More Bad Fox Manners Except for Shep, that title should read. Fox Anchor Gregg Jarrett showed his anger at Rep. Rob Andrew over the weekend. He definitely left his professionalism somewhere else. Brief synopsis from Huffingtonpost.com:

During a debate on police powers, insurance, and the Constitution, Andrews who appeared with Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) found himself talked over and unable to make his point.

“Can we have just a minute of ‘Fair & Balanced’ here, just as an exception?” Andrews asked, as Blackburn chuckled.

Given the accusations swirling from the White House that Fox News is not a legitimate news organization, Jarrett did not take the swipe lightly.

“Congressman Andrews, I’m not gonna let you get away with that because I asked a very tough question of your colleague Marsha Blackburn and you know it,” Jarrett said. “And that’s a cheap shot and I’m not gonna put up with it here.”

Jarrett promptly concluded the interview

On the other hand, if you don’t want to be called out over ‘fair and balanced,’ don’t talk over people.
How absolutely, totally rude.  The combative interview practices need to cease. 

Contrast the Gregg Jarrett’s behavior to the darling of Anti, Shepherd Smith:

The video speaks for itself. Shep Smith is just a class act.

35 Thoughts to “More Bad Fox Manners”

  1. Slowpoke Rodriguez

    Huffington Post…..uh-huh.

  2. Second-Alamo

    I’m not going to defend bad actions, but you have to admit that this administration has been handled with kid gloves by the media. They made him holy during the elections. Look back at the Bush coverage by comparison. There are many questions that are on the minds of regular citizens that never see the light of day, and if asked, don’t get a proper response. Perhaps Fox’s popularity is due to the questions that it voices whether they get answered or not. You can’t fight success, and so don’t expect Fox to change their ways!

  3. Pat.Herve

    it is not that the Fox pundits just say bad things about, well, anything they want, it is the viciousness in how they attack, and often times, skewed, distorted or twisted information. Hannity was talking about death panels in late August (he may still be talking about them). And Beck going after the Czars – Bush had 47 Czars.

    Now, I do agree with some of Beck, that the Czars may not have been vetted properly, but remember Bush nominated Bernie Kerik to be Secretary of Homeland Security, and he is currently on trial for being under mafia influence (a failure of the vetting process to have not found that out).

    So, it happens – Obama snubbing Fox, well, Bush snubbed MSNBC, and did not give the NYTimes an interview in 8 years. I also think there is an issue with the network name – just because it is called Fox News, does not mean that all its programming is News, and most people do not understand that.

    You may say that they are successful, but it is easier to get people riled up on negatives than it is for positives – people often complain when things do not go there way, but rarely give compliments when things go right.

    I do believe Clinton when he says that there is a Right Wing Conspiracy – they are active now, just say no, make sure this President fails, block everything – even the Surgeon General Nominee – I do not think the Democrats are organized enough to try and pull off the same thing, otherwise they would probably try.

    Our country is in shambles right now – a badly hit financial crisis, a recession, two wars, crumbling infrastructure, baby boomers nearing retirement, etc – and WE need to do a few things that are painful –
    healthcare reform
    shoring up Social Security
    infrastructure
    energy

    Fox is complaining that we are spending our Grand Children’s money with healthcare reform – well, what is a deficit? – it is our Grand Children’s money, and our Government has been spending that for years.

    We need to have some serious adult conversations about our future, but you cannot have a serious conversation if one group wants to just raise hell, and stop change. But, I can promise you this, if we keep putting off the tough conversations, the remedies will be more harsh – Health costs were drastically rising when Clinton was in office, they have continued to rise – and we have not done anything to change our healthcare system or to try and rein in costs.

  4. El Guapo

    For years now the Sunday morning talk show discussions have rarely been about actual issues. Instead they’re about power and politics. That’s been creeping into a lot of so-called news also.

  5. Formerly Anonymous

    I thought it was a mark of a good journalist to be aggressive and not let a politician dodge a tough question. Now I discover that it’s bad manners.

    I guess publishing the Pentagon Papers was terribly rude. You know they were stolen, right? Maybe the New York Times should have politely returned them to DoD.

    And don’t even mention those young upstarts Woodward and Bernstein!

    Seriously though, it is generally a good thing for the press to be a little ‘in your face’ with the political class. While few would claim Fox is trying to be 100% in the middle, it is nice to have at least some small balance against most of the rest of the major media outlets, many of which have openly declared their allegiance and support to President Obama.

  6. Elena

    Jarrett looks like a petulant little boy in my opinion. He asked the congressmen a question and then REFUSED to allow him to fully answer him.

  7. Elena

    Thank G-d for Shep!!!!!

  8. Witness Too

    I think Fox News is popular because it’s a big country, and apart from talk radio, Fox News is the only place viewers can go to get (almost) uninterrupted right wing extremism, conspiracy theories, and corporate propaganda without being confronted with an opposing point of view. People wonder why the country is so polarized, well it has a lot to do with Fox News setting the gold standard for tabloid political entertainment that panders to a fringe minority with no interest in new developments (fka news) unless it solidifies their existing point of view.

    It’s a shame in the information age that people are encouraged to limit themselves to so little of it.

  9. Witness Too

    Great post Pat Herve!

  10. Opinion

    (IMHO) Shep will eventually move on to CNN or MSNBC one of these days.

  11. Elena

    I agree Pat Herve, great post!

  12. Elena

    Is it just me, or does the female reporter have attitude towards Shep when he asks about the interview with the demorcatic contender? Her smile seems quite, how shall I put it, like it’s hiding something else.

  13. Elena, I thought the same thing. Sort of a ‘how dare you smirk.’

    I agree Pat, great post. Thanks.

    Opinion, I was thinking the same thing to myself last night. He must feel very isolated. I don’t know which I would want…for him to stay or to desert ship and go elsewhere.

  14. SA, how this administration has been handled by Fox or any other news station should really not have any bearing on how Jarrett treats his guests. (IMHO)

    The man wasn’t even being rude to him. He could have said shut the hell up and let me answer you. I would have said that to Mr. Howler who sometimes asks a question and then talks over top of me when I am answering.

    Slowpoke, I find Huffington Post no more inflammatory than Fox News. In fact, I find it less inflammatory.

  15. Opinion

    I was brought up to be respectful to elected officials. It’s a tough job that most people don’t want (and it is getting difficult to find folks who even want to run). Jarrett showed a basic lack of manners and good breeding. He won’t be moving on to another network.

  16. Witness Too

    Yeah. Jarrett belongs where he is, on the right wing fringe of journalism. He can’t hide his bias, and he can’t even keep his composure. Shep hasn’t always kept his composure, but can you imagine being surrounded by all those unprofessional sell-outs, some of whom actually believe Fox “News” propaganda?

  17. Poor Richard

    FOX News is entertainment centered around mock controversy and out-sized personalties
    and not “fair and balanced news”- try NPR for the that. It’s sole purpose is to grab eyeballs and sell ads for big $. Period. But give them credit, they do
    a damn good job at that endeavor – apparently many of you are avid watchers.

  18. Poor Richard, I am going to ask you to come on here and remind us all of that at least once a week. You are totally correct, in my opinion.

    I do like Shepherd Smith. I have confessed.

    I also think Opinion is correct. He believes that enough people are avid watchers and are influenced by Fox News and that those of us of a different persuassion should be well aware of what is being said.

  19. Witness Too

    Richard are you scolding me just a tad? If so, I understand where you are coming from but they did say the same thing about Gospel Greg’s blog, “Just ignore it.” So we did and the next thing we knew our County Chairman had been brainwashed and paranoid fools were calling our Police Chief a traitor to this country at Citizens Time! So, we need to know what this fully gullible audience that certain liars command is being fed.

    Think of the calamities the world could have avoided if “Fair and Balanced” was widely known to be an Orwellian hoax back when George W. Bush was being presented as a plausible candidate for President, or, when Fox “News” 2000 election coverage (being produced by Bush’s cousin) called Florida for Bush/Cheney before there was any indication either candidate had won (and the legitimate news networks stupidly followed suit) making it all but impossible to ever really look at who won in 2000 without it seeming like it was overturning the “results.” Even local opinion polls list a margin of error. How could we let a Presidential election be decided by such blatant partisanship disguised as journalism?

    If Fox “News” had been as fully exposed and discredited as it is now, it’s possible we might not have been subjected to a second term of failing “Heck of a job Brownie” federal agencies, and a lot less people would have died in New Orleans. The global economy might not have collapsed under the weight of all that greed and corruption aided and abetted by the oversight agencies. We’d have begun dealing with the reality of climate change science four years earlier, etc.

    So, yes, I think it’s important to know what extreme-minded people are being fed, and then try to counter it with real life actual facts. It’s the only way we were able to get the government functioning for the people instead of for the corporations, and it’s the only way we can keep it there.

  20. Poor Richard

    Just know what FOX “news” is – a money machine. It is a sham and a disgrace,
    but, hey, at least it provides a flow of material for the wit and satire of Stewart
    and Colbert to play with, right?

  21. And I will confess to getting some mileage out of it also, PR.

    Fox News keeps me on my toes a bit, reminding me to make more attempts to be fair and balanced also.

  22. A PW County Resident

    Pat.Herve :Now, I do agree with some of Beck, that the Czars may not have been vetted properly, but remember Bush nominated Bernie Kerik to be Secretary of Homeland Security, and he is currently on trial for being under mafia influence (a failure of the vetting process to have not found that out).

    Just a little comic relief. When I read your comment, Pat, I also thought it was a good post.

    But it also reminded me of John Kelly’s column in the Metro section today about the Washington Redskins. In part of it, he was talking about new names for the Redskins, and this is one he quoted–“Writes Tom Bolavage of Derwood: ‘I would suggest the Washington Czars: a large overpaid group that has very little idea about what it is they’re supposed to be doing.'”

    I am not making political commentary, just trying to pass on some levity from the Post.

  23. A PW County Resident

    Obviously, my comments are after the first paragraph and are not Pat’s. I forgot to close the quote. Sorry, Pat.

  24. Emma

    There is no question that the races in Virginia and New Jersey are being watched very closely by the White House. If Republicans win by a comfortable majority, will it be because so many people are just completely brainwashed by Fox News? Call it a “money machine,” mere “entertainment,” whatever, Fox is still the top-rated cable news program, and CNN continues to lose viewers. The barely-solvent Washington Post has spent weeks blatantly shilling for the Deeds’ campaign, and running one hit piece after another against McDonnell, and yet the margin keeps widening in that race. Fox News? Tea Parties? Or maybe people are disgusted with eight months of……nothing… and a staggering pre-election death toll in Afghanistan. I guess we’ll find out next Tuesday.

  25. Emma

    And I don’t think Fox News made up the fact that Obama’s campaign promise was to pull out of Iraq and focus heavily on Afghanistan as the “war to win.” I guess that was just another promise intended to win debate points and votes. Forget Vietnam–this will be his daily Katrina.

  26. Witness Too

    You’re right about all that Richard. Steven Colbert and John Stewart do a better job though with the same material. It takes creativity to make people laugh; making them afraid and filled with hatred is easy.

  27. Witness Too

    Emma, Fox “News” has good ratings because it’s the only place on television, other than Lou Dobbs, where right wing extremists can find 24-hour right wing propaganda.

    There are many sources for credible information, and they all compete with each other. As Richard says, NPR and PBS are the best places for honest journalism, but for people on the far right, it’s too much trouble to digest real news and then (gasp) for their OWN opinions.

  28. Witness Too

    I suppose under your Fox “News” induced logic, our election of Doug Wilder, an African American, was a repudiation of 8 years of Reagan scandals, and, the racist Willie Horton commercials sanctioned by Bush 41?

    I’m sure they convinced you of that during your Fox “News” sessions. Teehee.

    Virginia tends to vote for the party not in the White House, not that I’m convinced the polls are correct mind you. Virginia is changing fast, like it or not, McDonnell victory or not. Soon it will no longer be possible for a televangelist “law school” graduate with archaic sexist, and racist (former) beliefs to win in Virginia, even in state races.

  29. Emma

    Actually, I only watch Fox News a few brief times a week, because it is generally playing in the breakroom at work, so “they” don’t convince me of much. I listen to NPR on my morning commute (mostly so I don’t miss the 6:35 am “Writer’s Almanac), and then listen to audiobooks on the way home. Evening is a review of WaPo and InsideNova online, ABC and NBC News.

    Somebody’s watching Fox. Obviously, many on this blog are, because of the very strong opinions against the network. It’s interesting that Witness and so many others feel that conservatives are incapable of owning their opinions, yet they will parrot the same old tired talking points against Fox News and conservatives that we’ve been hearing for months.

  30. Emma, your theory ignores the past 40 some years of Virginia history. Virginia historically goes with the opposite party than the one that is in the White House and/or Congress.

    We are in the middle or on the edge of the worst economic crisis in most of our life time. Money and financial security scare people. Fox News has done a great deal to scare people and to make them distrust government. Is this a good thing?

    We probably shouldn’t put all our faith in government. However, much of the distrust and rebellion was fueled and fanned on Fox News. This organization has a long history of pumping out the conservative cause. (I just wish they would admit to it(

    Why do they have the viewership? Lots of people like to stay pumped up. Why do we have dittoheads? Same reason. Fox is very cleverly packaged. Pretty women, lots of cleavage and leg, and lots of saying what people want to hear. Fox News revs while other stations like CNN with more serious and in my opinion, credible newscasting, are frankly, just vanilla.

    Regardless of all this, if you, as a host, ask a question, give the guest time to answer the question. The man was answering. Jarrett and his guest were shouting over top of the man. It was rude. Jarrett compounded his rudeness with his aggressive nasty behavior.

    The Fox political philosphosy is irrelevant in this case. Rude is rude.

  31. Emma, this story was of its own making. I watch a lot of Fox News and have been following it for years. I watched it ratchet up the amps dureing the election and it has only continued on high volume since the election.

    Murdoch’s political philosophy is well known.

    Just as an example, have you noticed Greta V since she got hooked up with Palin? It is like she is a different person.

  32. Second-Alamo

    I’m so confused I don’t know who to listen to anymore, so I’ve decided to get my ‘fair and balanced news’ from this blog. Oh, wait a minute, you mean that animal in the icon isn’t a fox? Never mind.

  33. Emma

    We will have to disagree that CNN is always “credible.” MSNBC is a joke.

    And sometimes I think politicians should be shouted over and challenged sometimes. They get plenty of opportunities to spout their lies and nonsense completely unchallenged by fawning reporters. Someone has to do it, certainly not Chris “Tingly Leg” Matthews. If it makes them uncomfortable,too bad. The unscripted moments are usually the most revealing.

  34. hahahahah! I haven’t decided if it is a coyote or a wolf. I am going to say a wolf. But actually I do like foxes. My mother used to feed 2 foxes dog food each night. They were wild foxes.

    SA, I am not sure where fair and balanced is either. I just know that Fox (capital F) puts their own tone on things….with the side comments. If they wanted to tell us the sky was blue, they would say that Obama reported that the sky might be blue from the golf course where he has played while our young men and women die in Afghanistan.

    What president hasn’t done recreational things during war time? 🙄

  35. Emma, I don’t think CNN is always credible. I think it is more credible than Fox(whispering Lou Dobbs). I think generally speaking they are the most neutral and have less of an agenda.

    I don’t think anyone should be shouted over. It is just impolite. If they are a guest on a show, let them at least answer the question. If they are oafs, then shut their mic off but don’t shout over them.

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