After aggressively promoting ACORN videos, Fox News ignores reports of Blackwater bribes
On the evening of November 11, Fox News personalities did not discuss reports from the previous evening that officials at Xe Services, formerly Blackwater Worldwide, had authorized $1 million in bribery payments to Iraqi officials in the aftermath of a fatal shooting involving Blackwater security guards. By contrast, Fox News devoted more than one hour on September 10 to discussing videos of conservative activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles posing as a pimp and a prostitute while asking for assistance from employees at an ACORN office.
Fox News ignores Blackwater bribe scandal
NY Times: Blackwater executives "authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials" to"silence their criticism and buy their support." From a November 10 New York Times article:
Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials.
Blackwater approved the cash payments in December 2007, the officials said, as protests over the deadly shootings in Nisour Square stoked long-simmering anger inside Iraq about reckless practices by the security company's employees. American and Iraqi investigators had already concluded that the shootings were unjustified, top Iraqi officials were calling for Blackwater's ouster from the country, and company officials feared that Blackwater might be refused an operating license it would need to retain its contracts with the State Department and private clients, worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Four former executives said in interviews that Gary Jackson, who was then Blackwater's president, had approved the bribes and that the money was sent from Amman, Jordan, where the company maintains an operations hub, to a top manager in Iraq. The executives, though, said they did not know whether the cash was delivered to Iraqi officials or the identities of the potential recipients.
Blackwater's strategy of buying off the government officials, which would have been illegal under American law, created a deep rift inside the company, according to the former executives. [The New York Times, 11/10/09]
Fox News airs no coverage of Blackwater story the following night. A Media Matters for America review of Fox News programming on November 11, the night after the story broke, indicates that no Fox News host or guest discussed Blackwater or Xe Services, according to transcripts available in the Nexis and Factiva news databases.
Fox News promoted, amplified Breitbart's ACORN videographers
Fox News, led by Glenn Beck, facilitated Breitbart's release of the videos. During the September 9 edition of his Fox News program, Beck previewed an "exclusive" that would air on his program the next day, which he claimed would make "things change a lot for those in power," and aired snippets of the first video released of O'Keefe and Giles. At 6:10 a.m. ET September 10, O'Keefe posted the video on Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com website.
Fox News devoted more than one hour of evening broadcast to discussing ACORN tapes. In stark contrast to Fox News' blackout of the Blackwater story, the day after Beck helped Breitbart publicize the ACORN videos, Fox News dedicated 1 hour, 1 minute, and 51 seconds to discussing the story, according to a Media Matters review of Fox News' programming between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET on September 10. Beck himself spent 38 minutes and 11 seconds discussing the tapes that night.
Obama lied, troops are dying! US out of Iraq and Afghanistan now!
Hillary Clinton:
"I am sick and tired of people who call you unpatriotic
if you debate this administration’s policies. We are Americans
and have the right to participate and debate any administration."
Also, please tell us anything Clinton has said or done that contradicts that quote you provided. I'm not aware of anything.
You cannot be that dense. Obama paid lip service to Afghanistan as a political campaign position because he knew taking sides against both wars, though he should have, would have prevented him from being elected. As a Senator he was outspoken against US unilateral war involvement and is supported by many who beleive we need to get out of both. He now dallies around and stalls on the issue while our troops our dying in both countries. He should man up and get out. Let the god-like UN and the rest of the world deal with the issue. We cannot afford when so many are losing their jobs at a record pace since January.
The Clinton quote is clearly a statement about the right to dissent. I include because so much of the posts on this site are ad hominem attacks rather than debate./
and fox hows that defunding of acorn going for you all?????
its going well enough then you can add black water to it as well.
You do mean for ALL of us, right? Certainly you're not pleased w/ the footage presented on the tapes.
But as the other poster asked, how do you feel about the acorn footage?
so badly clipped and cut you could not tell. So i would have to believe that the real good ones are being held for trial.
Like any rational adult I think they are a weak attempt at a Daily Show interview. If there was really anything illegal going on then the unedited version would have been turned over to actual news agencies and the authorities.
Of course, anyone who does not see the world through purely partisan eyes would know this. The videos were clearly edited and put together not to be taken seriously, but to be chuckled at just like a Daily Show interview is. Wacky music and costumes and all the worst statement made off camera with nothing but what we are to assume are reaction shots. I wouldn't expect you to know this, fakeliberal, since, like your hero, you use the Paris Business Review as a source. How do you feel about that?
They have also boycotted so much as a mention of the "Franken Amendment" lest it call attention to the KBR/Halliburton arbitration policy preventing accountability in a courtroom for its employees drugging and raping a fellow female employee.
And to be devils-advocate here for a moment, where were MSNBC, CNN and Media Matters w/ the ACORN story, aside from coming to their defense?
This constant bickering is tired. MM has just as much an obligation to journalistic integrity as FOX does. Pointing out their flaws instead of reporting the issues puts MM in the same ballpark when they come w/ loaded stories like this one.
Consequently, Nov. 10 - FOX posts the NY Times article about blackwater on their website:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573765,00.html
Did Fox cover the story on the 12th? The 13th? ;)
And before anyone starts blathering on about child prostitution rings, the fact is that out of about a dozen ACORN workers not a single one ever makes any direct reference to the topics of prostitution rings or child prostitutes. I find it almost impossible to believe that none of them would make a direct verbal reference to those topics if they were being discussed. You only hear it mentioned by the off-camera voice on those highly-edited videos.
Fiscal conservatives should be supportive of Betty McCollum's bill. Check out her site to see the details. Be sure to tell your Representative to support it.
http://www.mccollum.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=726&Itemid=92
Grrrrrrr....... }:\
Of course Fox News only covers nonsense - they are not a new organization. They are a political organization. I have yet to see anything that was actually criminal come out of any of the unedited versions of any of these ACORN comdey tapes, but I agree that has nothing to do with Blackwater. The information is out there. At some point, we have to stop blaming the politicians and the press for so many of our own people being so ignorant and ill-informed.
That's nonsense, the acorn workers were clearly seen discussing prostitution even advising them to call themselves performance artists instead of prostitutes. And another was advising them where it was best to smuggle in the teen prostitutes. And advising to keep the kids in school to keep up appearances.
Our tax dollars at work.
Of course, if I'm wrong it should be easy to show it. Go to the transcripts, provide a link and tell us where your evidence is. Or link to the video and tell us at which time point we can find the reference. I'm putting myself out there with claims that can be proven wrong if I am. Prove me wrong.
You won't. I've been making this case for months now and no one's been able to show me wrong yet, even when they persist in insisting that I am. They make the claims, but they can't find the evidence.
Here is the smuggling advice.............http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CMXMC7vba4
Here is another to watch..............http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtTnizEnC1U&feature=related
And the second link? Where do they talk about the smuggling ring?
And we would need to see the unedited tapes, fool, in order to determine what was actually said and when. How many times in the past month has your crew been caught unfairly cropping comments.
What did you name your seeing eye dog?
Here, I'll make it easier for you. Go to the transcript. Tell us where in the transcript we can find what you claim. YOU CAN'T. IT'S NOT THERE.
I've watched the Baltimore video. It doesn't support you either. But please, as I said, prove me wrong. Here's the Baltimore transcript. Where can we find something in there that proves me wrong? Or at what point in the video?
YOU'RE WRONG. Or you're lying. If I'm wrong it can be shown. Go ahead, prove me wrong. You've failed miserably so far.
WHY CAN'T ANY ACORN CRITICS PROVE ME WRONG? I've made that statement over and over. We have the words of the ACORN workers. If I were wrong, surely someone would have provided the evidence by now. THEY HAVEN'T.
All I get is nonsense like "It's in the San Diego video where they tell how to smuggle the girls in." No, it isn't. Or some idiot simply links to a 10 minute video and states it's in there. Give me a time stamp where to find it!! Pull up a transcript and provide the text!!
PROVE ME WRONG. If the words are there, I'll admit I'm wrong. I've issued the challenge over and over. Why can't anyone prove me wrong?
Could it be because I'm right?
Of course Fox Snooze will ignore the Blackwater issue. Just like the Haliburton rape case.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/world/middleeast/11blackwater.html
News flash--The world does not revolve around the New York press or any cable “news” channel.
When you wake up in the morning you can turn to any channel they will have the exact same national news.
They call themselves journalists but all they do is report news from the same place—All of them MSNBC, NBC, CNN, Headline news, Fox news, ABC, CBS on and on.
If Blackwater or ACORN is not on “The List” then they all will take a pass.
What was CNN’s last breaking news? “Balloon Boy”?
I'm still waiting for you to provide words from any ACORN workers making any direct reference to prostitution rings or child prostitution. As it stands now, the only references to those topics comes from an off-camera voice on highly edited videos.
But look at this here is a Fox story about the very story we are discussing. Ooops
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573765,00.html?test=latestnews
Yep, we liberals missed the ACORN story. Our bad. }:-(
So we take it you now agree - Fox should also go after Blackwater? Why should anyone be allowed to misappropriate our hard-earned tax $$? Let Beck know he needs to get on the ball on this one!
And be sure to tell your Representative to support Betty McCollum's bill. I'm sure you are for it.
http://www.mccollum.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=726&Itemid=92
And if Blackwater is guilty they should pay the price. I am not defending their actions, or alledged actions. There is one difference in the 2 cases, we can see with our own eyes acorn's actions, that is not true of the blackwater case, we must rely on the justice system to sort that out.
And BTW, did I say they broke the law?
Do you also consider the sexual predators that get nailed on the NBC show innocent also, because they get exposed before they have the opportunity to commit their crimes?
No one is defending them. The point is that Blackwater/Halliburton/KBR have stolen more money in ONE DAY than ACORN has in it's entire history. And they have the real underage sex slaves while ACORN's are only imaginary.
Text taken from her site (link below):
The ACORN Act is modeled after H.R. 3571 but respects the Constitution by requiring a corporation to be guilty of a felony before federal funds are cut off. The bill:
* Prohibits a corporation with a felony conviction from receiving any federal contracts, grants, or funds in any form for five years after the conviction.
* Prohibits federal employees or contractors from promoting corporate felons for five years.
* Prohibits corporate felons or any applicable individual from contributing to a candidate for federal office, to a political party, or to a federal political action committee for five years.
* Limits the corporation or any applicable individual to no more than $1 million annually for lobbying Congress or federal officials for a 5 year period.
* Provides presidential waiver authority if federal contracts, grants, and other agreements with corporate felons are determined to be in the national interest.
http://www.mccollum.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=726&Itemid=92
ACORN WOULD be cut off, but so would all the other recipients of our tax $$. Seems the only fiscally conservative thing to do.
It has to take a Democrat to propose this bill. But I'm sure those fiscally conservative Republicans should have no problems supporting it.
And after watching those tapes it says alot about a dem who would name the bill after an obviously corrupt group. Par for the course.
"Acorn would not be cut off, because they have not been convicted of a felony."
But, if they HAD been convicted of a felony, their funds would be cut off.
This is a good, fiscally sound bill - and it applies to ANY organization that accepts $$ from us.
Can Rep. McCollum expect your support on this bill?
This site justifiably calls Foxnews to the mat on the focus of their reporting in this instance, but where are the other major news networks? Are they focusing on this increase in private army personnel (so-called security personnel) in lieu of regular army personnel? It costs so much more for the private army and is done for political reasons. You'll end up with less deaths of soldiers and more deaths of private army members so as to look better for casualty counts. You guys would be screaming bloody murder if a non-democrat administratioin were doing this.
I don't think that Foxnews should be criticized for covering the continuing Acorn scandal though. They should be criticized for not focusing on the Blackwater scandal and the increase of private army personnel under this new administration( a much bigger scandal). The rest of the media should be criticized for giving scant and perfunctory coverage to the increase in private army personnel. The rest of the media should also be heavily criticized for barely covering the ongoing scandals with Acorn. If this were an organization affiliated with the right, the mainstream media would be giving wall-to-wall coverage of the scandals. This organization even gets public money. The media should be focused on this corruption like a laser beam. They don't because they are all ideological news outlets first and foremost--just like Foxnews. That's because there is no such thing as unbiased news. That would imply that there are unbiased people--automatons in effect. There's no such thing.
The issue isn't the simple use of private contractors by itself. The military and the government would love to just use military personnel. The problem is that we don't have enough of them to cover the duties that need to be performed. The real issue is something that remains to be seen. How will these contractors behave in the performance of their duties and how will this administration respond to misbehavior? Will they take action against it, or will they provide a knee-jerk defense of the contractors as the last administration did? That remains to be seen.
Not from my experience. The MSM has given pretty short shrift to scandals of the right. Unless sex was involved. When sex is involved there's overkill on coverage with no regard to left-right positioning.
That is true. The Nation and other left-wing media have done a wonderful job of covering the Blackwater / Xe stories. What this shows, once again, is that the MSM is not liberal at all.
I absolutely agree. No excuses. The way we have turned our military over to private industry is absolutely appalling. It was disgusting under our last several presidents and it is still disgusting under Obama today. If we have over-extended our military to this point, then bring them home! Using mercenaries to represent us is unacceptable.
What scandal? If there were any actual evidence of wrongdoing these unedited tapes would have been turned over to actual news organizations and the authorites by now. Come on, you're smarter than this. If the Daily Show stumbled upon an actual criminal organization while doing one of their comedy interviews they would not turn over the edited version of wacky costumes and music with all the worst things being said off-camera and edited reaction shots. It's ridiculous. They would turn over the actual raw footage for the media and the authorities to see. If you cannot see that, then you are only looking through partisan blinders.
Proof: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,573765,00.html
MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33850878/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/
CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/11/11/iraq.blackwater/index.html
NBC: NOTHING - http://www.nbc.com/app/search/?searchString=Blackwater&searchSubmit=
The other networks has the same story as AP and AP credits the breaking story to the New York Times.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRAQ_BLACKWATER?SITE=KLIF&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
New York Times - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/world/middleeast/11blackwater.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=blackwater&st=cse
A interesting read.
I couldn't find any video on this on any of the websites they might be out there but I am not going to do your research for you. That is the Forth Estates job to do or instead of the Forth Estate investigating each other maybe they should do their job. But then again Media Matter isn't a news organization is it?