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Jake Tapper challenges Obama White House to justify Fox News gambit

By: Mark Tapscott
Editorial Page Editor
10/20/09 5:14 PM EDT

This from today's face-off with Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs is what White House reporters - no, make that all journalists - are supposed to do all the time - Ask those in power, regardless of who is in power, the tough questions they don't want to answer:

"Tapper: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one –

(Crosstalk)

"Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.

"Tapper: But that’s a pretty sweeping declaration that they are “not a news organization.” How are they any different from, say –

"Gibbs: ABC -

"Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?

"Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o’clock tonight. Or 5 o’clock this afternoon.

"Tapper: I’m not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I’m talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a “news organization” — why is that appropriate for the White House to say?

"Gibbs: That’s our opinion."

Tapscott's question: Will Gibbs now do a Dede and call the cops on Tapper?

HT: Glenn Reynolds for pointing this out.

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Reader Comments

All comments on this page are subject to our Terms of Use and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Examiner or its staff. Comment box is limited to 250 words.

Mad Monica

Oct 20, 2009

This has GOT to be the last straw for anyone on the fence about the integrity and honesty of ANY major news media. Dunn admitted the Obama campaign controlled them during the election and now they're trying to control who counts as news. RIDICULOUS!

Shelby

Oct 20, 2009

In fairness, it's not a real White House.

Oct 20, 2009

A lot of people in the media biz love to make a buck, at some point you would think one of the MSM would figure out there is a huge audience if they would cool it with the lib bias - even if they were faking it.

twb

Oct 20, 2009

In that case it would really be "fake but accurate"!

Tresco

Oct 20, 2009

If people don't stop asking questions like that it's going to get ugly for them fast.

twb

Oct 20, 2009

In would be an actual case of "fake but accurate".

Neal Scroggs

Oct 20, 2009

Shelby said "In fairness, it's a real White House"

Well said. In fairness it looking more like a real Reichskanzlerei.

Neal Scroggs

Oct 20, 2009

Oops. Typo. That should read "not a real White House"

moptop

Oct 20, 2009

I don't mean to sound like a nativist, but seriously. Respect for a free press is the kind of shared value Americans who attend school in the US learn in elementary school. Sorry, that was a racist comment, since I am out as a racist, another thing Natural Born Citizens learn in US schools is how many states there are. It would take the kind of torture you see in the move 1984 to get us to mess that up.

moptop

Oct 20, 2009

"even if they were faking it."

You mean like Savage and Scaroborough?

matt

Oct 20, 2009

I wonder what Chris Matthews has to say about all this?

Oct 20, 2009

"Gibbs: That’s our opinion." And presumably they think they're entitled to their opinion. But they don't extend the same courtesy to Fox News?

Farix

Oct 20, 2009

So does MSNBC's 7 o'clock and 8 o'clock programs mean that MSNBC is "not a news organization"? Especially that 8 pm program.

Fen

Oct 20, 2009

"I wonder what Chris Matthews has to say about all this?"

Chris Matthews is still exploring that "tingle" Obama sent up his leg.

Acorn could not be reached for comment.

BLLR

Oct 20, 2009

I'm sorry, didn't Glenn Beck admit he's an entertainer? And didn't O'Reilly come from Inside Edition? These are not journalists, therefore it is not news. It is entertainment. And d-level entertainment at that. I think bloggers should do a 'news audit' as to how many people actually have journalism degrees at each major news outlet.

Boater1217

Oct 20, 2009

I see, it takes a journalism degree to be a real journalist.

Julianna Leblanc

Oct 20, 2009

Keith Olberstupid worked for 20 yrs as sports "journalist" and he used to work at Fox! He's not a journalist, he's a blowhard with an opinion. Sports isn't real news, its 'entertainment".

BLLR

Oct 20, 2009

Yes Boater1217. Yes it does. A higher degree proving that you have at least gone through the rigors of studying, research, and accreditation. And Julianna, I never said MSNBC was exempt from this 'news audit'. I'd like to see what Olbermann and Maddow have in terms of their journalistic resumes right there with Lou Dobbs, Beck and O'Reilly.

newrouter

Oct 20, 2009

"A higher degree proving that you have at least gone through the rigors of studying, research, and accreditation."

ben franklin, abe lincoln, harry truman = idiots

moptop

Oct 20, 2009

Well BLLR, Olberman went to Cow College, hence the cognomen of Kow Kollege Keith. Cornell Ag School, which he abbreviates to "Cornell"

COMMENTMAN

Oct 20, 2009

GOOD MOVE JAKE !

COMMENTMAN

Oct 20, 2009

OH, JAKE, FORGET ABOUT THAT C.O.L.A. NEXT YEAR. OH, THAT PROMOTION WE TALKED ABOUT, SORRY. BY THE WAY, ISN'T IT TIME YOU MOVED ON TO FURTHER YOUR CAREER ? OH, YOUR DESK WAS MOVED INTO THE BASEMENT, YOU KNOW THE ECONOMY. OH, YOUR CREDIT CARD HAS BEEN CANCELED, ALONG WITH THAT PHONE CARD. WE ARE CUTTING BACK ON FRILLS, IT'S THE ECONOMY, SORRY.

ladybug

Oct 20, 2009

I hope that Jake isn't tagged an enemy because of his questions.

This administration has surprised me with the number of people on their enemies list. I thought they campaigned for hope and change. I didn't know that their methods would be to vilify anyone displeasing them to the point they hoped for change.

megapotamus

Oct 20, 2009

Tapper has definitely signed on for some retribution here. Looks like he knows it and looks like he's prepared to withstand it, or attempt to do so. How long before Tapper is declared "not a news reporter"? If the Obies really believe as they say, let them rescind Fox press credentials en masse and then pick and choose the un-newsies from the remainder of the MSMers. Tapper, obviously. Helen Thomas has also demonstrated an obsessive antagonism toward Obama, yes? The editorial board of The Nation came out against the Obama Fox Hunt so we won't have Katrina VanDenHuevel to kick around anymore. Eventually, and I mean by Malcom Xmas, the daily pressers will be just Gibbs reading questions off index cards like, "Mr President, why do crackers hate you so much?"

Guy Jones

Oct 20, 2009

The Obama's Administration's attack on Fox News is infantile. It smacks of insecurity, plain and simple. What modern presidency didn't have to deal with negative media coverage? You make your case to the public and attempt to win the spin game. It's a ritual as old as politics. That this administration is so incredibly sensitive to any unflattering coverage reveals a sense of deep frustration that the President's agenda (notably Obamacare) is not really going anywhere.

Toby Petzold

Oct 20, 2009

I have long applied this simple shibboleth to anyone I'm arguing politics with: if he believes that FNC is any worse than or even different from CNN or MSNBC in their respective orientations, then I know I am dealing with a baboon. These communists don't want to admit that in the marketplace of propaganda, their product doesn't sell nearly as well as the Americans'. Must be that there's a moral component to American Conservatism that appeals to more people than what gathers around to listen to the post-American gibberish of the Obama Left.

A.L.H.

Oct 20, 2009

If anybody can talk to Jake Tapper(ABC)--tell him 'HE'S THE MAN"!! I thought all those "journalists at the W.H. were "DEAD"! He's a SHINING STAR IN THAT BLEAK DARKNESS CALL THE W.H. GOD BLESS THAT GUY!! DO YOUR STUFF!! That your job--MAKE THEM STAY ON THEIR TOES! GOOD JOB! THANK YOU

tarded2much@gmail.com

Oct 21, 2009

Obama isn't a President; he is nothing but a complete and total loser.

Gibbs isn't a human; he is nothing but a fetus.

Bobbie J.

Oct 21, 2009

Thank you so much Jake Tapper for the courage you displayed when asking Robert Gibbs about the recent slam at FOX NEWS. When I heard your question My first response was "I hope he does not loose his job at abc for confronting the white house." After my response I thought how Pathetic we as a nation have become., actually fearing our government. I voted for obama expecting a BIG Change (positive one). BOY was i MISLEAD along with millions. Keep up the good work. Again, I hope your job has not been jeopardized!

depaz

Oct 21, 2009

Note to BLLR: Glenn Beck may be an "entertainer", but it was his investigation into Van Jones and others that has outed many in this adminstration for the anti-Americans they are. I'll take that "entertainment" over the bowing-at-the-feet-of-the-anointed-one "news" any day.

Mark B.

Oct 21, 2009

BLLR: Beck's an entertainer, yes. He doesn't claim to be a journalist; in fact, he stipulates exactly the opposite several times a week if you only cared to listen. Yet he and his staff dug up the dirt on Van Jones and got the Anita Dunn quote aired.

He's claimed a couple of scalps already and I'm sure there will be more -- though in fairness it's a target-rich environment. You'd have to think either that one of the alphabets, NYT, LAT, AP, etc., had those stories and spiked them (indicating a debilitating lack of journalistic integrity, whatever that might mean) or they never had them in the first place, which would seem to suggest they're merely incompetent.

Glenn Beck: An entertainer who's doing the jobs accredited journalists just won't do. Says more about the state of accredited journalism than it does about Beck, no?

Doggone it, I keep forgetting that it's not about the news, it's about the narrative.

'Berg

Retired CPO

Oct 21, 2009

I never thought a person with such thin skin could ever survive the rough and tumble of politics long enough to reach the White House, even if he did short circuit the normal route. Mr. Obama and company resemble a pack of hyenas, constantly whining and howling, and always attacking in lockstep. If they have had an original thought it would probably send them to a therapist. These marxists are simply trying to turn the media into Pravda. They are well along the way, also. Have you noticed how frequently the same key words show up in their reporting? Gravitas, etc. The whole shooting match of them could not work up a story if they were the subject of it without spinning the left wing lies into it.

Hal C

Oct 21, 2009

I wouldn't say that Jake is "the man," but he does get kudos for at least challenging a government that could come after HIS company next....

Hal C

Oct 21, 2009

Oh, any my wife has a Journalism degree. She says what they "teach" in Journalism school these days isn't worth the ink printed on her degree.

Oct 21, 2009

I imagine that Tapper and other msm journalist should realize that they will be next if they step out of line by reporting any factual information. Most of what Fox reports is backed by video evidence i.e. Van Jones, Dunn, Acorn. Dunn's comments about only letting out what they want the media to report and not having to "be interviewed by reporters" was the most asinine thing I have ever heard.
Isn't that what journalism is all about is asking questions?
Bambi and his thugs are either stupid or what is most frightening is that they think they can get away with this.
Not surprising is that Obummer's numbers plummet again today and Fox viewers increase.
Americans are not as stupid as these crooks think we are.

SnappySandy

Oct 21, 2009

I'm glad to see that there is ONE journalist out there besides those at Fox News that has the guts, to demand answers from the White House on their smear campaign against Fox.

When asked why the White House has the right to say Fox is not a News station, Gibbs say well "That's our opinion".

Who the hell told this unelected idiot that his opinion matters? And where does the White House get off telling Americans what they should think?

This White House needs to get to work on what matters or get the hell out of town.

cosmo

Oct 21, 2009

Excluding FOX, a legitimate news organization is backfiring right now. It makes the administration look bad, like they can't take a punch. If the White House continues, they will have a war on their hands that they cannot win.

Tucano Fulano

Oct 21, 2009

Obama's suffocating flow of words like a boa constrictor covering his prey with saliva before devouring it just isn't going to be enough this time. The Aussie "Saltie" has bite.

Kurmudge

Oct 21, 2009

Frankly, who cares who is or is not a "journalist"? What we care about is who does actual "journalism". And there is prpobably more of that at Fox most days than there is at the NYT.

Was Walter Duranty a "journalist"? No, he was a propagandist, like Katie Couric.

snappysandy

Oct 21, 2009

I'm glad to see that there is ONE journalist out there besides those at Fox News that has the guts, to demand answers from the White House on their smear campaign against Fox.

When asked why the White House has the right to say Fox is not a News station, Gibbs say well "That's our opinion".

Just who told this unelected idiot that his opinion matters? And where does the White House get off telling Americans what they should think?

Deborah

Oct 21, 2009

It's sort of like watching tennis. Could be a division from obamacare, crap and tax, Afghanistan, gun control, net "neutrality" and many other issues.
But when my FIRST AMENDMENT rights get threatened thats when my mother bear side comes out.

Barry O.

Oct 23, 2009

Those jerks at Fox are just a bunch of racist white crackers, and Tapper is obviously a closet racist - what other reason could he have for back-talking my Administration?! Watch later today as we will also declare the AP and UPI to be propagande machines rather than news organizations. Tapper, I can't believe my former friends at ABC let you put this stuff online - I'll get you for this, you better watch your back!!!

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Jake Tapper challenges Obama White House to justify Fox News gambit

By: Mark Tapscott
Editorial Page Editor
10/20/09 5:14 PM EDT