Today’s Qs for O’s WH – 10/20/2009

Thanks for standing up for the united states constitution. Its aparant that the White House could use a lesson.

Re: "Why are you Jake so obsessed with defending Fox?"

I don't think he's trying to defend Fox. He wants to know the criteria the White House is using to reach its decision. How do they define a news organization? And is that even their job?

And what's to stop a GOP President from banning everybody except Fox? Obama needs to be careful about the precedent he's setting.

I don't care for Fox, but they have done some OK reporting on Haiti. Campbell Brown was crying last Saturday night over Haiti, and being very melodramamtic. Is that news? Or is that turning this tragedy into a melodrama?

Jon - How in the world do you imagine that Jake Tapper is "liberal"? Can't you tell when someone is wangling for a job with Faux News? His reporting, and most of what is laughingly called mainstream media, is simply talking- heads-on-tv-repeating-GOP-talking- points; prefaced by "some people are saying", and proceeding to quote the opinion of some rightwing "think" tank, with no disclaimer explaining the bias of the "some people" they are quoting.

So, Jake is right - Fox News really is as much a "news organization" as any of the others. Want real reporting of both sides of an issue? Check out the Daily Show or Clobert Report, where they actually call public officials on their bs.

Fox is ABC's sister org?

Wow, that's a totally inappropriate phrase and shocking.

Everyone in america, even conservatives, know it is conservative media, not news media. It's like Rush Limbaugh. Rah rah rah, go GOP. It's an open secret.

Why are you Jake so obsessed with defending Fox? Cant the big boys at Fox take care of themselves?

I don't see why it's NOT appropriate for the WH to state the obvious in this case. It's true that individuals and organizations should have the liberty to call the President an idiot, but nowhere is it written that he can't then return the compliment. People don't like it, they don't have to re-elect him.

Are you really maintaining that there is a firewall between news and opinion on Fox? Come on, nobody believes that.

Fox is propaganda. If your entire news establishment is opinion, rather than reporting then you're not a news organization. plan and simple.

There is very little worthwhile journalism left on television or cable. Fox is demonstrably the least worthwhile of cable outlets. Yellow journalism makes big money and Fox makes up news as it goes and deliberately reports their brand of "news" in a fashion that appeals to a specific viewing audience.

Mr. Tapper defending Fox news is frankly disturbing and it is one of a myriad of reasons why I no longer watch television or cable news broadcasts. This all started when news departments were subsumed by entertainment divisions. A move that has reduced the quality of journalism across the spectrum. There are no real journalists left in cable and darn few on network telecasts, just news opinion 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Lazy, unintelligent and feckless.

Calling Fox a "sister organization" says a lot more about ABC News than you might want. This is one of the silliest comments I've ever heard from someone who considers himself a straight reporter. Beck, Hannity and O'Reilly aside, anyone who has watched a smidgen of their so-called straight news knows that they consistently blur the line between opinion and reporting--one can also see it in the stories they choose to run vs. those they give short shrift to. They are the propaganda arm of the Republican party.

I think Jake Tapper will next ask: Why do you claim the Sun sets in the west? Or: Prove to me pigs don't fly.

Truth is not logic choppin, son!

And these questions as well:

Since Christina Romer has said that the Stimulus Bill will have very little stimulative effect in 2010, why not stop the stimulus bill spending?

Does President Obama see any other way of creating jobs other than governmental spending?

Since you are about the only reporter asking real questions, please ask these:

Will the public be given a reasonable amount of time to read and digest the healthcare bill before any voting is done? Will we be given enough time for our input on this matter? This bill will affect every man, woman and child in America; do you think the American people should have some real input? Since this bill will affect 1/6th of the nation’s economy, do you think, after the bill is written, that we ought to stand back and examine it for a month or two to try and determine what the unintended consequences of such a bill would be?

Thank you Mr Tapper for standing up for what is right.

And as a liberal, who cares if FoxNews has some conservative opinion shows?

Why does that threaten the White House? Frankly, it makes them look weak. especially in light of Dunn's comments in Israel.

Jake: Thanks for standing up for the First Amendment. And it was right of you to point out the difference between Fox News Reporting and Opinion Reporting (5pm-Beck; 9pm-Hannity). As usual Gibbs comes off as an idiot and it's beyond me how he got and continues to keep his job.

The arrogance of this administration is showing. This whole move to alienate Fox (and, apparently, the Washington Post as well) is transparently arrogant.

Two things: (1) Public opinion can turn on a dime. (2) the Obama brand is fading - we all get that he has an olive oil delivery and can package what we want to hear as a mandate while doing the exact opposite in the amendments.

The backlash for arrogance in this country is fast and unforgiving. Yeah, Obama has a good rap and strong stage presence but don't think for one nanosecond that his arrogance and the arrogance of his staff are not starting to shine through.

It is too bad things are going this way. There was genuine promise in Obama's campaign rhetoric and, in my view delivered a win to him in the polls. He promised to govern from the middle and abandoned that promise from the very beginning. Its the little things - ramrodding the stimulus bill, the promise of transparency and bi partisanship and the promise of inclusion "of all Americans."

And now they have the audacity to exclude what they view as a trivial news organization because it is critical of this administration's policies?

The Obama administration is starting to believe their own press and they are getting real arrogant as a result. We notice the little things, we notice the big things (you know, like the unemployment rate creeping up to double digits.) In my view this move to alienate Fox reflects a kind of arrogance that is hard to shake once it takes hold. It is almost impossible to overcome once the American public starts to see it.

Idiocy on Jake Tapper's part isn't new.

Fox news generating opposition stories, such as 9-12 movement and the tea parties, attacking the US government...that is new.

Well done Tapper! I am glad someone finally realized that it is as important to take this president to task as it was the last one.

Almost all coverage of this guy reminds me of the Onion piece about the quest to do the definitive puff piece on Obama.

Way to do your job!

Mr. Tapper,

Thanks for standing up for the united states constitution. Its aparant that the White House could use a lesson.

I think most Republicans recognize that Fox opinion programming is biased. But I think that Fox News news show is pretty straight. MSNBC is no different, other than it plays the other side of the political spectrum. However, any claim that CNN and NPR play it straight down the middle is simply laughable. They may try, they may think they are, but they aren't even close.

Standing up for "Faux Noise" is the dumbest thing Jake Tappert has ever done. If he can't see the way every show, and not just the opinion shows, start with the premise that POTUS is wrong, then he must have his head in a permanent dark hole.

FoxNews is up there with the National Enquirer, People, and US Weekly!

Every other segment on Fox is celebrity gossip, the latest 'scandal', and right-wing opinion journalism.

Should US Weekly and the National Enquirer be treated with the same respect as other news organizations? If not, why should Fox?