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Looks like the White House went after Fox News in 2009 after all

By Joe Pompeo | The Cutline – Fri, Jul 15, 2011

Roger Ailes (Jim Cooper/AP)As the U.K. phone-hacking scandal continues to engulf News Corp's British segment, one of the company's top-performing assets in the U.S. is enjoying a bit of unrelated vindication.

Rewind to October 2009: Fox News Channel and the White House were at war. In one particularly heated incident, Fox claimed the Obama administration had tried to oust the "fair & balanced" network from an interview with Treasury official Kenneth Feinberg, when the other four news nets in the TV coverage pool had been offered access. In the end, Fox was included, and a Treasury Department spokesman snarled: "There was no plot to exclude Fox News, and they had the same interview that their competitors did. Much ado about absolutely nothing."

Emails that surfaced last week, however, through a public records request by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, suggest otherwise.

"We'd prefer if you skip Fox please," a White House broadcast media staffer advised a Treasury Department public affairs secretary ahead of the interview. In other emails during the same time frame, deputy White House communications director Jennifer Psaki called Fox News anchor Bret Baier "a lunatic" and boasted that "I am putting some dead fish in the fox cubby--just cause." In yet another email, another White House press officer wrote: "We've demonstrated our willingness and ability to exclude Fox News from significant interviews …"

Proof of an anti-Fox agenda in the Oval Office? Judicial Watch thinks so.

"These documents show there is a pervasive anti-Fox bias in the Obama White House," said Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton in a statement. "The juvenile Mafioso-talk in these emails has no place in any White House. For the Obama administration to purposely exclude a major news organization from access to information has troubling First Amendment implications."

But current White House press secretary Jay Carney pushed back on the revelation during a briefing Thursday.

"It is well known that at the time there was a dispute between Fox News and its coverage and the White House and its feelings about the coverage," he said, according to CBS News. "I mean, that was then, and we obviously deal with Fox News regularly. ... We regularly engage with every network and every news organization here, including Fox, and give interviews to Fox, and respect the reporters at Fox who are reporters and do their job."

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7,486 comments

TRUTH BE TOLD • 10 mths ago
CAREFUL WHAT YOU SAY FOLKS, BIG BROTHER IS READING
- Crackhead Barry 10 mths ago
  And so is YAHOO as they censor the bejbus out of the boards.
- Jeremy G 10 mths ago
  Much like Bill O'Reilly and his "SHUT YOUR MOUTH" tactic he so liberally (no pun intended, but I'll be damned if it ain't a funny one) appropriates.
- Oops, Try again 10 mths ago
  @ Sam S...
  
  We ARE screwed.......
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Reply
Sam S. • 10 mths ago
How would it be for "we the people" if all the media were bias in favor of a president? We'd be screwed.
- NamVetBuck 10 mths ago
  We ARE ! At least with this Assclown in Chief !
- harpua13 10 mths ago
  The Media let Bush off the hook for years while he merrily led us into the two wars that are currently helping to cripple our economy.
- Dan 10 mths ago
  Yeah, uh. . . let's look back a minute. Yeah the folks on both sides voted on both wars for which the media blamed Bush solely even though no one from the left would have done anything differently.
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Reply
Roger • 10 mths ago
If there is a point to be made about telling lies, then Wikileaks has shown us that NOBODY can tell as many lies as our own government! They lie to everyone...to other nations, to us, even to each other!
- Noone 10 mths ago
  And that's wrong!!!
A Yahoo! User • 10 mths ago
The ASTONISHING thing here is that it is being played out like it REALLY is surprising----think about it if your one of the people surprised by this---on how out of touch you really are
- AndrewK 10 mths ago
  GW and his crooks would ONLY do interviews with Fox News.
- Larry 10 mths ago
  Andrew you're pathetic it's unbelievable how many of you and your lib friends are going to make this your lifelong credo. BLAME BUSH get over it already yeah he made mistakes along with every other president including this one. If you dont wake up and do something about it (other than blaming GW) you'll be seeing another kind of RED in country besides the GOP hope you like rice and dog get the picture.
- Wolf Sharp 10 mths ago
  Larry, Bush was traitor to the US Constitution, People, and world. Period!
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John • 10 mths ago
Fox News vs Obama. Guess who won?
- Jim 10 mths ago
  Obama won.....look at the source...... the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch. That is enough for me.
- buster 10 mths ago
  no u idiot fox won.
- Constitution Czar 10 mths ago
  We know the truth. The people won.
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Reply
JJ • 10 mths ago
That's news! The very fact there was a war on FOX kinda implies the WH was on the OTHER SIDE. DUH!
Alexis • 10 mths ago
hitler always said the public will always believe the biggest lies
Birddogchief • 10 mths ago
It's simple, all news outlets should be allowed access. MSNBC, CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC NPR,etc. The people aren't required to watch any of them, so why exclude any? Or are we worried the 1st amendment will get in the way of an agenda?
Gil • 10 mths ago
it is sad that people in the government NOW can lie to us all they want but lie to them and off to jail you go...Nixon lied and out the door he went...
CH • 10 mths ago
Even if you hate Fox and believe they are nothing more than a political mouthpiece, you simply do not want our government effectively censoring anyone......that is a road to the same tyranny we fought against 250 year ago.
Cave1234 • 10 mths ago
Hey look, if it is true that any legitimate media is purposely left out because of idealogical reasons then thats wrong.
BUT here is the problem .... I've NEVER EVER SEEN ANY SO CALLED NEWS MEDIA ATTACK A PRESIDENT LIKE FOX NEWS HAS SINCE NOV. 2008 .... thats before president Obama took office.
So when people say FOX LIES, it is because people look back and see how Fox had people say in NOV 2008, Dec and JAN 2009, LOOK again .... all before President Obama took office, ..... that he is ruining AMERICA, that he is a MUSLIM, that he wants to ruin america, ... he doing it on purpose, .... not american, its all he's fualt, ... a racist, so on & so on ...

Look no other President has had this scutiny and name calling .... and on Fox Ms Luara Ingraham has attacked his family many many times.

So someone tell me when was the last time FOX said President Obama is a president that has made mistakes in your eyes but he is still our PRESIDENT who is trrying.
a yahoo user • 10 mths ago
What happened to solid transparency like Obama promised during his canpaign? I seam to recall something about ALL would be shown to the United States people by way of Cspan???
hungry_i • 10 mths ago
It's gotta kill Yahoo to report this.
chemboy • 10 mths ago
Ask yourself if you want the government only giving interviews with news organizations that say nice things about them.
JimmyP • 10 mths ago
No....don't tell me that this White House doesn't discriminate
Donna • 10 mths ago
Dictator's decide what their people can hear, see and do. Everyone should be concerned when our White House decides on what we as American's are allowed to see,hear. The very essence of censuring is the first step into a dictator run society, followed by dependency on the government. Young and old alike better start figuring this out soon or America will soon be the next CHINA.
Jacob Black • 10 mths ago
Who else in history believed in censoring the press.................
goldiep • 10 mths ago
everyone missing the point. whether you like fox of not it shines bad light on obama. stop trying to change subject just ask how would you react if bush did it and than realize your playing politics and not being truthful
Sgian-dubh • 10 mths ago
The Obama administration is all about protecting "free speech", freedom of expression", and tolerance- unless it's Fox News.
Purd • 10 mths ago
GE owns NBC, MSNBC. The president of GE is on Obama's job council and GE has paid zero taxes. Not to mention GE is a leading supplier of "green energy" stuff. I have not seen one article, one question raised or the administration itself trying to distance themselves from this.

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