Campbell Brown Defends Fox News – By Comparing Them To MSNBC

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by Steve Krakauer | 9:11 am, October 28th, 2009

» 16 comments

Maybe it takes another cable news network to press the Obama administration on a point of contention in this feud with Fox News that hasn’t been asked very often.

Last night CNN’s Campbell Brown pressed White House adviser Valerie Jarrett on whether she thinks Fox News is biased (of course), but also whether she thinks MSNBC is as well.

During an interview at The Women’s Conference, Brown brought up the ongoing feud between the White House and Fox News. Jarrett came back with an answer that echoed many before. “If we see someone distorting the truth, we’re going to call them on the carpet for that,” she said in part.

But it turned out to be a set up by Brown, for the real point she hoped to get at. She stopped Jarrett midway through her answer, following up with:

Brown: So, do you think Fox News is biased.
Jarrett: (laughing) Well of course they’re biased, of course they are.
B: Do you also think that MSNBC is biased?
J: Well, you know what, this is the thing, actually I don’t want to just generalize that all Fox is biased or another station is biased, I think what we want to do is look at it on a case by case basis.

If that’s what the White House wants to do, it’s not what they’re doing at this point. The ongoing feud has been very directly aimed at what they perceive to be a singular political enemy when it comes to TV news – Fox News Channel. Then again, if correcting the record means making them look worse, you probably aren’t going to see a White House blog post headed for publication.

But it’s interesting to see Brown, and CNN, put the White House on their heels a bit. This went beyond when Jake Tapper pressed White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on the issue. And from Brown’s perspective, this plays into the whole point CNN wants to drive home: we’re not biased or opinion journalism, our cable news competitors are. On a personal level, Brown is married to Dan Senor, who at one time was a Republican strategist and Fox News analyst (read his new book excerpt on Mediaite here). But the implication here was less a direct defense of Fox, and more a comparison of two outlets spanning the political spectrum.

Could there come a time when Campbell Brown helps her ratings by calling out bias on both Fox News and MSNBC? We’ll see where it goes next.

Here’s the Fox part of the interview:

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Campbell Brown, CNN, fnc, fox news, Fox News vs. White House, Valerie Jarrett, White House vs. Fox News

kimm

Oh, how I long for the days when reporters and news anchors REPORTED the news, not MADE it. Can we please get back to journalism? All this back-and-forth makes me hate all of the news/cable outlets.

Just tell me what happened in the world today, and show me why I should care. That does NOT include what Rush said about Keith or how he responded, or what crazy thing Glenn Beck said today, and how CNN covered it.
http://the-w.com/ CRZ

kimm,

You’re aware you’re at Mediaite right now, right? You didn’t make a wrong turn somewhere on the Internet and land here by mistake?
kimm

Ha ha! Yeah, I know. And the crazy thing is, I work in television news. We eat our young for breakfast. So go figure….

It just seems like things have gotten a little crazy with the he said/she said ….
m

true kimm, I actually agree with you. There are a lot of injustices and important news stories that aren’t covered all the time. But what’s considered news and what’s not news is a subjective decision. It’s not a science with a final empirical truth. What’s going to be on the front page or at the top of the hour is a value call. So essentially, because news professionals talk and socialize with each other a lot, it’s an inherent bias in the profession.
Jim R

I was listening to that when she said it. Nice false equivalency Mrs. Senor, no ulterior motive there at all.
ImNotBlue

What are you talking about Jim?

Are you actually suggesting that MSNBC isn’t biased? That their primetime line-up isn’t slanted? Really?
Sue

She just wishes CNN was not biased…not at all like the kooky MSNMC and the seriously mental midget Keith Olbermann….if anchors listened to what they said, how they said and the tone in which they said what they said, they get it? Probably now, however. And watch Valerie squirm…you gotta luv it! When anyone slams anyone, use facts to bolster your argument, otherwise you are no different than the loons.
Sue

sorry MSNBC, Probably hot…hate to type too fast.
LorrieAnn

Since this is an article about viewpoints about possible bias against Fox News, don’t you think it would have been a good idea to point out the fact that Campbell Brown’s husband is a regular commenting employee of Fox News? Don’t you think that Ms. Brown might have had a hidden agenda with her questions to Valerie? I got the heads up about this article from Howard Kurtz’s tweet. Wouldn’t you think that he might have pointed this out in his communication, considering he has a program called “Reliable Sources”? The irony!
straitshooter

Good for Campbell. I think she could dedicate a 5-10 minute segment each night with clips and a discussion on how both Fox and MSNBC cross the line. If I knew Campbell would start playing the role of media watch dog, I would definitely tune in. It doesn’t hurt that she’s a stone fox.
ImNotBlue

LorrieAnn says:
October 28, 2009 at 2:37 pm

Well, Lorrie… this thread mentions that… so there you go.

But more over, does someone’s husband or wife necessarily indicate their thinking and/or biases? Let’s not forget the Matalin/Carville marriage, before we go making foolish assumptions.
CaptainAmerica

If Campbell Brown wants to start being a mediawatch dog she could spend the entire hour going over the biased reporting that goes on all day at CNN. Stating with left winger John Roberts on American Morning and working through all the days biased “news” that is presented in its left wing slant at CNN.

Or she could rip their fake/fraud “Earth” specials. Or the faux documentaries from Soledad. You name it. That network is about as bad as MSNBC when it comes to being left wing biased. But like MSNBC they do it about ALL DAY LONG.
Jim R

Hmmm, might it be that the truth has a left wing bias? After all, everyone but Fox is supposedly “liberal” in spite of their bending over backwards to not offend the right.

Forty years of the right bashing every report not glowingly complimentary to Republicans is paying off!
straitshooter

The truth has a liberal bias? So, you’re argument is that reporters can’t help but lean left because facts only support the left side of most discussions.

This is fascinating, because if I accept your premise, then all debate is pointless and we can all shut up and go home, or go back to downloading porn (I never claimed to have a life).

Jim, if you keep pushing this radically brilliant premise, Dan Abrams will sneak into your home and wrap a piece of piano wire around your neck.
ImNotBlue

Jim R says:
October 28, 2009 at 3:33 pm

After all, everyone but Fox is supposedly “liberal” in spite of their bending over backwards to not offend the right.

Exactly who is “bending over backwards”? What in the hell are you talking about?
http://soupsoup.tumblr.com Anthony De Rosa

They’re ALL biased. Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. Anyone who can’t see this is a left or right wing cheerleader.