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The Obama administration hasnât made much of a secret of its displeasure with Fox News. In June, the president said that there was âone television station that is entirely devoted to attacking my
administration,â a claim so obvious in its target he neednât name names. And in September, Obama skipped an appearance on Fox Sunday Morning, on the same day he found time to visit with all the other
major networksâand Univision, too.
Both incidents, and some other background, were recounted over the weekend by The New York Timesâs Brian Stelter. The article is particularly notable because it is part of a series of outings where the White House has ratcheted up its harsh tone towards Fox.
âWeâre going to treat them the way we would treat an opponent,â Anita Dunn, the White Houseâs communications director, told Stelter, elaborating that âweâre not going to legitimize them as a news
organization.â
“Fox News often operates almost as either the research arm or the communications arm of the Republican Party,” said Dunn during an appearance CNN. “Let’s not pretend they’re a news network the way CNN is.”
At the same time, Dunn has acknowledged that she has no beef with the networkâs White House correspondent, that the President would likely appear on the network in the future, and that the White Houseâs press staff would continue to respond to queries from the network’s news staff.
While that implies that the White Houseâs attacks are more of a war of words than action, weâre wondering what you think of the administrationâs attacks. Is the White House right that Foxâin all or in partâis almost tantamount to a Republican communications wing? Have they ceased to be a legitimate news organization? And what are the implications of the White Houseâs strategy ofâif not by deeds, then certainly by wordsâof isolating Fox and its large audience?
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