Obama: Fox News is 'destructive' to America

[alienlovechild 75]

(CNN) - President Obama is pulling no punches when it comes to Fox News, declaring the cable news outlet to be "destructive to [America's] long-term growth."

In a more than 8,000-word interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, Obama compared the cable news channel to papers owned by William Randolph Hearst at the turn of the 20th century that unabashedly pushed the media titan's own political views.

"You had folks like Hearst who used their newspapers very intentionally to promote their viewpoints. I think Fox is part of that tradition – it is part of the tradition that has a very clear, undeniable point of view," Obama told the magazine.

Officials in the Obama White House have long made Fox News a punching bag, launching a full blown offensive last year when aides declared the network to be "opinion journalism masquerading as news." Then-White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said the cable outlet "operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party," and top aide Valerie Jarret called Fox "clearly biased."

But the new comments from Obama constitute the president's most direct attack yet on the network owned by business mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Fox News pushes "a point of view that I disagree with. It's a point of view that I think is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of a country that has a vibrant middle class and is competitive in the world," Obama said.

"But as an economic enterprise, it's been wildly successful. And I suspect that if you ask Mr. Murdoch what his number one concern is, it's that Fox is very successful."

Fox has yet to respond to the president. But during the administration offensive against the network last year, network spokesman Michael Clemente slammed the White House for continuing "to declare war on a news organization instead of focusing on the critical issues that Americans are concerned about."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/28/obama-fox-news-is-destructive-to-america/?hpt=T2

[Heracles 417]

What's destructive is people without a clue speaking about topic they know little about. Unfortunately this problem is chronic in the US.

The number of times I have heard people without any formal higher education, let alone knowledge in economics comment on it, is getting old fast in the US.

[alienlovechild 75]

What's destructive is people without a clue speaking about topic they know little about. Unfortunately this problem is chronic in the US.

The number of times I have heard people without any formal higher education, let alone knowledge in economics comment on it, is getting old fast in the US.

What's more destructive is a sitting president desperately trying to pin the blame for economy on a single news channel and getting away it albeit for a shrinking number of his supporters.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

What's destructive is people without a clue speaking about topic they know little about. Unfortunately this problem is chronic in the US.

The number of times I have heard people without any formal higher education, let alone knowledge in economics comment on it, is getting old fast in the US.

[fozzie 41]

As a channel Fox News is clearly biased and does not hide from the fact. It flaunts it. Unfortunately journalism is supposed to be unbiased and factual and present both sides of an argument. This happens rarely in the US and most channels lean one way or the other, Fox just leans further than most.

[The_Dude 1,142]

What's destructive is people without a clue speaking about topic they know little about. Unfortunately this problem is chronic in the US.

The number of times I have heard people without any formal higher education, let alone knowledge in economics comment on it, is getting old fast in the US.

So are you going to follow this guideline for yourself, or is this as I suspect, a case of "Do as I say, not as I do"?

As a channel Fox News is clearly biased and does not hide from the fact. It flaunts it. Unfortunately journalism is supposed to be unbiased and factual and present both sides of an argument. This happens rarely in the US and most channels lean one way or the other, Fox just leans further than most.

The real problem with Fox news, and cable news in general is the blending of entertainment and commentary into news. Fox News is 90% commentators, but there are many many people who take it as legitimate news. Sorry folks, Sean Hannity and Keithe Olbermann are not newscasters.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

I gave you a plus one!

[fozzie 41]

The real problem with Fox news, and cable news in general is the blending of entertainment and commentary into news. Fox News is 90% commentators, but there are many many people who take it as legitimate news. Sorry folks, Sean Hannity and Keithe Olbermann are not newscasters.

I completely agree, although the other 10% is still largely biased too. They are very clever at blurring the lines and setting up commentary and entertainment shows in a news format.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I completely agree, although the other 10% is still largely biased too. They are very clever at blurring the lines and setting up commentary and entertainment shows in a news format.

Yes they are, but their actual news programming isn't really slanted. You just need to be home, at like 2 p.m. to catch it.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

As a channel Fox News is clearly biased and does not hide from the fact. It flaunts it. Unfortunately journalism is supposed to be unbiased and factual and present both sides of an argument. This happens rarely in the US and most channels lean one way or the other, Fox just leans further than most.

you don't watch much MSNBC do you?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

you don't watch much MSNBC do you?

I don't either. Morning Joe once in a while, Meet the Press on Sundays, and occasionally Hardball is about it. Of course when the wife is home, I have no control over the remote, so it's midgets, hoarders, and dives & drive-ins.

[mawilson 2,133]

you don't watch much MSNBC do you?

I watched it last night - it's SICK. They were talking about Chris Christie and how he's

going after teacher's unions because he's the devil and hates children.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

As a conservative, I hate to say it, but Barry is right. But, he'd be right if he said the same thing about PMSMBC, and, I wish he would.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Cable news is destructive in general. Can't stand any of it.

[Ban Hammer 13,469]

which is more destructive:

obama spending us into a hole faster than jimmy john's delivers sandwiches, or

fox news broadcasting news that half the usa population doesn't watch anyways....