Persvrijheid Fox (was: Begin ondergang Obama)

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Democs,
Destijds was 89% van de inlanders alhier voor verkiezing van Obama als
US-president. Begrijpelijk gelet op Bush jr, maar zeer onverstandig. Dat
blijkt nu des te meer. Hij breidt de Afghanistanoorlog uit. En ook
binnenlands stapelt hij fout op fout, althans dat doen dan z'n
adviseurs. Het laatste move: deelname aan persconferenties en interviews
in het Witte Huis weigeren aan Fox News. Een concern dat inderdaad
permanent campagne voert tegen Obama. Echter, de mediageschiedenis van
de USA leert dat zoiets ieder tegen de haren in strijkt. En ja hoor, de
politieke correspondenten van de grote netwerken trekken een lijn, en
weigeren bijeenkomsten zolang Fox News wordt geboycot.
Persvrijheid is langzamerhand een loos begrip geworden, zeker als het
kritiekloosheid bevordert en willekeurig wordt gehanteerd...

en

Aardig geprobeerd, maar lees dan gewoon de dagelijkse media-attendering
door de Benton Foundation...
hv,u
-----

Beste Henk,

Het heeft even geduurd voor ik je raadseltje had opgelost, waarvoor mijn
verontschuldiging. Het was geenszins mijn bedoeling dit te negeren ;)
Jij mag dan beroepsmatig de weg weten in medialand, ik ben een
'rank'amateur.
Zo was ik de Benton Foundation, naar mijn herinnering, nog niet
tegengekomen. Laat staan dat ik de weg weet in hun doolhof op basis van
de sleutel 'media-attendering.' Deze term komt niet in enig menu van hun
website voor, en zoeken via Google's 'site:benton.org' bracht me ook
niet verder. Misschien een reden voor een URL in je berichten?

Uiteindelijk denk ik toch de aanleiding voor je bericht te hebben
gevonden. Het volgt hieronder als eerste bericht (van
HuffingtonPost.Com) en het bericht van BF volgt daaronder.
In dit bericht spelen o.a. Michael Clemente (Fox News), Anita Dunn
(White House), Robert Gibbs (White House) en Chris Isham (CBS News &
news pool chairman) en een niet benoemde 'Treasury department staffer'
een rol.

Uit het eerste bericht wordt onmiddellijk duidelijk dat de 'bron' van
dit nieuws verspreid wordt door een pool, waarvan Fox News deel
uitmaakt. Zoals ook hieronder wordt vermeld, is de essentie van een pool
'vergaard nieuws wordt gedeeld.' Dus in de praktijk zou een uitsluiting
van Fox News geen andere zin hebben dan een prikkel uitdelen.
Aangezien Fox News echter ook als een uitermate zorgvuldige
nieuwsverspreider te boek staat, kan ik me wel indenken dat over een
eventuele uitsluiting een zo groot mogelijk alarm wordt geslagen. In de
zin van jouw betoog 'vandaag zij, morgen wij.'
Jammer dat de ontvanger van dit bericht van uitsluiting (Chris Isham)
nou weer net niet reageerde op vragen hierover. Over nieuwsverspreiding
gesproken, laat staan verantwoording ;)
Kennelijk werd ook het bericht van zowel Associated Press and Talking
Points Memo in de wind geslagen. Omdat dit anders luidde dan het bericht
van Fox News?

Als illustratie heb ik nog een aantal berichten over de betrekkingen
tussen Fox News en het Witte Huis hieronder opgenomen. Deze geven toch
geen indicatie van uitsluiting? Naar mijn idee wel van zeer moeizame
betrekkingen tussen Fox News en het Witte Huis. Echter gezien de manier
waarop Fox News de onderbuik van Amerika bespeelt is dit niet
onverwacht.

Groet / Cees

PS Mijn verontschuldiging aan de lijst voor de lengte van het bericht,
maar het gaat wel over de persvrijheid (die ik dus impliciet ook
claim ;)

PPS Het laatste bericht over Nielsen geeft te denken. Een eerdere keer
dat ik zoiets zag (een paar jaar geleden) was dit de prelude voor
Nielsen-eigenaar VNU in Amerika (omdat Fox minder minder bonuspunten zou
krijgen na een herziening van de kijkcijfers) Minder punten, minder
miljoenen reclame gerelateerde winst!.

Read more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/24/fox-news-exec-on-attempte_n_332707.html
Fox News executive told the Huffington Post Saturday that the network
"absolutely" did request an interview with Obama administration "pay
czar" Kenneth Feinberg and that the White House acknowledged a mistake
on the part of a Treasury department staffer in failing to initially
include Fox News in the round of interviews Feinberg conducted Thursday.
"Of course we requested an interview," Fox News Senior Vice President
Michael Clemente told the Huffington Post.
This directly contradicts reports by the Associated Press and Talking
Points Memo, both of which reported that the White House had excluded
Fox News because it did not request an interview.
Whether Fox News requested an interview was irrelevant in this case,
however, as the interview was conducted a pool including ABC, CBS, NBC,
CNN, and Fox News.
Clemente said that CBS News Washington Bureau Chief and current pool
chairman Chris Isham — who did not respond to phone or e-mail requests
for comment Saturday — received a call from the Treasury Department
Thursday saying that Feinberg would be available to speak to all of the
networks in the pool except for Fox News, and that Bloomberg would be
included instead.
Clemente said that when Isham presented that scenario on a conference
call with the other pool members — including Fox News — "they
unanimously said, instantly, no, that's not gonna fly. Either Fox is in
or none of us is doing it."
Once Isham relayed that message to Treasury, Treasury cleared it with
White House Communications Director Anita Dunn, who approved Feinberg's
interview with Fox News' Major Garrett.
Clemente said, however, that there was now a catch: every network would
get two minutes with Feinberg instead of the previously planned five.
Story continues below
"That's not very normal," he said. "I'm told that whoever was there was
absolutely militaristic about the time limit. Usually two or four or
five minutes means, 'Ask your last question,' with a little flexibility.
But there was none."
Clemente added that White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
acknowledged to Fox News' White House Correspondent Major Garrett that a
low level Treasury staffer made a mistake in attempting to exclude Fox
from the pool interviews.
The pool is designed to save both time and money by using one camera and
crew for interviews to air across all pool member networks.
"If any member had been excluded it would have been the same thing, it
has nothing to do with Fox or the White House or the substance of the
issues," one pool network bureau chief told TPM Friday. "It's all for
one and one for all."
CBS News' Chip Reid described the situation Friday on the "CBS Evening
News."
"All the networks said, that's it, you've crossed the line," Reid said.
These accounts contradict a Treasury Department statement to Mediaite
Friday, which said, "There was no plot to exclude Fox News."

White House's Fox News Boycott Attempt Prompts Network Revolt
Submitted by Benton Foundation on October 25, 2009 - 8:14pm
Last updated: October 25, 2009 - 8:15pm
Source: Huffington Post, The
The White House attempted to block Fox News from a round of interviews
with "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg Thursday, but the Washington bureau
chiefs of the five TV networks included in the White House pool refused
to interview Feinberg unless Fox News was included. Fox News says that
the White House "failed in its attempt to manipulate other news networks
into isolating and excluding Fox News." The attempt to shut Fox News out
was the latest move in the administration's ongoing battle against the
cable news channel, which several senior administration officials have
claimed is not a legitimate news organization. The decision by the
network bureau chiefs to stand with Fox News is one of the first
instances of the mainstream media defending Fox News against the White
House's claims.

Fox Skipping Obama Press Conference
Submitted by Benton Foundation on April 27, 2009 - 9:21pm
Originally published on: April 27, 2009
Last updated: April 27, 2009 - 9:21pm
Source: Broadcasting&Cable
Author: Alex Weprin
For the first time in his presidency, a broadcast network is declining
to give President Obama an hour in primetime for a news conference. Fox
says it will run a new episode of drama Lie To Me instead. ABC, CBS and
NBC all say they will air the press conference, set for Wednesday at 8
pm. Fox has two cable outlets that will be covering the presser live. As
a result, Fox will present an on-screen graphic at the start of the hour
directing viewers to Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network to watch
the press conference. While pressers are the bread and butter of cable
news, broadcast networks stand to lose millions in advertising revenue
by shifting or rescheduling their normal programming. Fox has twice this
year shifted its top show American Idol to make room for the White House
requests.
Why Declaring War on Fox News Could Be a Mistake for Obama
Submitted by Benton Foundation on October 13, 2009 - 3:58pm
Last updated: October 13, 2009 - 4:15pm
Source: New York Magazine
Author: Chris Rovzar
[Commentary] Over the weekend, White House communications director Anita
Dunn announced the official beginning of the Obama administration's war
with Fox News. Of course, the battle has been openly brewing for months
now. Even during the campaign, Obama's team gave up on sending
surrogates to the network. "It was beyond diminishing returns," Dunn
told the New York Times. "It was no returns." But now the war is out in
the open. "We're going to treat them the way we would treat an
opponent," she told the paper. "As they are undertaking a war against
Barack Obama and the White House, we don't need to pretend that this is
the way that legitimate news organizations behave." Yesterday on CNN,
she clarified: "Fox News often operates almost as either the research
arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party." The White
House's logic seems to be that there's no point in trying to be fairly
portrayed on Fox News. Even if they send administration officials to try
and reason with its hosts and viewers, the way the information gets
presented eliminates any net benefit. (Especially when hosts like Glenn
Beck make up facts and present them as sincere truth — the Times cited a
moment when even fellow Fox reporters were angered that Beck claimed Fox
White House correspondent Major Garrett was "never called on" in the
briefing room, when he had in fact been called on that very day.) It's
also helpful to have a foil to fight against. In the continuing effort
to portray tea partiers and birthers and the like as a sort of
faux-patriotic lunatic fringe, the act of isolating Fox is an easy way
to draw some lines in the sand.

>>From Political Operative to TV Analyst
Submitted by Benton Foundation on May 12, 2008 - 8:36am
Last updated: August 7, 2008 - 12:18pm
Source: New York Times
Authors: Jacques Steinberg Jim Rutenberg
One year ago, when he was still a deputy White House chief of staff in
the Bush administration, Karl Rove was more likely than not ducking news
organizations. Now, he has joined them, as an analyst for Fox News and a
contributor to Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal. At times clearly
partisan, at others apparently offering down-the-middle analysis, Rove
in his new role as a media star marks another step in the evolution of
mainstream journalism, where opinion, "straight news" reporting and
unmistakable spin increasingly mingle, especially on television. says
that he maintains regular contact with his progeny at the McCain
campaign. "I'm not certain that I qualify as an adviser to McCain," he
wrote this month in an online discussion with readers of The Washington
Post's Web site, which unlike Fox News, Newsweek and The Journal
identified him as "an informal adviser" to the McCain campaign. "I have
friends at the campaign who occasionally ask me for reactions, and the
Fox network is well aware of that, and similar contacts by some of their
Democratic analysts." Rove is also regularly mentioned in Republican
circles as a candidate to start a Republican 527 group, though no plans
have been announced. Jon Meacham, the editor of Newsweek, said he was
not worried that his readers would confuse Mr. Rove's leanings. "No one
on the planet who is reading Newsweek is at all puzzled as to what
Karl's politics are," Meacham said. Meacham said he hired Rove as a
contributor last fall in part to "responsibly provoke." Indeed, he said,
several hundred readers canceled their subscriptions in response.

One Year Ago: The Media Helped Elect Obama -- By Inspiring McCain to
Pick Palin
Submitted by Benton Foundation on August 26, 2009 - 7:51am
Last updated: August 26, 2009 - 7:52am					Het is dus taktiek van Obama
geweest dat McCain Palin als kandidaat vice-president nam?
Source: Editor&Publisher						Taktief gevolgd omdat dan
Hillary-volgelingen voor Palin zouden stemmen
Author: Greg Mitchell
[Commentary] It was exactly one year ago this week that there was a true
turning point in the 2008 race for the White House. And it had little to
do with Barack Obama. One might even say that it boiled down to the
media helping to elect him -- but not by supporting him, in the way
conservatives often charge. Instead, it involved coverage that very well
could have hurt him, but that ended up rebounding in his favor, big
time. It was the electronic media's overblown coverage of the allegedly
widespread threat by female Hillary delegates, and other Clinton fans,
to bolt Obama in favor of McCain. John McCain and his people bought it,
hook, line and sinker. They saw an opening, which really wasn't there,
and went completely overboard. Not only did a female VP suddenly look
like a great idea, but she would have extra appeal to the particular
type of Hillary primary voters so hyped by the media.

Fox's Volley With Obama Intensifying
Submitted by Benton Foundation on October 12, 2009 - 4:30pm
Originally published on: October 12, 2009
Last updated: October 12, 2009 - 4:30pm
Source: New York Times
Author: Brian Stelter
Attacking the news media is a time-honored White House tactic but to an
unusual degree, the Obama administration has narrowed its sights to one
specific organization, the Fox News Channel, calling it, in essence,
part of the political opposition. "We're going to treat them the way we
would treat an opponent," said Anita Dunn, the White House
communications director, on Sunday. "As they are undertaking a war
against Barack Obama and the White House, we don't need to pretend that
this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave."Her comments
are only the latest in the volatile exchange between the administration
and the top-rated network, which is owned by the News Corporation,
controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Last month, Roger Ailes, the chairman of
Fox News, and David Axelrod, a senior adviser to President Obama, met
for coffee in New York, in what Politico, which last week broke that
news, labeled a "Fox summit." While neither party has said what was
discussed, some have speculated that a truce, or at least an adjustment
in tone, was at issue. (Ailes and then-Sen Obama reportedly reached a
temporary accord after a meeting in mid-2008.) But shots are still being
fired, which animates the idea that both sides see benefits in the feud.

Congressional Democrats defend the White House's snub of Fox News
Submitted by Benton Foundation on October 15, 2009 - 8:34am
Last updated: October 15, 2009 - 8:35am
Source: Hill, The
Authors: J. Taylor Rushing Jared Allen
The growing rift between the Obama administration and the Fox News
network is attracting criticism from Republicans, support from Democrats
and a healthy number of legislators on both sides who want to stay out
of it. The administration has taken increasing steps in recent weeks and
months to isolate the TV network, with some Capitol Hill veterans
recalling no such similar steps by any president since Richard Nixon's
retaliation against The New York Times and The Washington Post during
Watergate. The effort hasn't been a total blackout;
--------------
-> White House press secretary Robert Gibbs still calls on Fox News
reporter Major Garrett at press briefings, but the Obama White House is
clearly targeting the network that it believes is biased.
--------------
"The point is this, and it really needs to be made: Fox is not just
another television network," said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin
(IL), a close Obama ally. "Fox has become the official/semi-official
voice for the Republican Party, in opposition to the president. And I
think calling them out is the only way to delegitimize them as political
propaganda." Asked if he would follow Obama's lead and boycott Fox,
Durbin said, "I don't know that I'd never go on Fox, but I will tell you
that when I go on, it's with a clear understanding that this is not a
news network. This is the closest thing to the Republican Party's
official voice on television."

Newly Out In Front for White House: An Ol' Pro
Submitted by Benton Foundation on October 15, 2009 - 8:34am
Last updated: October 15, 2009 - 8:34am
Source: Washington Post
Author: Jason Horowitz
Earlier this week, Anita Dunn inserted two words into the conservative
electronic echo chamber: Anita Dunn. With her CNN appearance on Sunday
attacking Fox News as "a wing of the Republican Party," the White House
dispatched its communications director to make one of its most
aggressive salvos, in part because she alone in the communications
department can withstand the blowback. "She's tough, she knows how to
handle herself in the national media, she's not intimidated by it and
she enjoys the fray," said David Gergen, a former White House
communications director and fellow veteran of the Beltway fray. "It
surprised me to see Anita Dunn out there, but if you are going to do it,
go with your pro, and she's your pro." Inside the youthful Obama
administration's communications shop, Dunn, 51, is valued as a
D.C.-certified grownup, a mentor whose battle scars, survival skills and
librarian glasses perched atop her blond hair give her gravitas. It's
one thing to have championed Obama's election, but she's the only one in
the inner circle who's actually worked against him.

White House officials to appear on Fox News
Submitted by Benton Foundation on October 19, 2009 - 8:52am
Last updated: October 19, 2009 - 8:52am
Source: Washington Post
Author: Krissah Thompson
--------------
-> After impugning the objectivity of Fox News and saying that they
would begin to treat the network as "an opponent," White House officials
said Sunday that they will allow administration
--------------
officials to appear on the network. The back-and-forth played out on
political talk shows Sunday, with others in the president's inner circle
criticizing Fox, which is home to several staunch Obama critics --
including Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck, who has called the
president a racist. Beck also has pushed against administration hires.
Most notably, the commentator used his show to campaign for the ouster
of Van Jones, a White House environmental adviser who had been
criticized for past statements and associations. Jones was then forced
to resign. Without citing specific complaints against Fox, White House
Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said on CNN's "State of the Union" that the
way "the president looks at it and we look at it is it is not a news
organization so much as it has a perspective." Karl Rove, a Fox News
contributor who advised President George W. Bush, said Obama's aides
have tried to "demonize" Fox and compared their approach to that of
President Richard M. Nixon.

Behind the War Between White House and Fox
Submitted by Benton Foundation on October 23, 2009 - 8:35am
Last updated: October 23, 2009 - 8:36am
Source: New York Times
Author: Jim Rutenberg
Late last month, the senior White House adviser David Axelrod and Roger
Ailes, chairman and chief executive of Fox News, met in an empty Palm
steakhouse before it opened for the day, neutral ground secured for a
secret tête-à-tête. Ailes, who had reached out to Axelrod to address
rising tensions between the network and the White House, told him that
Fox's reporters were fair, if tough, and should be considered separate
from the Fox commentators who were skewering President Obama nightly,
according to people briefed on the meeting. Axelrod said it was the view
of the White House that Fox News had blurred the line between news and
anti-Obama advocacy. What both men took to be the start of a frank but
productive dialogue proved, in retrospect, more akin to the round of
pre-Pearl Harbor peace talks between the United States and Japan.

Keeping access open to all
Submitted by Benton Foundation on October 26, 2009 - 4:27pm
Originally published on: October 26, 2009
Last updated: October 26, 2009 - 4:27pm					Verhaal over VNU - Who rules
what is being paid for media? ;)
Source: Miami Herald
Author: Edward Wasserman
[Commentary] The idea that "content is king" is a favorite slogan among
media people, since it's comforting to think that the industry is ruled
by its creative side. Comforting, but fictional. Who does rule the media
kingdom? Not the content creators, but the people who control their
physical access to the public, that's who. Sooner or later, channels
trump content. That's why people who care about freedom of expression
have to start by caring about the freedom of the channels over which
expression flows. Hence the importance of the simmering controversy over
so-called net neutrality -- a policy that is intended to keep the
companies that rent us access to the Internet from playing favorites
among Web services, information exchanges, content providers of all
kinds. Why does that matter? Because the pace and direction of media
development have been historically set by the people who controlled the
contact points with the public.

Nielsen To Add Internet Meters To Entire TV Ratings Sample: Timing,
Integration TBD
Submitted by Benton Foundation on October 19, 2009 - 8:45am
Last updated: October 19, 2009 - 8:46am
Source: MediaPost
Author: Joe Mandese
Nielsen Co. has decided on a plan to install Internet meters alongside
TV meters in its entire TV measurement panel over the next year, with
the possibility of providing a so-called "single source" measurement of
television programming viewed across the two media as soon as 2011. The
timing of the plan, and a final decision to integrate the measurement of
the two media, ultimately will be decided by Nielsen's clients, but the
decision to begin a system-wide deployment of Internet meters in its
entire TV meter sample was effectively decided Friday, following a
"special" meeting with its most influential clients to brief them on the
concept, and to gauge their interests and concerns.

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