The Spin Factory Shrieks

Think Progress—an organization built from the ground up to skew media coverage to the left—is complaining this morning because they were provided with a memo of a Fox News executive playing their game... and playing it just as well or better.


At the height of the health care reform debate last fall, Bill Sammon, Fox News' controversial Washington managing editor, sent a memo directing his network's journalists not to use the phrase "public option."

Instead, Sammon wrote, Fox's reporters should use "government option" and similar phrases -- wording that a top Republican pollster had recommended in order to turn public opinion against the Democrats' reform efforts.

Both sides play the spin game, and always have. Think Progress is particularly aggrieved at this particular example because (a), they had it, and (b) calling it the "government option" was both more effective and more accurate messaging than than their less-accurate "public option" construct.

There is nothing morally, ethically, or legally wrong in choosing the more accurate term "government option." We are, after all, talking about a government-run health-care law.

Think Progress is throwing a hissy-fit because Sammon sent out a memo because he wanted to make sure that his network used the more accurate and yes, more divisive description of Obamacare.

As much as these totalitarians would like to regulate the words we can use, they haven't managed to establish that level of control.

Then again, that is probably what irritates them the most.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 12:12 PM

Comments

1 Good to see you admit that Fox slants the news.

Posted by: Jed at December 09, 2010 01:15 PM (L394y)

2 Wonder if we can get access to CBS, ABC, etc. memos reminding correspondents to always refer to liberal politicians and "the moderate..."?

Cordially...

Posted by: Rick at December 09, 2010 01:35 PM (HbWhE)

3 GMTA

http://patterico.com/2010/12/09/fox-news-refuses-to-use-euphemism-media-matters-calls-them-biased/

Posted by: Aaron Worthing at December 09, 2010 02:24 PM (343LO)

4 Umm... something about if the shoe fits??? And yes, they DID get beaten at their own game and they are STILL losing...

Posted by: Old NFO at December 09, 2010 02:33 PM (kCq7A)

5 Good to see you admit that Fox slants the news.
Posted by Jed at December 9, 2010 01:15 PM

And that is how a libtard interprets the statement

There is nothing morally, ethically, or legally wrong in choosing the more accurate term "government option." We are, after all, talking about a government-run health-care law.

No wonder the Left requires a muzzled and subservient press--otherwise even idiots would start to understand the fast fraud that is "progressive" politics.

Posted by: iconoclast at December 09, 2010 02:36 PM (MZd0C)

6 "Good to see you admit that Fox slants the news."

Name a media outlet that doesn't.

Posted by: Jim Treacher at December 09, 2010 02:40 PM (WuMZ3)

7 We are above and ahead of them. Only the morally bankrupt and easily deceived follow them. Their day is done and their destruction is assured and we helped! Yea!

Posted by: Odins Acolyte at December 09, 2010 03:17 PM (brIiu)

8 This messy diaper, from the same agitprop tools who reveled in 'journo-list.'

Posted by: locomotivebreath1901 at December 09, 2010 03:56 PM (8Da1V)

9 You place too much emphasis on the wrong word. There is no "option". Using the word "option" is itself spin. The government mandate is intended to force private insurance out of business or make them zombie companies totally controlled by government bureaucrats. If it were an option, we could refuse it. Chronically sick people won't want to refuse it bacause it will pay their bills. Chronically healthy people won't have a choice. Someone has to pay for the sick people.

Posted by: Professor Hale at December 09, 2010 04:37 PM (m7EhJ)

10 This is hard on the Lefties.

"Government" is synonymous with inefficiency, corruption, waste, fraud and outright stupidity.

They don't want us dolts reminded of that.

Posted by: Tim at December 09, 2010 07:22 PM (s0R0P)

11 The battle raged across the Mountain. , wqww.wikianswers.com, [url="http://varietyanswer.com/wqww.wikianswers.com.html"]wqww.wikianswers.com[/url], http://varietyanswer.com/wqww.wikianswers.com.html wqww.wikianswers.com, %(((,

Posted by: Ynwdhhfc at December 16, 2010 01:14 PM (1yBHp)






Processing 0.0, elapsed 0.012 seconds.
18 queries taking 0.0095 seconds, 19 records returned.
Page size 8 kb.
Powered by Minx 0.8 beta.