"Fair, Balanced, and Unafraid."
Posted on 09/25/2002 5:52:29 AM PDT by GeneD
Fox News Channel is the most biased major media outlet toward Muslims, Ibrahim Hooper, communications director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told this website. His group is asking members to contact FNC CEO Roger Ailes to express concern over the purported anti-Islam bias. Hooper, who gets copies of the e-mails sent to Fox, said the network station has received thousands of complaints.
Hooper cited the recent Florida "terror scare" as part of Fox's inflammatory reporting. While CNN's Larry King was pretty even-handed in interviewing the suspected terrorists, a Fox interviewee demanded they take a Fox-paid lie detector test, according to Hooper.
CAIR also is upset with Fox broadcasters who allow guests to launch into an anti-Islam tirade without being challenged. Sean Hannity of "Hannity & Colmes" let televangelist Pat Robertson call Islam's Prophet Muhammad a "killer," a "wild-eyed fanatic," "a robber and a brigand" during the Sept. 18 program. Robertson dismissed Islam as a "monumental scam" and ridiculed the Koran as "a theft of Jewish theology."
Brian Lewis, Fox spokesperson, confirmed that the station received many e-mails from CAIR, which he dismissed as a special interest group. He stressed that 99 percent of them were form letters. "We did get a few threatening letters," Lewis added.
The Fox spokesperson emphasized that none of the purported anti-Islam bashing appeared during its news programming. CAIR officials, he added, were invited to rebut Robertson's remarks.
Hooper said he received many invitations to appear on Fox, but complained about being subjected to "ambush" interviews or accusatory anchors. "I have appeared on Fox from time to time, but now wonder if it is worth it," he told this website.
CAIR has asked for a meeting with Fox executives, but they have not yet responded to the request, said Hooper. Lewis said "that's not going to happen." Fox has officially rescinded the offer to CAIR to appear on the network.
Following is the Council's recommended letter to Fox:
I am writing to express my grave concern at Fox News Channel's consistent pandering to anti-Islamic bigotry. Fox News regularly provides a welcoming and hospitable platform for unchallenged hate speech directed at Muslims and Islam. At the same time, Muslim guests are frequently harassed, bullied and insulted.
Fox News hosts such as Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly frequently host guests who hold views that are full of hate and malice. If Fox News invited guests that expressed similarly bigoted views about other faith groups, it would never accept and encourage them.
While these individuals are free to express their opinions, the fact that Fox News hosts rarely challenge, and frequently encourage these views is extremely distressing. Fox News is directly contributing to a climate of fear and hate directed at America's Muslim and Arab communities.
In the past few weeks alone Mosques have been vandalized and shot at, three medical students were falsely accused of being terrorists, and a man in Florida was found with weapons, explosives and detailed plans for blowing up nearly 50 Islamic centers and schools.
If Fox News wishes to host guests who hold such odious views, then it should at least have the decency to push genuine debate and discussion, rather than endorse religious and racial chauvinism.
"Thousands" contact FOX over anti-Muslim bias
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Islamic civil rights group requests meeting with network
Fox News Channel officials tell the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) they are receiving "thousands" of complaints about anti-Muslim bias in that network's news and commentary. The Islamic civil rights and advocacy group has requested a meeting to discuss ways in which Fox's coverage of issues related to Islam and Muslims can be improved.
Last week, CAIR alerted the Muslim community to what the group said is the latest incident in a pattern of Islamophobic coverage by Fox. CAIR's alert cited the network's inflammatory reporting on the recent "terror scare" in Florida, the tendency to ambush and abuse those Muslims who do appear on its programs and a September 18th "Hannity & Colmes" on which televangelist Pat Robertson called the Prophet Muhammad a "killer," a "wild-eyed fanatic…a robber and a brigand."
Robertson also called Islam "a monumental scam" and the Quran, Islam's revealed text, "a theft of Jewish theology." He said: "I mean, this man [Muhammad] was a killer. And to think that this is a peaceful religion is fraudulent." Host Sean Hannity failed to challenge, and even seemed to encourage, these anti-Muslim slurs.
As an example of the bias promoted by the network, CAIR also cited an e-mail message to Fox News Channel CEO Roger Ailes (that was copied to CAIR). That e-mail, sent from the account of a Pennsylvania businessman, read in part (uncorrected except for obscenity): "good coverage on the deviant cult of islam, fox news. expose those subhuman boy-b**gerers for what they are: murderous lowlife subhuman filth."
"This is just the kind of hate that is inspired and incited by Fox's biased coverage of Islam, Muslims and the Middle East. Fox is neither fair nor balanced when it comes to these issues," said CAIR Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. Hooper also thanked all those who took the time to contact Fox to express their concerns.
ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE. Fox is likely to use hostile comments to further harm the image of Islam and Muslims.)
1) Contact Fox to request that network officials meet with American Muslim representatives on the issue of anti-Muslim bias and stereotyping. Send a message even if you sent one before.
CONTACT:
Mr. Roger Ailes
Chief Executive Officer
Fox News Channel
1211 Avenue of the Americas, Lowr C1
New York, NY 10036-8701
FAX: 212-556-8219
E-MAIL: roger.ailes@foxnews.com
CALL FOX COMMENT LINE: 1-888-369-4762
CALL HANNITY & COLMES: 212-301-3289
FAX HANNITY & COLMES: 212-301-4222
2) Help educate the American public about Islam by taking part in CAIR's Library Project. GO TO: http://www.libraryproject.org
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The O'Dwyer story is linked via iwantmedia.com.
He says that like it's a bad thing...
"Fair, Balanced, and Unafraid."
Then, I end up yelling at the radio when National "al Jazeera" Public Radio is on promoting the Pali cause.
Is there an award for that? There should be.
They should bone up on the King's English. If FNC is baised towardMuslims, then they are pro-Muslim! Biased against Muslims would be anti-Muslim. In any case I'm glad to see someone from the left crying that the media is not portraying them fairly....it means the right is gaining ground.
Same song and dance with the same partners
I doubt the 'perps' watch FoxNews.
While I don't look to Robertson for religious leadership, the man is hardly driven by hate and malice. He has the courage to speak the politically incorrect truth in a kind and non-judgemental way. The folks at CAIR mistake hate for love and love for hate. They wouldn't know hate if it was staring them in the mirror- oh wait, it is!
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