Fox won. Will hold debates with the CBC as partner.

[madfloridian]

I guess there must be a good reason for the Congressional Black Caucus to partner with them for two debates. IMHO the CBC is giving Fox News validation and credibility they do not really have.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/fnc_cbc_partner_for_two_debates_55970.asp

"FNC & CBC Partner For Two Debates
First on TVNewser: "FOX News and the Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute (CBC Institute) have jointly announced that they will present two 2008 primary debates, which are expected to attract the top Democratic and Republican contenders for President of the United States. The debates will be presented live on FOX News Channel (FNC) and FOX News Radio.

The first of the two debates will be among Democratic candidates and will be held on September 23rd at the Fox Theater in Detroit. The second debate will be among Republican candidates and will take place in the fall of 2007 at a location to be determined. Both debates will serve as a forum for the candidates to make their platforms known.

The CBC Institute previously partnered with FNC for two democratic presidential debates leading up to the 2004 election, in which all candidates participated. Both debates were among FNC's highest rated political telecasts of the You Decide 2004 election season."

Here's a reminder of how fair and balanced they have been to Obama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouKJixL--ms

We won't be watching any debates on Fox. They have done too much harm to our country.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

1. My TV Refuses To Tune To Fux NOISE Channel

I will Definitely Not be watching the Democratic debate in September. I don't care if even Al Gore was in the race by then, and present at the debate, I WILL NOT watch that channel!!

[madfloridian]

2. We tried communicating with the CBC but they refused to listen.

They would rather have Fox on their side.

We refuse to watch it.

[Robbien]

4. Send emails to Dem candidates saying you will not vote for anyone who appears on Faux

and cc the CBC.

Do it today and do it often.

It is the only way to get them to listen.

[madfloridian]

6. That's a good idea.

:hi:

[tsuki]

17. How do they come to the conclusion that Fox will be on their side?

[madfloridian]

3. Here's a reminder of how they attacked Obama...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouKJixL--ms

[madfloridian]

5. Did you know there was a Fox Attacks...Black America video?

Another great Robert Greenwald film from Brave New Films.

Too bad that group is giving in and partnering for two debates.

Watch the video where Mary Matalin...husband of James..says civil right are nothing more than racists..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY04gIruZ4E

[madfloridian]

7. Color of Change and others are very upset over this.

Here is the link from MyDD explaining this, and saying this might not be over yet.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/3/29/22235/8200

Statement of James Rucker, head of ColorOfChange.org - a 75,000 member online citizens lobby dedicated to advocating for the interests of Black Americans:

"The CBC Institute's decision is shamefully out of step with most Black voters, and we will continue to push on the CBC Institute to drop this deal." Rucker goes on to say, "Every presidential candidate now must decide whether to legitimize Fox - a network that calls Black churches a cult, implies that Senator Barack Obama is a terrorist, and uses the solemn occasion of Coretta Scott King's funeral to call Black leaders `racist.' We will be launching a petition at www.ColorofChange.org asking presidential candidates to attend the CBC Institute's CNN debate and reject the Fox debate."

Statement of Benjamin Todd Jealous, former executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Associations (NNPA), a 98-year old federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers.

"Fox has a long history of treating Black people unfairly. They are not a trusted news source for most Black Americans."

Here is the website for Color of Change.

http://www.colorofchange.org/

The link to the Fox campaign is on the front page.

Here is the video of Fox Attacks Black America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY04gIruZ4E

[madfloridian]

8. Update from Kos:

He worded it much more strongly than I did. I notice most here don't care that much. I do. I think Greenwald and others have worked too hard to be marginalized by the Democrats who are so willing to use Fox.
So I will update now and then, though there appears to be no interest.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/29/213952/371

"Here we go again. I'm sure this is the last thing the presidential candidates needed to deal with, but yes, the CBC was stupid enough to let these guys do a debate with them."

There really is a disconnect between beltway institutions -- and yes, the CBC qualifies -- and on-the-ground activists that see the pernicious effects of Fox News on people around them. Observations supported by polling by Kerry pollster Mark Mellman:

Fox News viewers supported George Bush over John Kerry by 88 percent to 7 percent. No demographic segment, other than Republicans, was as united in supporting Bush. Conservatives, white evangelical Christians, gun owners, and supporters of the Iraq war all gave Bush fewer votes than did regular Fox News viewers.

The CBC's decision is breath-taking in its stupidity, and the organization will now face the well-deserved scorn of its own constituents as well as outside observers. Candidates will be forced to choose between grassroots activists (of all colors) and an out-of-touch, entrenched inside-the-Beltway organization."

Here's the petition from Color of Change.
http://www.colorofchange.org/cbci/

[JNelson6563]

10. I think part of the problem is

The CBC tends to be considered above reproach here. Now that they have done this, all anyone can do is look away.

I think it sucks and I just deducted 10 respectability points from the CBC. Assholes.

Julie

[madfloridian]

11. Looks like MyDD and other bloggers might pursue it.

I never felt this strongly about it before, but I got tired of the "we need to reach out" being extended to the White House mouth piece.

There should be limits when a media source is so obvious.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/3/30/111730/105

Links to other blogs. Gives sources of funds given to the CBC by News Corps.

[skipos]

9. Well, at least one Dem (Kucinich) will be happy about that.

I think it blows.

[beachmom]

12. I think the problem is that Dems haven't come to consensus on this yet

My position is this:

1. Fox News should NOT be sponsoring any Democratic presidential debates. Would we let the White House sponsor a debate? Or the RNC?

2. I DO think Democrats and liberals should continue to appear on Fox News, essentially going into the Lion's den and getting our message out (but preferably not to bash Dems which I HAVE heard coming from lefty purists in addition to DLC types). This is similar to the U.S. and al Jazeera -- to completely ignore al Jazeera, no matter how anti-American they are, is a big mistake, because it may change one mind just to have America's viewpoint on there (this is apart from Bush policy which I oppose, but in general, we need to engage with that channel). Not sure if you watched Frontline this week, but there is a State Dept. official fluent in Arabic who now appears on al Jazeer regularly, and I think that's a good thing.

3. Like it or not, Fox News does have higher ratings than the other two cable channels, so they will never go away. Ever. A lot of people watch it -- another key is to help out CNN and MSNBC to take viewers away from Fox, and I think Keith Olbermann is helping in that regard, and even having great journalists like Michael Ware and Christianne Ammapour on CNN. But Fox News will never be eliminated -- we simply need to learn how to deal with them, which would include to continue to document their bias.

[madfloridian]

13. How much of that high rating is due to shows like America Idol?

Do they count that in with Fox News ratings? CNN and MSNBC don't have similar shows. I just wonder if they separate the news part of Fox with the other Fox content.

Or is that a totally stupid question?

[madfloridian]

14. Oh, wow, read this blog from MyDD, which links to another etc etc.

Read it all and take what you want to believe and accept and just leave the rest. It involves Nielson ratings, Fox, Clinton advisors, News Corp...and on and on.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/3/30/174338/386

"The Tacky Clintonista-CBC-Fox News Backstory
by Matt Stoller, Fri Mar 30, 2007 at 05:43:38 PM EST

Ok, so get ready for a really messed up backstory on the whole Fox News/CBC/Presidential politics angle. Ben Smith at the Politico reminded me this sordid episode, and it's a nice microcosm of horrible insider corporate Democratic politics. Here's the story.

Nielssn is the company that counts how many people watch a TV show so that ad buyers can plan their buys. A few years ago, they proposed a change to their ratings system, which was based on paper surveys of sample audiences. They wanted to automate counting with 'people meters' that could more accurately count viewership and demographics. This is a big deal, because Nielsen is the referee for ratings, and tens of billion of dollars in ad buys are contoured around their ratings system. When the service was first rolled out, initial tests suggested that certain Fox programs had lower minority audiences than was counted under the old paper system. If News Corp let this change happen, Fox was going to take a hit.

At first, according to the New York Times, News Corp just tried threatening Nielsen."

And a little more:

"It's a pretty disgusting and hilariously corrupt episode. Former (and current) Clinton advisors lobbying successfully on behalf of Rupert Murdoch to help his company cheat advertisers, and working through the CBC and CHC to do it. This is the gross and excessively regulated media world intersecting with 1990s New Democratic politics intersecting with campaign consultants intersecting with a whole lot of Clintonistas getting very very rich intersecting with the CBC and CHC.

There is a way out of this moral mess. First of all, there's no question now that the CBC should cancel this debate. But that's not all. Since Howard Wolfsen of Glover Park works for Hillary Clinton, and since she was part of this morass (not to mention the Murdoch fundraiser), she should do her part and announce she's not going to this debate."

[madfloridian]

15. Petition to the CBC....here is the link.

http://colorofchange.org/cbci_debates/foxattacks.html

[Imagevision]

16. Obama should decline the offer due to Fox's White House partisanship

Screw Fox, they don't represent legitimate news reporting.

[depakid]

18. Selling us all out again

It's almost as the Democrats are DESPERATE to lose.

Like many of you, I will never willingly watch anything of Fox "news"

[madfloridian]

19. Final update: DNC listened quietly and did not sanction the debates.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1244

So the debate will be held, but the pressure is off the candidates to attend.

[DFW]

20. Fox didn't win

.......nearly as much as the CBC lost.