Fox News Launches Another Smear Campaign Against an Obama Official
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, October 1, 2009 |
CONTACT Jess Levin (202) 772-8162 |
Network relies on made-up charges, homophobic attacks, distorted quotes in witch hunt against Department of Education official
Washington, D.C. - Today, Media Matters for America condemned the latest Fox News-driven smear campaign, in which right-wing media figures have called for Department of Education official Kevin Jennings to be fired. Conservative media have promoted the made-up charge that Jennings "cover[ed] up statutory rape." They have painted him as a "radical" "gay activist" and have misrepresented and distorted Jennings' previous comments.
"Fox News' allegations about Kevin Jennings covering up a statutory rape are wholly unsupported by the facts," said Eric Burns, president of Media Matters. "But Fox has already proven that facts don't matter in its campaign against Jennings. Who needs facts when your reports are built on made-up charges and anti-gay bigotry?"
BACKGROUND
Conservative media unleash anti-gay
rhetoric in attacks on Jennings
SUMMARY: The latest target in the Glenn Beck-driven conservative media witch hunt for Obama administration "czars" is Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools director Kevin Jennings. In their attacks on Jennings, numerous conservative media figures have resorted to thinly veiled homophobic appeals to paint Jennings, who is gay, as a "radical" "gay activist" with an "agenda" of "promoting homosexuality in schools," and have misrepresented or distorted Jennings' previous comments about religion and tolerance.
Despite evidence to contrary, Fox
News machine claims Jennings
"cover[ed] up statutory rape"
SUMMARY: Despite evidence to the contrary, Fox News -- led by Sean Hannity -- and other right-wing media have claimed that Department of Education official Kevin Jennings "cover[ed] up statutory rape" and violated Massachusetts law by not reporting to authorities a 1988 conversation in which a high school student told Jennings about his relationship with an older man. In fact, Jennings' attorney wrote in a 2004 letter that the student was 16 years old, which is -- and was at the time -- the legal age of consent in Massachusetts.
SUMMARY: A Washington Times editorial accused "safe school czar" Kevin Jennings of "encourag[ing]" a relationship that amounted to "statutory rape," by suggesting that his only response to an underage student's revelation that he had sex with what the Times described as an "older man" was to "make sure 'to use a condom.' " In fact, Jennings stated that he hoped the student "knew to use a condom" to protect against STDs; moreover, the FoxNews.com article from which The Washington Times based this claim truncated Jennings' remarks to exclude his statement that he thought to say this because his "best friend had just died of AIDS the week before."
More witch-hunting: Fox News targets "safe schools czar" Kevin Jennings
SUMMARY: In its Glenn Beck-driven witch hunt for "czars" in the Obama administration, Fox News has turned its attention to attacking Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools director Kevin Jennings, with Sean Hannity and Fox & Friends asking whether Jennings should be "fired" and whether he is "the guy for the job." In pressing for Jennings to be fired and misconstruing Jennings' past comments, Fox News continues its pattern of using gross distortions to attack President Obama's advisers.
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Intelligent readers want to hear quotes of the statements which started this dicussion. Or is that too imcriminating?
Yes, like you stated "...continues its pattern of using gross distortions to attack...." only the mirror has changed positions.
If not, now you do, so if you want details about this, then put your mouse over the blue links, click on them, and read the links to your heart's content. (Hint - there will be other links in those links, and you can delve as deeply as you want to at that time.)
In this case, MMFA kept this short and didn't include all the details in this submission because they've provided the details in the body of many other stories on this topic earlier this week.
Another Hint - Did you read above how it says "SUMMARY"? That means that there is more detail elsewhere.
So, you're wrong, and are trying, but failing, to smear MMFA for your stupidity.
Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Fox News make it clear that they are going after Obama and his administration? So why are they falling for this foolishness, disguised as News? This is nothing more than Bill Ayers and Rev Wright guilt by association BS. Fox News should be the story, not Jennings. FOX News is masterminding and creating News and calling it "controversy" or a "scandal" for the sole purpose of making other people look bad. This is not right and they should be held accountable.