j_b

http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~1740252,00.html Former producer blows whistle on Fox News Executives allegedly issue daily memorandum to bend reporting to conform with management's political views By Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times A veteran producer this week alleged that Fox News executives issue a daily memorandum to staff on news coverage to bend the network's reporting to conform with management's political views, refocusing attention on the partisan bias of America's most-watched cable news operation. The charges by Charlie Reina, 55, whose six years at Fox ended April 9, first surfaced Wednesday in a letter he posted on an influential Web site ( www.poynter.org/column maintained by Jim Romenesko for the Poynter Institute, an organization that promotes journalistic education and ethics. [...] In his letter, Reina wrote that, "The roots of (Fox's) day-to-day on-air bias are actual and direct. They come in the form of an executive memo (written by John Moody, the network's vice president for news, and) "distributed electronically each morning, addressing what stories will be covered and, often, suggesting how they should be covered. To the newsroom personnel responsible for the channel's daytime programming, The Memo is the bible. If, on any given day, you notice that the Fox anchors seem to be trying to drive a particular point home, you can bet The Memo is behind it. The Memo was born with the Bush administration, early in 2001, and, intentionally or not, has ensured that the administration's point of view consistently comes across on (Fox). . . "For instance, from the March 20 memo: 'There is something utterly incomprehensible about (U.N. Secretary-General) Kofi Annan's remarks in which he allows that his thoughts are 'with the Iraqi people.' One could ask where those thoughts were during the 23 years Saddam Hussein was brutalizing those same Iraqis. Food for thought.' Can there be any doubt that the memo was offering not only 'food for thought,' but a direction for the FNC writers and anchors to go? Especially after describing the U.N. Secretary General's remarks as 'utterly incomprehensible'?. . .. "One day this past spring, just after the U.S. invaded Iraq, The Memo warned us that anti-war protesters would be 'whining' about U.S. bombs killing Iraqi civilians, and suggested they could tell that to the families of American soldiers dying there. Editing copy that morning, I was not surprised when an eager young producer killed a correspondent's report on the day's fighting -- simply because it included a brief shot of children in an Iraqi hospital. . .. "These are not isolated incidents at Fox News Channel, where virtually no one of authority in the newsroom makes a move unmeasured against management's politics, actual or perceived. At the Fair and Balanced network, everyone knows management's point of view, and, in case they're not sure how to get it on air, The Memo is there to remind them." [...]

i find surprising that you bring up this article. when i read it, although i thought that it did not prove prior knowledge, it certainly did not allow to summarily dismiss the question.

published on sept 21 2001. there is also much evidence out there pointing to plans for foreign ventures prior to 9/11 (both afghanistan and iraq). from your link: "Earlier this week, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the Selective Service System remains in caretaker mode, as it has been for two decades. But the agency has been ordered to prepare itself in case President Bush and Congress reverse course." i suspect it is equivocal. political suicide prior to 2004 but they could still use it during a 2nd term if needed, by which time it wouldn't matter for bush anyway. we'll see.

"The Pentagon is quietly moving to fill draft board vacancies nationwide. While officials say there's no cause to worry, some experts aren't so sure." http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2003/11/03/draft/index_np.html

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031029/od_nm/blacklist_dc

how telling that greg_w forgot about other euros i.e. italians, french, etc .. who have had at least as much to do with modern mountaineering advances as northern europeans/germans do. let's not even mention russians, and other eastern euros. to say the least, a serious case of selective amnesia. hey greg_w, don't forget to flush the toilet next time because it's stinking up the joint.

nice try. your various calls to murder on the basis of politics and race/religion, along with your bigotry and anti-free speech, anti-democracy stances firmly puts you on the far right. along with your display of firearms in various posts we can only guess what you really are about. me on the other hand, i stand for democracy, freedom of speech, mixed economy, human rights, etc ... which basically puts me left of center. it is obvious by now that my unwillingness to back down when faced with your various threats and insults makes me the favorite target of your smears. it won't work.

you are right. apparently a 1/4 hasn't been issued "a new type of ceramic body armor strong enough to stop bullets fired from assault rifles"

i don't know. i'd have to look for it. i do believe it said "no body armor" and not "not the best". what's remfs?

i read somewhere that a 1/3 of the troops in iraq still don't have body armor.

yeah sure. the lack of argument combined with the insults speaks volume .... but let's all pretend it's just a troll.

sorry pal but you and moral in the same post? it just does not compute.

go figure, these are the same buffoons who in the same breath will talk about ethics and objectivity.

so? what's your point? btw was that clip ethical reporting about m.moore?

j_b, I must say that usually you are this over-the-top wrong about stuff. All you have to do is listen to Moore himself talk about his work. The guy is an unethical bullshit. transcripts of him talking? just so we know what we are talking about.

do you dispute that he is ethical? or as ethical as other doc. film makers?

no picnic on mt. kenya by felice benuzi (sp?) beautiful story about war prisoners who escape to climb kenya with minimal equipment. great illustration of why we climb mountains.

i said proof, like in evidence, not innuendos or hearsay

by opposition to what? a reporter (screened by the military) standing behind an m1, telling us about the progress and circumstances of the iraq war that he/she cannot see for fear of having his head blown off and after he spent days/weeks sharing food, shelter and anxieties with us troops? how is what m.moore does any different than another documentary film maker/photographer in the face of the subjects he is reporting on? the discourse that documentaries or reporting are objective while moore's work isn't, is deceitful. moore does not lie about facts and that's all that matters to this discussion. he only chooses to present facts in the way that fits his story line like everybody else in the business. call him biased if you will but show me who isn't. whether it is the 'truth' for you, depends on your own sensibilities and everyone should be aware of that. now if you have proof that m.moore lies about facts, show us the goods.

allright, keep'em coming. cracked's point about big mountain climbing is a good one imo (regardless of what i said).

actually s&p and nasdaq are more useful indices (they both went down slightly) true but it also reflects on the economic news (justifiably or not) if nothing else via short term trading trading stock of unprofitable companies during the 90's? is not it what everbody did? and those who did not get out early enough, the average joe, lost their pants.

the 2 groups most at risk among climbers are gumbies and experts pushing the envelope. i, somehow, doubt that experts biting it on easier climbs are statistically significant. yet i agree with whoever said that most accidents occur on non-technical terrain.

the unholy alliance: trask and peter puget in bed together

it's all over the news. how did the stock market react to the good news today?

consumer spending was mostly fueled by home refinancing and the tax cut. ergo people and the feds are in further debts than they were 3 months ago. most everyone agrees this bubble is not sustainable.