Media and its information mission

The media has got people pointing fingers towards it but never mind, it continues in its mission to make people realise their responsibilities. The media has never hesitated to help those who help the country to grow .

First came man, then came fire and then came lots of things that made both man and fire meaningful. But ultimately, came one such thing that added lots of fuel to man’s fire and thereafter never did peace prevail.

We, the common man call this thing as the ‘media’.

The media ever since its existence has been in the midst of teeth crunching arguments and debates.

Be it crime, political issues or the way media portrays global issues people have always been for and against it but media has always stayed in power.

In the same way media has played significant role in freedom struggle of our country. In the earlier days, media was the only link, through which the freedom-fighters conveyed their message and made the general public aware.

Media has never hesitated to help those who help the country to grow.

But the media has still got people pointing fingers towards it but never mind, it continues in its mission to make people realise their responsibilities.

The Week in Media

Sci-fi visions of 2009, Richard Simmons is everywhere, Anne Coulter whines a bunch, web cam doctor visits, Twitter hacked, and the Obama girls' lunch menu.

infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Sarah Haskins, Ben Hoffman, and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10 pm Eastern and Pacific Times and can be found online at current.com/infomania. And make sure to check out our facebook profile for special features at infomaniafacebook.com.

Indo-Global media scheming

By Dr. Abdul Ruff Colachal

 
 The efficiency of global media in churning out analyses in connivance and tune with the views intelligence and government authorities is proved whenever a terrorist makes news. These vibrant media have a lot of stuff cooked up and cut to the needs of the state machinery to feed the public and mould their opinion and mindset. The full cooperation and complete obedience are taken for granted by global governments and intelligence. Mumbai terrorism has once again given another opportunity to prove their anti-Islamic credentials.
 
The intelligence wings of Indo-US have been harping on ‘gathering” information about the Mumbai terrorism to fix, if not Pakistan , at east one of the Islamic groups or random individuals for the terror attacks and close the files. Indian agencies are churning out new materials for that. New details have been slowly emerging about the early stages of the Mumbai terror attacks. The story of the Mumbai terror attacks likely began when a private fishing trawler with five crew members set sail on the Arabian Sea off the coast of Porbandar in India ’s western Gujarat state on 13 November.
 
Pressed by Indian intelligence and media to go for a war with “little” Pakistan , India has begun provocative maneuvers on Pakistan air space. Pakistan has said two Indian warplanes violated its airspace on 13 Dec and they flew up to 7.4km into the Lahore and Azad Kashmir sectors, sources said. Indian Air Force spokesman denied the allegation and perhaps it does not want a real war with Pakistan , a nuclear power and a major non-NATO ally because NATO would take steps to protect its ally by all means. India ’s foreign minister denied making a "threatening" phone call that prompted Pakistan to put its forces on alert, the call was a hoax. Pakistan Information Minister Sherry Rehman said Pakistan ’s air force remained "on alert and ready to face any eventuality, but we do not expect this to escalate. There is no need for alarm." Pakistani jets had responded, forcing the Indian aircraft to turn back.

Pakistan, under cross border compulsions, got sucked into the Afghan trouble back in December 1979 when the Red Army and Soviet troops occupied that country. Pakistan often, obediently, offers its mercenary services to Western countries, but this one has, by now, gone on for an atrocious three decades. Pakistan ’s US services have, by now, brought Pakistan to ruin  and put a question mark on its very existence. The US had dubbed that fight against Soviets as “Islamic jihad,” but in fact it was a war between two superpowers  Washington and Moscow . Hindu terror attack in Pakistan received no mention in Indian media. Three Pakistanis died in Peshawar and Lahore during violent street protests against Danish cartoons that had satirized the Prophet Muhammad. More such mass protests followed weeks later. But more Pakistanis die to defend their own lands from foreign invaders.  
 
Mumbai Nov26 was a disastrous act of terror and did affect the international community psyche. India is quite eager to compare the domestic terrorist actions with Sept11 and take mileage for its notorious actions domestically. The international community was looking at the issue of own home grown Indian terrorists. The Indian government is trying its best to get maximum benefit and advantage on Mumbai Nov26 from the international community as well as create a nationalistic fervor towards itself. Why India is employing all propaganda tactics to get attention and help from the West and US. Immediately the attention is diverted by the intelligence controlled Indian medial from the Army officers and men involved in terrorism. The bad name and negative image of the army was creating problems as the people were becoming aware of realities. The morale of Indian army was also low. The Indian political parties are going to cash on the issue of terrorism. The Government will try to derive full mileage in this context.
 
Islamabadhas been blamed as a "non-state actor" for the attacks and has vowed to cooperate with investigations, but has also repeatedly said anyone caught in Pakistan would be tried in Pakistan . Singh later said India wanted good relations with Pakistan but again urged Islamabad to do more to stamp out militant groups operating on its soil. But he is reluctant talk about homebred terrorism by Hindus.
 
Indiaquickly announced to go far a war with Pakistan , but a war would be counterproductive by strengthening the hands of hawks and extremists in India and Pakistan . There was clear cut evidence of hawala funds coming to pro-Hindutva 9elements who were involved in planning terrorist acts. The RDX which was used in these incidents was stolen from Indian army depots. Those who understand the various aspects of terrorism and are up-to-date about how the Indian print and electronic media is constantly revealing stories of Hindu extremists and their militants who are involved in terrorist activities in Gujarat, Orissa, Kandhamal, Maharastra.
 
British premier Gordon Brown rushed to India and Pakistan to arrange for the trial of those caught. In Islamabad , Brown proposed a new British-Pakistan "pact against terror," saying "three-quarters of the most serious terrorist plots investigated by the British authorities have links to al Qaeda in Pakistan ." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown blamed banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for last month's deadly Mumbai attacksas tension between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan simmered Brown also offered India help with forensic investigation, stepping up airport security and offered to cooperate on dealing with security at major sporting events. Brown said Britain would expand its counter-terrorism assistance program to Pakistan , offering help with bomb disposal, bomb scanning equipment and airport security. He also announced Britain would fund a six million pound program to tackle the causes of radicalization, using educational materials.

Terrorism & Poll  
 
Nov26 Mumbai terrorism, no matter by whom and how it was attempted, has taken place just on the eve of the polls and the polls verdicts were expected to be influenced by the horrors of terror. Much before the Indian government decided to use the opportunity to fix Pakistan and escape global criticism of its handling of the crisis and security lapses, etc, the Indian media declared war on Pakistan within minutes of the carnage.
 
Recent poll results in 5 Indian states reveal one important factor about emerging political polarizations in the country. It looks Nov26 Mumbai terrorism has helped in some measure to resolve the three party or block choices.   India wants to decimate the number of Political platforms and reduce them into two blocks and leaving the so-called third front insignificant. The 5 state polls have done that following the Mumbai terrorism, people were given two choices on terrorism issue to choose from.
 
In a crucial electoral contest ahead of the parliamentary elections early next year, India ’s ruling Congress bested the BJP in three out of five states that went to the polls in staggered elections that ended on December 4. Although the Congress outsmarted the BJP, the party is not all happy about the outcome. The outcome of the staggered elections between November 14 and December 4 sparked off speculation about early Lok Sabha elections"Mr Clean" image has helped the parties to win the polls. Leaders blamed the loss on infighting in party ranks. Delhi, as was expected, brought back Dikshit government more convincingly than other wise. The hopes of the BJP have been badly shattered now and now looking to newer strategies to outsmart Congress. While the Congress retained power for a record third five-year term in Delhi , wrested Mizoram and ousted the BJP in Rajasthan, but losing to it decisively in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in assembly elections that were the last popularity test ahead of the Lok Sabha battle.
 
In Rajasthan's 200-member legislature, the Congress emerged the largest party winning 96 seats and was set to form the government taking help from among 25 independents including rebels from its own ranks. And in north-eastern Mizoram, the Congress ended the Mizo National Front's (MNF) 10-year reign marred by corruption, sweeping 37 of the 40 assembly seats. In Madhya Pradesh, former chief minister and Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS) founder president Uma Bharati, a fire brand anti-Muslim lost from the Tikamgarh seat, her home turf.
 
Even as BJP supporters celebrated in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, party leaders admitted that the results were disappointing, especially the rout in Delhi , where they had been confident of ending 10 years of Congress rule, more so since voting in all states barring Chhattisgarh took place in the shadow of the Mumbai terror carnage.BJP sources admitted that if they had won even three of the four northern states, they would have pressed for early parliamentary polls. The issue of terrorism they had raked against the Congress government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks and the arrests of Hindu activists following the earlier Malegaon bombings had failed to pay dividends. But the timely resignations by Home minister and Maharastra chief minister have saved Congress in some measure.
 
The Congress' most exciting victory came in Delhi where Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, 70, crushed the BJP, winning 40 seats in the 70-member house with results yet to be declared from four constituencies. The biggest hero turned out to be Dikshit, a grandmother who became the first woman in India to lead a party to an assembly election victory for a third term. Even Congress leaders who are normally used to hailing only Sonia Gandhi after every electoral victory gave due credit to Dikshit.

One could say that the Congress bests BJP in ‘semi-final’ battle. But the result will set a momentum for the Lok Sabha elections due in April-May. In summary, it is a surprise that the Congress party gained from the Mumbai terrorism in the polls held in 5 states as “rehearsal” for general elections - and not the opposition BJP as it is generally expected. More glaringly, the terrorism has sped up the process of dismantling the chances for any third front emerging in Indian national scene.

The author is Delhi based Research Scholar in International Studies and can be reached at

abdulruff_jnu@yahoo.com

Defending Democracy and Peace Process against Terrorism

By Manoranjan Mohanty

The terrorist attacks in Mumbai have hurt every Indian and there is a growing debate on how best we should confront this situation of vulnerability. At this critical juncture the Indian people must evolve a response that is consistent with the values for which they have fought a freedom struggle from colonialism and have been engaged in building a meaningful democratic society for the last sixty years. The Mumbaikars’ suffering of November 26 will have to be remem-bered together with Mumbai’s great historical legacy of August 9, 1942 when the ‘Quit India’ resolution was passed on the same soil.

What is most distressing today is the way the Indian. Government and a section of the media are succumbing to the line advocated by the BJP in India and the neo-cons in the US. The main features of that strategy of the militaristic response are:

1. A strong law that curbs the civil liberties of citizens and empowers the police and military to detain people at will and have surveillance over the people, that is, revive POTA and have a law like the US law, the PATRIOT Act.

2. Supercede international law and the UN Charter and strike at territories anywhere in the world including undertaking pre-emptive strikes as the US did in Afghanistan, Iraq.

3. Dismiss any suggestion to have an understanding of the causes of alienation of groups which produce young men and women who turn terrorists to carry on their ‘missions’ even if their attacks take the lives of hundreds of innocent people.

4. Promote such publicity and take such action that vilifies the Muslim community as the source of terrorism.

Unfortunately, it should be pointed out, this strategy has failed to curb terrorism in the world. Compared to 9/11 in 2001 the world of today is even more insecure. The incoming Obama Adminstration in the US inherits a situation wherein the US and its citizens are in a more precarious condition than before.

India has to face the current crisis with its own genius. It has to formulate a political strategy that builds up its organisational efficiency on the one hand and strengthens its capacity as a democracy that uses people’s support as its main source to cope with the challenge of terrorism. The principal components of such a strategy should be the following:

1. Terrorist violence is not confined to any one community: Emphasise the fact that the phenomenon of terrorism—acts of violence causing widespread harm—has appeared among people of all religions where groups have emerged to blindly follow certain views about the prevailing situation. No one community should be singled out for blame. Ironically, the ATS chief in Mumbai, Hemant Karkare, who was killed by the terrorists, was leading the investigation in the Malegaon blasts case where some Hindutva extremists have been charged with having engineered terror. In the past, there have been Christian, Buddhist and Sikh extremists who have caused terrorist acts in different parts of the world. In spite of the fact that it has been refuted widely as being ahistorical and illogical, the constructed view on the clash of civilisations involving a confrontation between the Christian West and the Islamic East has turned out be the basis of much of the US-led counter-terrorism campaign. It is important to reject that fully and de-link terrorism from any particular religion.

2. Address roots of alienation and people’s grievances: Since terrorism often has a political character utilising some grievance of a section of people with which the terrorists succeed in getting some support among the aggrieved population, there must be a sincere effort to address those grievances. Once the people are convinced that their problems are being attended to seriously by the state and society in general, then the capacity of the terrorists to get shelter among people is reduced. This was the main reason why the Sikh terrorists were isolated from the common people in Punjab. The Sikh masses felt that their claims to power in the Indian state was recognised and the Indian democratic rights movement fully stood by them exposing the crimes of the perpetrators of the 1984 massacres. The Indian state has to do more to respond to the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Elections and development initiatives have to be accompanied by a dialogue with the people of J&K on the question of autonomy and forms of self-determination. That would take away the main cause of alienation of the people. The Sachar Committee Report, which is a historic documentation of the economic and social plight of the Muslims in India, has to be the basis for taking concrete measures to ameliorate their conditions. The trial and prosecution of the criminals involved in various riots and other attacks—the Delhi riots of 1984, Mumbai 1993, Gujarat 2002 to name a few of the past two decades, and the ones in 2008—must be pursued. The way the Orissa Government and its police turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by the Bajrang Dal and VHP activists against the Christians in Kandhamal in the aftermath of the killing of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati causes the kind of alienation that creates fertile grounds for some disgruntled Christian youth to turn to a violent path. The state agencies must perform their constitutional duty to protect the life and liberty of all citizens, especially the minorities and the other vulnerable sections. Delhi in 1984, Gujarat in 2000 and Orissa in 2008 showed the failure of the democratic state which acted on communal lines.

3. Maintain democratic norms while improving organisational efficiency: Democratic practice involves people not only in building channels of accountability, but also addressing the roots of violence. It cannot be denied that we need an effective law and order machinery equipped with legitimate power and modern weapons. The intelligence system must be developed using modern methods. The Mumbai attacks exposed many lacunae in India’s coast guard arrangement which must be addressed. But every time there is a terrorist incident there is a clamour for restricting civil liberties. That defeats the purpose because you lose the support of the common people who are the best source of not just intelligence but also strong defence against terrorist penetration. The talk of another POTA-like law is extremely dangerous. We have seen that POTA and before that TADA were used against minorities and innocent tribals and others. The existing criminal laws provide adequate powers to the police and paramilitary forces to capture the culprits and prevent crimes. The philosophy which has acquired much currency during the past two decades in India is that terrorism and militancy everywhere, ranging from the North-East and Kashmir to Naxalite areas, must be ‘eliminated’ by force. In practice this approach has failed to curb the phenomenon. We need to have a political understanding of this phenomenon. Force has to be used as per law and at the same time a whole set of social, economic and political measures have to be undertaken to address the roots of violence. The ‘politician bashing’ and emotive slogans such as ‘enough is enough’ widely carried by the electronic media in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks virtually undermined our commitment to democracy in India and tilted the focus towards a militaristic response. While we can understand the sentiments aroused by the gruesome tragedy, we must respond to this crisis with maturity and defend our hard-earned and yet imperfect democracy.

4. Persist with the peace process and movement for a democratic world order: The nature of India-Pakistan relations is crucial to the conditions of peace and social harmony in the subcontinent. After many confrontations a peace process had taken shape and a composite dialogue on a range of issues, from trade and visa relaxation to J&K, was going on. In fact, the Indian Home Secretary was in Pakistan and the Pakistan Foreign Minister in India at the time of the Mumbai attacks. Better facilities at the Wagah border, opening of more border trade points on the LoC, relaxation of visa requirements, joint water management, increasing the frequency of the bus and train services, nuclear confidence-building and many other things were already agreed upon by the two sides. President Zardai’s ‘no-first-use of nuclear weapons’ statement was greeted widely in India. All this came to caught in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks. It has to be recognised that Pakistan has been as much a victim of terrorism as India has been and there was a need for a coordinated effort to investigate and tackle the terrorists. India has the legitimate right to ask Pakistan to arrest those responsible for the Mumbai attacks. That the international community, especially the UN, is mobilised to accomplish this is very much justified. But to escalate this process to the level of talking in terms of air strikes into the terrorist bases in Pakistan was not only irresponsible but also unnecessarily provocative. This did not take into sufficient consideration the fact that the elected civilian government was battling with the Pakistan Army and ISI to establish its authority. India must recognise that a democratic Pakistan will be a source of peace and common welfare for the people of the subcontinent as a democratic India is. In this context, the US line is fraught with dangers that we must avoid. Their main interest is to have both India and Pakistan as their allies in their world strategy and focus on countering the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The way they are operating that strategy has caused numerous civilian casualties in that region and produced mass protest against the US in Pakistan and given a new lease of life to the Taliban. India has to pursue its own strategy of resuming the peace process with Pakistan, develop its trade and political relations so that the people of Pakistan join the people of India in not only tackling the phenomenon of terrorism, but also pursuing their common goal of peace, democracy and prosperity in South Asia.

The recent Assembly elections proved that the hype on fighting terrorism in emotional terms did not work. People are more concerned with issues of price rise, unemployment, farmers’ distress and the new problems arising out of the global economic crisis. So the danger that a competitive mobilisation poses at a time of national elections in the next few months must be avoided. The Indian political parties, media, intelligentsia and social movements have enough voices of sanity and democratic vision to defend the people’s struggle for democracy, peace and development.

The author is the Durgabai Deshmukh Professor, Council for Social Development, New Delhi. He can be contacted at e-mail: dr_mohanty@yahoo.com

India to set up media committee to restrict sensitive footage

F Prev Next L

Pointing out that a high-level meeting was held between the government and media representatives in Delhi earlier this week, I & B Minister Anand Sharma told reporters here that key ministries like Home, Defence, Tourism and I & B discussed both sides agreed on formulating ethics for "mature" television journalism during sensitive times.

During the meeting, the government is learnt to have suggested that the television broadcasts of the Mumbai terror attacks had a negative effect on tourism and on operational to-dos of the Army and National Security Guard.

"The News Broadcasters appreciated the concerns expressed by various security and administrative outfits and agreed to suitably address them," he said today.

"The Mumbai terror attacks were a learning opportunity both for the government as well as the media," Sharma added.

The Minister also announced the setting up of a Standing Media Consultative Committee to be chaired by the Information & Broadcasting Secretary Sushma Singh with representatives of key ministries, News Broadcasters Association and Editors Guild as members.

He said the committee, in keeping with the practice in most western countries, would put in place a mechanism for holding official briefing for the media and supplying authorized video footage for broadcast during crisis situations.

Tragic Quote of the week: "Zimbabwe Is Mine"

Mugabe: "I will never surrender"

President Robert Mugabe has said that "Zimbabwe is mine" and rejected calls from some African leaders to step down.

"I will never, never, never surrender," he told delegates of his ruling Zanu-PF party at its annual conference.
Mr Mugabe also said he had sent a letter to the country's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, inviting him to be sworn in as prime minister.
Earlier, Mr Tsvangirai said he would pull out of power-sharing talks unless abductions of his supporters stopped.
He said more than 40 members of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were missing and accused the Zanu-PF of orchestrating a campaign of terror.

The only persons with the power to remove Robert Gabriel Mugabe are the people of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe Dollar is key to Zimbabwe survival

Zimbabwe is currently gripped by economic collapse and a cholera epidemic. The UN on Thursday reported that the death toll from the disease had risen to 1,123 and that 20,896 people had been infected.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday the antiquated methods being used to treat the epidemic could not bring hope to the suffering of Zimbabweans, and called for more aid to be sent.
"I believe the situation, contrary to what President Mugabe says, from all the evidence we have is deteriorating and deteriorating rapidly," he told a news conference in London.
US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer meanwhile said there was "a complete collapse right now" in Zimbabwe, and said Mr Mugabe needed to step down.
'Pack of lies'
But in a defiant speech at Zanu-PF's annual conference in Bindura, the president insisted "the only persons with the power to remove Robert Gabriel Mugabe are the people of Zimbabwe".
"I will never, never, never surrender. Zimbabwe is mine, I am a Zimbabwean. Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans," he said.

WHERE AFRICA STANDS Critical of Robert Mugabe - Botswana's president has called for fresh elections - Kenya's PM wants African governments to oust Mr Mugabe - Senegal's president says Mr Mugabe should give up power - Zambia's late president called the region's silence over election violence "scandalous" - Nigeria's foreign minister says he told Mr Mugabe to go in June Pro power-sharing - Southern African Development Community (Sadc) maintains power-sharing is the only solution - South Africa, the regional powerhouse, backs Sadc - The African Union says a unity cabinet is the only way forward

Mr Mugabe said international criticism of his government's handling of the cholera outbreak was "a pack of lies".
"I won't be intimidated. Even if I am threatened with beheading, I believe this and nothing will ever move me from it: Zimbabwe belongs to us, not the British," he added.
He also questioned whether any of his country's neighbours would "have the courage to order a military intervention".
"What would they come and do militarily here? All that they would come and really pose is a threat to our stability," he said.
"There would be an unnecessary war started in a foolish manner because of foolish persuasion coming from foolish sources."
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade became the latest in an increasing number of senior African politicians calling for Mr Mugabe to quit earlier on Friday.
He told the French newspaper, La Croix, that he had supported Mr Mugabe in the past but was forming the view that the president was now the cause of his country's problems.
'No letters'
Also in his speech on Friday, the Zimbabwean leader said he had written to Mr Tsvangirai, inviting him to become prime minister as part of the inclusive power-sharing government, but expressed doubt whether he would accept.
"I have sent letters so that they can come and I can swear [in] and appoint them. We have not reached a stage where we can say with a degree of certainty that they want to be part of this," he said.

Mr Tsvangirai has threatened to withdraw from the power-sharing talks

MDC officials told the Reuters news agency that they had received no such letters.
The two rivals signed a power-sharing deal in September, under which Mr Tsvangirai would have become prime minister and head a new council of ministers, but they have been unable to agree on the distribution of key ministries.
Earlier, Mr Tsvangirai said Mr Mugabe had repeatedly broken the spirit of the agreement.
He said the president was trying to stay in power at all costs, and threatened to suspend all contact with the Zanu-PF unless there was an end to the abduction of MDC supporters and civil society activists.
"More than 42 members have been abducted," the MDC leader told a news conference in Botswana, where he is currently based.
"If these abductions do not cease immediately and if all abductees are not released or charged in a court of law by 1 January 2009, I will be asking the MDC's national council to pass a resolution to suspend all negotiations and contact with Zanu-PF."
Mr Tsvangirai said there could be no meaningful talks while a campaign of terror was being waged to undermine the MDC's support and reduce it to a junior partner in the new government.
BBC Southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles says that this represents a significant shift in Mr Tsvangirai's position, as he had previously remained committed to the power-sharing talks despite a number of reservations. 

BBC News

Watch DD News

 DD news is Indian Government's News channel of Doordarshan.

or Watch directly in Real player

Or

DD News Live
DD News Live 2
DD News Live 3

Hannity was not alone in smearing, misinforming on Fox News in 2008

While Fox News' Sean Hannity earned Media Matters for America's "Misinformer of the Year" title for 2008, he was not alone in spreading conservative misinformation on Fox News. Indeed, smears of President-elect Barack Obama and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton were prevalent during the presidential campaign, and false claims about progressive policies, issues, and individuals were common throughout Fox News programming.

Rumors that Obama lied about his faith and other smears

During the September 10 edition of America's Newsroom, in response to Obama's statement that false rumors are "being promulgated on Fox News" about his purported "Muslim connections," host Bill Hemmerasserted that "[n]o one here is promulgating untrue rumors about anyone's faith." In fact, Fox News had suggested that Obama was lying about being a Christian and actually was or had secretly been a Muslim, or discussed those rumors without noting they are false:

• On Special Report, host Brit Hume pointed to a statement on Obama's website that Obama "has never been a Muslim, and is a committed Christian" and stated: "But Obama's half brother is not so sure." Hume continued: "Malik Obama tells The Jerusalem Post that 'if elected his brother will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background.' " In fact, the article to which Hume was apparently referring indicated that Malik Obama did not speak directly with the Post but, rather, gave an interview to Israel's Army Radio. Moreover, nowhere in audio of the interview that ABC's Jake Tapper posted did Malik Obama assert that Obama "will be a good president for the Jewish people, despite his Muslim background." Purporting to issue a correction following his false claim, Hume suggested that his only "error" was in repeating a flawed report in the Post, without acknowledging that he had falsely claimed Malik Obama had spoken with The Jerusalem Post. [6/16/08]

• On Fox & Friends, Kilmeade, who had previously falsely asserted that Obama "[e]vidently ... went to a madrassa" as a child, asked a guest: "[D]o you find it insulting at all when Barack Obama goes out of his way to say, 'Hey, I am not a Muslim. I'm a Christian, and let's stop these spread' [sic] as if being a Muslim is bad?" However, on the January 19, 2007, editions of Fox & Friends First and Fox & Friends, Kilmeade, Doocy, and Carlson spent several segments advancing afalse report that Obama was raised a Muslim and had attended a madrassa as a child. [6/25/08]

• Fox & Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson, referring to radio host Bill Cunningham's repeated reference to Obama's middle name, asserted "[T]he silent thing that nobody is really talking about here is the reason that he was saying the middle name so many times ... is because the connotation is that Barack Obama is a Muslim potentially. His father was a Muslim." Carlson then referred to claims that Obama is a Muslim as "rumors," but neither she nor co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade pointed out that those rumors are false, and that Obama is a Christian. [2/27/08]

Smears questioning Obama's faith were not the only attacks Fox News leveled at Obama. Others include:

• On The Live Desk, Republican strategist Christine O'Donnell asserted that Obama was "so liberal, that -- he's anti-American." [1/7/08]

• On Your World, Ann Coulter repeatedly referred to "B. Hussein Obama" and said, "It's shocking that ... he's probably going to be our next president, President Hussein." During a subsequent appearance on Hannity & Colmes, co-host Alan Colmes asked Coulter, "Why do you keep emphasizing his [Obama's] middle name as if you're trying to associate him with Saddam Hussein?" Coulter replied, "Because I think it's funny." During that interview, Coulter referred to Obama as "B. Hussein Obama" twice and interjected: "Get ready for President Hussein, and let's start planning for the next president." [2/13/08]

• On The Big Story with Gibson & Nauert, Republican strategist and former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed said of comments made by Michelle Obama, "[I]t plays into a stereotype about the left wing of the Democratic Party, that it blames America first, that they don't see the greatness of America." Former host John Gibson responded by asking, "Does that mean that President Barack will blame America first?" [2/19/08]

• On The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News contributor Karl Rove misrepresented Obama's explanation for not wearing an American flag lapel pin, falsely asserting that Obama's comments amounted to saying, "If you wear a flag lapel pin, you're not a true patriot." In fact, Obama said he stopped wearing a pin because it had become "a substitute for, I think, true patriotism"; he did not say, as Rove claimed, that the wearer was "not a true patriot." [4/17/08]

• On America's Newsroom, Republican strategist Andrea Tantaros stated without challenge from co-host Bill Hemmer, "Barack Obama refuses to salute the flag. He refuses to wear a flag pin. He's been named the most liberal senator in the United States Senate right now." [5/12/08]

• Teasing a segment on the "gesture everyone seems to interpret differently" -- Obama touching fists with his wife after apparently securing the Democratic nomination for president -- E.D. Hill, former host of America's Pulse, said: "A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? ... We'll show you some interesting body communication and find out what it really says." During the discussion of the "interesting body communication," Hill did not explain her reference to "a terrorist fist jab." Hill subsequentlyaddressed the ensuing controversy surrounding her comments. [6/6/08]

• While assessing Obama's July 24 speech in Berlin, a Fox News on-air graphic asked, "Obama a Rock Star Over There: Red Flag for All Americans Here?" [7/24/08]

• On Hannity & Colmes, radio host Mike Gallagher falsely asserted that Obama and his wife said their daughters do not get Christmas presents, saying it's "proof positive that this is a socialist family." [7/29/08]

Smearing Hillary Clinton

On the June 29 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s Fox News Sunday, panelist Bill Kristol stated of Sen. Hillary Clinton: "She's put behind her the horrible sexism and misogyny the Democratic primary voters demonstrated, which I'm appalled by, personally." In fact, Kristol -- who previously declared that "[w]hite women are a problem, that's, you know -- we all live with that" -- joined several Fox News personalities and hosts in smearing Clinton throughout the year:

• While discussing Clinton's emotional response to a question before the New Hampshire primary, Fox News contributor Dick Morris stated on Hannity & Colmes, "I believe that there could well come a time when there is such a serious threat to the United States that she breaks down like that." Morris added, "I don't think she ought to be president." The next day on Fox & Friends, radio host Laura Ingraham similarly asserted: "[R]emember we have Islamic jihadists, [Osama] bin Laden, Mullah Omar, and all these other freaks that want to come to the United States and wreak havoc upon our population. We can't have people who break down and start crying at the most difficult moments." [1/7/08]

• During Fox News coverage of the New Hampshire primaries, Kristol attributed Clinton's victory to "the tears," saying, "She pretended to cry; the women liked it." He added, "The women were sorry for her, and she won." Kristol is one of several media figures who described Clinton's actions as "calculated," reviving a characterization frequently made by the media that Clinton is "calculating." [1/8/08]

• On America's Election HQ, co-host Megyn Kelly echoed aWashington Times column that questioned the legality of a concert by Sir Elton John for Clinton's campaign, even after the campaign posted a statement from FEC spokesman Bob Biersack saying he does not believe there is "anything unlawful about Elton John performing in a concert to raise money for a US presidential candidate." Additionally, Fox News legal analyst Lis Wiehl falsely claimed that a 1981 FEC advisory opinion stated that "you couldn't volunteer any time if you're a foreign national." [3/27/08]

• On America's Election HQ, radio host Tammy Bruce suggested that Clinton suffers from "mythomania ... part of a larger psychiatric scheme of people who make up fantastic stories to bolster their own image." As purported evidence, Bruce asserted that Clinton said her daughter, Chelsea, was "at the World Trade Center on September 11th." In fact, Hillary Clinton made no such claim. [4/7/08]

• On Your World, author and radio host Marc Rudov said during a discussion of Clinton: "You know what? The woman is not called a B-word because she's assertive and aggressive; she's called a B-word because she acts like one." [4/10/08]

• On The O'Reilly Factor, Morris falsely asserted: "Hillary Clinton in the 1980s was on the board of a foundation group called the New World Foundation that gave money to the PLO, which at the time was identified as a terror organization." In fact, the New World Foundation reportedly did not "g[i]ve money to the PLO." [4/17/08]

• On Special Report, Beltway Boys co-host Mort Kondrackepresented a "theory" for why Clinton may be having a "good time" on the campaign trail: "[S]omebody I know has a theory about this. Remember back when [Bill] Clinton was president of the United States, people said that he's really Satan because he walks through life and people collapse around him and go to jail and die, and all this kind of stuff? Well, this person says Hillary's a vampire. She's sucking the blood out of Barack Obama." Kondracke did not name his "theor[ist]," but the purported "theory" had been publicly articulated before, by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. [5/5/08]

• On America's Newsroom, while discussing a video clip of Clinton drinking a beer on the campaign plane, Hemmer asked Fox News' "body language expert" Tonya Reiman: "[I]s that an honest moment, a moment of levity?" Reiman replied: "You know, the only thing that struck me as odd is, she's holding the beer with her left hand, and she's a righty. And if you think about how you would normally take a sip, it's a little bit awkward to drink with your nondominant hand, unless you have a reason to be doing that." [3/4/08]

• On Hannity & Colmes, Morris asserted that Clinton's "temper is a cool, angry, 'I'll, you know, slit your throat in the middle of the night' temper." As Media Matters has noted, media figures have repeatedly portrayed Clinton and her advisers as violent or ruthless. [1/18/08]

"A great run on ACORN"

As Media Matters Senior Fellow Eric Boehlert noted, Fox News mentioned the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) 556 times over a five-day period in October and nearly 1,500 times throughout October. Indeed, as Boehlert subsequentlynoted, retiring Fox News anchor Brit Hume subsequently toldPolitico, "We had a great run on ACORN." But that "great run" often featured misleading or false statements:

• On Hannity & Colmes, The Wall Street Journal's John Fund falsely claimed that ACORN "almost got a slush fund in the housing bailout bill a few weeks ago." In fact, neither the September draft proposal nor the final version of the bill in question contained any language mentioning ACORN. [10/9/08]

• On Fox & Friends, Morris baselessly accused ACORN of "committing voter fraud." In fact, ACORN did not stand accused of "committing voter fraud," and Morris did not point to any allegations that ACORN engaged in voter fraud. [10/15/08]

• On America's Newsroom, Kelly mocked ACORN's statement that it was required under Florida law to submit a voter registration form filed under the name "Mickey Mouse" to the Orange County, Florida, board of elections. In fact, Florida law calls for a $1,000 fine for each registration withheld by third-party voter registration groups. [10/14/08]

"The fix is in" for Al Franken in Minnesota

In discussing the postelection process of certifying the preliminary results from the Minnesota Senate race and the ensuing recount as mandated by state law, Fox News hosts and guests repeated and echoed several false claims to suggest that Democratic candidate Al Franken was seeking to steal the election from Republican Sen. Norm Coleman:

• On The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly discussed a recently named board established to certify the vote and oversee the recount and claimed that Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D) was "actively rooting for Al Franken" and that "the fix is in." But O'Reilly did not note that Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty approved of the composition of the canvassing board Ritchie named or that a lawyer for Coleman's campaign reportedly said that the "state should feel good about who's on the panel." [11/13/08]

• On The Beltway Boys, co-host Fred Barnes echoed the discredited rumor that ballots in the race were mishandled, stating: "We've seen, under some questionable circumstances, Franken gaining, you know, 32 ballots from the trunk of somebody's car that had been sitting there for a few days. I mean, I find that a bit suspicious." In fact, state officials refuted rumors that the ballots were handled improperly, and a lawyer for Coleman's campaign, who initially raised questions about those ballots, reportedly said afterward that he had been assured the ballots were not tampered with. [11/15/08]

• Echoing Coleman's campaign, O'Reilly falsely claimed on The O'Reilly Factor that Coleman "was certified the winner" in the race, adding, "Coleman won by a mere 215 votes." In fact, the Minnesota State Canvassing Board did not certify a winner in the Senate race, having authorized an automatic recount of ballots. [11/18/08]

• On Studio B, Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano claimed that Ritchie is a "former communist" and a "former member of the Communist Party" but provided no evidence to support either claim. [11/19/08]

• On Special Report, guest host Bret Baier asserted that the Franken campaign has been "dogged" in challenging questionable ballots and then aired a photograph of a ballot challenged by Franken, stating: "Franken is challenging this ... ballot, although the bubble beside Coleman's name appears to be clearly marked." However, Baier did not note or display any of the published examples of ballots that the Coleman campaign has challenged which "appear[] to be clearly marked" for Franken or another candidate besides Coleman. [11/21/08]

"Loaning to minorities and risky folks is a disaster"

Fox News hosts and guests frequently advanced the discreditedsuggestion that the poor, minorities, and those seeking to expand affordable housing were solely or primarily responsible for the crisis facing the housing and credit markets, often blaming the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA):

• On Your World, host Neil Cavuto conflated giving home mortgages to minorities with risky lending practices, suggesting that there should have been "a clarion call that said, 'Fannie and Freddie are a disaster. Loaning to minorities and risky folks is a disaster.' " [9/18/08]

• In a column, O'Reilly falsely claimed that Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) "sat by as mortgage brokers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made bad loans." Also, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace did not challenge a similar claim by Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) that efforts by the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress to regulate Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae "were stopped at every turn by Democrats." [9/18/08]

• On The O'Reilly Factor, Ingraham said that "the problem here is government intervention in the free markets" and baselessly suggested that 1995 rules strengthening the CRA "pushed all these institutions to lend to minority communities, many were very risky loans." [9/25/08]

• During the special newscast Saving Our Economy: What's Next?, Baier repeated or failed to challenge numerous false assertions about the role of affordable housing initiatives in the financial crisis and Democratic responses to the crisis. [10/5/08]

• On The O'Reilly Factor and in a FoxNews.com article, Fox News deputy editor Bill Sammon suggested that Frank allowed his relationship in the 1990s with Herb Moses, a Fannie Mae official at the time, to improperly influence his conduct as a member of the House Financial Services Committee. However, in his article, Sammon cited only an anonymous Republican congressional staffer and a member of the conservative Media Research Center. Sammon also misrepresented Frank's record by reporting that Frank "spent years blocking GOP lawmakers from imposing tougher regulations" on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without noting that during the period in question, Frank supported legislation to increaseregulation of Fannie Mae and create a government regulatory agency that would oversee some aspects of the company. [10/6/08]

Other Fox News smears

On the July 2 edition of Fox & Friends, Doocy and Kilmeade labeledNew York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe "attack dogs," claiming that Steinberg's June 28 article on the "ominous trend" in Fox News' ratings was a "hit piece." During the segment, however, Fox News featured photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe that appeared to have been digitally altered -- the journalists' teeth had been yellowed, their facial features exaggerated, and portions of Reddicliffe's hair moved further back on his head. Fox News gave no indication that the photos had been altered. But the photo smears of Steinberg and Reddicliffe fit a pattern at Fox News of smearing and attacking:

• On Red Eye, host Greg Gutfeld criticized comedian Ellen DeGeneres' announcement of her planned marriage to actress Portia de Rossi: "For me, public exhortations of love are no different than telling everyone how great your bowel movements are since switching to All-Bran -- no one gives a [bleep] except you." Gutfeld then said: "And so, this is why I never discuss my marriage with anyone, which is the main reason why John Stamos and I are so happy together. And if you disagree with me, then you, sir, are worse than Hitler." But Gutfeld himself has engaged in "public exhortations of love" and has talked about his wife. In addition to writing about his wife in a book, according to a 2005 New York Observer item, Gutfeld "talks incessantly and adoringly of his 24-year-old Russian bride, Elena, and carries with him an envelope chock-full of photos." [5/20/08]

• On Fox & Friends, while discussing reports of a shortage of one type of IP address, Carlson stated: "I was wondering if we should call up Al Gore. Because maybe he would have a solution for this, since he invented the Internet." In fact, Gore never said that he "invented the Internet." [7/7/08]

• On The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly attacked former Vice President Al Gore for delivering a July 19 speech at the Netroots Nation conference, calling Gore an "evil enabler" and comparing the event to gatherings by the Ku Klux Klan and the Nazi Party, a pattern of comparing progressives to Nazis and the Klan that O'Reilly wouldcontinually repeat. O'Reilly made his attacks on Gore and the Netroots conference after asserting that the blog Daily Kos posted "hateful e-mails" about former Bush White House press secretary Tony Snow, who died shortly before the conference. But while O'Reilly repeatedly linked Netroots Nation to Daily Kos, Daily Kos was not an official organizer or sponsor of the convention. [7/21/08]

• On Cavuto on Business, Jonathan Hoenig, a regular panelist on Fox News' Cashin' In, falsely asserted that both Obama and Sen. Joe Biden "have made it very clear that they support socialized health care." Hoenig went on to say: "I know it sounds kind of curt in this age of political correctness and altruism, but why should I be responsible for paying for Joe Biden's brain aneurysms?" Biden suffered two brain aneurysms in 1988. [8/23/08]

• During coverage of the Democratic National Convention, Kelly speculated that changing some of the words in Michelle Obama's speech could provide Obama's critics with "fodder." Noting that Obama said in her speech, "The world as it is just won't do," Kelly stated: "If you replace 'world' with 'country', you are back to the same debate, arguably, that you have been having about Michelle Obama's feelings about the country. Did she give her critics any fodder with that comment?" [8/25/08]

• On America's Newsroom, Fox News contributor and NPR correspondent Juan Williams asserted of Michelle Obama's upcoming speech at the DNC: "Well, she's got to be herself, but I do not think she can go for it all out in terms of this kind of militant anger that she sometimes uses." Williams gave no examples of what he claims to be "this kind of militant anger" that Michelle Obama "sometimes uses." [8/25/08]

• America's Election HQ aired numerous reports documenting claims by Republicans and the McCain campaign that they "rescued" American flags that were going to be "disposed of" by the Democrats after their convention at Invesco Field in Denver. But during the reports, Fox News gave no indication that it had sought to contact a Democratic Party official or Obama campaign spokesperson for comment, and only reported a Democratic response hours after it began reporting the Republican claims. [9/6/08]

• On The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly said that Michelle Obama "looks like an angry woman." [9/16/08]

• On The O'Reilly Factor, after Reiman claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's body language during a recent speech suggested she "practices the speech too much," O'Reilly responded: "You know who used to do that, who practiced for hours before making a speech? And I'm not making any comparison here. So, don't -- you crazy left-wing websites out there, it's not a comparison. Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler practiced for hours, all of his ... gestures and everything else before he went out there." [9/30/08]
  
  http://mediamatters.org/