Fox News Justifies Tea Party Involvement by Lying about Covering the Million Man March

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:45 pm

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Fox News has now taken to claiming that their promotion and coverage of the Tea Party protests this week is fair and balanced because they covered other populist protests in the past. Neil Cavuto cited the network’s coverage of the Million Man March in1995, even though the network didn’t exist until 1996, as a reason for their involvement in the Tea Parties.

Here is the video courtesy of Think Progress:

It would be one thing if Cavuto made the mistake once, but he has said that Fox News covered the Million Man March five times in the last few days. Somebody at FNC finds it necessary to maintain the lie that they are fair and balanced. Frankly, I don’t care if they are fair and balanced or not. If they want to tilt right, that’s fine, but stop treating people like they are idiots who can’t possibly figure out that the march occurred in 1995, and the network was launched in 1996. Unless Roger Ailes has some sort of secret time machine, FNC could not have covered the Million Man March.

I wish FNC would just be honest and say, “Look, we are the right wing network. MSNBC is the left wing, and we are the right. It is what we do, and our audience loves it.” Stop pretending like the Tea Parties are anything other than an attempt to help the GOP get some of their mojo back. Even if we disregard the stupidity of protesting a president with an approval rating in the solid 60s, Fox News by its promotion of an ideological political event is no longer fair and balanced. They can’t claim neutrality while helping to organize and promote a conservative event. It doesn’t work that way.

I suspect that the Tea Parties will do well in states that places where the Republicans are strong, like the South. I doubt that there will be any sort of national outcry against Obama. There are a couple of reasons why. First, most people support and agree with his policies. Second, if America did not to take to the streets against the historically unpopular George W. Bush, I don’t see them protesting against a president that they actually like. No matter the turnout FNC is certain to claim a victory for popular rebellion against Obama. You can bet on that for sure.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association