Who's Connected To Whom? A Vicious Circle
Reported by Ellen - June 27, 2004 -
Just minutes after Condoleezza Rice mentioned that the new Iraqi government might bring back some pretty sophisticated, pretty well-trained security personnel from the Saddam Hussein regime, Fox News Sunday brought on Stephen F. Hayes, author of "The Connection: How al Qaeda's Collaboration With Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America." The interview was touted as an investigation into former VP Al Gore's assertions that Bush misled America about that alleged collaboration. Instead, it was a one-sided promotion for Mr. Hayes' book which just happens to have been published by HarperCollins, owned by the same parent company as Fox News Channel.
So let's review: Fox interviews a controversial author published by a sister company on the same topic just brought up during an interview with the National Security Advisor. Without any rebuttal or even hard questioning provided, the author essentially backs up the assertions of the NSA and promotes his book (and the sister Fox company), all at the same time. Fox News calls this fair and balanced reporting.
It's a nice, cozy situation for Ms. Rice, Fox News Channel, the author and the publishing company. But a viewer looking for some real news might come away with just a headache.
