Fox bases economy-spin talking points on RNC "Pundit Prep" memo

[KingOrfeo]

Mediamatters:

Fox Economic Coverage Mimics GOP Strategy Memo

February 20, 2012 2:46 pm ET by Leslie Rosenberg

Steve Doocy is offering further evidence that Fox News acts as the communications arm of the Republican Party. This morning the Fox & Friends host read directly from a "pundit prep" document provided to him by the Republican National Committee: "They said the three best ways to define the Barack Obama economy: the national debt, (which is skyrocketing), the unemployment (which is north of 8 percent), and gas prices":

[video clip]

Either Fox News has been diligently following this memos for months, or the network and the GOP have simply been on the same page.

Throughout the past year, Fox has repeatedly ignored expert economists and hijacked debate about job creation in favor of an obsession with near term deficit reduction. In doing so, they helped manufacture a default crisis and cheered the resulting credit downgrade. Furthermore, they falsely claimed that President Obama has not laid out a plan for reducing the national debt over the long term.

As for the network's discussion of unemployment, they haven't let facts get in the way of getting out the Republican Party's message. As jobs numbers have improved, Fox has rushed to falsely discredit government data as "phony" and "fabricated".

In line with the RNC directive, they have gone into overdrive in hyping high gas prices and assigning the blame to the president.

Of course, none of this is at all surprising for a network whose programming is at times almost identical to RNC campaign ads and has a history of passing off Republican research as its own, typos and all.

 

[mercury14]

Fox and Friends is a pox on humanity.

 

[TexasWife25]

lol the daily show, showed a clip last night of one of the fox news pundits reading this memo on tv Gretchen didnt look happy with him

 

[unregistered]

 

[KingOrfeo]

So watch PMSNBC and get hearing AIDS from listening to too many assholes.

Lame.

 

[Peregrinator]

Lame.

He saw what could be construed as a criticism of something that could be mistaken for a member of what he thinks is his team, so his knee jerked.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Fox and Friends is a pox on humanity.

But Looselips Doocy, when he spills beans on his jeans and lets the cat scat, shocks e'en Fox, sir!

 

[mercury14]

But Looselips Doocy, when he spills beans on his jeans and lets the cat scat, shocks e'en Fox, sir!

Did he really read a RNC memo on the air?

This is why the argument that MSNBC is just the liberal version of Fox News doesn't hold water.

 

[JohnnySavage]

So you guys watch a tv channel you know is biased one direction, then come here revealing your discovery that it's biased.

Got it. Keep us informed, K?

 

[CHNOPS]

Did he really read a RNC memo on the air?

This is why the argument that MSNBC is just the liberal version of Fox News doesn't hold water.

He did. They rewound and focused on Gretchen's eyes, which shot a glance offstage with a, "Jesus, is this allowed??" look of panic.

MSNBC is just the liberal version of Fox News.

 

[mercury14]

He did. They rewound and focused on Gretchen's eyes, which shot a glance offstage with a, "Jesus, is this allowed??" look of panic.

MSNBC is just the liberal version of Fox News.

Is it allowed?

 

[CHNOPS]

Is it allowed?

He didn't say, "Here's what the RNC sent us to say on the air." He said, "These are being reported in the news as 'pundit talking points' from the RNC." Then he read them, while Gretchen panicked. Then, the best part: after reading the third one about gas prices, he pivoted to making that his talking point, asking viewers to send in their high-gas-prices stories.

 

[doctor_insanus]

He didn't say, "Here's what the RNC sent us to say on the air." He said, "These are being reported in the news as 'pundit talking points' from the RNC." Then he read them, while Gretchen panicked. Then, the best part: after reading the third one about gas prices, he pivoted to making that his talking point, asking viewers to send in their high-gas-prices stories.

Gretchen looked like FOX Security was about to storm the set. Of course, Jon Stewart is all over this one...

Dart him! Dart him!

 

[richard_daily]

Who at this point, doesn't realize that fox is a propaganda arm of the RNC?

 

[KingOrfeo]

MSNBC is just the liberal version of Fox News.

Does MSNBC get its talking points straight from the DNC? Doubtful.

 

[TexasWife25]

MSNBC is trying to be the liberal version of FOX .. I don't think they've quite gotten there yet.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Who at this point, doesn't realize that fox is a propaganda arm of the RNC?

Nobody, but many RWs will persist in denying it anyway; or in drawing false equivalence with "liberal media" organs like CNN and MSNBC. Sorry, dudes, if Fox is the standard for "conservative media," then there is no such thing as analogous "liberal media" on American TV, broadcast or cable. Ya gotta find it on the radio -- and not NPR, either; look for Democracy Now! or Pacifica Network News or Radio Nation. And none of them get their talking points from the DNC either.

 

[CHNOPS]

Does MSNBC get its talking points straight from the DNC? Doubtful.

Of course they do, either directly or de facto. They're explicitly a liberal-leaning news/opinion station.

It doesn't matter. Why the outrage for either station? They're patently slanted; ones knows that before tuning in to either one.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Of course they do, either directly or de facto. They're explicitly a liberal-leaning news/opinion station.

The way Fox is conservative-leaning? No.

 

[CHNOPS]

The way Fox is conservative-leaning? No.

Fox--and the RNC in generally--is far more focused in their messaging than DNC, and it's reflected across the programming there. DNC aspires to be even-handed and honest-seeming. Plus, MSNBC has the complication of being an arm of a "mainstream" station that wishes to avoid the tarnish of party-lining.

But make no mistake: if MSNBC could do it as well and as freely as FOX, they would. (ETA: I see someone just said this above.)

Personally, here's how I measure it: If I read someone on either station's website, I look elsewhere for the "real" story before I measure its importance/merit. Measuring from 0 out instead of from the extreme ends in, that makes them equally unreliable as a news source, regardless of the details of that unreliability.

 

[KingOrfeo]

Fox--and the RNC in generally--is far more focused in their messaging than DNC, and it's reflected across the programming there. DNC aspires to be even-handed and honest-seeming.

It is certainly the case that the right has been much better than others at message-discipline, these past 20 years. And in effort-coordination of all kinds. (While David Horowitz publishes his site exposing a well-funded, tightly-organized LW "Network." IF ONLY!)

 

[CHNOPS]

It is certainly the case that the right has been much better than others at message-discipline, these past 20 years. And in effort-coordination of all kinds. (While David Horowitz publishes his site exposing a well-funded, tightly-organized LW "Network." IF ONLY!)

What I'm trying to say is that the degree-by-degree comparison--no WAY are they as conservative as FOX!!--is a red herring. MSNBC is expressly liberal-leaning. FOX is expressly conservative-leaning. Caveat emptor for each, they're your news source.

 

[JohnnySavage]

Alcatraz is on Fox, I like that show... Fringe, used to like that one, same with Bones. They have a lot of cartoons though and I don't like that. They do a good job with sports as well.

 

[richard_daily]

Fox--and the RNC in generally--is far more focused in their messaging than DNC, and it's reflected across the programming there. DNC aspires to be even-handed and honest-seeming. Plus, MSNBC has the complication of being an arm of a "mainstream" station that wishes to avoid the tarnish of party-lining.

But make no mistake: if MSNBC could do it as well and as freely as FOX, they would. (ETA: I see someone just said this above.)

Personally, here's how I measure it: If I read someone on either station's website, I look elsewhere for the "real" story before I measure its importance/merit. Measuring from 0 out instead of from the extreme ends in, that makes them equally unreliable as a news source, regardless of the details of that unreliability.

You're making some good points here, but saying "well, if they COULD do it, they WOULD", is not one of them.

 

[CHNOPS]

You're making some good points here, but saying "well, if they COULD do it, they WOULD", is not one of them.

LMFAO. High school teacher, by any chance?