Fox News, state-run TV for Republicans
A jarring juxtaposition between Cable News Network (CNN) and Fox News on how to treat Donald Trump‘s administration took place this week. Yesterday, the Daily Beast reported that, before Trump Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned this year in a wave of scandals, he repeatedly received sweetheart deals when appearing for interviews on the Fox & Friends program. The Fox treatment of Pruitt went way beyond simply going easy on a Republican guest, which Fox News does all the time, and which is why Donald Trump loves Fox & Friends in particular. Here, Pruitt’s staff coordinated closely with the Fox & Friends staff to script the actual interview questions and talking points in advance. This throws out any pretense of real journalism, especially in questioning a government official, and turns Fox News into the equivalent of the Russian state-run TASS news agency.
CNN, on the other hand, is taking a very different approach toward the Trump administration’s statements. Yesterday, CNN started running a “Facts First” box on screen next to its broadcast of Trump White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders‘ daily press briefing. Sanders has been caught again and again as the Liar in Chief for the Trump White House. This is in addition to Sanders’ repeated insults hurled at the White House reporters who are doing their job, and upholding the First Amendment, by asking questions of the Trump administration just as they did with the previous presidential administrations. In response, yesterday, as Sanders was attempting to dismiss a just-released government report indicating that climate change, if left unchecked, will kill thousands of Americans and wreck the U.S. economy, CNN aired its on-screen “Facts First” box indicating:
–Climate change report involved 300 scientists, 13 federal agencies
–Co-author: Not paid for report
–Open for review & transparency before publishing
It’s clear from the events this week that one cable news network is interested in seeking and telling the truth, and the other one clearly has earned its nickname Faux News.
Photo by Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/LUS0sW
