"Let's take our time and get the facts straight on this story. Can we get confirmation and comments from Sherrod before going on-air. Let's make sure we do this right."
-- Fox Senior Vice President Michael Clemente, email to news staff, Monday, July 19, 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Sorry folks, you can't blame Fox News for this one. And this does not demonstrate that they have more power than progressives.
Media Matters has posted a detailed timeline of the Sherrod affair, so you can go through it yourself.
Andrew Breitbart is an independent blogger who posted the video of Sherrod's speech on Monday morning.
Mrs. Sherrod resigned at about 4:40 p.m. EST that day under pressure from higher-ups within the Obama Administration.
Up until that point in time, Fox News had made not one single on-air mention of her, or the tape, or Breitbart's accusation. Nothing. Not a word.
Fox News did post a news account on their website with a link to the video, but there was no call for her resignation or other editorial statements.
Only one Fox News host ever called for her resignation -- Bill O'Reilly -- but it was a moot point as his show aired later that night after she had already resigned. He later apologized.
I don't watch Fox News, or any other cable news channel. I can't stand the superficial level of so-called political "debate" that takes place in the five-minute increments in between commercial breaks on cable TV. It does nothing for me other than raise my blood pressure.
But if we're going to be condemning Andrew Breitbart for slandering Sherrod and the NAACP with a false accusation (and we should), how is it OK for us to then turn around do the same thing by slandering Fox News for allegedly forcing her resignation, when the fact is that they didn't.
As far as after her resignation, the White House's actions made it a story across all media outlets, and it's possible that Fox News host Glenn Beck might've been the first major media figure to actually defend Ms. Sherrod:
Ironically, Beck defended Sherrod on Tuesday, saying that "context matters" and he would have objected if someone had shown a video of him at an AA meeting saying he used to pass out from drinking but omitting the part where he says he found Jesus and gave up alcohol.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
That was Tuesday afternoon. Here's what Obama Cabinet Secretary Tom Vilsack was saying on Tuesday afternoon:
Yesterday, I asked for and accepted Ms. Sherrod's resignation for two reasons. First, for the past 18 months, we have been working to turn the page on the sordid civil rights record at USDA and this controversy could make it more difficult to move forward on correcting injustices. Second, state rural development directors make many decisions and are often called to use their discretion. The controversy surrounding her comments would create situations where her decisions, rightly or wrongly, would be called into question making it difficult for her to bring jobs to Georgia.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmem...
So, as of Tuesday afternoon, we have Fox News host Glenn Back defending Sherrod, while the Obama Administration was still defending its decision to ask for her resignation.
Keep in mind, also, that all along the NAACP had in its possession, the full unedited video:
The video of Shirley Sherrod released by Andrew Brietbart's Big Government Blog on July 19 didn't tell the full story. It was selectively edited to cast her in a negative light. Here is the video, shot by the local NAACP unit that hosted Ms. Sherrod. Watch the video, and judge for yourself.
http://www.naacp.org/...
So why is everyone pointing fingers at the "Right Wing Noise Machine" when it was the NAACP who had the full video all along?
If I'm informed that a right-wing blogger posted snippets of video from an NAACP event that could be damaging to an administration official, wouldn't my first move be to call the NAACP to see if they have the original, full video?
And you still want to blame this on Fox?
UPDATE: from the comments (h/t GN 1297) Media Matters now says that this was discussed on Fox and Friends that morning:
Doocy: Sherrod "sure sounded racist," is "[e]xhibit A" of "what racism looks like." On the July 19 edition of Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy said that Sherrod made "a speech to the NAACP that sure sounded racist." Later, after guest-host Ailysn Camerota asserted that Sherrod's remarks are "outrageous and perhaps everybody needs a refresher course on what racism looks like," Doocy responded that Sherrod's comments are "Exhibit A."