This report from Jack Mirkinson may seem like a joke, but it’s entirely real.
Fox News cut away from President Obama’s press conference with German chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday because people weren’t asking Obama questions about Benghazi.Obama’s conference came just as House Republicans announced that they were forming a select committee to further investigate the 2012 attacks, but Fox News apparently grew frustrated that he was getting questions on the situation in Ukraine and the botched execution in Oklahoma.
When a German journalist started asking a question, Fox News’ Harris Faulkner told viewers, “We are not anticipating that that [question] would be about the situation with Benghazi, which is breaking news since the president has been talking, really. So if in fact somebody throws him a question on this topic, we’ll go back to that joint news conference … we’re going to move on here with what is breaking.”
Media Matters posted the video of this remarkable editorial decision.
Just so we’re clear, there’s an ongoing crisis in Ukraine and this White House press conference was an opportunity to hear two of the most important heads of state in the world address the West’s response to Russia’s incursions. Obama and Merkel also spoke at some length about surveillance policies, which have strained U.S. relations with allies like Germany.
But unless reporters at the press conference ask about Benghazi, Fox News just isn’t interested. Indeed, as promised, the network did not return to show any additional live footage from the press conference.
Fox’s obsession with Benghazi is beginning to make CNN’s interest in Flight 370 appear timid and understated.
I mean, really. Stuff like this just isn’t healthy.
On May 1, Fox News host Martha MacCallum argued that the network deserved an award for its coverage of Benghazi, while contributor Monica Crowley claimed Fox was the only network “reporting the truth on Benghazi”:CROWLEY: The fact that Fox News was reporting the truth, and we were roundly mocked and attacked [crosstalk].MacCALLUM: Absolutely. You go through the stories that were broken in our Washington bureau about how quickly this was understood to be, and all of this is being is corroborated today and yesterday in the Rose memo [sic] and in this testimony, I think Fox News deserves an award for their coverage in this, not to be mocked.
An award from whom? Are there journalistic honors for indulging discredited conspiracy theories in the hopes of confusing voters?
Recommended
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."