Bush cousin works as executive for FOXNews This, from the same network whose former president, Rick Kaplan, is an unabashed Clinton/Gore supporter and donor. The following excerpts are provided by the Media Research Center CNN President Rick Kaplan, who stayed overnight in Clinton’s White House while at ABC News, spent another night there with his daughter last Thursday night after the Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association dinner, USA Today disclosed. But Kaplan doesn’t see anything wrong with it. In his "Inside TV" column for April 10, USA Today’s Peter Johnson revealed: CNN president Rick Kaplan, who took some heat when he worked at ABC News for staying overnight at the White House during President Clinton's first term, spent another night there Thursday -- after Clinton roasted ABC News over "Leogate." "No, I do not feel embarrassed, ashamed or compromised in any way, shape or form," Kaplan said Friday, after sleeping in the Queen's Room while daughter Alexis, 21, slept in the Lincoln Bedroom. Generally speaking, it's an ethical no-no for journalists to get too cozy with people they cover. But Kaplan, a former Nightline, PrimeTime Live and World News Tonight producer, said Clinton's gesture won't affect CNN's coverage of him. "Everyone has relationships," Kaplan said. "We met each other before either of us knew we'd amount to anything. He doesn't expect anything from me, and I don't expect anything from him." Kaplan, a Clinton friend for 30 years, said the president gave Alexis an "amazing" 2 ½-hour White House tour. "It was extremely nice of him to do it. In the waning months of his presidency, I felt, 'What the heck?'" ***************** An October 6 CyberAlert item on the then upcoming two-hour CNN special on campaign finance noted that it was to be produced by CNN President Rick Kaplan, who U.S. News reported had demanded that CNN staffers "limit the use of the word 'scandal' in reporting on Clinton's campaign fundraising woes." I wondered: "Can you do a two-hour show on Clinton's 1996 fundraising and not use the word 'scandal'?" A rhetoric question, or so I thought. But incredibly enough the answer is -- yes! The October 7 show titled "Democracy for Sale" wandered well beyond Clinton to examine Republicans and to argue for campaign finance reform, but summarizing charges against Clinton took up a significant portion of the show. Nonetheless, the phrase "Clinton scandal" was never uttered. MRC news analyst Clay Waters reviewed the show and then ran the transcript from the CNN Web page through WordPerfect's "find" feature. The words "scandal" or "scandals" appeared just four times. Twice in the Crossfire segment of the special liberal Bill Press claimed that Republicans are trying to use scandal to bring down Clinton since they can't win on the issues. At another point, Moneyline anchor Lou Dobbs made this generic reference: "The campaign funding scandal hasn't slowed the parties' lust for soft money." And the fourth "scandal" mention? Here it is, from Brooks Jackson: "So, you want to be a Washington player, get next to the powerful, lobby for a tax break or a nice ambassador's job? If you've got money, I can help. First, you've got to get around that law they enacted back in '74 after the Watergate scandal...." Yes, having an FOB, who stayed overnight in the Lincoln bedroom, as President of CNN is reflected in the network's coverage. *********************** Additional MRC excerpts: * How Kaplan, in February 1992, while at ABC News, advised Clinton on how to respond to the Gennifer Flowers story Excerpts from a Vanity Fair profile which detailed how Kaplan killed negative stories at ABC about Clinton, hired Hillary, once worked for a Democratic candidate and thinks those who see liberal bias are "liars" Kaplan once insisted of Clinton, "I know he wasn't Slick Willie, and not a scourge" Kaplan complained that Ken Starr is "putting obsession ahead of the best interests of the nation" while Bill Clinton has had "extraordinary" achievements
I hate Clinton as much as the next guy -- ok, most people like him, but I very much dislike him -- but I don't see what the problem is here. ------------------ RealGM Rockets Draft Obligations Summary http://www.gaffordstudios.cjb.net/
Fox was the first network to call FL and the election for Bush on election night. Fox's graphic read "Next President of the US: George Bush" with no mention that this was only a Fox projection. All the other networks called FL and the election for Bush soon after. (altho most of the other networks did note that these were only projections, not official results). Bush's cousin made that call for Fox. Bush's cousin declared Bush president on the Fox network for millions of viewers. The big reason Bush could claim that he won election night was because the TV networks said Bush won. The TV networks said Bush won because Fox said Bush won. Fox said Bush won because Bush's cousin said so. Bush's early claims that he won the election stemmed directly from the actions of his cousin.
And...? ------------------ RealGM Rockets Draft Obligations Summary http://www.gaffordstudios.cjb.net/
im neither a republican or democrat(probably a little closer to republican), but i think Clinton has done very well as a president. Our economy is better, crime and unemployment are down.
I wonder what Danilo thinks of this...? The point is simple: CNN.com was quick to jump on even the slightest pretense of possible pro-Bush bias by FOXNews, when its former President engaged in obviously pro-Democrat behavior while running the network. Hi, kettle. I'm pot. You're black! FOXNews is kicking CNN's ass all over the ariwaves in the Nielsen ratings. Could that factor have anything to do with this eagerness to discredit FOXNews' objectivity...?
We agree. Very shady dealings all round. I never read cnn.com, anyway; I stick with salon.com for an unbiased perspective . I just happened to be watching the FoxNews channel on election night. I'm only whining about the election-night business because the media's declaring the election influenced popular opinion so much. And it influenced public opinion against my side! Boo-Hoo! Wah Wah! We probably agree that we'd prefer both instances here hadn't taken place, right? They both suck. I just like to whine about the ones that go against my side. I'd LOVE to see less biased news coverage.
I just now actually read the article you posted, Brian. I'd read about that on salon.com weeks ago. CNN.com is REALLY late with the story. At the time, I was upset that more media outlets didn't make a big stink. I assumed it was because all the major networks made the call too soon, and they were embarrassed.
I think all of the stuff about Bush's cousin is nothing more than a last ditch effort to cast a cloud of illegitmacy on a Bush presidency. What they really need to be looking into is how Florida could have been called for Gore when some of the polls were still open--but I'm sure they would say all of that was on the up and up. Actually, I suspect Gore has a few adopted cousins in the media, whether he knows it or not. ------------------
