 | February 11, 2009 |
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Dear Friend,
Yesterday, Fox News displayed a stunning lack of journalistic integrity, even by its own standards. Today, thanks to pressure from Media Matters, bloggers throughout the country, and those concerned about the state of our media, Fox News was forced to address the issue.
Donate to Media Matters today and help us continue the fight to hold the media accountable.
During yesterday's edition of Happening Now, co-host Jon Scott presented a press release issued by the Senate Republican Communications Center as Fox's own reporting. Purporting to "take a look back" at how the economic recovery package "was born and how it grew," Scott referenced seven dates, as on-screen graphics cited various news sources from those time periods. All seven of the sources came directly from the Senate Republican press release. One of the graphics during the segment even repeated a typo from the release. At no point during the segment did Scott indicate that he was reading from a partisan press release.
Today, Scott apologized. However, he did not apologize for the egregious offense of passing along the one-sided argument made in the Republican press release as Fox News' original reporting. Rather, he apologized for including the same typo. Scott's half-hearted apology further throws into question the already shaky credibility of the network that brands itself as "Fair & Balanced."
Clearly, we all have our work cut out for us. Fox News hopes that those watching do so uncritically, even when it blatantly parrots GOP talking points, which is why the work Media Matters does is so important. We're holding them accountable every day. Today's acknowledgement by Fox News shows the effect we can have when we all work together, and why it's still necessary for us to keep up the pressure.
Donate to Media Matters today and help us continue the fight to hold the media accountable.
Thank you for your continued support.
David Brock
Founder & CEO
Media Matters for America
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