ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Duke's Damage Control</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style1 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="116" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <a href="081609.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="24" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="465" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="18" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="283" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="26"> <td width="624" height="26" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="1"> <td width="116" height="2574" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="489" height="1" colspan="3"></td> <td width="18" height="2574" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr height="2573"> <td width="489" height="2573" colspan="3" align="left" xpos="116" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="5"><b> <br /> <br /> Obama&#39;s Media War</b></font><p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> by John M. Curtis<br> (310) 204-8700</b><br> </font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Oct. 18, 2009<br> All Rights Reserved.</i></font></p> <p><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span class="style1">E</span>ntering into a no-win battle with the FOXNews Network, the White House blasted the GOP-leaning cable network for biased reporting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Calling FOXNew  a wing of the Republican Party, White House Communication Director Anita Dunn leveled the charges at FOXNews for consistently anti-Obama reporting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>President Barack Obama noted there is  one television station that is entirely devoted to attack my administration, rejecting FOXNew s claim of  fair and balanced reporting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>FOXNews President Roger Ailes, a GOP political operative dating back to the Nixon administration, was a former communication director of President George H.W. Bush before Rupert Murdoch offered him the job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Dunn went over the deep end blasting FOXNews for trashing the Obama administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether news or editorials, FOXNews has a right to its conservative views.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Dunn doesn t blast MSNBC News for its left wing leanings, allowing  news anchors Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow to routinely defend the Obama administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Nor, for that matter, did Dunn object to MSNBC s wholesale eight-year-long denunciation of former President George W. Bush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  The administration was being attacked, members of the administration were being attacked, policies of the administration were being misrepresented and that s a generous interpretation of how they were being described, said Dunn, going after FOXNews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Dunn doesn t recall MSNBC s and CNN s practically nonstop attack on the Bush White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Even CBS News Anchor Dan Rather got into it, costing him his job Jan 10, 2005 for running a story on Bush s service in the Texas Air National Guard on  60 Minutes July 4, 2004 based on forged documents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Right wing commentators, led by 58-year-old syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh, believe that most network and cable news are routinely biased against conservatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Dunn doesn t mention the long-standing left wing bias, only cites FOXNews for its one-sided programming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The reality is that as some point, the administration has to defend itself, insisted Dunn, causing more problems for the White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Fingering FOXNews, no matter how justified, backfired for the administration, creating unwanted controversy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Embroiled in its battle over health care and reviving the economy, the White House can t afford useless diversions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Dunn s salvo detracts from the White House agenda of fixing the economy and promoting its version of national health care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Calling the White House  crybabies, FOXNews host Chris Wallace dismissed Dunn s remarks.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>White House officials get all the good press they want from CNBC and CNN for the most part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>CNN often plays  devil s advocate, occasionally criticizing the White House to look  fair-and-balanced, to borrow FOXNews s phrase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I would think that what this reflects is a pent-up frustration or rage at the coverage they get, not only from Fox but elsewhere, said CNN analyst David Gergen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Gergen, a Harvard Kennedy School of Government professor and former White House advisor, believes that Dunn fueled the controversy by attacking FOXNews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Attacking FOXNews has given the upstart cable network free publicity, driving up its Nielsen ratings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  It s going to spike Fox s ratings, said Gergen, acknowledging that FOXNews already leads the ratings race.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Whatever frustration the White House has with FOXNews, the White House should have avoided the confrontation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Instead of pointing fingers at FOXNews, the White House should accept the full spectrum of news reporting on the administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Dunn should retract her statements against FOXNews not because they re inaccurate but because it gives the cable giant more clout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>White House officials must accept the good with the bad, including the pass on most issues they get from major news networks and certainly CNBC and CNN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> There is room for a more nuanced strategy, admitted Dunn, back-peddling on her prior remarks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>FOXNews has complained for some time that they don t get their fair share of White House interviews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>White House chief strategist David Axelrod denied that FOXNews has been blackballed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He met with Roger Ailes about a month ago to mend fences and make peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>So far, the White House has looked worse for picking an unnecessary food fight.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama s media war with FOXNews has backfired, boosting ratings for the conservative cable network.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Instead of whining about mistreatment, the White House should make amends, placing administration officials on FOXNews shows. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>White House officials miscalculated, complaining about too much about mistreatment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If the White House complains about Fox, they need to publicly express gratitude to the big three and other cable networks for their unwavering support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>White House officials must rethink their strategy of complaining about Fox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Dunn needs to stop stirring the pot and make her best effort at reconciliation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The notion ought to be to restore professional relations to the extent possible and not make this a long-term war, said Gergen, advising Dunn to back off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Dunn s right that there are too many big problems confronting the country to waste so much precious time.</p> <p><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet </a>and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma.</a></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2573"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2573"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="116" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="116" height="1"></td> <td width="24" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="24" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="283" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="283" height="1"></td> <td width="18" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="18" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Homene.net" target="_blank">img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2002 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>