Media Matters
takes a look back at how Fox News covered the CBS 60 Minutes Benghazi report, which has now been
retracted:
The morning after the 60 Minutes report aired, Fox News hit the ground running promoting it. Over the course of Monday, October 28, Fox would devote more than 13 segments over 11 different shows to the CBS report, totaling more than 47 minutes of coverage.
Much of Fox's coverage was self-congratulatory, claiming the CBS report had corroborated their network's coverage of Benghazi. Bret Baier, host of Fox's flagship news show Special Report, told viewers that "[l]ast night, one of journalism's heavy hitters reaffirmed what we knew and had reported on." Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy praised CBS for "finally catching up" to conservative media on the story and proclaimed, "60 Minutes doesn't cover phony scandals."
It wasn't just Fox—after the 60 Minutes report aired, Republican were falling all over each other to get on television and denounce the Obama administration for allegedly covering up Benghazi. Sen. Lindsey Graham announced he would block
every single presidential appointment until the Obama administration made available each and every witness that could shed light on Benghazi and the CBS report. Even after it became clear that the CBS report didn't add up, Rep. Jason Chaffetz
blasted the administration for supposedly smearing a covert agent in order to discredit the CBS report. (Aside from the fact that the CBS report was based on false claims from the guy Chaffetz was defending, he wasn't even a covert agent—he was a British citizen working for a British security firm.)
But now that CBS has retracted its report, we haven't heard a peep from Republican politicians. And as for Fox:
Fox has gone silent. As of 1:45pm [ET], the network still has not told its viewers that the 60 Minutes report has been retracted.
Before yesterday, Fox
had aired 13 segments promoting the Benghazi report. Today they've run zero, because to Fox, it's only news if their base wants to hear it.
