In an apparent effort to sway public opinion, a Fox News editor emailed network producers and reporters, reminding them to opt for "government-run" instead.
During last year's national debate over universal healthcare, Fox News executives instructed the organization's journalists to refrain from using the term "public option." In October, 2009, Bill Sammon, Fox News' Washington editor, sent an email to network producers and reporters reminding them to use the terms "government-run health insurance" and "government option" rather than "public option."
Two months prior to Sammons' reminder, Frank Lutz, a Republican pollster, expressed to Fox News' Sean Hannity his belief that, "if you call it a 'public option,' the American people are split," but that, "if you call it the 'government option,' the public is overwhelmingly against it." Hannity responded, "it's a great point, and from now on, I'm going to call it the government option."
In an interview with Howard Kurtz, Sammon defended his decision. The term "public option," he said, was a "vague, bland, undescriptive phrase." The term "government-run plan," he proclaimed, was a more "accurate, fair objective term," and a "more neutral term."