a news outlet and that would explain the higher ratings since reality and opinion shows usually get more people to tuned it for laughter or they believe that the hosts are actually newscasters and are fooled into believing their opinions.
Second- Why is it a big deal that Obama isn't playing their games and he isn't afraid to come out and say it? Unlike Bush and some of those that haven't realized that there has been some changes like the Texan has left the building. Obama's administration has said they have not ruled out appearing on Fox and when he does he will be prepared that it is talk show hosts trying to go for drama or action than an actual sit down face to face, hell Bush never did that for MSNBC. I wonder if whoever get's Obama if they will be polite and reserved as one should be when interviewing the President or do they call the inbred brigade and have a yelling, loud reply so they can gloat that they tripped up the president when he walks away for the childish game(I'm guessing Shep since he is the only one with any sense at all.)
Another thing those leaning right tend to do is constantly call CNN out because they are doing what Fox did during the Bush years, and that is have his administration on Fox and refuse to do anyone elses. CNN is not the boogey-monster of what is left of the GOP, if you compare MSNBC and Fox you will see the mirror images of the style of programming with the talking heads and their animosity the only difference is how they act when they are lucky enough to chat with the president.
The last thing I am gonna say about Fox tonight is I have to laugh when they and most of their viewers are complaining about all this because they are just being treated like the other stations were when GWB was president. Do what CNN did with HLN if you want to be an actual news station and get another channel to put your editorials on. As for the complaints about Obama not being on their show then you need to actually BE Fair & balanced and other than Shep there isn't a talk show host that doesn't have his own agenda. I mean hell would we keep going to, or planning to go somewhere that all they have done is run at the mouth and put down every single thing that you do? Not me.
"Fox VP already compared Fox to the editorial pages rather than the A pages..."
Nope. That's not what was said. Read below:
"Fox News senior vice president Michael Clemente, who likens the channel to a newspaper with separate sections on straight news and commentary, suggested White House officials were intentionally conflating opinion show hosts like Glenn Beck with news reporters like Major Garrett. "It's astounding the White House cannot distinguish between news and opinion programming," Clemente said. "It seems self-serving on their part." http://www.foxnews.com/
"Why is it a big deal that Obama isn't playing their games and he isn't afraid to come out and say it?"
The bigger picture here is that the press was being led by the nose... and didn't mind it. People being fed "tailored" news manufactured by the very people it was being reported about. The insane part is that some of these people don't care they were being fed biased news that was literally written by the candidate's campaign leaders. The irony is that you hear these very people passionately object to objective reporting and insult it as "faux" news.
And “…he isn't afraid to come out and say it?" Are you kidding me? The White House is having a conniption-fit over this. They’re working their staff overtime doing damage-control on this story. They can’t very well deny it considering Dunn was captured on video saying these things. The best they can hope to do is put some spin on it and attempt to mitigate the damage as much as possible.
“Obama's administration has said they have not ruled out appearing on Fox…” Obama actually appeared on the O’Reilly Factor. Bill got Obama to finally admit that the troop surge in Iraq was a success --- after Obama had incessantly and continuously said it was a failure. He’s not been back on the network since. It appears Obama greatly dislikes the way the network has a way for drawing the truth out of him.
“if you compare MSNBC and Fox you will see the mirror images of the style of programming with the talking heads and their animosity” Gotta disagree with you on that. While the opinion-based shows (Hannity, O’Reilly Factor, Glenn Beck, et al) are hosted by those with a right-of-center perspective, they do invite guests that are very passionate and articulate about their left-wing points of view. MSNBC doesn’t balance the debate or conversation in that regard.
“As for the complaints about Obama not being on their show then you need to actually BE Fair & balanced…” Based on what Dunn revealed, it’s no wonder why Obama refuses to be interviewed by Fox anymore: He can’t control the agenda or format. By her own confession, she has marked the other Obama-friendly networks as his media lapdogs.
You can do better than give a statement that is different that the one they gave to CNN! Quoting your own website c'mon you can do better than that, hold on I will show you what was given to CNN
"The bigger picture here is that the press was being led by the nose... and didn't mind it. People being fed "tailored" news manufactured by the very people it was being reported about. "
This isn't new, we just had 8 years of it,but it never bothered you or you seriously don't notice it.
" It appears Obama greatly dislikes the way the network has a way for drawing the truth out of him." Are you serious? He doesn't want to be manipulated and have his words twisted. Stay a few days and it will probably happen here, there are a few that should be working for Fox.
You'd have to remind me here, how many times did GWB appear on each network on shows similar to O's talk show?
Ca so you are telling me when she leaves(sacrifical sheep she screwed shows sayings) that no matter who would be the new choice you are going to have problems with. Dunn wants to control it of course, because that is part of her job to make sure her boss is seen in the best light. Bush did the same thing. Honestly Id like to see all the 24 hour news shows off because they are doing nothing but dividing the gap between right and left and those of us in the middle are pretty damn tired of it. No I dont want to hear CNN goes first, shut them all off at midnight and keep them off for one whole week and everyone has to get their news from local or internet sites. People wouldn't know what to do.
Before I forget and my typing gets worse than it already is: http://www.shortnews.com/ You can read my first reply, but please read the article I got it from the source. "What Fox said. "In a written statement given to CNN, Fox News said its programming was comparable to the editorial page of a newspaper.
“An increasing number of viewers are relying on Fox News for both news and opinion,” Fox News Senior VP Michael Clemente said in the statement, “and the average news consumer can certainly distinguish between the A-section of the newspaper and the editorial page, which is what our programming represents.
“So with all due respect to anyone who might still be confused about the difference between news reporting and vibrant opinion, my suggestion would be to talk about the stories and the facts rather than the attack the messenger . . . which over time has never worked.”
... I'm going to have to say that the Obama campaign and the current administration are going to have to do a lot worse before they stop being way better than what we stopped having in January.
I mean, has the Obama administration paid any commentators hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote its policies? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/) How about putting retired generals on news networks as "military experts" who are actually promoting the wars? (tuogh's link) Has the Obama administration actually wiretapped any reporters' phone calls without getting a warrant first? (http://www.theregister.co.uk/)
So Carnold, can you dig up all the complaining you did when Bush did all this and more? Nah, you lurrrrrved Bush, you could never stay mad at him ... pretty hypocritical, man.
...some are intent to see evil where they want to see it, and to have a big blind spot where they don't want to see it. What a road block to good discussion and progress.
“This isn't new, we just had 8 years of it…” Please. We had 8-years of anti-Bush sentiment throughout the left-leaning mainstream-media. I don’t recall anyone (especially Chris Matthews) excitedly exclaiming to have a “thrill going up [their] leg” as Bush spoke. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
“He doesn't want to be manipulated and have his words twisted.” Yeah… because he has a tough enough job defending his own actual quotes.
Obama promised no lobbyists White House. “President Obama promised during his campaign that lobbyists "won't find a job in my White House." So far, though, at least a dozen former lobbyists have found top jobs in his administration…” http://www.politico.com/
This was published *one week* after he was sworn in. Many more lobbyists have found comfy jobs in his administration, since.
Obama promised that he "will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days." This promise was made on inauguration day. Heh… You guys didn’t really believe that, did you? Several conservative Republicans and Democrats have been attempting to hold Obama’s feet to the fire over this pledge. In Congress, a bill is being considered that would require letting the public see and review bills 72-hrs before a vote. Most of the Dems are fighting tooth and nail against this Bill.
“Pelosi also said last month that she was "absolutely" willing to put the health care bill online 72 hours in advance but that she wouldn't back legislation forcing her to do so.” http://www.newsmax.com/
So much for all that “transparency” propaganda that spewed from the Obama camp during campaign season, huh?
“The White House is not walking the talk on transparency, and yesterday the president violated a campaign promise on transparency. Instead of posting bills sent to him by Congress for five days and taking public comment, President Obama signed non-emergency legislation the day after receiving it. PolitiFact.com rated this as President Obama’s first broken campaign promise.” http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/
“You'd have to remind me here, how many times did GWB appear on each network on shows similar to O's talk show?” It’s not my obligation to make your argument for you… How many? Look it up.
“Honestly Id like to see all the 24 hour news shows off…” Heh… Now you’re starting to *really* sound like Obama.
“"In a written statement given to CNN, Fox News said its programming was comparable to the editorial page of a newspaper.” Re-read that sentence, Tara. Its “programming” (i.e. – O’Reilly Factor, Hannity, Glenn Beck Show, Laura Ingram Show, et al) is like an editorial page. Nobody is going to argue with that statement. It didn’t say this its *news content* was like an editorial page. You're attempting to mince words.
Refer back to my quote, or the rest of the article you quoted from for more context.
“I'm going to have to say that the Obama campaign and the current administration are going to have to do a lot worse before they stop being way better than what we stopped having in January.” The AP and I will have to disagree with you on that:
“The secrecy that surrounds White House actions rivals that of the often-criticized administration of former President George W. Bush and key decisions on health care reform now are not being made in the open but in behind the scenes negations involving three Democratic Senators: Majority Leader Harry Reid, Christopher Dodd and Max Baucus. … The secret sessions are a far cry from promises Obama made 90 days before the election when he said "I'm going to have all the negotiations around a big table," adding that the negotiations would be "televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies."” http://www.capitolhillblue.com/
“I mean, has the Obama administration paid any commentators hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote its policies?” Not out-rightly. He’s a liberal, for Christ sakes! Do you think he’s gonna use is own money to pay anyone off? Of course not --- he’s going to use *other people’s* money to do it (ie – we taxpayers’ money). He pays his minions, like ACORN and the SEIU, with federal funding, grants, and political clout for their support.
Video of Fuhrer Obama inciting his SEIU sheeple with promises of more money and power for their support: http://breitbart.tv/
“How about putting retired generals on news networks as "military experts" who are actually promoting the wars?” If having been a General isn’t credential enough to be declared as a “military expert”, then what does??
“Has the Obama administration actually wiretapped any reporters' phone calls without getting a warrant first?” Your source seems to question the validity of its own accusation:
From your source: “The original outrage over the warrantless wiretapping arose out of what appeared to be (though it was never confirmed) a massive data mining effort…”
Sounds like a disgruntled ex-employee with an axe to grind, to me.
“So Carnold, can you dig up all the complaining you did when Bush did all this and more?” Holy cow! I was going to say the exact same thing to you! Isn’t that funny?
Like, how about all the belly-aching the Dems and Libs did (yourself included) when Bush passed the Patriot Act? Remember that?
“The Obama administration has asked Congress to extend three contentious provisions of the USA Patriot Act - a bill once described by President Obama as "shoddy" - and urged an appeals court to deny access to U.S. courts for detainees at a military prison in Afghanistan.” http://www.washingtontimes.com/
This pandora’s box you’ve opened is too good to pass up. The Patriot Act extension is only one of *many* things I’d love to point out. I say we start a Forum thread on this topic. Sounds like it could be fun, huh?
It also seems that many have low expectations of their leaders, as they continuously attempt to excuse bad behavior by pointing out bad behavior.
"Well, it's okay if [Dems/Libs/Obama] does it because [Marx/Stalin/Teung] did it too!"
It turns a good debate into a 2nd-grade argument. "But he did it too," is never an excuse for bad behavior. Apparently some never learned that when they were growing up.
"They've attempted to make Fox an "example" for other network news: If you oppose us or attempt to make us look bad, we'll slander your name." - carnold
Do we have *anyone* who claims Fox is a bastion of truth? I mean other than Bill and Rush.
I think they're exploiting an 'already widely accepted opinion'.
It seems that Murdoch's media outlets have become the "bastion for truth" since (and before) Obama took office. The New York Times is an unabashedly liberally-biased news-wrag. The result of their lack of objectivity: They're on the verge of bankruptcy and their circulation has plummeted over the past couple of years.
By contrast, last week The Wall Stree Journal surpassed USA Today as the best-selling daily newspaper. http://www.startribune.com/
For those that don't know, Fox News and The Wall Street Journal are owned by the same parent company.
Also, Fox News has more viewers than CNN, MSNBC, and HLN *combined*!
"The full third quarter cable news ratings are in, and nothing has changed very much. Fox News still has more viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined. CNN and MSNBC are way down from their 2008 numbers: Last year was the election year and both CNN and MSNBC profited. But now CNN is down 30% in primetime viewing, and MSNBC has dropped 10%." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
What do those numbers mean? It means the the USA is still a right-of center nation. It means that regardless of how much the vocal minority (the Libs) feel they're gaining traction, they're only deluding themselves. The silent majority (we regular Joes) are speaking out against the MSM's joke of jounalism with our wallets.
We're tired of listing to prawning and fawning over a failing administration and want some "fair and balanced" news.
Perhaps you're right. If so, it only serves to further display this administration's arrogance in thinking it actually controlled the media. It also underscores its fiendish desire for power and the need to be in control of everything/everyone. After all, those were Dunn's own words. Read the source. The video is there, as well.
business as usual. The press hasn't been free for a long long time and made a nose dive during Bush's presidency when even secrecy reached new top levels.
It went from something like 11 to 38, then to 30 and now its at 20. http://www.rsf.org/
The United States has climbed 16 places in the rankings, from 36th to 20th, in just one year. Barack Obama’s election as president and the fact that he has a less hawkish approach than his predecessor have had a lot to do with this.
But this sharp rise concerns only the state of press freedom within the United States. President Obama may have been awarded the Nobel peace prize, but his country is still fighting two wars. Despite a slight improvement, the attitude of the United States towards the media in Iraq and Afghanistan is worrying. Several journalists were injured or arrested by the US military. One, Ibrahim Jassam, is still being held in Iraq."
