Cheney finally addressed the incident Wednesday, but the forum in which he chose to do so -- in an exclusive interview with Fox News host Brit Hume -- quickly became another source of contention.
Fox News executives cast the scoop as the result of persistence and the growing clout of the top-rated cable news network.
But some Democrats and competing broadcasters charged that Cheney chose to speak only with Fox News because of a perception that the cable channel is sympathetic to the Republican administration. They called for the vice president to hold a news conference with the rest of the media.
"Now that he feels forced to talk, he wants to restrict the discussion to a friendly news outlet, guaranteeing no hard questions from the press corps," Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said in a statement.
On CNN, commentator Jack Cafferty called the interview "a little bit like Bonnie interviewing Clyde. ... I mean, running over there to the Fox network -- talk about seeking a safe haven."
Now that's downright uncharitable. I don't remember CNN having such a problem when the fawning Dan Rather interviewed Bill Clinton about his memoir. We didn't see any hard hitting questions there, did we? Here's a refresher or two:
When CBS paired Rather with Connie Chung in 1993, he sought inspiration from Bill CLinton. "If we could be one-hundredth as great as you and Hillary Rodham Clinton have been in the White House, we'd take it right now and walk away winners."
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"I read the book [My Life by Bill Clinton] completely. And I think it compares very favorably with Ulysses S. Grant's gold standard of presidential autobiographies." — Dan Rather on CNN's Larry King Live, June 18, 2004.
Sorry Dan. You probably read that Grant's autobiography was great, because people that love American history have said so, but his autobiography didn't deal with his presidency. It focused on his success during the Civil War.
But I'm sure Clinton's memoir would compare favorable with anything written by Nikita Khrushchev, something you probably have read.
1 comment:
For decades, there was no bias in the media and Republicans were castigated for even suggesting it. Now that Fox is a big dog, Dems are constantly crying foul. Seems the GOP should be able to spin this somehow.
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