Hume’s challenge to media: Do you really want the Gibbs Seal of Approval?
posted at 8:05 am on October 21, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
We already know where Jake Tapper stands on this point, but the real question is why more journalists in the White House aren’t making their position clear. Brit Hume wondered whether American journalists from other news organizations really will become the lackeys of the Obama administration by ignoring news stories originating at Fox, just because Robert Gibbs disapproves of Fox (via Instapundit):
“How do you like being patted on the head by the White House?” Except for Tapper, the entire White House press corps seems to like it just fine. While Helen Thomas has expressed her disgust with Gibbs for conducting this vendetta, to her credit, so far only Tapper has openly challenged it during the briefings. Every other news organization has stood silently by, apparently hoping for the Robert Gibbs Seal of Journalistic Approval.
Toby Harnden of the London Telegraph channels Pastor Niemoller in his blog today:
Those journalists sitting this one out need to ask themselves what they will do when the White House comes after them or their news organisation.
Because if Fox is allowed to be placed out of respectable bounds in this way then when the going gets tougher – as it will – the White House will simply move on to another target.
Who will be the next target? Probably the man who challenged Gibbs.
Blowback
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Exactly the point I made yesterday. The others are doing themselves (and the country) a disservice by not calling them out on this BS.
flipflop on October 21, 2009 at 8:10 AM
DO you ever get the feeling that the White House doesn’t really think through their attacks/actions long-term? As in, it might sound ‘brave’ to bash fox once, but what is the long term effect?
I don’t even mind it much with the media, but, um, things like DELAYING life or death decisions to beef up our afghan soldier numbers have actual consequences.
OBAMA GET TO WORK!
battleoflepanto1571 on October 21, 2009 at 8:11 AM
Those other so called journalists remain silent…. Because they are not journalist, they are students of the Joesph Goebbels School of Propaganda… They are… Treasonous Marxists pretending to be journalist conspiring with the Obamanation to destroy the United States Constitution and replace it with a Marxist tyranny.
doriangrey on October 21, 2009 at 8:11 AM
I haven’t seen GB’s program in the last couple weeks, but this guy sitting near the phone in a Mao suit is hilarious!
Good on ya, Brit Hume. Great commentary.
White House–small, petty, weak, mewww.
ted c on October 21, 2009 at 8:11 AM
no doubt…lapdogs R US
cmsinaz on October 21, 2009 at 8:11 AM
I love the smell of rank desperation in the morning.
TXUS on October 21, 2009 at 8:12 AM
Bwaaaa! Ogabe, you made a big, big mistake with this fiasco; you are being played like a fiddle.
Beck was wearing a Mao suit on his set? Heh, I have to watch that guy more.
Bishop on October 21, 2009 at 8:12 AM
Baghdad(Gibbs)(Goebbles)Bob!!!!!!!!!!!
canopfor on October 21, 2009 at 8:12 AM
It’s always good to see Britt Hume.
Dork B. on October 21, 2009 at 8:13 AM
they brought this win to him…I can’t see them doing anything to harm dear leader…
cmsinaz on October 21, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Our lamestream media seems to not read history.
tarpon on October 21, 2009 at 8:15 AM
The so-called journalists who suck up to the White House have given up the right to whine about losses in viewership and readsership. No more editorials, essays, or thought pieces on the dire state of journalism.
You broke it, you fix it!
EMD on October 21, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Britt Hume is a class act, as are most on Fox.
I like this…and we have no choice but to keep it up…I just wonder where it will all end. What’s next, you know?
Diane on October 21, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Good retort Brit . . . unfortunately, most of those left wing media clowns would gladly bow at the feet of Obama . . . and even Gibbs.
rplat on October 21, 2009 at 8:16 AM
Of course not, Oba-Mao is their messiah, he holds their Marxist ideologies every bit as dearly to his heart as they do their own. Were the founding fathers alive today, they would be hanging these ba$tards from the nearest Liberty Tree for treason. Benjamin Franklin would be spitting flames to see what his precious Fourth Estate has become.
doriangrey on October 21, 2009 at 8:18 AM
The Robert Gibbs seal of journalistic approval ranks right up there with getting five stars from the Roman Polanski childcare rating system.
highhopes on October 21, 2009 at 8:19 AM
you got that right…
cmsinaz on October 21, 2009 at 8:19 AM
Tapper is caught right in the middle. I hope/pray he sticks with his present org and helps steer them back to reality. In the meantime, support Fox by buying from their sponsors. Darvin Dowdy
Darvin Dowdy on October 21, 2009 at 8:20 AM
The media that has invested everything with the Democrats for the past 50 years will not be swayed even if the White House invades Fox News headquarters on 6th Avenue in Manhattan and takes them all out in cuffs in broad daylight.
jay12 on October 21, 2009 at 8:21 AM
I can’t help but wonder if those in the other media outlets (other than Fox)aren’t just a little uncomfortable? I mean, they elected this guy. They are almost singlehandedly responsible for this administration. Or do they, like the current administration, think this is exactly what they wanted and the country needed…? And by that I mean, this is what they’ve been taught from K through college, maybe this is exactly the direction they wanted to go.
4shoes on October 21, 2009 at 8:22 AM
No, they and Gibbs just need to get a room.
TXUS on October 21, 2009 at 8:22 AM
They cant fix what they cant recognize as broken, they can only whine because the ignorant unwashed masses refuse to accept that they (the leftist/Marxist so called journalists) are more intelligent then the ignorant unwashed masses, and consequently should be the ones doing the ignorant unwashed masses thinking for them. They (the leftist/Marxist so called journalists) can go to he11…
doriangrey on October 21, 2009 at 8:23 AM
“First they came for Fox..”
the_nile on October 21, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Exactly. Best of luck Jake…
And the “Gibbs Award”? rates right up there with the Nobel prize.
JusDreamin on October 21, 2009 at 8:23 AM
Perhaps they were never taught at our liberal schools…?
4shoes on October 21, 2009 at 8:24 AM
I see Jake Tapper working for Fox News by Christmas. LOL
bradley11 on October 21, 2009 at 8:24 AM
Control of the media is one of the facets of fascism. I just didn’t realize how fascist so many members of the media were.
rbj on October 21, 2009 at 8:27 AM
Or, as James Taranto wrote yesterday, “What’s the point in having a free press if you’re not going to exercise it?”
BigD on October 21, 2009 at 8:27 AM
Since the MSM reporters can’t win the Nobel this year, maybe they are going for Emmys? Golden Globes? Golden Showers?
GnuBreed on October 21, 2009 at 8:27 AM
We are headed toward a day, soon, when the United States will have a Ministry of Information, and only approved “news” stories will be permitted to be presented in the “approved” media, as defined by the White House.
Looking at the runes, between the “hate speech” provisions being talked about in the White House and in Congress and the “Fairness Doctrine” raising its head once again, certainly looks like the direction we are headed is going to put the First Amendment into the dust bin. Religion is already under threat, as is the Right to assemble peaceably and demand redress from government [those nasty hate-filled tea party folks, and such], seems more like the early days of a banana republic underway than any thing resembling what the Founders intended.
Hyperbole? Just look at what has gone on over the past year, and the pronouncements of the Left. They are already giddy in anticipation.
Folks, 2010 is our last best shot at stopping this runaway freight train. 2012 is our last chance to put the last nail in the hideous coffin of Leftism run wild.
Can we accomplish this? Or will we be looking around slack-jawed in 2013 asking ourselves how all of this happened?
coldwarrior on October 21, 2009 at 8:27 AM
Maybe Ramirez should do a cartoon depicting Fox as a cat scratching Obama’s leg while the rest of the media are kittens curled up in his lap purring.
Kafir on October 21, 2009 at 8:27 AM
The White House doesn’t have legitimate answers for the questions that Fox News correspondents raise, so instead of answering, they go on the offensive.
Attempting to stifle the free flow of information and ideas is an indicator of a fascistic mindset.
hillbillyjim on October 21, 2009 at 8:28 AM
Beck has his chief researcher/attorney Joe sitting by the phone. He had him in a Mao suit on Monda. Last night he had a little lapdog and called it “Press”. At one point, back from commercial, he listened to it and said: “Isn’t that cute? He just said, Who wants to play Hardball?” ROFL
The Administration and State-Run Media are being shown to be fools.
kingsjester on October 21, 2009 at 8:29 AM
John Stossel did not make a good debut appearance on O’Reilly last night. It looked like an old Buick clunker accidentally found its way onto the track of the Indy 500.
jay12 on October 21, 2009 at 8:29 AM
Monda=Monday
oops
kingsjester on October 21, 2009 at 8:30 AM
Anyone hear mika this morning? She insisted that there wasn’t a bias and Joe kept asking her how many republicans were in the news rooms she worked in. When she finally said, none, but they were fair. Yah right! She doesn’t blame the white house for going after Fox, cause they have been mean to the wh. Yeh.
Bambi on October 21, 2009 at 8:30 AM
Hume is a classy professional. But it’s clear that the WH has ‘riled him up’ to the extent this mild mannered gentlemen can be riled up. I don’t think the WH quarrentine strategy can work even with a compliant press.
clorensen on October 21, 2009 at 8:31 AM
A fool with a loaded gun is extremely dangerous. They may be fools, but it is in our best interest to stop them from getting that gun in the first place.
coldwarrior on October 21, 2009 at 8:31 AM
It’s Beltway Bob. Our newest propaganda tool. Next, we’ll see Republicans storming Congress in Jan, 2011 in the backround as Gibbs repeats “There is no major shift on Capital Hill. We still control the agenda”.
Phil-351 on October 21, 2009 at 8:31 AM
A better one would be the so called MSM journalist all dressed up like Nazi’s (just replace the Swastikas with O’s) all standing next to Obama and pointing at the FoxNews reporter…
doriangrey on October 21, 2009 at 8:32 AM
These morons (MSM) don’t think long term. Eventually a Republican will be in the White House again, and if it’s become “perfectly acceptable” for any administration to single out certain media outlets as “enemies” it’s obviously going to happen to them when the tables turn.
Whatever tactics Obama/Gibbs/Emmanuel/Axlerod legitimize now, the following administrations will use, so they better be careful what they are giddy about now, because it’s going to bite them in the arse next time around. And there is always another “next time around”.
Tim Zank on October 21, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Tapper must still have somesemblance of a soul. With the unusual stance by Helen Thomas as the only other exception the rest of the group are a bunch of spineless maggots … cowed by the “daunting” presence of Baghdad Bob. Amazing, er shameful.
Dukehoopsfan on October 21, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Which network will be billing itself as “the official media outlet of the Obama administration”?
ICBM on October 21, 2009 at 8:32 AM
jay12 on October 21, 2009 at 8:29 AM
It’s because O’reilly wouldn’t shut up and let him speak. He continually interrupted him.
Bambi on October 21, 2009 at 8:32 AM
yeah, I heard her…she sounded moronic
cmsinaz on October 21, 2009 at 8:32 AM
More like a dog lifting it’s hind leg while the rest of the media is begging for scooby snacks.
highhopes on October 21, 2009 at 8:33 AM
she’s the only one to think this is a good stratergy for the wh….ugh
cmsinaz on October 21, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Ed, you (and Brit) have to get over the idea that you’re going to somehow shame the liberal Democrats in the mainstream media into being more objective and reporting negative information about the man they threw in with for President. Of course they have no shame. They’re Democrats and they voted for Obama.
They see him as an ally in their ongoing, aimless “revolution.”
You have to dispel the notion that they’re going to change just because someone on FNC is asking them if they have no shame being WH lap dogs.
They RELISH the thought of being on their knees for Obama. They volunteer for it. It’s what they do and who they are. They think they’re helping him govern (aka, pretending they’re an unelected branch of his Democrat administration).
Good Lt on October 21, 2009 at 8:34 AM
All of them. Like any good dictatorship the filthy lying coward in the White House will soon not allow unapproved media networks.
highhopes on October 21, 2009 at 8:34 AM
How is this war on Fox any different from all the Democrat Presidential Candidates refusing to debate on Fox. This war is old.
tommylotto on October 21, 2009 at 8:34 AM
She was giving Obama advice, not standing up for the integrity of the press. She deserves no credit.
Ronnie on October 21, 2009 at 8:35 AM
MSDNC…don’t you see the little * at the end of their logo
:-)
cmsinaz on October 21, 2009 at 8:35 AM
Brit didn’t seem so crazy when he worked at ABC…/
Caper29 on October 21, 2009 at 8:35 AM
Stossel will have to find a way around that if he is going to survive.
jay12 on October 21, 2009 at 8:35 AM
FIFY
Phil-351 on October 21, 2009 at 8:36 AM
So…. situation normal. I can’t stand the other B.O. for this very reason.
highhopes on October 21, 2009 at 8:36 AM
With talk of bailing out some of the newspapers, the majority of the presstitutes will continue to bow down at the altar in the hopes of receiving some scraps for services rendered.
ICBM on October 21, 2009 at 8:37 AM
don’t know if that will happen when an (R) gets back in there…they usually have a more class than the (D) and wouldn’t demean the office like that…but hey, I could be wrong…
cmsinaz on October 21, 2009 at 8:37 AM
Well said Phish head…
doriangrey on October 21, 2009 at 8:37 AM
nbc msnbc will ALWAYS be part of the propaganda machine partly because their parent company GE is profiting from Obama’s green energy/medical contracts. At SOME point ABC and CBS shareholders should tell their “news” divisions that they’d make more money with the truth.
marklmail on October 21, 2009 at 8:37 AM
Stossel made some good points as he always does, he just had a hard time getting past Bill’s rapid fire blustering interruptions. Stossel will get more comfortable in the timing of O’Reilly’s stuttering interruptions…Most guests have to learn how to read his lack of timing and fondness for his own voice. I like the factor and watch it every night, but Billy boy does get on my nerves…
Tim Zank on October 21, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Fixed it.
We don’t have journalists in this country except in a few limited circumstances, we have liberal jackasses parrotting DNC talking points in a silly and childish effort to “make a difference”.
Would that Woodward and Bernstein never existed.
NoDonkey on October 21, 2009 at 8:39 AM
coldwarrior on October 21, 2009 at 8:31 AM
I agree. Unfortunately, we have a Marxist/Maoist Administration, a slavish Congress, and a Goebbels-esque Fourth Estate, who has destroyed the concept of objective reporting more than any other generation before it. The best defense is a good offense and sunlight is the best disinfectant. Remeber, Chavez, Mao, and Putin exercised containment of the media and control of the message, also.
kingsjester on October 21, 2009 at 8:39 AM
Bill O’Reilly is a horse’s ass. It’s true. Always has been.
Good Lt on October 21, 2009 at 8:40 AM
the FCC is voting Thursday about the internet “equality”. we are already well on our way to serfdom.
i’m just too well bred to march to DC & slap my Congressman.
kelley in virginia on October 21, 2009 at 8:41 AM
Nice shot, Brit.
RadClown on October 21, 2009 at 8:42 AM
First they came for Fox
But I am with CNN…
I did not object.
Haiku Guy on October 21, 2009 at 8:42 AM
Fear is a great substitute for courage. Scare the blazes out of them. They should have come to the point of total fear of this regimes intent to destroy the constitutional America on their own. Perhaps, it’s true that they are part of the plan?
Don L on October 21, 2009 at 8:42 AM
+ 1 trillion.
Cindy Munford on October 21, 2009 at 8:43 AM
Well, then, perhaps you can send your driver around and drive you to DC. :-)
[He can also use on of his driving gauntlets to do the slapping for you. But, slap he must. :-) ]
coldwarrior on October 21, 2009 at 8:43 AM
No! Not because Gibbs disapproves of FOX — because THEY disapprove of “Faux News” too!
Remember, polls of people in the profession show they went into journalism, not to report facts, but to “change the world”. They are not serious journalists, they have an agenda, and part of that agenda is “filtering” (as they like to call it) out anyone who dissents from liberal orthodoxy.
American Elephant on October 21, 2009 at 8:44 AM
Love Hume cracking up over the Mao suit. Now Beck has even cracked the stoicism of the ever-professional Brit Hume. Good times.
pugwriter on October 21, 2009 at 8:44 AM
I like Britt’s puppy dog eyes:) It’s intersting that Tapper hasn’t been scrutinized yet.Hmmmmm
ohiobabe on October 21, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Hume is first class. Major loss when he retired from the daily grind, though I’m grateful that he still appears regularly.
Missy on October 21, 2009 at 8:48 AM
Yes, he is a real *rick, but he IS Fox News. His influence is felt across the entire Fox News schedule. Nobody at Fox News gets anywhere unless they can prove themselves on air with O’Reilly. Stossel will be made to ramp up his act, and I have no doubt that he can do so.
Ever played for a championship team? Every day is a challenge that tests you to your limits.
jay12 on October 21, 2009 at 8:48 AM
Bill O’reilly. Ted Baxter, without the charm.
TXUS on October 21, 2009 at 8:49 AM
Not having read the previous comments and which I’m sure are salient and on point. May I remind the Hot Air readership, not to take anything away from Jake Tapper, about the scandalous suppression of “The Path to 911″ mini series produced by ABC and, to this day, unreleased on DVD, apparently on behest of the Clintons?
bongo on October 21, 2009 at 8:50 AM
Exactly! Not enough of this happens these days anyway, not just with reporters. It’s something I always ask of a new law, department, or Senate Rules, would I want the “other side” to have this power that would help “my side” right now?
JamesLee on October 21, 2009 at 8:50 AM
The mainstream media and the Obama regime are reminiscent of the Morlocks from the Time Machine . . . they can’t stand the sunlight and it causes them to grimace in pain, growl and hide in the darkness. If they allow their agendas to be questioned or challenged it will surely destroy their dream of a pure Marxist state.
rplat on October 21, 2009 at 8:52 AM
Perhaps they should have mandatory training sessions with the body language chick.
highhopes on October 21, 2009 at 8:54 AM
Or just above getting the Nobel Peace Prize.
MarkTheGreat on October 21, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Swayyed?? Most of them would be cheering, and hoping RNC headquarters is next.
MarkTheGreat on October 21, 2009 at 8:56 AM
Sometimes I think it’s a bit hyperbolic quite yet to compare Obama to Hitler and Moussalini, but in reality this is exactly what Chavez did. He demonized unfriendly TV and radio stations, then began harassing them to the point of eventually forcing them to shut down. Putin, too, and now we have de-facto state controlled media in Russia, even if it’s actually owned or operated by the government.
Yes, in the short run the “containment” strategy might have some benefits to the big O, but the real reason they’re doing this is to eventually eliminate all voices of dissent. Just like any thug, they KNOW what they’re doing is wrong and unpopular, so they’d rather not have to listen to their complaints or have the masses get wise to the agenda.
It is absolutely clear what’s happening – it’s coming soon to the internet and talk radio, too – and it’s scary as hell.
johnmackeygreene on October 21, 2009 at 8:57 AM
WATERLOO….the press with its obama love is comitting their own waterloo
i feel like pounding my shoe on the table and screaming i will bury you
unseen on October 21, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Maybe it would be worth it to tough it out for a while. When the 2012 conservative president takes charge, he/she will feel free to slap down MSNBC and grind it into the dirt where it belongs. Karma……..
joedoe on October 21, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Good Lt on October 21, 2009 at 8:34 AM
Much truth to what you say here…
Coldwarrior: right on target as usual.
We must remember, the network news is 100% agenda driven, and even though the print media portion of this machine is dying the slow death it so richly deserves, the TV side of the machine averages 15 million viewers a night. Fox news owns the cable portion of this with around 3.5 million viewers on average, but that still remains far below that of CBS, NBC, and ABC combined viewers.
If Liberals have their way, Fox News and talk radio will be destroyed so that they own the entire package.
Control over the message.
Keemo on October 21, 2009 at 8:59 AM
YEP………..TAPPER YOU’RE NEXT.
Scandal / You tube video / previous quote sourced to Wikipedia / etc. coming on Tapper in 4…..3……2…..
PappyD61 on October 21, 2009 at 9:00 AM
They are probably hoping that with the electoral and free speech reforms Obama is working on, there will never be another Republican in the White House.
MarkTheGreat on October 21, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Sorry should be not actually owned…
johnmackeygreene on October 21, 2009 at 9:02 AM
heh… nice.
This is just another example of the Oba-Mao administration believing their own hype. How serious can an administration be when Olbermann and Maddow are participating in off the record briefings.
That is hilarious.
Hog Wild on October 21, 2009 at 9:04 AM
The Dem’s will probably push through a referendum to make Obama King before November 2010. That will eliminate their need to worry about repercussions.
joedoe on October 21, 2009 at 9:06 AM
I hope it goes something like this…
Laura in Maryland on October 21, 2009 at 9:07 AM
I saw the clip in question–Stossel doesn’t appear the guy to get riled up easily. He’s calm, calculated and professional–and polite to a fault. But even he conceded–in a good-natured way–he’d have to step up his game a little for Bill-O during their weekly sessions. His debut on The Factor was a “teaching moment”.
RepubChica on October 21, 2009 at 9:08 AM
The rest of the press may decide to coast through the holidays, but watch out come January and February when a cold winter hits.
Families will be sitting around at Thanksgiving and Christmas and be asking “Where is this country going?” The level of the Dow notwithstanding, our economy is heading nowhere. Obama can spread gold with borrowed money for only so long. Sure, maybe his hard core base of 15% of the country that’s used to standing in long lines for handouts will continue to stand in those lines. And sure, another 20% of gubmint workers who sit in secure bureaucracies will continue to collect their checks. But for the remaining 65% or so of the country that actually expects to work for a living for a private employer, they’re going to become extremely unhappy by the end of the winter.
If the press isn’t on top of this story and other stories, virtually everyone will be a Fox News viewer by March 1.
BuckeyeSam on October 21, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Perfect!
TXUS on October 21, 2009 at 9:11 AM
I find it pitiful the White House press corp could have any fear of these stooges in the administration. They, more than anyone, should be able to see that the little emperor has no clothes.
anniekc on October 21, 2009 at 9:15 AM
Right now, the target date is Feb 5, 2010.
That’s when the Labor Dept corrects the unemployment numbers in their “birth/death” system. It will be ugly. The Obama Administration will be looking for more scapegoats between now and then to use as an excuse for their failures.
J_Crater on October 21, 2009 at 9:15 AM
People! We are being played brilliantly by Obambi. The state-run media is never going to call him out on his marxist, appeasing, anti-American policies, and the opposition media (Fox News and talk radio) are now busy going on and on about the WH war on Fox. In the meantime, opposition and analysis of the health care clusterfrak, cap and tax, new and improved porkulus to buy off seniors and doctors — not to mention nukes in Iran and the fact that our troops in Afghanistan are being left to twist in the wind, are just lost in the mix. Eyes on the ball gang, eyes on the ball.
ncc770 on October 21, 2009 at 9:15 AM
If they can afford cable/sat…
TXUS on October 21, 2009 at 9:16 AM
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