Media Matters coordinates campaign against 'lethal' Fox

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1009/Media_Matters_coordinates_campaign_against_lethal_Fox.html?showall

An official at a Democratic-leaning organization sends on a memo the
group Media Matters is circulating today to progressive groups,
calling Fox "a lethal 24/7 partisan political operation" and rallying
a coalition of groups to join the White House assault on the network.

"The danger to progressive causes and the institution of journalism
has become too significant to ignore," says the introduction to a memo
by Media Matters founder David Brock. "At Media Matters, we believe it
is of paramount importance that progressive leaders have the
information necessary to understand exactly what Fox News has become.
We hope this brief memorandum will assist you in reaching your own
decision on how best to engage this threat."

One of the group's conclusions: Progressive groups should join the
White House's effective boycott of the network, and failing that, "any
progressive who chooses to go on Fox News should understand that they
will be debating the political opposition, not conducting a news
interview."

Brock concludes:

Fox News is engaged in a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week
political campaign against the Obama administration, the progressive
movement, and the entire progressive agenda. There is no real
distinction between its "opinion" and so-called "news" programs. They
both display the same contempt for journalistic standards,
objectivity, and accuracy. The examples provided above represent a
mere fraction of those Media Matters has collected and offer much for
progressives to consider when deciding whether or how to engage Fox.
In our professional opinion, any progressive engaging Fox News will be
engaging not a journalistic enterprise, but the political opposition.

When confronted with evidence and charges such as these, Fox has
reacted forcefully to protect its image, brand, and ratings. This
reveals that it is not impervious to criticism. In fact, Fox is
scared. One need look no further than its paranoid reaction to the
recent comments of Anita Dunn to see this fear. "If they repeat this
long enough," said Fox's Bernie Goldberg on October 19, "and often
enough – that Fox News is not a real news organization, it's an arm of
the national Republican Party, it's not to be taken seriously – if
they say that long enough, it might become part of bloodstream of the
American culture."

For once, Mr. Goldberg's network was broadcasting the truth. Fox
News' success as a political campaign depends upon the pretense of
being an independent and credible news organization. It is now the job
of progressives to expose the true nature of the network, thereby
defending their own political principles and the institution of
journalism itself.

Full memo after the jump.

Dear:

In recent days, a new level of scrutiny has been directed toward Fox
News, in no small part due to statements from the White House, and
from Media Matters, challenging its standing as a news organization.

Media Matters has monitored Fox News every day for more than 5 years.
Our analysis of their programming has led us to the unavoidable
conclusion that Fox is no longer operating as a "conservative news
organization," but as an outright partisan political operation – and
brazenly so.

Since the election of Barack Obama, the Fox News Channel has
transformed itself into something truly unprecedented: a lethal 24/7
partisan political operation with an instantaneous national reach. Fox
has declared war on this White House, the majority in the United
States Congress, and progressive organizations and activists. For Fox
News, victory is defined as the destruction of both the Obama
administration and the entire progressive policy agenda. Fox News host
Glenn Beck predicted last week that he will soon "take the
administration down."

The danger to progressive causes and the institution of journalism has
become too significant to ignore. At Media Matters, we believe it is
of paramount importance that progressive leaders have the information
necessary to understand exactly what Fox News has become. We hope this
brief memorandum will assist you in reaching your own decision on how
best to engage this threat.

As our evidence demonstrates, Fox News has exhibited a consistent
willingness to ignore any and all journalistic standards to pursue
political ends. The failure to recognize Fox News for what it is
enables the network to continue waging a massive conservative
political campaign disguised as journalism.

We hope you find this information helpful. If you have any questions
or would like any additional information, please feel free to contact
Media Matters at your convenience. Together, we can hold Fox News
accountable to the high standards of journalism every American has a
right to expect from their media.

Sincerely,

David Brock
Founder & CEO, Media Matters for America