Newt really likes the attack-the-media tactic, using it whenever and wherever an uncomfortable question is posed. But I imagine he never thought he'd have to use those tactics against his former employers, Fox News. Unfortunately for him, Roger Ailes' morning memo to his on-air talent was to take on fully the accusation that Newt Gingrich really isn't a conservative (like St. Ronnie himself could stand up to the GOP purity nowadays) and that he's saddled with corruption and ethics violation baggage that will hurt his general election viability. This gang up by the second string Fox & Friends group is more than little Newtie can handle:

He then took a sharp turn to attack the hosts, offended that he had been asked to “take seriously” Romney’s demand. “Even in the news media, you ought to have some sense of balance. As a reporter, don’t you have some sense of balance? Isn’t ‘fair and balanced’ part of Fox News?” Briggs jumped in to defend Morris’s question, explaining that he was giving Gingrich a chance to respond, not legitimizing any claims. He also expanded the question to propose that it was up in the air whether “any of this mattered. Gingrich responded that “if there is something wrong, we deserve to know” with Romney’s taxes only because of the “billion dollar Obama campaign” that would crush him if there was something wrong there– as opposed to Gingrich’s ethics investigation, which had “been covered for 20 years; it’s all out in the open.”

So why did Gingrich blow up at Morris’s question? It felt, at least on Gingrich’s part, somewhat forced, as if he was waiting for any opportunity to bash them. And that wouldn’t be surprising in light of some peripheral evidence that not all the Fox & Friends hosts were 100% on his side during that testy exchange with CNN’s John King– particularly Briggs, who tweeted his support of King (and Fox’s Neil Cavuto in defending him) that his question about Gingrich’s affair with his now-wife Callista was “fair game” (the twist to this is that Morris, who actually got clawed here, seemed fine with Gingrich’s reaction to King’s question while it happened on Thursday). Either that, or Gingrich had a bullet in his barrel for the media today that was ready to land no matter where, since the strategy is clearly working, and the Romney tax issue felt like the right moment to strike.

I have to believe that this tactic is going to wear thin fairly soon. The news media is not exactly an industry of shrinking wallflowers. There are a number of egos in the media that rival Gingrich's and at some point, they may get sick of being attacked for giving Newt the free publicity he craves.

By the way...that assertion that Newt made that all he was exonerated of all ethics charges? Not so much.

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And last but not least, here's our number one most viewed C&L video for 2011, in which the Fox News graphic department does it again and apparently doesn't know what their own employees look like.

As Dave noted, "In 2009, Fox News management sent out a memo to employees saying that on-screen errors would no longer be tolerated."

So much for that "zero tolerance" policy at Fox. We misinform, you decide.

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The Norway shooting rampage was a horrific event, without question. In a country as small and with relatively little violence as Norway, this tragedy rocked them to their core. And naturally, the question that bubbled to everyone's mind was "why?"

As Karoli noted, even Fox News wanted to get to the core of shooter Anders Behring Breivik...as long as they didn't have to bring up his right wing extremist beliefs and the influence of American sites like StormFront had on him. Is it any wonder why Fox News viewers are the most uninformed?

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If this little gem of cognitive dissonance doesn't make your head explode, I don't know what will.

Bill O'Reilly started the show with his Talking Points Memo segment, talking all about how the #Occupy Wall Street protests were a coordinated effort, underfunded by those evil liberal groups like MoveOn and SEIU as well as the ubiquitous George Soros with the express purpose of taking the country down the dreaded path of European socialism.

Some liberal Americans continue to believe the "Occupy Wall Street" protesters have a valid beef and some may have. But these people are being exploited by powerful, radical organizations. They are being used in the hopes of embarrassing the U.S.A.

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement is not -- is not -- a spontaneous protest against economic inequality. It is a well thought-out campaign to bring down the infrastructure of this country to turn us into a western European type entitlement state.

That's what George Soros, MoveOn, the SEIU and many far-left journalists want. And they are using the protests to that end.

Got that? It's all a clear plot by evil liberal forces. Not anything that we haven't heard a million times over on Fox News. But in the next segment, Billo had a little difficulty with his token liberal voice, radio host Leslie Marshall. Without correcting O'Reilly on the independence of the Occupy movement, Marshall suggests any grassroots movement is in danger of being co-opted by big money funders:

Well, first of all Bill, any organization, any movement, any protest is going to be "exploited" to use your term by somebody, whether it be the Koch Brothers of the Tea Party on the right, George Soros with the "Occupy Wall Street" movement on the left.

Wait a second, wait a second....are we going to make the equivalency argument of *EVIL* Soros and the #OWS movement and the Koch brothers with the tea parties? Gasp! Even if the equivalency is specious since there is no direct link between Soros and #OWS, this kind of atrocity cannot stand.

O'REILLY: OK, well you can believe anything you want; you're an American. But you made a statement that the Koch Brothers were tied into the Tea Party financially. Can you prove that?

MARSHALL: Well, the Koch Brothers, (INAUDIBLE) such as Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: Can you -- can you prove it. Wait. Wait, wait, wait, Leslie.

MARSHALL: Yes.

O'REILLY: Leslie, you're a Fox News contributor. You have a responsibility. Can you prove the Koch Brothers are tied into the Tea Party financially? Can you?

MARSHALL: With a check in hand, no.

O'REILLY: OK. Thank you.

MARSHALL: But the Koch Brothers have never denied the financial trail.

O'REILLY: Your turn is over, Leslie. Your turn is over, we'll get back.

And I want to remind you not to make statements you can't back up on this network. We don't do that on this network. Other networks do. We don't.

Um, excuse me? They don't make statements that they can't back up? WTF are you talking about, Bill?

(h/t ThinkProgress)

Facts? We don't need no stinkin' facts. We're Fox News.

On Fox & Friends Sunday, anchor Clayton Morris admitted that Fox News factcheckers have confirmed that man-made global warming is “certainly” real, but argued that it “doesn’t matter” because climate denial is popular among Fox News-watching conservatives. Morris contrasted Jon Huntsman’s defense of the National Academy of Sciences with Rick Perry’s claims that scientists have “manipulated data” to concoct manmade global warming:

MORRIS: If you dive into the weeds a little bit on this global warming thing, you see that it seems that facts are certainly on Huntsman’s side on all of this and fact checkers have come out, we’re actually having our own brain room look look at this right now that any of Perry’s comments don’t seem to hold a lot of water. It doesn’t matter. What’s resonating right now in South Carolina is helping Governor Perry tremendously and he fired back at Huntsman on global warming and gaining traction, facts or not.

Hmmm....that's a pretty amazing admission, though sadly one that will likely pass by the notice of the Fox News viewers. Because they don't really want to face reality, or operate in truth, they merely disregard it. That's it.

Leave it to the whiny liberals to take care of it, while Fox News hosts disparage and mock them. Once again, it's up to the reality-based community to save the world.

So the New York Times is reporting that the results of a Senate Ethics Committee investigation may leave Ensign liable for charges of obstructing an FEC investigation, violating federal lobbying bans, and making unlawful payments to the husband of the aide with whom he was having an affair. But as Mark Howard at News Corpse points out, it looks like Fox News was also part of the widespread coverup:

However, any investigation of this matter needs to include possible interference on the part of Fox News and Glenn Beck-wannabe, Megyn Kelly. There is evidence that Kelly, who received a letter from Doug Hampton revealing Ensign’s infidelity, warned Ensign that the news was about to come out rather than reporting on it.

As I wrote on June 19, 2009:

“Fox News knew of Ensign’s infidelity five days before Ensign came forward. They got the information from the husband of Ensign’s mistress. That’s a pretty good source, especially when he asserts that he had corroborating evidence.”

First Fox denied having received any letter. Then they admitted that they had received the letter a day before the news broke. Then a FedEx receipt revealed that they had received the letter three days earlier. And Fox broadcast no stories about the Ensign affair during any of that time, or even for several days after.

When Ensign came forward to confess his sins, he told the press that he was doing so because the story was about to come out in the media. So the question is: did he learn that from Megyn Kelly?

The evidence strongly suggests that Kelly tipped Ensign off and set the stage for his announcement. Then she and Fox kept the story quiet in the days that followed. That is not the behavior of a “news” network. It is the behavior of an accomplice.

From BraveNewFilm's documentary "OutFoxed"

Regular readers of this site will not be surprised, as we've been proving it and highlighting egregious examples of it for years, but still, it's never a bad thing to have your suspicions confirmed by insiders. A former Fox News Channel employee confirms what we've always known: Fox News makes stuff up:

Asked what most viewers and observers of Fox News would be surprised to learn about the controversial cable channel, a former insider from the world of Rupert Murdoch was quick with a response: “I don’t think people would believe it’s as concocted as it is; that stuff is just made up.”

Indeed, a former Fox News employee who recently agreed to talk with Media Matters confirmed what critics have been saying for years about Murdoch’s cable channel. Namely, that Fox News is run as a purely partisan operation, virtually every news story is actively spun by the staff, its primary goal is to prop up Republicans and knock down Democrats, and that staffers at Fox News routinely operate without the slightest regard for fairness or fact checking.

“It is their M.O. to undermine the administration and to undermine Democrats,” says the source. “They’re a propaganda outfit but they call themselves news.”

And that’s the word from inside Fox News.

Honestly, I don't care that the stuff they do is conservative...they've made no bones hiding that. What I care about is the legitimizing of a clearly fake news organization as a real one that actually practices journalism, both from within the halls of government and the other news outlets. Fox News Channel can pretend that they're actually doing news for a select audience, but the rest of us don't and shouldn't pretend along with them.

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Well, well, well...look who had to walk back his ludicrous false equivalence that MoveOn is receiving millions from anonymous donors, just like the Chamber of Commerce.

I suppose this is par for the course. But perhaps it should be part of the discussion that right wing commentators who claim lefty groups and unions are running ads funded by anonymous donors -- just as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other righty groups are doing -- are just flat out lying.

This lie is so easily debunked that Joe Scarborough actually retracted it today on Morning Joe after making the claim and getting corrected. Will Karl Rove and Fox News and others spreading this falsehood or letting it go unchecked do the same?

Scarborough, during a discussion this morning of the Obama-and-Dem-versus-Chamber dust-up, called on President Obama to demand disclosure from unions and MoveOn, claiming "blatant hypocrisy."

But the comparison is totally bogus. Under Federal law, unions disclose far more about their funding than other political groups do, and it just so happens that MoveOn's ads are funded by a Federal political committee that has to comply with the same disclosure requirements that candidate and party committees do.

To his credit, Scarborough corrected his false claim after a MoveOn official contacted him to complain. He acknowledged that MoveOn is a "Federal PAC," admitting: "I shoot from the hip."

Uh huh. Or you're just so eager to deflect rightful criticism that the Citizens United ruling and the frightening thought that foreign contributions are now affecting American elections, that you just pulled erroneous facts from a location near that hip. There is no equivalence on the left to the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). There are no huge paychecks from shadowy billionaires eager to foist their selfish and short-sighted world view on the rest of the country. And Democrats are being outspent 7 to 1.

We've done posts on the foreign interests, as have Think Progress and other liberal blogs. I don't see a need to rehash it, probably not nearly as well as others have. But I do think that the importance of this cannot be overstressed: We will NEVER have any true democracy or fair elections until we demand public financing. All other complaints about weak-kneed Democrats or corporatist Republicans or being sidelined and not listened to take a back seat to that one fact.

Have you ever looked up at the television at a local business -- your gym, an auto shop, a bar or restaurant -- only to find Glenn Beck or Bill O'Reilly shouting down at you? Often without thinking about it, many businesses and other public establishments are providing a vehicle for Fox News' attempts to divide America. Now you can do something about it. 

Today, ColorOfChange.org is launching Turn Off Fox -- a massive campaign to get Fox News turned off in stores, restaurants, and other public places.

There are several ways you can get involved:

• Join the campaign by signing our petition calling on businesses in your community and across America to turn off Fox News Channel (you'll also get a free TurnOffFox sticker!)
• Know of businesses or other public places that play Fox News? You can help us identify them, and if you're willing to talk with them, we provide materials that make it easy to explain why they should change the channel.
• If there are businesses you know that want to tell the world they would never play Fox, you can help them declare themselves a "Fox-free zone."
• Spread the word and get your friends and family involved in the campaign.

Please check out TurnOffFox.org, join us, and get involved!

Get your free Turn Off Fox sticker

When you join the campaign, you'll also have the opportunity to get a free Turn Off Fox bumper sticker -- and even the shipping is free! You can get 5 stickers for a donation of $3, 20 stickers for $10, or 50 stickers for $20. Getting stickers (and sharing them with your friends) isn't just about making a personal statement of your values. It helps to build awareness of our brand and our message, and makes it easier to educate folks about why Fox News is unparalleled in its propagation of division and bigotry.

Here's a summary of why we are asking businesses and other public establishments to refuse to play Fox News Channel:

• Fox News divides our country. Fox News hosts and guests regularly attempt to pit groups of people against one another - white against black, US-born against immigrant, gay against straight and men against women.

  Some of the network's most divisive rhetoric is spouted when the topic of race. In July 2009, Fox host Glenn Beck called President Obama a "racist" who has "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture" -- a statement with which Fox Chairman Rupert Murdoch has since said he agrees. Frequent Fox guest Jesse Lee Peterson has said that most black people lack moral character, and cited "what they did to the dome" after Hurricane Katrina as evidence. Recently, Fox News contributor John Stossel called for the repeal of a key provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prevents business owners from discriminating based on race. And Fox News hosts Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity were the first to air maliciously edited video of Shirley Sherrod's speech to the Georgia NAACP -- video that cost Sherrod her job with the USDA. The recent episode involving Sherrod has helped confirm what we have long known -- that Fox is a propaganda machine with no regard for the truth.

  Glenn Beck calling President Obama a "racist" was the most blatant example of Fox News leading the effort paint the President as someone who harbors and acts upon deeply held prejudice against white people. But the network consistently tries to create the impression that black political and civic leaders want to "get even" with whites by taking their wealth and giving it to blacks.

  We've seen the hateful atmosphere that has arisen at Tea Parties because of this false narrative. As the House of Representatives deliberated over health care legislation this past spring, some Tea Party members gathered outside the Capitol shouted "Ni**er!" at black congressmen. One of the protesters spat on Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver, while another called openly gay Representative Barney Frank a "faggot" as the laughing crowd imitated his lisp. The Tea Party has been uncritically promoted and embraced by Fox News since its inception.

• Fox News is dangerous. The connection between the network's inflammatory, violent rhetoric and its real world effects is clear. Two examples demonstrate this, though more exist.

  Last year, abortion doctor George Tiller was gunned down in his church after being demonized for years by Fox's Bill O'Reilly as "Tiller the Baby Killer." O'Reilly had compared Tiller to the Nazis and to Al-Qaeda. He said that Tiller had "blood on his hands" and that he wouldn't want to be Tiller "if there is a Judgement Day."

  In another example, a man armed with a rifle, a shotgun and a handgun opened fire on California Highway Patrol officers on an Oakland freeway in July of this year. After he was apprehended, police determined the shooter was on his way to the American Civil Liberties Union and Tides Foundation offices in San Francisco to kill people. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the shooter's mother said that her son watched a lot of television news and was angry at left-wing politicians and organizations. While many Americans are aware of the ACLU's work, the Tides Foundation is a little-known non-profit organization that most people had never heard of -- until Fox's Glenn Beck started demonizing and spreading false information about the organization. Since Beck's show premiered in January of 2009, he has pushed conspiracy theories involving Tides on nearly 30 episodes. During the same time period, Tides was never mentioned on other cable or network news channels, according to a report by the watchdog group Media Matters.

• Fox News Channel isn't really news. Real news stations don't engage in smear campaigns founded on lies and half-truths.

  Fox News insists that they're a legitimate news network. They engage in divisive rhetoric, race-baiting and attempts at character assassinations, but they do it all under the guise of reporting the news. Often the mainstream media eventually takes the bait and runs with Fox News' distortions and smear campaigns. When businesses and public places play Fox News, they become a conduit for its stream of misinformation, and it contributes to the misconception that the network is a credible source for news and information.

This campaign is about organizing people to use their feet and their dollars to encourage establishments not to spread Fox 's poison in their communities.

To learn more, and to join the campaign, please visit our website at TurnOffFox.org.

See that empty seat front and center? That was Helen Thomas' official seat in the White House press pool, the only such designation in the press room. It was given to her in honor of her 57 years of covering presidential press conferences.

In the wake of her resignation, three news services are vying to take Thomas' seat: Fox News Channel, Bloomberg and NPR.

But let's be honest: giving Fox News Channel--the same outlet that elevated Breitbart's ACORN and Sherrod scandals to national prominence, that continues to push the NBPP non-story, that employs that inciter of insanity, Glenn Beck--the seat is a slap in the face to any American who actually cares about news.

Credo Action is asking progressives to contact the White House Correspondents Association and ask them to not award Fox News Helen Thomas' seat. From an email sent to members:

We need help.

There's a new front where we can chip away at the perceived legitimacy of FOX as a news organization.

The White House Correspondents Association is scheduled to decide in a Monday meeting which news outlet will get the White House press briefing room front row seat vacated recently by Helen Thomas. (we're trying to confirm reports that this meeting has been moved up a day to Sunday. more on that when we get better info.)

Three organizations are vying for this seat: FOX, NPR and Bloomberg News. [..]

We need your help. CREDO launched a campaign yesterday morning to call attention to this and already 140,000 people have signed our petition. We are faxing and working on petition deliveries to the board members and executive director of the organization in advance of their meeting. The petition is here: http://www.credoaction.com/campaign/fox_or_npr/

"Joe the Voter" at OpEd News has a boilerplate letter that you may want to use to send in your name:

White House Correspondents' Association
600 New Hampshire Avenue, Suite 800
Washington, DC 20037
202-266-7453 (v)
202-266-7454 (f )
Julia Whiston, Executive Director.

Do not give Helen Thomas' seat to FOX !

They are NOT news...they are a politically motivated racist organization who lie, distort and deceive viewers to promote a specific political agenda. They have FCC complaints filed against them for using their "news" status contrary to federal rules against bias and distortion in the news. The recent scandals where Fox assisted in slander and personal attacks against blacks such as Shirley Sherrod, Van Jones and Acorn all indicate their inability to present news using accepted and honorable journalistic standards.

Putting FOX in that chair would be a black mark on your organization as it would amount to an acceptance of their extreme distortions as being the equal of your other distinguished members.

Respectfully,
[ Add your name and fax or email from their web site http://www.whca.net/contact.htm ]