Fox's Hume reported on Illinois AG investigation of Obama grant without noting Obama reportedly "not a focus of the investigation"
SUMMARY: On Special Report, Brit Hume said, "A $100,000 grant that then-Illinois state Senator Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a one-time campaign volunteer is under investigation by the Illinois attorney general." But Hume did not note that a spokesperson for Attorney General Lisa Madigan said "Obama's actions in awarding the money are not a focus of the investigation," according to the Chicago Sun-Times article Hume cited in his report.
During the September 25 edition of Fox News' Special Report, host Brit Hume cited a September 25 Chicago Sun-Times article and said: "A $100,000 grant that then-Illinois state Senator Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a one-time campaign volunteer is under investigation by the Illinois attorney general." However, Hume did not note, as the Sun-Times reported, that a spokesperson for Attorney General Lisa Madigan said, in the words of the Sun-Times, "Obama's actions in awarding the money are not a focus of the investigation."
From the Sun-Times article:
Attorney General Lisa Madigan -- a Democrat who is supporting Obama's presidential bid -- is investigating "whether this charitable organization properly used its charitable assets, including the state funds it received," Cara Smith, Madigan's deputy chief of staff, said Wednesday.
In addition to the 2001 grant that Obama directed to the housing association as a "member initiative," the not-for-profit group got a separate $20,000 state grant in 2006.
Madigan's office has notified Obama's presidential campaign of the probe, which was launched this week. But Obama's actions in awarding the money are not a focus of the investigation, Smith said.
[...]
Obama spokesman Michael Ortiz said Wednesday the senator's staff in Washington will monitor the Madigan probe and an additional review under way by Gov. [Rod] Blagojevich's administration to make sure "the taxpayer funds allocated for the construction of the garden are recuperated from CBHA if the agencies determine that the funds were not properly spent." Obama's goal is to ensure the site "be used in a way that benefits the community and that any taxpayer dollars allocated are spent wisely," Ortiz said.
The Drudge Report linked to the Sun-Times article under the headline, "PAPER: Obama's $100K garden grant being probed..."
During Hume's report, on-screen graphics displayed an image of Obama with dollar signs and the words "GREEN THUMB" and "CURRENCY EXCHANGE":
From the September 25 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume:
HUME: A $100,000 grant that then-Illinois state Senator Barack Obama awarded in 2001 to a group headed by a one-time campaign volunteer is under investigation by the Illinois attorney general. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the grant was intended for a botanical garden in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, but the garden was never built and the money may have been misspent. Records obtained by the Sun-Times show $65,000 of the grant went to the wife of Kenny Smith, an Obama campaign volunteer in his failed congressional run in 2000.
Smith heads the Chicago Better Housing Association, which was in charge of the project. Records show Smith wrote another $20,000 in grant-related checks to a construction company his wife created five months after work on the garden was supposed to have begun.
Look, anyone with a functioning set of ears and a high school education can see what the story is about. The MSM doesn't need to hold our hands like children and say, "Now, children, we're NOT insinuating that Mr. Obama is in trouble, just that the money he awarded somehow wound up in the hands of a campaign contributor of his." We can figure that out ourselves, thank you very much.
I can figure it out myself but that doesn't mean that that isn't exactly what Hume is insinuating.
"and a high school education can see what the story is about"
I suppose you could have said '4th grade education' and you would still have been spot on.
He doesn't have to explicitly say Obama is under investigation, it's implied. That's exactly why Obama's irrelevance to the probe is noted in the other report, to avoid that impression. Hume should follow the same standard.
Lurch is in the bag for mccain. I have listened to his verbage enough to know that. He is a faucks news guy.
Despite an occasional spurt of Light, Faux news guys & gals are all in the bag for McCain. The little drizzle of commentary I listen to from them is amazingly one-sided.
That's it Mary59....... I'm calling Fox Security on you....... and then I'll place a call to BillO.....ohhhh......you are in so much trouble!! lol
Capt., if you turn me in I'll rat on ya, you faux hater, you! ;-)
Exactly what you said. By NOT saying that he's not implicated in this probe, Hume, and FoxNews, imply that he IS involved in this probe.
I did not get that from the video.
Of course you didn't.
Tell me, which category does this story fall under, "fair," "balanced," or "neither"?
I am not here to defend FOX, I just logically do not get anything wrong with what Hume said. And usaully he is a GOP propagandist.
It wouldn't be any ahrder to report Obama is not the focus of the investigatio. there are many ways to tell a lie. The most common form is to flat out say so. the more subtle way ( preferred by FOX ) is to refrain from telling the whole story. very effective as long as you don't have Media Matters recording the facts, not just for contemporary critics, but also for future history writing.
ahrder should be harder
SueEld, let's say you give your nephew 10 bucks in his birthday card. He gets caught by the police trying to buy some crack with it. Your local paper reports that there is an investigation of SueEld's connection to a drug deal.
Do you have an issue with that?
But that is not what Hume said, he said Obama Grant.
I stand corrected Sue. I don't know where I got the idea that Hume was reporting on your drug money scandals. You're right, he was talking about Obama's involvement with this grant scandal.
I don't know how I could have been so confused.
Sue,
Jethro Tull has a great concept album that has been out for 30+ years. You might take a listen..its called "Thick as a Brick"
And...most importantly, your (Auntie Sue's) picture appears next to the newspaper article.
As the saying goes, "a picture is worth a 1000 words!!" Hume doesn't have to say that Obama is under investigation, the picture to his right says it for him loud 'n clear.
Lying by omission. A Fox favorite for 14 years!
Randy
Why even mention Obama unless the purpose is to tar and feather Obama with the specter of malfeasance?
Randy
Exactly.
The whole thing is a LOCAL Illinois issue. The investigation has nothing to do with Obama or his campaign.
As such, why is a national, 24-hour cable news outlet reporting on it? And if they are reporting on it, why are they even mentioning Obama?
The answer to both questions is "Because it's Fox News and they will grab any opportunity to smear Obama."
"...look at the combination of Hume's demeanor, the graphics etc.?"
Pit, that's what it's all about on Fox, the plausible deniability that has at least a couple of posters here hoodwinked. It's the same comedy that has posters here dismissing any racism that doesn't involve somebody wearing a t-shirt that has "Hey! I'm a Racist!" lettered across the front.
One of the first times I saw Brit Hume was at an (extended) family member's house who was gushing to me about this new fair & balanced network that really "tells it like it is".
I watched Hume read two sides to a news item; First, the Republican's take on it, delivered in his dead-serious newsguy voice, eyes locked on the camera.
Then, he gave the Dem's side of the story, phony chuckling and head shaking at absurdity of what was actually the more truthful side of the issue.
I asked my host if he'd noticed the difference in the way Hume delivered the two sides of the story. He hadn't. I got more specific, asking if he noticed that Hume was laughing dismissively as he read the Non-Conservative take on the story. The reaction was sort of "Oh, that? He can't help it if he's cracking up."
That's why it's nice to have the video clips that MMFA provides. A written transcript doesn't always do propaganda justice.
You speak for most of us.
Our new Solon is brushing the virtual canary feathers from his lips.