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WaPo reporter suggests CNN decision to cover conviction of Cheney aide was "political"

October 13, 2009 12:30 pm ET by Jamison Foser

In today's Washington Post online Q&A, Post reporter Ed O'Keefe offered a series of remarkable defenses of Fox News, like his suggestion that Fox wasn't really guilty of "promotion" of the "tea parties," they were providing "balanced" reporting.  But this may be the most remarkable:

There is no objective news on Fox: Just by deciding to air some stories and ignoring others, Fox is political thru and thru. I remember the day Scooter Libby was convicted. Every news channel was reporting the story; on Fox, nothing...

Ed O'Keefe: Right, but couldn't critics argue that CNN and MSNBC devoting so much time to the Libby conviction was an equally political decision?

This is the silliness of this type of debate... all of these channels serve the marketplace of ideas. It's up to you to pick your brand. [All ellipses in original]

Wow.  Ed O'Keefe, a political reporter for the Washington Post, really thinks those two arguments are equivalent?  That the claim that the conviction of the Vice President's chief of staff as part of an investigation that involved, among others, Karl Rove, should not have been covered is just as reasonable as the statement that the arrest should have been covered? 

That's just astounding.

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    • Author by ReasonAndResolve (October 13, 2009 12:59 pm ET)
      2  
      The notion that the issue of coverage is equivalent to the quantity of coverage is absurd. News organizations shouldn't ignore stories - they may, however decide not to make a headline out of every story. Fox ignored the story. Big difference.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by bintx (October 13, 2009 1:00 pm ET)
      2  
      Um, no, it had nothing to do with politics, except in the sense that politics trumped national security.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by themidnightreview.com (October 13, 2009 1:04 pm ET)
      2  
      I bet if Nixon was around today, Fox would never have even broadcast a Watergate story...

      ------------------------------------
      The Midnight Review
      Mum Is The Word
      Report Abuse
      • Author by Vincenzo (October 13, 2009 2:16 pm ET)
           
        Probably would make a boring alternative history short story but can you imagine what FOX would have done with that story. I mean aside from ignoring it as much as possible.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by tim graham (October 13, 2009 2:32 pm ET)
         
      Wow, Media Matters just accepts the claim of an anonymous online questioner. Two minutes of Nexis check shows Libby conviction in 2007 covered that night by Gibson at 5, Hume at 6, Shep at 7, Bill O at 8, and Sean/Alan at 9.

      These are the enemies of "misinformation"?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by NMFreelancer (October 13, 2009 3:07 pm ET)
           
        The article wasn't a defense of the question, it was to make a point of this buffoon O'Keefe's response (i.e. real news organizations wouldn't cover a real news story other than for political reasons).
        Report Abuse
      • Author by eekeller (October 13, 2009 3:15 pm ET)
           
        Wow, did you miss the point!
        Report Abuse
        • Author by mattcable250650 (October 13, 2009 5:11 pm ET)
             
          Notice: "Ed O'Keefe: Right, but..."
          Ed was the guy who "just accepts the claim of an anonymous online questioner," not MMFA. Ed argues that Fox would have been perfectly justified in doing so.
          Report Abuse
      • Author by ibid (October 13, 2009 6:42 pm ET)
           
        Okay, but did the regular newscasts report it the same way the other networks did, or did the primetime talkers just comment on how unfair it was? I honestly don't know, maybe you are correct that the anonymous questioner was mistaken. But just because Gibson, O'Reilly, and Hannity talked about it that evening doesn't mean that Fox gave the story the unbiased coverage it should have received. Presumably the verdict was given during the day and the other networks immediately covered it as breaking news. What did Fox do?

        And of course, the point of the post was that O'Keefe thought it was okay for a news network to ignore the story. If Fox did provide coverage of the Libby verdict then Media Matters should point that out in order to avoid perpetuating a myth about Fox. But it still wouldn't change the larger point that O'Keefe clearly thinks news networks should pick the stories they cover based on a marketing plan rather than the importance of the story.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by eekeller (October 13, 2009 3:13 pm ET)
         
      A "journalism" degree is a joke today, and this guys is a "jokester." Why bother even getting the degree?
      Report Abuse

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