After a week of being mocked both here in the U.S. and abroad, Fox "news" finally had a couple of their pundits "apologize" on the air for their "reporting" on the "no go zones" in France and for allowing their terrorism "expert" claim that the English city of Birmingham is "totally Muslim."
Here's more from our friend Ellen at News Hounds: More Than A Week Later, Fox Admits It Was Kinda Sorta Wrong About ‘No Go Zones’:
Fox finally owned up to “regrettable errors” about its reporting of Muslims in Europe. But instead of fully correcting the record about what the supposedly Muslim-ruled “no go zones” really are, Fox host Julie Banderas suggested the neighborhoods are horrible slums where non-Muslims can go but probably shouldn’t.
Fox News has become the laughingstock of Europe this week as first England and then France lampooned its ignorant, Islamophobic reporting. Finally, more than a week after Fox started fear mongering about the so-called “no go zones,” the “fair and balanced” network decided it had better stop. However as recently as two nights ago, Sean Hannity was still fear mongering about "no go zones."
On January 12, Snopes debunked the supposed “no go zones,” noting they are actually called “zones urbaines sensibles” (ZUS) or “sensitive urban zones.” […]
But Banderas suggests the areas, while not forbidden, are horrible slums that are de facto "no go zones":BANDERAS: Over the course of this last week, we have made some regrettable errors on air regarding the Muslim population in Europe. Particularly with regard to England and France. Now, this applies especially to discussions of so-called ‘no go zones,’ areas where non-Muslims allegedly aren’t allowed in and police supposedly won’t go.
To be clear, there is no formal designation of these zones in either country and no credible information to support the assertion there are specific areas in these countries that exclude individuals based solely on the religion.
There are certainly areas of high crime in Europe as there are in the United States and other countries, where police and visitors enter with caution. We deeply regret the errors and apologize to any and all who may have taken offense including the people of France and England.
There was no explanation as to how Fox repeatedly made these errors or what took the network so long to cough up even this meager apology.
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Fox's wingnut "judge" Pirro took her turn in the box this Saturday evening as well: Fox’s Jeanine Pirro Apologizes For ‘Birmingham Is Totally Muslim’ Claim:
Jeanine Pirro apologized for guest Steve Emerson’s ridiculous claim that Birmingham, England is "totally Muslim" and for her own failure in not challenging him. But Pirro never explained why she failed to challenge Emerson nor why it took her so long to admit the error.
To give credit where it’s due, I’d say that Pirro gave a proper, unequivocal apology. Unlike Fox’s Julie Banderas, who earlier tonight apologized for even more of Fox’s errors about Muslims, Pirro did not go on to suggest that Muslim areas should be avoided even if Fox was wrong to say they have to be.
Go read the rest. As Ellen noted, the Pirro "apology" wasn't quite as lame as Banderas, but there's plenty to criticize about their decision to put Emerson on there in the first place and for why it took so long for her to issue it.