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Miss Modular
Oct 4th, 2004, 03:57 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041003/ts_alt_afp/us_vote_kerry_media_041003210627

Fox News Channel admits reporter posted fake story about Kerry

Sun Oct 3, 5:06 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An official at Fox News Channel said that one of its political reporters has been disciplined for posting a fake news item on its website about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites).

Paul Schur, a spokesman for the network, said Fox's chief political correspondent Carl Cameron had been disciplined for posting an item on FoxNews.com that included several made-up quotes attributed to Kerry.

"Carl has been reprimanded," Schur said Sunday, defining further comment.

The article alleged to cover a post-debate rally by Kerry at which the Massachusetts senator was purported to gush over his "metrosexual" appearance.

"Didn't my nails and cuticles look great? What a good debate!" the article by the Cameron read, purportedly quoting Kerry after the event.

"Women should like me! I do manicures," the story also quotes Kerry as telling the crowd.

The article also has the Democratic candidate contrasting himself to US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)

"I'm metrosexual -- he's a cowboy," Cameron quoted Kerry as saying.

Officials for Fox, which has been criticized for being biased towards Bush's Republican party, decline to explain how the spoof article ended up on the network's website.

A statement by Fox on the website Sunday apologized for the article, saying it was a joke.

"Foxnews.com erred ... on Friday, posting an item purporting to contain quotes attributable to Kerry," the statement read.

"The item was based on a reporters partial script that had been written in jest and should not have been posted or broadcast. Foxnews.com also regrets that error, which occurred because of fatigue and bad judgment, not malice."

US media quoted a statement by the Kerry campaign's spokesman, Phil Singer, saying Fox was right to own up to the gaffe.

"Fox is doing the right thing by admitting its mistake and correcting the record," Singer told the New York Times in an article published Sunday.

"George Bush (news - web sites) would be well-served to heed the lesson and admit to his own mistakes," Singer said.

mburbank
Oct 4th, 2004, 05:02 PM
FAIR AND BALANCED, BABY!

Anonymous
Oct 4th, 2004, 05:05 PM
How is kerry a metrosexual at all? I don't remember Lurch wearing hot pink.

Stark
Oct 4th, 2004, 05:15 PM
wow, this sounds very similar to stuff they were saying on 'fox and friends', they mentioned that it looked like he got a 'makeover and manicure'. This is a blatant and petty attempt to enforce some weird perception of him, probably what they figured would be most repulsive to their audience.

FS
Oct 4th, 2004, 05:24 PM
Is Singer retarded? Fox employees blatantly abuse their position and violate the public's trust*, then try to play it off as a joke - which isn't much less disturbing - and he praises them for their honesty?

* yeah yeah, I know Fox isn't a trustworthy news source in the first place, but there's a difference between embellishing or coloring a story according to your own opinions, and plain making something up.

davinxtk
Oct 5th, 2004, 02:45 AM
Isn't this thread the same as that other thread?


http://www.i-mockery.net/viewtopic.php?t=14877

Oh yeah, it is.

"Carl Cameron and a bunch of his buddies were snorting adderall and smoking pot the other night, and around 3 or 4 in the morning one of them got a little antsy with the post button. We extend our deepest apologies to the democorpse--sorry, the democratic candidate and his campaign," Schur was quoted as saying at a press conference, "We sincerely hope that this does not influence voter opinion any more than the blatant war crimes and atrocities committed under the current regime-- ah! Administration! I meant to say administration!"