February 21, 2005 8:30 AM

And the winner of the Jeff Gannon "Divorced From Reality Award" goes to....

Fox News Doctors Clinton Quote (thanks to Adam for the tip)

Fox news changed the phrase “suicide bomber” to “homicide bomber” in a direct quotation by Sen. Clinton. Irresponsible journalism or intentional misquotation, take your pick. Either way, f—k Fox News.

  • Adam Scruggs

I never cease to be amazed at the degree of hypocrisy and hubris Conservatives prove themselves capable of. That there is a double standard- one (and a minimal one, at that) that Conservatives hold themselves to, and another (not surprisingly, more stringent) one that Conservatives hold Liberals to.

In what continues to be a never-ending source of wonderment for me, no one ever seems to question this double standard. Let me just toss an example your way: Bill Clinton admits using marijuana, and the media, particular Conservative mouthpieces life Fox News and NewsMax react as if we are facing the imminent moral collapse of Western Civilization. George W. Bush admits in a taped conversation to using marijuana AND cocaine, and these same moral watchdogs pooh-pooh the admission while decrying that Bush was taped without his knowledge? Clinton gets his pole greased by an intern, and the wolves are at the door. Bush lies his way into an invasion of Iraq, resulting in the deaths of almost 1,500 American soldiers and perhaps 100,000 Iraqis, and…is that silence I hear??

No standards, and the worst thing is that they’re behind on their official Bush Speak Style Guide. He calls them “suiciders,” not “homicide bombers.”

It, on the surface at least, is a relatively simple and seemingly inocuous thing. FNC changed ONE word of Sen. Clinton’s quote:

“Not one polling place was shut down or overrun and the fact that you have these homicide bombers now, wreaking such hatred and violence while people pray, is to me, an indication of their failure.” (note: italics are mine)

What, you might ask, is the problem with changing one word? Well, if it changes the context of a quote, and if it is clearly done to further an agenda, plenty. Both FNC and Conservatives have an interest in painting suicide bombers in the worst light possible in order that Bush’s Iraq fiasco has the maximum possible justification. Of course, no Liberal in their right mind will propose glorifying suicide bombers. Then again, that is not the crux of my argument. Altering quotes, and the resulting context, is a reprehensible journalistic practice under any cirscumstance. Then end result is little more than subtle propaganda.

This is merely one more example of FNC “reporting” news in a manner than maximizes the Conservative agenda. A “serious” news organization owes it to the American public to report news in an objective and even-handed manner, insomuch as it is possible to do so. This can, of course, be an occasionally elusive goal, but FNC has demonstrated time and again it’s willingness to compromise journalistic ethics (and the truth) for political ends.

Remind me again what the problem with the “Liberal” media is again??? I’m with Adam. F—k Fox News….

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 21, 2005 8:30 AM.

Death of an icon was the previous entry in this blog.

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