Fox News is under fire for a Friday ad that inaccurately accused its competitors, including CNN, of failing to cover last weekend's Tea Party protests in Washington.
WASHINGTON (CNN) - Fox News is under fire for a newspaper ad they purchased Friday that inaccurately accused its competitors, including CNN, of failing to cover last weekend's Tea Party protests in Washington.
"How did, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN miss this story?" Fox's newspaper ad asks.
The answer: They didn't.
CNN provided live coverage of the rally in Washington on Saturday, dispatching more than a dozen personnel, including multiple camera crews and the CNN Express Bus, to cover the event. Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser was live at Freedom Plaza; Correspondent Kate Bolduan reported live from the Capitol and throughout the crowd; All Platform Journalist Jim Spellman provided live hits all day after traveling for weeks on the Tea Party Express Bus; and CNN Correspondent Lisa Desjardins was live for CNN and CNN Radio from the National Mall.
CNN's Rick Sanchez weighs in on Fox's ad
CNN's coverage also included numerous live reports and interviews with protesters and newsmakers, including rally day speaker Sen. Jim DeMint and activist Art Gerhart, who was on the set with anchor Don Lemon to discuss the event.
In addition, CNN.com provided a live stream of the rally throughout the day.
ABC referred Friday to a statement by Matt Kibbe, president of FreedomWorks - the group that organized the event – characterizing the network's coverage that day as "fair and honest." The rally story was featured on the network's morning shows, nightly news broadcast, in extensive radio reporting and online.
MSNBC also pointed to its own reporting. "Just like every other network mentioned in the ad, MSNBC covered last Saturday's protest," the network said in a statement.
CBS detailed its coverage of the event in a statement issued Friday afternoon.
"CBS News had multiple crews on site with our Congressional Correspondent Nancy Cordes reporting," the network said in a statement. "It was the lead story on the CBS EVENING NEWS; CBS Radio News provided hourly reports during the day and CBSNews.com had the story in its rotating lead all day. They also processed the Nancy Cordes video and linked it throughout the site."
And CNN criticized Fox for its inaccurate statement. "Fox News' ad released today is blatantly false regarding CNN's coverage of the 9/12 rally," CNN said in a statement.
Watch some of CNN's Tea Party coverage here, and read some of our in-depth reporting.
Just more of the same for Fox News....making false statements is what they do best! Thank you for fair and balanced reporting CNN!
Fox news is worse than an infomercial. At least infomercials are deceptive by what they leave out. Fox news just blatantly makes stuff up. If they sold an actual product they would have been hit with a class action lawsuit many times over.
Nobody that watches FOX News will ever read this, because CNN is the "Communist News Network" to them. But the criticism of FOX News is well-deserved, I consider their reporting to be "all lies, all the time".
This is Journalism 101! Before you make a claim, check, double check, and triple check to make sure your claim is accurate. This would mean they would actually have to watch some other station.
Who really cares? the PUBLIC knows that CNN is a LEFT leaning if not overtly LIBERAL mouth piece. Fox is trying to balance the scales and WE THE PEOPLE of the U.S have taken notice. look at the ratings FOX is killing you.
I don't want to hear it...
I marched with over two MILLION people in NYC in the Winter time against the Iraq war. This was in Febuary 2002. Yet no one covered this.
Its funny that Fox News and the tea people are all against "big government" when it comes to health care, but when it comes to illegal war they are all for it. Show where their priorities are.
What else would anyone expect from the propaganda network, Aka, Faux propaganda news.
I faithfully follow CNN online everyday. However, for some reason, I missed any mention of it. Not to say they didn't show anything, I just didn't see it. In fact I didn't know about the event until I read the report about CNN refuting claims that they didn't mention it.
Fox News stating innacurate or blatantly false information intentionally? Shocking. Faux News is a complete joke.
A little sensitve there CNN? You roll out Rolin Martin/Carville/Begalla and yet you sincerely believe you're coverage is balanced ... delusional
CNN, CBS, MSNBC have biten the hook. Now you are giving more air to Fox's special interests. Since when Fox news has provided true, fair and balance news. Stop wasting your time and do us a favor by stopping reading Fox News' garbage.
Faux News taking things out of context in order to make a person, an organization or a country seem more insidious than they are is nothing new. It one of our country's open secrets that Faux News doesn't know the difference between investigative journalism and spinning half-truths in endless loops to manufacture "truth."
ACORN and the "czars" in the Obama administration are just their most recent targets.
I'm not sure which surprises me more: 1) that CNN and MSNBC are covering the phony controversies surrounding ACORN and the "czars" in the Obama administration (apparently caving to Faux New's phony criticisms); or, 2) that Faux News has flat out lied about coverage on CNN and MSNBC (falsely accusing CNN and MSNBC of not covering so-called real news in order to get CNN and MSNBC to cover phony controversies).
Either way, Faux News is getting what it wants: CNN and MSNBC in fact ARE now covering the phony controversies surrounding ACORN and the "czars" in the Obama administration, manufactured at Faux News, and so ARE apparently caving to Faux New's phony criticisms.
Faux News achieves its ends with ads like these. It's sad.
CNN, you are real journalists. Instead of running off to cover the next phony whatever in order to avoid Faux News's phony criticism, CALL OUT FAUX NEWS.
Call out that network's love for partisan, drumhead-like witch hunts, for accusing people publicly, for trying them by public opinion based on half-truths and insinuations, and for repeating all the nonsense until their targets are "convicted" by means of ruined reputations.
Call out their biases and their games.
Call out their failures as journalists.
I like FOX..............FAIR AND BALANCED........
the other outlets teabag Obama!
Well, I knew there was something wrong with Fox. Now they just helped prove their true nature and apparently still living in the Bush/Cheney era or using fear and false tactics.
What do you expect? It's Fox. You know their slogan: "We report. We decide."
Awright! Now we can argue that FNN is unfair and unbalanced. Hannity and his gang of gorillas are goin to have to pay for their gasconades about themselves that make us gag.
@R, good point. If they wanted to keep the TEA party nincompoops in the news for another day, they succeeded, if only for a passing mention. However, that mention is coupled with the further truth that Fox News is an oxymoron in and of itself.
Congrats, Fox. Your self-marginalization continues unabated.
Is there one person not from Mars that honestly believes that Fox News can be "fair and balanced" when it comes to reporting political news?
This Sunday President Obama will visit ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision and other networks to discuss health care reform. The WH declined Fox as one stop because Fox news has proven itself to be nothing but a right wing propaganda tool.
cnn, admit it, your more left wing than fix is right wing. eat the story
this is not unique to FOX. do your homework .
Fox News wrong and spreading myths? NO WAY I WOULD NEVER BELIEVE SUCH A THING! /sarcasm
Cnn.com did NOT cover the Tea Party at all, and–truthfully-neither did Fox. Almost 2,000,000 showed up to protest (one of the largest protests since Vietnam War) and no major news organization made it a front page headline. Pathetic and shameful. The msn is garbage, and the American people are truly beginning to wise up to this fact and are going elsewhere for their news. Good riddance.
More Fox Noise
So CNN thought this specific lie from Faux News was worth responding to since their network was mentioned? What about the flood of other lies from Faux? THEY should be responded to daily.
If we just ignore FOX, will they go away???