Cross posted with some video at Future Majority.
Alexandra Acker, Executive Director of the Young Democrats writes in to note that Fox News once again failed to live up to its motto - Fair and Balanced - last night when she appeared on the Hannity and Colmes program.
I don't have video of the segment, or of the real College Dem convention footage they mention, but here's what Alexandra writes on the YDA blog:
I was on Hannity & Colmes tonight on Fox News (I know, I know -- I'm sure many of you think I got what was coming to me by going on Fox). I knew I'd be talking about Hillary Clinton getting heckled at the College Democrats of America convention and the media frenzy around the minor foreign policy disagreements between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama.
I was happy to go on and defend our Democratic nominees for debating important issues while Republicans run to the right and pander to the base.
What I didn't know (because I didn't have a monitor in front of me while I was on live) was that the caption on the screen for the entire segment read HILLARY GETS RUDE WELCOME FROM YOUNG DEMOCRATS FOR AMERICA.
Let's start with the obvious errors. First, we're the Young Democrats OF America, not For (although we're for America, as well). Second, Hillary was speaking at the COLLEGE Democrats of America convention, not the Young Democrats.
But, most importantly, the clip they showed was misleading and that caption was misleading, too. I know what happened. I was there. Hillary was cheered by the College Democrats. The boos you hear are the College Dems booing the lone, middle-aged heckler with a handmade sign. The College Democrats did not boo Hillary Clinton!
I'm interested in this for two reasons. First, because, as I've noted before, the youth narrative is currently tied to Barack Obama's campaign. If he does well, then we get a positive narrative about the youth vote in the media. If he does poorly, then we get a negative narrative. That may just be the place we are in, but the polls don't back it up, and if we can wrangle a positive narrative out of either a Clinton or Obama victory that's a good thing. As Hillary looks more and more inevitable as the nominee, this type of story just moves us further away from that goal. Youth don't hate Hillary, in fact, many seem to support her.
Second, because I wonder if it would be a better strategy for the Young Democrats to not appear on Fox News altogether. Between the de facto cancellation of the debate cosponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus, the Nevada Democratic Party, and Fox News due to the withdrawal of the top tier candidates, to Obama's black-balling of Fox reporters, delegitimizing Fox News as a credible, balanced journalistic organization is gaining traction as a progressive media strategy. It might be good for the Young Democrats to embrace that strategy. We're clearly not going to gain any new supporters over at Fox, and our appearance on their programs is just window dressing for the propaganda that each show is rigged to spread.
If no Democrats or Progressives went on their programs, they would lose the veneer of respectability that now hides their pretty blatant partisan agenda.
For more about Fox News bias, check out Brave New Films.