Neil Cavuto: O.J. is a "Big Business Story!"
Reported by Melanie - September 19, 2007 -
Fox's self-described "money nerd," Neil Cavuto, the anchor of its "premiere business news" program, will apparently say just about anything to give the impression that his show is actually about business. For example, Cavuto opened his show today (September 19, 2007) not with the latest from Wall Street, but with a shot of an unidentified car driving down an unidentified freeway; news that O. J. Simpson had been released from jail, and this: When "we here at Fox" heard he posted a $125,000 bail, we said, "That's money. Boom! That's a big business story!"
After two segments about the Simpson case, one about Dan Rather suing CBS and Viacom for $70 million (Cavuto left out info about Rather's claim that he was made a scapegoat to "pacify the White House"), and two segments about Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad requesting he be allowed to visit Ground Zero, Cavuto returned from a break and said, "You know, in the middle of all this tabloid stuff, we had stocks!" No kidding? Who knew? What followed was, oh, maybe 40 seconds of business news.
From there it was on to a roundtable discussion about the stock market, a FOX NEWS ALERT about Simpson getting out of jail, a FOX NEWS ALERT about Rather's lawsuit, another ALERT about Simpson getting out of jail, an interview with Percy "Master P" Miller, "on how not to wind up like O.J.;" an interview with Kate Hanni on airline passengers' rights, the 60-second "Fox Stox" segment which included the news that Las Vegas could stand to rake in up to $50 million if there is a protracted Simpson trial, Rebecca Gomez on toxic toys, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on his new sponsors.
After the mail and his Common Sense "editorial," Cavuto signed off with: "Okay. Fox news alert. Tomorrow, O.J. Simpson spends as much as a penny, we're on it." (His emphasis.)
Comment: I just can't wait to watch the new "Fox Business Network." If it's modeled on Cavuto's show, it's going to be a joke.
