Posted on 10/14/2006 9:18:11 AM PDT by Ol' Sparky
Fox News bans ad critical of Clinton
Tells 'Move America Forward' rebuttal to terror war claims won't be aired
Posted: October 14, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A new television ad that is part of a campaign by the Move America Forward organization to counter ex-President Bill Clinton's recent assertions about his administration's efforts to combat Islamic terrorism has been rejected by Fox News.
"Fox News Channel told Move America Forward that they had decided under no circumstances would they allow the organization to broadcast the ad," Debra Argel Bastian, the group's military outreach coordinator, said.
A spokesman for Fox News told WND that the advertisement made a claim about Clinton that wasn't documented, so the ad wasn't accepted.
"That's standard operating procedure for Fox News," he said. "If there's something (like that) in an ad, we ask for documentation for it."
As WND reported, Clinton erupted several weeks ago in a televised interview on Fox when he was asked whether his administration had done all it could to capture or destroy Osama bin Laden.
Jabbing his finger at his interviewer he heatedly said that he had done more and gotten closer to destroying bin Laden than anyone else. That statement has since been contradicted by former CIA experts, who said Clinton probably missed at least eight opportunities for removing bin Laden from the terror war.
That was the issue, the Fox official said, that caused the rejection. Documentation about Clinton's knowledge of bin Laden's location during his presidency was required for that ad to air, he said.
"We asked for documentation to back up that claim, and the organization was not able to provide it," he told WND.
Move America Forward's television ad campaign is to explain its criticism of Clinton, and one of those ads shows a series of images of terror attacks on the U.S. and its interests.
Over the images of the terror attacks, a narrator says, "Terrorists want to kill us. They've tried over and over again. Our president didn't have his eye on the ball. He didn't make the war on terrorism his top priority. But enough about Bill Clinton. Today our troops are fighting the terrorist threat overseas so America may never face attacks on our soil again."
With the video moving through images of the military troops to George W. Bush, it continues: "We salute our commander in chief and the brave men and women of the U.S. military for defending our freedom."
And returning to an image of Clinton, it concludes: "Even though others failed to act."
The nation's largest pro-troop organization said the ad "counters former President Bill Clinton's recent assertions about his administration's effort to combat Islamic terrorism."
The group noted the popular video-posting site YouTube recently had imposed a restriction on anyone wanting to watch a video critical of Clinton that was from Hollywood producer David Zucker.
"Now, Fox News Channel has decided to prohibit the airing of a new television commercial that is equally critical of President Clinton's efforts – or lack thereof – to fight terrorism," Bastian said.
"But the decision by Fox is most surprising given the fact that two networks considered to be more liberal in their news perspectives, CNN and Headline News, had approved the ad," she said.
An e-mail request to CNN for a comment did not produce an immediate response.
The ad in dispute can be seen at the group's website, or via YouTube.
Move America Forward said it has been broadcasting ads on the Fox News Channel for two years and was "stunned" by the prohibition on its new product.
Bastian, a Gold Star Mother whose son Derek Argel died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, expressed her disappointment.
"I urge them to reverse this regrettable decision. I do not understand why they think this message should not be allowed to be broadcast to the American people. The ad is completely truthful and it is also patriotic. Is there something wrong with either of those attributes?" she asked.
The decision on the advertisement also may be part of a larger issue: whether Fox's parent company, News Corporation, and founder Rupert Murdoch, are taking steps to realign their political position.
Fox recently had invited Clinton to appear on television to discuss the Clinton Global Initiative, and New York magazine recently ran a story, "Rupert Murdoch F.O.B. (and Hillary)" which reported that its "source" talked of further expansion of Murdoch's involvement with the Clintons as Hillary Clinton's Senate re-election campaign draws to a close in a few weeks.
"The incongruous Murdoch-Clinton romance, which has been hot for the past year or so, shows no sign of cooling down," the magazine said.
The New York Daily News also had noted that Murdoch hosted a fundraiser for the New York senator.
Reuters, too, has reported that Murdoch has been praising Clinton "as an effective leader.">P>
Move America Forward notes that Clinton initially was supportive of the war in Iraq. Earlier television ads produced by the group actually praised him for joining the war on terror.
Last year, Move America Forward spearheaded a TV ad campaign targeting the United Nations.
The Gold Star program was launched to honor parents who have lost children in the war on terror.
They are the flag wavers riding on the tip of the great progressive iceberg drifting slowly towards control of the most successful economy in world history.
"Progressive" liberalism with all the democrats, attorneys, terrorists, dictators, journalists, environmentalists, academics and blue chip companies each trying to grab a piece of it to control for themselves or their favorite charity. Sharing lower standards, killing and more misery is in our future if they are not stopped.
Now there's a concept!
I know I loved FOX once but will barely watch it now. Some entrepeneur should start up something watchable.
A Saudi Sheik is also an owner of FNC. Between Murdoch and the Arab.....we're going to lose any objective media broadcasting we may have had in the past.
This may be a good pre-emptive way for Fox News to set the stage for rejecting lying rat ads.
That's like saying the only way Rush Limbaugh can expand his audience is to become more liberal.
Fox News' ratings declined last year because of this nonsense. There have been multiple news stories documenting that. Moving to the left is turning off conservative and resulting in a rating drop>
If one is a liberal, why would one even consider watching Fox over CNN or MSNBC?
I guess they figured the 9/11 Commission Report wasn't a good enough source.
Not only that, but they had the CIA guy Scheuer who definitely doesn't like GWB on their own show saying that Clinton definitely lied when he denied letting OBL get away.
So they had one of their own acknowledged "experts" who was actually in a position to KNOW what went down. Said expert makes an unequivocal statement on their own show, but they now say there's no evidence.
Would it count for "documentation" if Scheuer writes it down and gets it notarized? What do they require? Maybe Clinton confessing in writing and getting that notarized.
Yeeaaah, riiiight. That's reasonable to expect. That certainly fair and balanced... Or maybe not.
u may be right.
Hannity will show it now as a news piece.
Look at it this way, it will deflect critizism that FOX is a tool of the GOP, and really, putting it on FOX is preaching to the choir.
Getting it on the other channels, now that is getting to the audience that it needs to get to.
Sad but true.
"If one is a liberal, why would one even consider watching Fox over CNN or MSNBC?"
That's a very logical question, why don't you ask the marketing geniuses over at FNC? It's all about advertising and ratings, and let us not forget, a lot of advertising money is spent by global corporations who's political leanings VEER leftward. If FNC is in the business of news to make money, making money trumps news every time.
Me too. I haven't tuned into Fox for several weeks now. I don't need Shep Smith or Gristle von Ugly, and I've gotten tired of Hannity and Bill O' selling his merchandise.
WGST in Atlanta is carrying Fox Radio News now. Day before yesterday it was Foley, Foley, Foley - all the time Foley even as Dingy Harry's highly questionable ethics were being exposed to the public.
A pox on all their houses.
I have not joined in on the sometimes hysterical outcry when Fox is perceived as "deserting its base", "moving to the left", "not dancing with the one that brung them" and all that sort of thing. It has never been my desire to have a channel that simply slants the other way. All I wanted was intelligent and accurate presentation of both news and opinion that was at least balanced. Fox seemed to make a good faith effort at achieving that.
I don't see it this way any longer. There was a short (very short) bit this morning on F&F with Greg Kelley and a woman lawyer about Harry Reid's land deal...just one of them. It was quickly explained that, since he had reported the initial purchase and the final sale, the failure to report the interim machinations was merely a technicality. Well, by now we all know there was more to it than that. Reid's activities show a pattern of shady deals that require the use of his power and influence in DC and in Nevada to turn that dirt into real cash. Rush is right; ordinary folk don't get these kinds of deals, just very connected ones.
This is just one among many examples that people have been pointing out, some of which I have not considered entirely fair. But I must say that I now see a trend, the worst part of which is the failure (or refusal) to understand the facts before they start spouting the talking points. Brit Hume is completely free of this kind of failing and I think Cavuto, although I only listen sporadically, is as well.
The Fox chicks who are scattered throughout the day mostly just conduct their interviews using the "some say" approach and could not follow up on the actual responses to save their lives.
To brighten things up after this total downer, Fox has Brian Wilson, who I also like, at the dedication of the Air Force Memorial. There are tons of America loving folks out for the day and it is inspirational. (There are a plethora of really fine looking military men as well, should someone care about that :)
This is a bit crazy. But I suspect it's more fear of clinton's lawyers than a political move to the left.
If they can't document that clinton refused to accept bin Ladin on a plate 8 times, how about changing it to 4 or 5? I believe the documentation is there for that, and I don't see why that wouldn't be equally damning.
Looks like FNC can't be trusted anymore.
Now thery are moving towards becoming just
as scummy a bunch of lying propagandists
as thew rest of the MSM leftist Pravda pigs.
Mr. Murdoch is in bed with the Klintons...you all know that....right?
"A spokesman for Fox News told WND that the advertisement made a claim about Clinton that wasn't documented, so the ad wasn't accepted."
Oh really? How about this for documentation?
http://s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/main/AAoil.html
Still don't think ADVERTISERS call the shots at FOX?
Okay, I just woke up. What a strange dream.
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