Karoli already brought attention to this the other day when the crew over at Fox & Friends was complaining about Media Matters and their Drop-Fox campaign and the network's recent attempts to have Media Matters stripped of their tax-exempt status in her post here -- Fox & Friends Whines About Media Matters and "Your Tax Dollars".
This Saturday on Fox's sorry excuse for a media watchdog program, Fox News Watch, they carried on about Media Matters in not just one, but two segments on their show, continuing their harping about the group going after Fox and their new "boot camp" which The Washington Post wrote about here -- Media Matters boot camp readies liberal policy wonks for the camera’s close-up.
Thankfully the panel on Fox News Watch included their one token liberal, Jehmu Greene, who actually did a very good job of making a lot of the same points that Karoli did in her post linked above. If Fox wants to complain about Media Matters tax-exempt status, then they'd better be careful what they wish for or organizations like Brent Bozell's Media Research Center along with a lot of other organizations they both named should be losing theirs as well. I imagine she'll be relegated back to being the one token liberal with five of them screaming over her on their business shows they air on Saturday mornings after this appearance.
News Corpse has a very good post on this same issue and made some excellent points on why Fox's complaints are ridiculous as well -- When Fox News Attacks: The Assault On Media Matters [Updated]:
[June 29, 2011] In case you haven’t noticed, Fox News has recently initiated a sustained assault on the media watchdog group, Media Matters. In the past week they have featured numerous stories with the express purpose of challenging the group’s right to exist.
This latest batch of complaints stem from comments made last March by Media Matters founder, David Brock. He was quoted in Politico as saying that the organization was shifting its focus toward Fox News to one of “guerrilla warfare and sabotage.” Under those circumstances it may not be surprising that Fox has taken up a barrage of criticism aimed at Media Matters. It seems only fair that Fox defend itself from such an overt declaration of war.
The only thing that might refute that perspective is – reality.
Fox News began this war long ago with aggressive and false assertions that cast Media Matters as hacks, anti-American, violent, and communist. They alleged that George Soros was pulling their strings long before Soros ever made any contributions the group. Fox stalwarts like Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck engaged in rhetoric so hostile that it inspired actual physical attacks against Media Matters and their progressive allies. So if this is war, it is one wherein Fox is the aggressor.
Another thing that makes this blitzkrieg unseemly is that Fox likes to pretend that it is a news enterprise. While Media Matters has as its mission to monitor the press, report their findings, and take actions to improve the state of the media, Fox is over-stepping ethical boundaries in becoming an activist enterprise targeting ideological foes. That is not the role of legitimate journalism. [...]
On the basis of that criteria, Fox News argues that Media Matters is in violation and should have their tax-exempt status revoked. That’s an interesting argument because it implies that attacks on Fox News qualify as opposition to political campaigns and/or candidates. Without that stipulation there is no violation on the part of Media Matters. So Fox is, in effect, admitting that they are a political operation. Shocking, I know.
If Fox wants to acknowledge that they are not a news network, but a political entity, and change their name to the Fox Republican PR Agency, then I would be willing to call on Media Matters to lay off. Absent that, Fox should drop this inane pretense and go back to pretending they are a news network. Read on...
