Fox News Network Llc | The New York Observer

Two Bushes, No Regrets

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 22:18:49 -0500

Apparently, both President Bushes, George W. and George H. W., had never been interviewed together before Sunday—when they agreed to take a series of polite and decidedly non-penetrating questions from Fox News' Brit Hume.

For nearly the entire second Bush presidency, a popular theory has held that the first President Bush is, at least in the seclusion of his Kennebunkport and Houston homes, deeply distressed by his son's stewardship, especially his decision to...

Idiot's Delight

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:31:41 -0500

The New York Times features an exhaustive report today on the feuding between the McCain and Palin camps, but it is best savored while listening to Carl Cameron of Fox News Channel, who finally spills what he has been hearing for months from McCain insiders or "folks" as he calls them. This quote proves that Cameron has an unappreciated talent for understatement:

We are told by folks that she didn’t know what countries were in...

Early Obama Supporter Michael Benjamin Says the Party's Not Divided

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:45:16 -0400

Assemblyman Michael Benjamin, an early Obama supporter from the Bronx, thinks the media is perpetuating a storyline about conflict between the Obama camp and the Clintons. It doesn't really exist, he told me earlier today in the Pepsi Center.

Later, I got an email from Benjamin about Hillary Clinton's speech, which he thinks should put to rest any question about a divided party.

Sen. Clinton delivered a knockout blow to those sought to...

Wolfson Makes Good at a Convention He Didn't Want

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:18:06 -0400

DENVER—Brit Hume, Bill Kristol, Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes were kicking around some ideas to discuss on the air as they climbed the stairs to Fox’s Election HQ newsroom, when they bumped into Howard Wolfson.

“You caused a huge uproar today,” Kondracke said approvingly, referring to a piece Wolfson had written urging Obama to reach out to Bill Clinton. “You were on the top of all the blogs.”

Wolfson, the longtime Democratic strategist and former...

Nas on FOX 'Propaganda'

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:41:07 -0400

Rapper Nas joined members of MoveOn.org and Color of Change today outside FOX News headquarters to protest what they say is the network’s racist coverage of Barack Obama, black institutions and black people. Color of Change claims about 620,000 people signed petitions against FOX News.

An hour after he was scheduled to appear, the self-labeled Black Republican finally emerged from an SUV in a white t-shirt and jeans. He gave a short speech...

Netroots to Fox: You're Not News

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:05:19 -0400

Michael Falcone of The New York Times' The Caucus blog is reporting that organizers of the liberal blogger conference Netroots Nation are insisting that if Fox News wants credentials to the event, currently being held in Austin, Texas, they need special tags designating them "opinion media."

"Fox News calls itself fair and balanced, but it’s not," Mr. Falcone quotes Josh Orton, the political director for Netroots.

Fox News' response? According to...

Biographer: Roger Ailes Knows He's Right (Wing)

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:28:40 -0400

Salon's Vincent Rossmeier has an interview with Kerwin Swint, biographer of Fox news Godfather Roger Ailes. Mr. Swint, a Professor of Political Science Kennesaw State University, says he "couldn't believe that no one had written a book on him yet. He's been such a central figure for so long."

In 2003, The New Yorker's Ken Auletta described Mr. Ailes as "a man of Falstaffian girth... Ailes is sixty-three and does not look...

Wayfarer, Once N.H. Nerve Center, Loses Heat; Fox and NBC Pack Radisson

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:17:25 -0500

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Twelve-story buildings qualify as skyscrapers here, so when you come into town, the Radisson on Elm Street is one of the first things you see.

It’s the hotel where NBC, ABC and C-SPAN are all kipping, and it’s also where Hillary Clinton’s campaign bus drops and picks up reporters every day, and where New Yorker political reporter Ryan Lizza said he comes to have a drink at night.

...

News Corp. Sells off Several Fox Affiliated Stations

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:02:31 -0500

Having just completed its purchase of Dow Jones, News Corp. has announced that it will be selling eight of its Fox-affiliated TV stations to Oak Hill Capital Partners for approximately $1.1 billion in cash.

The sale--which includes stations in Cleveland, Birmingham, and Kansas City--will leave News Corp. with 27 owned-and-operated stations.

"News Corp. is selling the assets to focus on its largest and most lucrative markets following the $5.2 billion takeover of Dow Jones...

Fox Business Channel Sees Oct. 15 Launch

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 07:42:51 -0400

Much has been said of Rupert Murdoch's planned Fox Business Channel, and how it makes his bid to buy Dow Jones, Inc. necessary.

But even as Mr. Murdoch appears to grow "frustrated" with talks to purchase Dow Jones, the launch of News Corp's Fox Business channel is going ahead as planned, according to a statement released yesterday afternoon and posted on mediabistro.com:

Headquartered in News Corporation's street level studios in midtown Manhattan, FBN has also...

Just How Smart Are Jon Stewart's Clap-Happy Fanboys?

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 09:47:52 -0400

You know those people who think they know everything because they watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart?

Maybe they do!

The Pew Research Center recently surveyed viewers of The Daily Show, among some 1,500 subjects, and concluded they were the most knowledgeable audience when it comes to the things the makers of the survey find out about by reading the news the same time Mr. Stewart’s writers do.

When asked to identify public figures who had...

New York Co-Founder Sells ‘Medieval’ West 67th Street Duplex for $4.1 M.

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:00:00 -0400

Milton Glaser, the grandfather of New York graphic design, has sold his grandfatherly third-floor duplex at 27 West 67th Street for $4.1 million. The buyer, according to city deeds, is New Jersey real-estate magnate Jeffrey Greenberg, his neighbor from across the hall. “It had arched brick ceilings! You came in and thought you were in some sort of French-medieval-countryside architectural thing,” the 78-year-old Mr. Glaser said. He and his wife Shirley lived in the...

In This Week's [em]Observer[/em]...

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 05:00:00 -0400

The 10 Most Expensive Buildings in New York City If every New York City office building went up for sale, which ones would sell for the highest price? The Observer asked the denizens of the real estate world--the people who buy the buildings and the ones who trade them--which towers they thought would close with the biggest price tags. Go to story by John Koblin. The Crisis of the Upper-Middle Class: Big Pay Is Piddling...

Elsewhere: Hillary, Cockfield, Eugene

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 12:52:01 -0500

Mike Bloomberg discussed one of the worst fires in recent history. The list of committee chairmanships for the Assembly is here. Ed Koch, Tom Suozzi and others will help review the state comptroller's office. Newsday's Errol Cockfield has become the second Newsday staffer to defect to the ESDC. John Edwards won't participate in the Fox News-sponsored debate for Democratic presidential candidates. Ben has some vintage Rudy material. And above is a Mathieu Eugene supporter explaining what all the fuss...

McFarland Moves On

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 08:30:03 -0500

Back in the warm confines of City Hall, I caught this moment on Fox News. It's former Senate candidate KT McFarland talking about national security issues on, arguably, the channel most Republican primary voters choose to watch. It's especially interesting to see McFarland playing ball with Fox, whose owner was condemned by her supporters for the way his media outlets covered her during the Senate race. I guess she's over it. -- Azi...

Possible Pollster Opening

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 08:29:30 -0500

Anyone want the Bloomberg 2008 account? The pollster who worked for Mike Bloomberg during his 2001 and 2005 campaigns would, presumably, have been the logical candidate to play the same roll on the mayor's oft-imagined presidential campaign. But as Ben reported earlier, the pollster, Doug Schoen, is leaving the power-firm of Penn, Schoen and Berland to go work for Fox News. Schoen has a "no compete" clause with the firm, meaning he won't be available to...

Bonacic Waits For Another Day

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:53:08 -0500

Senator John Bonacic, who publicly called for Joe Bruno to step down from his leadership position in the face of an FBI probe, wasn't in the Senate chamber when the conference re-elected Bruno to another 2-year term. Bonacic then avoided reporters waiting for him at one of the Senate chambers by taking the long route from the Senate to the Assembly, where I heard a reporter for Fox News caught him. Later, after Spitzer's state...

Events: November 22, 2006

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 14:16:12 -0500

At 10 a.m. Mayor Bloomberg is interviewed by Fox News Live At 10:30 a.m. the Thanksgiving Invitational Turkey Eating Championship is held at Artie's Delicatessen (83rd Street and Broadway). At noon, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, state Senator Jose Serrano and others rally in support of East Harlem's only public hospital (at 2nd Avenue and 98th Street). At 5 p.m., Mayor Bloomberg attends the Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloon inflation. The executive committee of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats...

More Tip O’Neill Than Jane Fonda

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 19:00:00 -0500

When soon-to-be House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her support for John Murtha’s bid for House Majority Leader earlier this week, the Fox News crowd went berserk. Two of their favorite villains, it seemed, had formally locked elbows—in a doomed mission, no less—with Mr. Murtha lagging badly behind Maryland’s Steny Hoyer in a race that will be settled by the House’s newly constituted Democratic majority this Thursday. In backing Mr. Murtha, a Vietnam veteran who...

The No-Win Zone

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:00:00 -0500

At 6:45:25 p.m. on Nov. 7, a grandfatherly Brit Hume, the lead anchor of the Fox News Channel’s “You Decide 2006” midterm-election coverage, raised his hand, Moses-like, to silence a rant from William Kristol. “It’s a Democratic year,” concluded Mr. Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard and one member of the Fox “All-Star Panel.” With that, Mr. Hume cut to a commercial. “That was good,” Mr. Hume said. “Good work, everyone.” Just out...

Fox Calls it for Arcuri

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:57:18 -0500

Fox News has declared Mike Arcuri the winner in New York's 24th Congressional District, defeating Republican Ray Meier in the race to succeed the retiring Sherwood Boehlert. CNN has not yet called the race, which Arcuri leads by about 10 points with two-thirds of the votes counted. -- Steve...

Weiner's a Big Deal

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:00:01 -0500

"I'm a big deal!" shouted Anthony Weiner as he walked down the steps of the Sheraton towards an interview with Fox News. Weiner was joking about his new status in a Democratic majority. But he conceeded that the success will create some tensions between ambitious representatives. "There is going to be a tussle within the Democratic Party," he said, and not only between politicians competing for plum jobs. "There are some forces in the...

Hostettler is cooked

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 15:43:05 -0500

When even Fox News declares a Republican dead, you can take it to the bank the race is over. And so: R.I.P. John Hostettler. The Indiana Republican is now officially the first Republican Congressional incumbent to lose. His was a a top-target seat for the Democrats, but the apparent size of Democrat Brad Ellsworth's win is...

Wash Times

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 10:45:23 -0500

The Washington Times, which mounts even less of an effort to mask its partisan leanings than the Fox News Channel, is an occasional source of amusement with its breathless adherence to the GOP message machine. Like this morning's if-we-keep-repeating-it-maybe-we-can-make-it-so headline and story: Kerry gaffe loses independents for his party Here's the problem with this story, a one-note GOP talking point turgidly dressed up as a formal unveiling of news: First, it is written off of a...

Fox News: The Newspaper

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 07:54:46 -0500

The Washington Times, which mounts even less of an effort to mask its partisan leanings than the Fox News Channel, is an occasional source of amusement with its breathless adherence to the GOP message machine. Like this morning's if-we-keep-repeating-it-maybe-we-can-make-it-so headline: Kerry gaffe loses independents for his party It makes us wonder how the paper will handle what will probably be very bad news for the GOP today. Suppose the Democrats win, say, 35 seats...

Denial, Yes -- Apology, No

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 08:35:03 -0400

While things may look grim for John Spencer, who is once again in the position of having to deny his own quotes, he's certainly getting more attention now. He'll be on NY1 tonight, Fox News this afternoon and he'll appear tonight on Inside Edition. (Seriously.) As for apologizing to Hillary for the comments, don't bet on it. Spencer's spokesman Rob Ryan called to say, "There's nothing to apologize for. John Spencer never said she was ugly....

I.M., I Said! The Medium Is The Instant Message

Sun, 15 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400

As anyone under the age of 52 can attest, the era of e-mail is over. It’s been supplanted by instant-messaging: a quicker, shorter and far more effective means of conducting interpersonal communications in our fast-paced 24/7 society. Of course, with this has come an entirely new lexicon of abbreviations and acronyms, along with a new set of social protocols. Herewith, then, are some annotated examples, decoded for your personal use, anywhere, at any time:...

GOP Style

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 06:20:00 -0400

New York GOP fund-raiser extraordinaire Jason Weingartner appeared on FoxNews recently, only to have his friends comment on the size of his monstrous sideburns. Pictured above is a trimmed-down version of Weingartner's trademark burns, which were on display at a John Faso fund-raiser recently. -- Azi...

The Fox in Winter

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400

“‘I’ll hug you,” said Roger Ailes. “I’ll hug you even though you’re a journalist.”

He emerged, slowly, from behind the large corner desk in his giant second-floor office at the News Corporation headquarters on Sixth Avenue and 48th Street. “A journalist,” he repeated mid-embrace, as if tasting bile. It was 1:15 p.m. on Sept. 28. Mr. Ailes was immaculately ensembled in a crisp blue dress shirt, red tie, suit trousers, black slip-on...

The Fox in Winter

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400

“‘I’ll hug you,” said Roger Ailes. “I’ll hug you even though you’re a journalist.” He emerged, slowly, from behind the large corner desk in his giant second-floor office at the News Corporation headquarters on Sixth Avenue and 48th Street. “A journalist,” he repeated mid-embrace, as if tasting bile. It was 1:15 p.m. on Sept. 28. Mr. Ailes was immaculately ensembled in a crisp blue dress shirt, red tie, suit trousers, black slip-on loafers, black...

Fat Police

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 08:11:11 -0400

Here's the "food police" ad that the Daily News wrote about today. Although it's a direct response to the city's efforts to ban unhealthy fats from restaurants, the piece doesn't actually mention the offending "trans-fat" term. It's from the Consumer Freedom Group, which is funded by a select portion of the food industry.

"Many of the companies and individuals who support the Center financially have indicated that they want anonymity as contributors. They are reasonably...

Bushies Can't Handle A Dose of Truth

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 20:00:00 -0400

The most amusing part of the confrontation between former President Bill Clinton and Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace came in the immediate aftermath, when the bullies of cable and their wingnut gang shrieked about the mean, crazy man picking on them.

Waah! Waah! Waah! they wailed. Clinton planned it! Clinton tricked Fox! Clinton melted down! Clinton is responsible for 9/11! If Mr. Wallace didn’t want to provoke a tough answer,...

Hannitized

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:56:12 -0400

So here's an invitiation for a fund-raiser to be headlined this Friday by Fox News personality Sean Hannity on behalf of embattled Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia. (The "macaca" guy.) It isn't exactly a shocker. But I wonder if stuff like this doesn't make it just a teensy bit more difficult for Fox to demand retractions when anyone refers to them as a conservative news organization. -- Azi...

The Morning Read: September 26, 2006

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 04:49:40 -0400

The Times Union reports that "the line between guarding Carol Hevesi during a time of threat and just driving her around appeared to be blurred. For one thing, Neustadt said, Acquafredda was not armed, nor was the comptroller in the habit of documenting threats to police agencies as they came in." The Cornell Daily Sun says there will be protesters outside tonight's gubernatorial debate to demand universal health care. The Conservative Party candidate for state senate...

Not Angry Enough

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 08:49:34 -0400

You'd think the day after Bill Clinton goes on Fox News and tells his interviewer, "You did Fox's bidding -- you did your nice little conservative hit job on me," the liberal netroots would be ecstatic. But some of them are considerably less impressed with the way Clinton's performance looks the morning after. Ariana Huffington said that instead "of popping champagne corks, let's make use of this moment by stepping back and giving it some...

Al Gets Gore-TV

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 20:00:00 -0400

The Observer has learned that former Vice President Al Gore and business partner Joel Hyatt, an entrepreneur and Democratic fund-raiser, will close the deal to pay around $70 million to French-owned Vivendi Universal this week, making them the owners of the tiny digital-cable channel Newsworld International (NWI), moving Mr. Gore from politics to mini-media-moguldom. Mr. Gore’s group plans to transform the sleepy foreign-news outlet into a youth-oriented public-affairs channel, a jump-cut news network for...

Spencer Goes Nice

Mon, 04 Sep 2006 11:39:03 -0400

John Spencer is going statewide with the 30-second biographical ad he released right before his debate with KT McFarland last month. A Spencer spokesman said they'll be running the ad on cable, since, according to their research, Republican primary votes watch plenty of cable news (read: Fox News). Spencer's other ads, with images of Hillary Clinton and the president of Iran, are not scheduled to run for the rest of the primary, according to spokesman...

"It's a Number"

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 11:55:00 -0400

Shortly before 9:00 a.m. this morning, the Pentagon announced that the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq has reached 2,500. In the wake of the announcement, the following happened: Fox News released the results of a Fox News poll touting a five point rise in Bush's approval ratings. White House spokesperson Tony Snow responded to reporters' questions about the death toll with the opening line, "It's a number. And every time there's one of...

Bloomberg in '08? Never Say Never!

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 20:00:00 -0400

What is New York’s Mayor up to?

The question bubbles to the surface of almost every conversation about city politics these days. Michael R. Bloomberg, who spent most of his first term tending to local issues, has injected himself into major nationwide debates in recent weeks. The Mayor’s emergence onto the national stage has fed rumors that he is contemplating a run for higher office, despite his protestations to the contrary. The...

Bloomberg in ’08? Never Say Never!

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 20:00:00 -0400

What is New York’s Mayor up to? The question bubbles to the surface of almost every conversation about city politics these days. Michael R. Bloomberg, who spent most of his first term tending to local issues, has injected himself into major nationwide debates in recent weeks. The Mayor’s emergence onto the national stage has fed rumors that he is contemplating a run for higher office, despite his protestations to the contrary. The stories have...

Message From Mahmoud! Dear President Bush: We've Got Lots In Common

Sun, 14 May 2006 20:00:00 -0400

F rom the A.P., May 8, 2006: “Iran’s leader has written to President Bush, in the first letter from an Iranian head of state to an American President in 27 years, a government spokesman said Monday. “In the letter, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposes ‘new solutions for getting out of international problems.’”

Dear President Bush: Long time, no talk. What has it been, 27 years? To some, an eternity. But for...

Newspeak for a New Millennium: Language Packaged to Persuade

Sun, 07 May 2006 20:00:00 -0400

There’s a growing genre of nonfiction that could be called “lefty paranoia about the evil brilliance of the right,” in which the Republican plan for world domination is exposed and examined from different angles, to gasps of outrage and horror. Steven Poole’s Unspeak is a new entrant in this category—a book with a clever concept and freshly coined name to go along with it, which ultimately reads like a catalog of what’s wrong with...

Fox News Superstar Bill O'Reilly Wants to Oppose Hillary in 2006!

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 20:00:00 -0400

You’ve probably seen this guy, Bill O’Reilly. He hosts a show on the Fox News Channel, The O’Reilly Factor. He’s a tall, blue-eyed fellow, and he likes to stir things up. Argues a lot, cuts off his guests. His audience eats it up. A lot of people love Bill O’Reilly, you see. Then again, a lot of people would like to punch Bill O’Reilly in the nose.

The joke’s on them, though. Mr....

Fox News Superstar Bill O'Reilly Wants to Oppose Hillary in 2006!

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 20:00:00 -0400

You’ve probably seen this guy, Bill O’Reilly. He hosts a show on the Fox News Channel, The O’Reilly Factor. He’s a tall, blue-eyed fellow, and he likes to stir things up. Argues a lot, cuts off his guests. His audience eats it up. A lot of people love Bill O’Reilly, you see. Then again, a lot of people would like to punch Bill O’Reilly in the nose. The joke’s on them, though. Mr. O’Reilly...

The Transom is surprised! Our

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 16:11:48 -0500

The Transom is surprised! Our progressive policies on child-rape are quite well known. So to have the Dayton Daily News lauded by retard-turned-pundit Bill O'Reilly for their sympathy to child-rapists is unhappymaking at best. What about our love of child-rape? Mr. O'Reilly's complaint was that the News "We never defended Judge Connor's decision to sentence a child molester to a year of house arrest and five years' probation," [Dayton Daily News editor Jeff] Bruce said Tuesday...

The Perils of Scaremongering: A Post-60’s Epidemic of Panic

Sun, 12 Mar 2006 19:00:00 -0500

In the United States, the 1960’s lasted until about 1975, when substantial numbers of Americans turned to the right and got ready for Reagan. Before the Great Communicator took the oath of office, Phyllis Schlafly’s grassroots organization—STOP ERA—stopped the Equal Rights Amendment. In Congress, the Hyde Amendment ended federal funding of abortion. And the landslide for Proposition 13 in California marked the beginning of a nationwide revolt against taxes. Ronald Reagan gave form, force...

CNN Is Clobbered By Fox On Cable, Revenges On Web

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 19:00:00 -0500

Quietly, on the Internet, the terms of the cable-news ratings battle have been reversed: Web audiences flock to CNN.com and MSNBC.com, while FoxNews.com trails badly. Even more quietly, that Web traffic is rescuing the finances of the trailing networks—supplying tens of millions of dollars a month. For all its struggles in the TV ratings, CNN is still reporting revenue growth. That’s due to money from online advertising, according to CNN.com senior vice president and...

Al Gore Would Rather Be Ailes Than President

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 19:00:00 -0500

This week, as NBC hammers out details on its proposed merger with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, former Vice President Al Gore is trying to finalize his own deal: the purchase of a Universal-owned digital news channel called Newsworld International, a transaction that could herald Mr. Gore’s official transformation from historical footnote to media player with the power to get in the game that he says has lately upset him so. “He thinks the country is...

Books

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 19:00:00 -0500

From: Harriet E. Miers and Andrew H. Card Jr.

To: All Staff Members, Executive Office of the President Re: Ethics Refresher Course Dear White House Staffer: As you may have recently learned from either Fox News or The Washington Times, your President and Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush, has requested that all White House Staffers take a mandatory refresher course in “ethics.” Please do not misinterpret this request in any way as a...

Oval Office Orders: Do the Right Thing, Right Wing!

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 19:00:00 -0500

From: Harriet E. Miers and Andrew H. Card Jr.