The WashPost owes ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC and CNN an apology
September 19, 2009 11:01 am ET by Eric Boehlert
The newspaper owes the news outlets an apology for running the obviously false and inflammatory ad purchased by Fox News; the full-page ad that claimed all the news channel's "missed" the story of the 9/12 protest. Question: Is the Post so desperate for ad revenues that it will gladly ignore its own advertising standards? Because that's so clearly what the newspaper did on Friday.
It didn't take a detective on the Post's sales team to realize the Fox News ad was false. How could the nets and Fox News' cable competitors have "missed" the story of the march if they all covered it throughout the day?
Pathetic.
Here's the Post's dreadful attempt to defend cashing Fox News' check [emphasis added]:
[The Post] will not reject an advertisement based on its content or sponsor, unless the ad is illegal, false, advocates illegal actions, or is not in keeping with standards of taste. When we do not see anything in a particular ad that is contrary to these standards, we will not place limits on speech or content. That was our review and judgment in this case."
Pressed about the fact that the Fox News ad's central claim was false, a Post flak insisted that because it was Fox News' opinion that competitors "missed" the story, that made it okay.
Oh brother.
So if the New York Times bought a full-page ad in USA Today ridiculing the Post for having "missed" a story that the Post had clearly covered, the Post would have no problem with that?
In this battle of media giants, ABC was dead-on when it's spokeswoman declared that the Post had exercised "zero due diligence" in trying to figure out if the Fox News ad was false.
She added:
"[the Post] should have been rejected according to your professed standards. Now the Post should make it right by apologizing quickly and recognizing that it made a grave error that tarnishes the reputation of five other news organizations."
The almighty dollar has already spoken.
It was good to get it out there to light a fire under the other networks.
It also helps to make Fox News look petty, jouvenile and look like LIARS.
Fox News is getting away with stuff on an hourly basis that would never fly on the other media conglomerates' channels, only because the others are too scared to be seen as "liberal".
News Corp is too strong, too embeded in cable packages and hotel lobbies.
Even if Fox News were to somehow eventually lose money, Murdoch would be happy to take a loss on FNC because it gets his conservative agenda pushed into the mainstream.
Not gonna happen ...
I suspect a lot of people, after a certain point, take being lied to personally. Eventually most kids realize there is no Santa Claus even though it is their interest to keep believing.
Fox has showed the world that a lot of us would rather be lied to, especially if it helps us maintain our fantasies
The entire media is stupid and incompetent. Some people like that and some don't.
The people who don't like that will abandon all media. The people who like that will watch the king of stupidity and incompetence, Fox News.
Therefore Fox News will continue to crush the other networks as the entire media slides into oblivion. The other networks will see this and decide that the answer is to be more like Fox News, not to stop being stupid and incompetent.
Glenn Beck: This is twisted, bizarre, macabre. I mean, is this theater? I'm not a lawyer. I'm not a jury. Um, but gosh even to me it seems like this is a potential admission of murder and the way she was describing doing some groundwork beforehand, you know so everyone in town knew exactly what was going on, a case might be made for premeditated murder. In fairness, I don't understand people who stay in abusive relationships. I don't. I get it. I get it. And maybe a jury might conclude that it was justifiable homicide. I don't know but we haven't been even able to confirm from the state of California whether Theresa's husband from ten years ago was killed. Or if he's dead. Or if she even had a husband. Did she make the story up? I don't know. Nobody is asking questions. See if the mainstream media will follow this one. This is shocking. It raises serious questions about what is going on inside of ACORN.
It seems you left that out Media Matters.
DEBUNKED BY THE TRUTH!
So, I hold the 'opinion' that the Moon is made of Green Cheese. Will the Washington Post publish my ad? Of course not, because my 'opinion' is demonstrably untenable. So is FoxNews's 'opinion' displayed in that newspaper ad.
The Washington Post doesn't have a leg to stand on.
"the ad asks the question how the other media "missed" the story.
not that they didn't report it, but that their coverage was so inherenty bisa that they missed the whole point of the story and fox was the only one to truly understand the issues invilved"
these scum at for are just priceless, they like to play games with words because they know their audience is to dim to know what the words actually mean. and the post are needy for money so they will buy that spin from fox so that they can use the cover of "well, it was just foxes opinion" but the ad is still misleading to it's taget audience, the rabid right. so the post is more than happy to disgrace itself for some cash. you know, kinda like a hooker would.
Didn't Fox encourage viewers to attend and promote the rally?
Wasn't Fox's coverage of the rally favorable?
Why is Fox so worried about how other networks cover the rally?
What's next, attacks on the other networks for not running the same advertisements as Fox even if they don't get paid to run them?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWk6RgQbPVc
I think Obama killed a girl back in college... because I did not say it for certain, and was only posting my opinion, I guess that makes it okay...
There are a certain number of people that would read the above statement and take it as fact. They will not notice or remember the word "think". The same goes for all of Fox's news stories. They start off with "suppose", or "if", and after a couple weeks, it becomes an actuality for them. Consider their ACORN investigation... they do not fact check, make numerous accusations, but they fail to support anything with fact. ACORN are a bunch of thugs because that is how the conservatives "feel"...
That is not reporting. That is trying to get around laws that protect people from slander and libel.