Leaked e-mail shows Fox boss tried to slant ‘news’ programs | Raw Story
source: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/leaked-email-shows-fox-news-boss-slant-news/
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The Washington, DC managing editor at Fox News appears to be caught red-handed in the art of spinning.
As the health care debate was reaching a high point last year, a leaked e-mail shows Bill Sammon asked his news department to refer to the public option as the "government run option."
Later that evening, Fox News flagship news program, Special Report with Bret Baier, used the very phrase Sammon had requested.
The e-mail, obtained by the liberal watchdog Media Matters, indicates that Sammon sent the request after Republican pollster Frank Luntz said that polls show the "government option" was opposed by the public.
According to the report at Media Matters, in August of 2009 after Fox News' Sean Hannity used the term "public option," Luntz encouraged him to say "government option" instead.
"If you call it a 'public option,' the American people are split," Luntz said. "If you call it the 'government option,' the public is overwhelmingly against it."
"It's a great point, and from now on, I'm going to call it the government option," Hannity replied.
Luntz also claimed that the "government option" would be "sponsored by the government." In fact, the proposed public option bills would have funded the program with the fees paid by those who enrolled in it.
Only a day before Sammon sent the e-mail, Brett Baier had referred to the "public option" as well as the "government-run option."
An e-mail titled "friendly reminder: let's not slip back into calling it the 'public option'" was sent to Baier and other Fox News reporters the next morning.
"Please use the term 'government-run health insurance' or, when brevity is a concern, 'government option,' whenever possible," Sammon wrote.
As the health care debate was reaching a high point last year, a leaked e-mail shows Bill Sammon asked his news department to refer to the public option as the "government run option."
Later that evening, Fox News flagship news program, Special Report with Bret Baier, used the very phrase Sammon had requested.
The e-mail, obtained by the liberal watchdog Media Matters, indicates that Sammon sent the request after Republican pollster Frank Luntz said that polls show the "government option" was opposed by the public.
According to the report at Media Matters, in August of 2009 after Fox News' Sean Hannity used the term "public option," Luntz encouraged him to say "government option" instead.
"If you call it a 'public option,' the American people are split," Luntz said. "If you call it the 'government option,' the public is overwhelmingly against it."
"It's a great point, and from now on, I'm going to call it the government option," Hannity replied.
Luntz also claimed that the "government option" would be "sponsored by the government." In fact, the proposed public option bills would have funded the program with the fees paid by those who enrolled in it.
Only a day before Sammon sent the e-mail, Brett Baier had referred to the "public option" as well as the "government-run option."
An e-mail titled "friendly reminder: let's not slip back into calling it the 'public option'" was sent to Baier and other Fox News reporters the next morning.
"Please use the term 'government-run health insurance' or, when brevity is a concern, 'government option,' whenever possible," Sammon wrote.
