From The Plum Line
Media Matters, which has raised the torturing of Fox News to a high art, has come up with a new one: The group is trying to run an ad touting News Corporation’s widely-reported $1 million contribution to the Republican Governors Association — on Fox, during Bill O’Reilly’s show.
A Media Matters official sends over the ad, which you can watch below, and the spot coincides with a new front the group is opening against Fox: Media Matters and several other groups are about to call on the White House Correspondents Association to consider yanking Fox’s front-row seat in the White House press room.
The idea behind the ad is that Fox News devoted little to no coverage at all to its parent company’s $1 milllion donation, even though it was widely covered by many other news outlets and was widely pilloried by Dems as proof that Fox is a wholly owned subsidiary of the GOP. By running the ad during O’Reilly’s show, Fox’s most watched program, Media Matters hopes to bring to Fox viewers’ atttention what Fox News mostly wouldn’t:
The ad reports the News Corp. donation in straightforward fashion, with no attack on Fox, in order to make it tougher for Fox to refrain from running it. If the network does turn it down, of course, that could earn the ad some free coverage, keeping the story about the donation going.
Separately, Media Matters, along with two goo goo groups — Center for Media and Democracy, and Public Campaign — are sending a letter today to the White House Correspondents’ Association asking the group to reconsider allowing Fox to remain in the White House press room. The crux of their case:
What message does it send to reward a “news outlet” that ideologically and financially supports the Republican Party with a place of distinction in the White House briefing room? How is the country better served by continuing to disregard Fox News’ unabashed partisan tilt even as it becomes more and more obvious?
This is an issue that transcends mere ideological squabbling. If democracy demands a free press, then it also demands that partisan political outfits not be treated as legitimate news outlets or rewarded for masquerading as such. It also demands that news outlets maintain strict financial separation from the political parties and candidates they’re supposed to cover. The White House Correspondents Association can demonstrate its commitment to preserving the media’s role as independent agents of good governance by rescinding Fox News’ front-row spot in the White House briefing room.
News Corp.’s $1 million donation to the Republican Governors Association is perhaps the best ammunition yet for those trying to undercut Fox’s claim of being “fair and balanced,” and Media Matters is doing its best to keep the story going. But in a general sense, other news outlets have been surprisingly receptive to Fox’s claim that it’s a legit news outlet, so it’s anbody’s guess whether this story will continue or whether it will die quietly.
