Editor & Publisher published a comment today from the Executive Producer of Fox “News'” O’Reilly Factor on their having run a title under video of Rep. Mark Foley — three different times, in two different segments — which labeled the now-disgraced, now-former Republican Congressman as a Democrat:
…
Tabacoff told E&P late Thursday that “everyone knows” Foley — who resigned his House seat after revelations that he sent sexually charged messages to teen Congressional pages — is a Republican. So “The O’Reilly Factor,” he said, didn’t feel it was necessary to run a specific on-air correction on its Wednesday show. But Tabacoff emphasized that when Foley was pictured on “The O’Reilly Factor” after Tuesday, he was correctly identified as a Republican.
“It was an honest mistake,” Tabacoff said of the Tuesday mislabeling.
The BRAD BLOG orginally broke the story of Fox’s egregious “error” last Tuesday.
We followed up with a report on AP having done a similar thing the next day, though they had the journalistic integrity (unlike Fox “News”) to issue a correction statement when the problem was found.
Yesterday ran we ran another follow-up on O’Reilly and Fox’s failure to publicly correct or even acknowledge the “error,” indisputably closing any further debate on whether Fox is actually a news organization. It isn’t. We included links to videos of both The Daily Show’s and MSNBC Countdown’s coverage of same in that last report.
UPDATE 10/10/06 4:52pm PT: Now NewsMax.com says Foley a “Democrat”!…
UPDATE 2/8/08: Fox now shows presumptive Republican Presidential candidate John McCain also as a Democrat! Screenshot…
“We didn’t run a correction per se.” I think he means, “We didn’t run a correction.”
{{(hastert)]} . . . . . It’s Not Over Till The Fat Man Swings . . .
“Honest Mistake”—-this from Fox News. It would be the first honest thing they have done in years.
Hummm… Mr. Humphries
in congress. . . . . (Are You Being Served) . . .Fine then. Give us the name of the flunky who set up the picture. S/HE should be asked questions immediately.
What I want to know, is did ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN cover this “D-FL” story? Does anyone know?
ABC broke the WeenyGate, the “D-FL” story is a separate FOX News propoganda story, which has nothing to do with WeeneyGate.
WeeneyGate is Foley writing sexually explicit IM’s & emails.
The “D-FL” story, is FOX News blatantly being a propogand wing of the GOP! The stories are absolutely 2 different things, so don’t say ABC covered it, because they covered WeeneyGate.
It’s like the “War on Terror” is NOT the “War in Iraq”…2 separate things.
“Everyone knows” Foley is a Republican? Everyone, perhaps, except the Associated Press. (I have been assuming that the AP error was a direct result of someone at AP seeing “D-FL” on Fox and not realizing it was wrong.)
Seriously, who typed D instead of R. Ask the kid. His or her career could be gone unless he was told Feely was a dem.
It doesn’t make sense. If “everybody knows” Foley is a Republican and that’s why there has been no correction, then why did they put up a party designation in the first place?
And that’s really dumb anyway. A news organization saying, “Oh, everybody knows…” (especially Fox viewers). That’s ridiculous.
Fox, AP, Ohio ballots…Sure looks like dirty tricks. We all knew they would be doing them.
Of course “The O’Reilly Factor” didn’t think it was necessary to run a correction on Foley. If that would have been necessary, from here on in the program would consist of nothing but corrections. There are, after all, many years to make up for.
Just a coincidence that all of their mistakes benefit Bush and the Republican Party.
Assimilated Press
Read Speaker Hastert Claims He Was Molested By Bill Clinton
This mislabeling appeared during a segment of The O’Reilly Factor on which Tyson Vivyan was the guest. We have a communication to issue with respect to Vivyan:
This message is sent by former Page colleagues of Tyson Vivyan (“Vivyan”). As a threshold matter, we write based on years of personal knowledge of and experience with Vivyan. Were a proper forum to determine that Mark Foley engaged in unethical behavior that resulted in some illegality, we would freely join in calling for his punishment. Notwithstanding the demons that Mark Foley must face as an individual and a betrayer of the public trust, we believe that Vivyan is an extremely uncredible source, that his various stories are at best gross exaggerations, and that he is generally bent on causing unfounded harm to the United States Congress and its Page program while bringing himself media attention. With all former Pages, we stand ready and willing to assist authorities in any investigation of Mark Foley’s conduct. But we speak now about Vivyan and the following important points:
He IMed for 3-4 weeks with an unidentified stranger who he claims repeatedly made sexual advances and other perverse comments to him. When he supposedly found out the screenname was Mark Foley’s, he continued to talk to him despite the 3-4 weeks of solely sexual comments.
He has a lot in common with Mark Foley and it would be a surprise if his contact with Mark Foley was mere happenstance.
The IMs he provided to MSNBC reveal that he laments that he will not “be seducing in Palm Beach anytime soon. :-(“
He has neglected to inform the public and media about the full content of his FBI interview, in which the FBI agents told him that based on his story nothing illegal had occurred.
He is a self-described liberal Democrat who has repeatedly blamed “the Republican leadership” and “typical Republican tactics” for everything touching on this scandal without a shred of support for his claims.
We can attest that Vivyan has repeatedly bragged to fellow former Pages about his media involvement in this matter. He has asked for all media contacts to all Pages to be sent to him. He has literally acted as a media agent promoting himself. He has referred to himself privately as “a media princess.” He has noted his need to “improve my performance.” And he has brainstormed ways in which his media involvement could be parlayed into financial gain without undermining his credibility.
Vivyan claims he received a random instant message one day in the Summer of 1997 from “Maf54.” He said he had no idea who the person was but is certain that the conversation “turned sexual almost immediately.” Nevertheless, Vivyan claims, he continued to talk to the anonymous predator for 3-4 weeks before finally finding out that it was indeed Mark Foley. One question is how did he come to decide it was Mark Foley after the 3 weeks of explicit messaging. After all, Vivyan claimed on Nancy Grace that Mark Foley was very careful to never identify himself as congressman or Foley but would only “respond to Mark.” In the same breath, Vivyan claims he had little or no contact or knowledge of Mark Foley during the time he was a Page. So, if Mark Foley wouldn’t identify himself ever by full name or position and Vivyan wasn’t familiar with Mark Foley, how exactly did Vivyan decide in the fourth week of dirty messaging that his partner was Mark Foley? Today, during one stop on the whirlwind interview circuit, Vivyan now claims, via the AP, that “he figured the person had to be on Capitol Hill, and began looking up initials in a congressional guide. He said that when he found Foley’s initials “” MAF, born in 1954 “” he realized who it was.” The detailed and changing nature of the daily developments in his story from ten years ago casts doubt.
It is also true that none of Vivyan’s Page colleagues would question our assertion that Mark Foley was a likely focus for Vivyan as a politically interested Page who is also a gay man. There’s no need to take our word for it. Simply review Vivyan’s MySpace profile, where you’ll find he describes himself as “Orientation: Bi.” See http://www.myspace.com/ty1066. Vivyan is at least partially in the closet, as his IM conversation with Mark Foley made clear, (he was just divorced in the past two years), and he is, therefore, a politically engaged tortured soul. There is plenty of common ground between Vivyan and Mark Foley. This speaks first to his willingness to engage in conversation with Mark Foley through 3-4 weeks of purported predatory messaging and also to the substantial likelihood that he knew exactly who he was talking to. But, more importantly, it reveals some of the psychological conditions underlying his current overt and extreme need for media attention.
Additionally, Vivyan has claimed on Nancy Grace that he was a victim of Mark Foley, who was intimidated by Foley’s position and his own youth into remaining silent for a decade. However, no one has questioned why this shrinking victim initiated an IM conversation with Foley on August 19, 2004, according to the text of the IM conversation he provided to MSNBC. See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15132294/page/2/. Why would he contact Mark Foley for conversation some seven years after the initial victimization? And if that contact was in furtherance of having a high-placed buddy, why would Vivyan send Mark Foley an IM bemoaning the loss of his job because “i don’t think i’ll be seducing in Palm Beach anytime soon. :-(” See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15132294/page/2/ (note that West Palm Beach is Foley’s home, see conversation of Tue Jan 18 15:47:06 2005). (One could also wonder why MSNBC and others would make so much of an IM conversation between a man in his mid-twenties and Mark Foley.)
The O’Reilly Factor led with Vivyan by explaining that he had been interviewed by the FBI on the morning of October 3, 2006. He explained that he told the FBI a general overview of the Page program and that he then gave them the details of his interactions with Mark Foley. What he failed to mention, and to be clear Rita Cosby did ask, is whether the FBI agents who interviewed him gave any indication of whether his story could or would constitute illegal activity or conduct. Indeed, the FBI did give him an assessment on this issue: They told him based on his story and information that there did not appear to be anything illegal that had occurred. See MSNBC Video at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15132294/ (Rita Cosby asks have you talked to the FBI and what was there reaction; Vivyan responds he did talk to them but gives no indication of their reaction, instead changing subject).
There is also the important point to be made that Vivyan is clearly on a political mission. CNN provided in its news piece on Vivyan’s story that he is a self-described “liberal Democrat.” The mission he is on is evidenced by much of his own commentary over the past few days. In the Rita Cosby interview, Vivyan attempted to criticise the Republican-led Congress using the treasured Page program as a political football. He said the focus should be on the misconduct of individual members and not the Pages or the Page program. He reasoned that the focus was shifted to Pages by a “knee jerk reaction” that was a result of “typical Republican tactics doing everything that they can to make sure that someone else other than a distinguished member of their party is taking the blame for doing something wrong.” When Rita Cosby asked whether he had been contacted by Foley about this matter, Vivyan responded that he had heard of others being intimidated. He suggested: “The question of course is going to be at hand is Foley doing
this or is it members of the Republican leadership who are trying to save face before the elections come November.” The blatant political focus of Vivyan’s conclusions provides insight into his motivation.
Then there is the question surrounding his media involvement in this matter. Vivyan claimed on Nancy Grace that he is a victim coming forward after years of silence in fear. Yet the facts show that Vivyan is shining in the media spotlight. FOX NEWS sent a mass email out to the former Pages of the class of 1996-1997 requesting someone to appear on The O’Reilly Factor. The email went out at 5:00 p.m.
From: Finland, Alex
Date: Oct 3, 2006 5:00 PM
Subject: FOX NEWS
To: [REDACTED FORMER PAGES]
Hello,
We are looking for someone to come on our air at 6 pm ET, tonight, to
talk about the current scandal involving Mark Foley. This would be for “The
Factor” w/ Bill O’Reilly. The questions would be about what the page
program was like while you were participating, and if you saw anything that
would have produced an uneasy climate. Please let me know if any of you
might be interested.
Alex Finland
FOX News Channel – Booking Unit
Washington, DC
202-824-6306 (Direct)
202-824-6380
202-552-9488 (Cell)
By 5:22 p.m., the distressed victim of Mark Foley had telephoned with FOX NEWS, arranged to be picked up for an appearance an hour later, and was sending this email out to his Page colleagues.
From: Tys Vivyan
Date: Oct 3, 2006 5:22 PM
Subject: Re: hey everyone
To: “Cavanaugh, Marny”
Cc: [REDACTED FORMER PAGES]
they’re supposedly bring me on… gonna have me at the Atlanta bureau.
It should come as no surprise that Vivyan later described himself as “a media princess.” He’s now been invited to be on Larry King Live as well as to appear again on Nancy Grace. His “story” is mentioned at length in a key AP wire story circulating for most of October 5, 2006. See, e.g., http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/st...MPLATE=DEFAULT. He’s even acting as his own media agent, promoting himself and recording the voicemail greeting on his cellular telephone to direct “all media inquiries” to the voicemail system. See Telephone Number (404) 895-3378. Taken together, the current circumstances of Vivyan’s personal and professional life put his need for media attention in perspective. He is a homosexual man, who is recently divorced from his wife and the mother of his child–neither of whom live near him. He has no college degree and is unemployed, having been let go twice from positions as a flight attendant for two major airlines. With such personal and professional circumstances, it is little surprise that he is now acting in the role of his life.
This is authored by concerned Pages interested in the integrity of the Page program and process as well as the accuracy of the information on the basis of which the public will make important decisions.
Is anyone falling anymore for the Republican Noise Machine tactics in the media? We’re all getting good at knowing what they are. The Hannity/Limbaugh tactic is to bring up past Dems like Studds and to blame the Democrats for the whole thing. Remember when we didn’t educate ourselves enough to know this? Phase II is to have an “info-mercial” with people who agree with them, making it seem that’s a slice of what everone is sitting around saying, when it’s only them. Hannity had on Ann Coulter and someone else, and they sat around talking about the talking points I mentioned above. Just like a Ron Popeil info-mercial, and radio stations that blare this GOP hypocrisy are the important ingredient. Before they had all this airplay, they were just a bunch of lying freaks sitting around doing this with no one listening to them.
The Ron Popeil veg-o-matic tactic is very important. Bush uses it, when his info-mercial is a stacked audience who claps and raises flags with every sentence he utters.
“Used car salesmen”, Ron Popeil veg-o-matic…it works, only if you get massive airplay, which is provided by the corporate mainstream media.
The Republican Party: Win by e-vote machines, disenfranchizing voters, and misinforming the public.
The Democrat Party: Walk around like a bunch of bumbling fools, and not point this out!!!
Ya the Dem pols often look like they got their thumbs up their ass . . .
Here is a good gift for pols lacking in courage . . .
http://www.bumpernuts.com/
A must watch. Tell everyone you know!
COUNTDOWN’S —
Keith Olbermann is going to talk about the real truth on Monday night! MSNBC at 8 p.m. and Midnight! He is going to talk about what Congress passed right before they went home. (I hope he will talk about the one they passed without a roll call vote in the House!)
Search Results – THOMAS (Library of Congress) There are 2 versions of Bill Number HR6166 for the 109th Congress … Military Commissions Act of 2006 (Engrossed as Agreed to or Passed by House)
[HR6166. … http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/q...?c109:H.R.6166: – 4k – Cached – Similar pages
Search Results – THOMAS (Library of Congress) HR6166 Title: To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize trial by … Rule provides for consideration of HR 6166 with 2 hours of general debate. …
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/b...d109:h.r.06166: – 5k – Cached – Similar pages
[ More results from thomas.loc.gov ]
Why should fox correct anything, they have been given the right to lie by an appeals court over the Monsanto milk story reguarding former Fox reporters who refused to lie and were let go. Lies are the cornerstone of their reporting methods. All lies all the time is their motto.
http://www.whatnowtoons.com