Open Letter to Fox News: Thursday, September 06, 2007
Last night during the debate Fox News and Sean Hannity displayed an extreme amount of discourtesy and disrespect to not only the Republican Presidential candidates but also the American people.
There was a very clear bias towards several individuals on stage. Sen. Brownback and Congressman Ron Paul received very little air time in comparison to the other candidates on stage. Rudy Giuliani was allowed much more talk time as well as additional talk time after the bell than any other candidate on stage. The moderator would ask all the candidates their opinion on issues, i.e., taxes or Gitmo and ignore only Ron Paul’s completely different opinion on those matters. Finally, when the moderator would get around to asking Dr. Paul a question it was a unique one-sided question engineered to make Dr. Paul foolish. Furthermore, when the moderator would ask a question of Dr. Paul it seemed as though Rudy Giuliani’s microphone was turned up so he could be heard snickering at the question. What type of Presidential candidate is that inconsiderate as to laugh at questions directed towards another candidate?
The attempted manipulation portrayed from the debates continued on throughout the ‘Hannity and Combs’ broadcast as well. First, when the results for the cell phone text messaging poll were announced live on the air, Hannity could be heard screaming out “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me, this is driving me crazy” then, he resorted to the claim that Ron Paul supporters were calling multiple times. What type of journalism is this? I don’t appreciate this host criticizing a very American belief that we are fighting an endless, pointless war and we need to come home. Apparently over 33% of the viewers from last night felt the same way. Why is this so hard to believe and/or understand? Furthermore, the phone system wouldn’t allow multiple votes from the same telephone number. Hannity’s claim of multiple callers was a lie and he should make a public apology for disrespecting 1/3 of last night’s viewers.
But the disrespect didn’t stop with that comment. ‘Hannity and Combs’ invited all of the candidates as guests after the debate. Each guest on stage was treated with respect and dignity. They were posed questions and allowed to answer questions. Dr. Paul however was chastised and confronted with a very confrontational host when he appeared on stage. Dr. Paul was not even allowed to answer 1 question without being hammered by Sean Hannity. Fox News actually had to cut away from Hannity to allow the interview to continue with a more reserved and more professional Combs, but that didn’t stop Sean Hannity from bursting in with “Oh I just have to ask this question…..” as he continues to argue with Dr. Paul. Fox News had no other option but to cut to commercial after only a very short time.
The attempt by this organization and individuals to sway the election in their favor is unethical and should be construed as nothing less than attempted voter manipulation. Fox News appears on tens of millions of homes across the nation and they should not be allowed to continue this very ‘unfair and unbalanced’ manipulation of the United States Presidential election.
Ron Paul won the poll last night by a land slide. And, when asked by the host of the guests in the New Hampshire restaurant how many patrons were disappointed with Giuliani’s performance, most if not all raised their hands. Where is any of this newsworthy information on the http://FoxNews.com website? It’s no where to be found. The current image is an edited picture to show McCain, Romney, Giuliani and Fred Thompson who wasn’t even a part of last nights debates. Why does Fox News feel as though they can dictate the next American president to the American people?
So based on the previous biased towards certain candidates, I now call on Fox News to end their blatant favoritism towards Rudy Giuliani. It is clear that the American people are not interested in an individual with poor family values, strange personal dressing habits, dead-beat dad attitude and poor leadership qualities in a leadership position at our Nations top Office. I also call on Fox News to live up to their claim of ‘Fair and Balanced’ and provide an equal amount of air time towards Dr. Paul and the other non main stream media candidates. It’s not up to Fox News to decide the Presidential candidates; it’s up to the American people. Finally, I call on Fox News to end their relationship with Sean Hannity. This individual is a horrible example of unbiased reporting and it is very obvious that he is unable to control his own emotional opinion when he sits before a guest with whom he may not agree. There is absolutely no excuse for a host of a show to disrespect an instant text poll, or disrespect a Presidential hopeful as was done during the New Hampshire debate.
Last night was a horrible demonstration of blatant attempted manipulation and I call on Fox News to end this sort of behavior immediately. I encourage all Fox News employees to vote in this upcoming election, but not use your widely broadcast news organization to try and sway uninformed Americans towards another candidate who will be just as unpopular as the current President. It’s not your election to choose, Fox News. “You Choose 2008” is directed towards the American people, not the Fox Network.