Fox News Live Uses Overwhelming Bias On NY Times Story
Reported by Donna - June 26, 2006 -
Today on Fox News Live with Bill Hemmer, (12 - 1 p.m.) he spoke often about the NYTimes story regarding a program that secretly monitors the financial transactions of suspected terrorists.
Fox News Live covered it in their usual biased manner. Hemmer was passionate in arguing against the NY Times in every venue of each segment.
First they had videotape of Bush denouncing the program, saying the disclosure was disgraceful. Hemmer then had a segment on with Bill Frist who said he agreed with the president. He said we're giving out the playbook for fighting terrorism that protects his family and ours against the terrorists, repeatedly. Hemmer kept insisting and asking, "Did the NY Times cross the line?" Frist said as far as free speech goes they can do whatever they want to but when it comes to the safety and security of this country he thinks the Times did cross the line.
A little later in the program, Hemmer repeated that the president was quite fiery and that this was doing great harm in fighting the war on terror.
Towards the end of the program he did a segment that started again with the videotape of the president saying how upset he was and he was trying to protect the American people.. Hemmer talked about how impassioned the president was. Hemmer then spoke with Jayne Weintraub, a criminal defense attorney and splashed across the screen was the question 'Did The Times Break The Law Breaking A Story?' Hemmer was fierce in his attack on what the NY Times reported.
Weintraub explained that the Times would be protected by the first amendment. Hemmer said they might have the right but was it the right thing to do? Weintraub says the right to know outweighs any possible small national concern, that the news has to police the police or we won't have a government. She said how important it was to have checks and balances and pointed out that we don't have censorship here.
Hemmer cut into her segment to go to Tony Snow who said this administration went the extra mile with the Times (I guess to get them to not publish the story).
Comments: We had the president, Senator Bill Frist, Tony Snow and Bill Hemmer, himself, arguing against the New York Times. We had Jayne Weintraub, a criminal defense attorney to argue in favor of the Times and her segment ended up being cut into. Another fair and balanced story from Fox. Why didn't we have a spokesperson from the NY Times or a Democratic Senator to counter and balance the story? Why, because it's Fox and they report in the most biased way they can as is evidenced by their handling of the New York Times story.
