Faint Praise
Reported by Nancy - July 7, 2004 -
Yesterday's theme of bashing John Edwards directly must not have gone over too well, because the focus today was on damning with faint praise.
For example, Carl Cameron started off the 11:00 (EDT) hour with a report from the Kerry/Edwards campaign in Cleveland. His report included such astute observations as referring to the first campaign event as a "photo-op" [comment: has anyone on Fox ever called a Bush photo-op by it's name?], reminding us that Kerry was "born with a silver spoon in his mouth" [comment: was he alluding to Ann Richards' quip that GHWBush was "born with a silver foot in his mouth"?], telling us that the campaign will "emphasize traditional family values today" [comment: hint hint - they don't really mean it, it's just today's message] & the inevitable Clinton reference, referring to Edwards as having "Clintonesque eloquence". Cameron managed to include all this spin in a 1.5-minute report.
Lest they not be thought "fair & balanced", Fox followed immediately with a 2-minute report from Molly Henneberg from the Bush/Cheney campaign in Raleigh. There wasn't much to report, so Fox padded it with the usual video of Bush walking & waving, while Henneberg did her best to stretch 2 sentences on judicial nominees & fundraisers into 2 minutes of "news". The reference to judicial nominees did give her an opportunity to state that Edwards is blocking one of Bush's nominees, which in turn gave Fox the opportunity (at 11:04am EDT) to add a long video clip of Scott McClellan accusing Democrats of blocking the appointment of judges.
In the "irony-is-dead" department, David Lee Miller (11:06am EDT) filed a report from Baghdad, in which he noted admiringly that the new Iraqi government is "taking tough steps" by passing a new law that is the "equivalent of the USA PATRIOT Act". This will allow the government to impose curfews, establish checkpoints & declare martial law for up to 60 days -- but "civil liberties will be respected". Miller delivered this report with a straight face, & even added a "Happy Iraq" note: oil production is back up to "normal".
Just in case viewers were getting bored, Fox did a rapid-fire series of shorts: WICKED WEATHER about wildfires in Arizona (11:09am EDT), HOT PURSUIT about a car chase in California (11:11am EDT), & RAGING BULLS about the running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain (11:12am EDT), complete with a video clip of Dennis Rodman who is apparently there to watch it.
Back to politics, with Brigitte Quinn interviewing (11:15am EDT) Judy Bachrach (contributing editor at "Vanity Fair"). The entire interview consisted of a single question, followed by a 1-line answer, in turn, about Elizabeth Edwards, Theresa Heinz Kerry, Laura Bush & Lynn Cheney. It was not, to put it kindly, very insightful. But it did give Fox the opportunity to show video of the Kerry/Edwards campaign plane waiting at an airport, followed by the usual video of Bush walking & waving (again).
At 11:22am EDT, Fox reverted to one of its favorite fear-mongering stories, the WAR ON TERROR. Quinn interviewed Van Hipp (former assistant deputy secretary of the army). Her questions & his answers were entirely predictable, & hewed to the official Fox line: the US military is "working hand-in-glove" with the new Iraqi government, which is "very effective"; there are "foreign terrorists" in Iraq & Zarqawi must be our #1 priority; Iran is a "troublemaker" & "funds radical clerics like al-Sadr"; & we've got to "get tough".
At 11:27am EDT, amid a montage of other upcoming stories, Fox again showed the usual video of Bush walking & waving.
Jonathan Hunt chimed in at 11:32am EDT with his usual over-the-top reporting of the ongoing investigation of the oil-for-food program at the UN, complete with a full-screen graphic screaming SCANDAL & banners like VOLCKER'S VOW. Hunt re-aired portions of a 2-week-old interview he had done with Paul Volcker about his investigation, during which Volcker gave calm, non-confrontational & diplomatic answers. Hunt breathlessly re-interpreted Volcker's statements as "vowing to get to the bottom" of what "may be the biggest financial rip-off of all time". [comment: my personal favorite was Hunt asking if UN staff were cooperating, Volcker answering "yes", then Hunt stating that "questions still remain whether all UN personnel will cooperate".]
Following a 4-min report from Stan Goldman (11:34am EDT) on the non-events in Scott Peterson's trial, David Asman interviewed Leslie Marshall (radio talk show host) & Bill Whalen (former GOP speechwriter) about Edwards (11:38am EDT). Again, not terrible insightful over the course of 4 minutes, but it allowed Fox to do the damning-with-faint-praise routine & get in a few plugs for Bush/Cheney. According to Whalen, for example, Edwards is "populist, anti-rich" & was "mediocre" during debates in the Dem primaries. Whalen even invoked the image of Dick Cheney in the bunker at the White House after the 9/11 attacks to illustrate how "tough" GOPs are.
At 11:42am EDT, touting upcoming stories, Fox aired the usual video of Bush walking & waving. After a commercial break, there was more video of the Kerry/Edwards campaign plane waiting at an airport, followed yet again by the usual video of Bush walking & waving.
At 11:46am EDT, Carol McKinley filed a report about how both major political parties are interested in the mountain states (New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming), complete with graphics showing how many electoral votes each has, & how many GOPs & Dems are registered in each state. She embellished her report with a video clip of Colorado's Republican Governor, Bill Owens, making a statement about how the parties need to pay attention to this area of the country. She ended her report with the astonishing [comment: & untrue] assertion that "Bush is from this part of the country".
Following a brief report of a small plane crashing into a house in California, anchors Quinn & Asman were visibly exhilarated & reverent when, at 11:53am, Fox went to live coverage of Bush in North Carolina, bannered by Fox as "BUSH TAKES QUESTIONS IN RALEIGH".
