Sunday, November 25, 2007

Thompson Alleges Fox News is Biased Against Him

Fox News? Biased? Say it ain't so! But against a mainstream Republican? That's new.

From The Hill:

Thompson charges Fox News is biased against his campaign
Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) suggested on Sunday that Fox News is biased against his campaign, charging that the network highlights commentators who have been critical of his run for the presidency.

In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace pressed Thompson on how some conservatives have lambasted Thompson's campaign and showed clips of Fox conservative commentators Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes criticizing the former senator.
Thompson said, "This has been a constant mantra of Fox, to tell you the truth." He noted that other conservatives have praised his bid for the GOP nomination and took issue with a Fox promo that focused on polling in New Hampshire, where Thompson is registering in the single digits.He said he is running second in national polls and has been leading or tied for the lead in South Carolina for "a long, long time."

Thompson, in a firm, but measured tone, scolded Wallace: "...for you to highlight nothing but the negatives in terms of the polls and then put on your own guys who have been predicting for four months, really, that I couldn't do it, kind of skew things a little bit. There's a lot of other opinion out there."
Frankly I think Thompson is just catching flack for not being the ultimate conservative candidate his pre-announcement supporters made him out to be. Combine that with the lack of energy his campaign has shown and his dropping poll numbers and disappointment turns into ire. Fox on the other hand has reported the facts if only the negative ones. I don't hold Fox to any journalistic standards of fairness but this represents a new low for them. Make no mistake if this type of slanted coverage continues Thompson is done for. It proof positive of how important some vaguely resembling in journalism is even if it is from a partisan point of view.