This week Fox News broadcast an “exclusive” report by correspondent James Rosen that asserted that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the American soldier held captive by the Taliban for five years, had converted to Islam and declared himself to be a jihadist. The report was widely criticized for the absence of any substantive evidence or credible confirmation. Additionally, the source for the information was a disreputable private intelligence operative who was previously indicted for lying to Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal.
None of that stopped Rosen and Fox News from airing the story of Bergdahl’s conversion as fact. Rosen appeared on numerous segments throughout the day, including in primetime with Bill O’Reilly and Greta Van Susteren. While Rosen acknowledged that Bergdahl may have pretended to convert in order to avoid further mistreatment, or that he might have been suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, in same breath he posited that Bergdahl might just as well have been an active enemy collaborator. However, other segments on the network ignored the exculpatory explanations entirely, brazenly accusing Bergdahl of treason and willful collaboration with the enemy.
It’s ironic that Fox News would permit these reports to air considering their prior experience with one of their own reporters. In August of 2006, correspondent Steve Centanni was stationed in the Middle East when he and his photographer were abducted by Palestinian terrorists. They were held for two weeks, during which time a video was released that showed them declaring their faith in Islam and making disparaging statements about the United States.
At no time following the release of the Centanni videos did Fox News report that Centanni had converted to Islam. They never accused him of treason or joining forces with terrorists. Instead, they patiently waited until he was released to hear his side of the story. When that occurred, Centanni told reporters that the conversion was “something we felt we had to do because they had the guns, and we didn’t know what the hell was going on.”
Shameless self-promotion…
Get Fox Nation vs. Reality. Available now at Amazon.
Sadly, Bergdahl has not been afforded the same benefit of a doubt on Fox News that Centanni received. And the fact that the Centanni affair occurred at all makes Fox’s bias and hypocrisy all the worse. Centanni’s experience should have served as a lesson for Fox not to make blanket condemnations on dubious evidence before the facts are available. Fox didn’t even wait for a statement from Bergdahl before judging him guilty of a crime that is punishable by death.
It’s astonishing that there are still some people who consider Fox to be a credible news enterprise. It’s bad enough that a couple of million deluded and politically myopic viewers have been taken in, but it’s even worse that other journalists haven’t disassociated themselves from the fraudulent and un-American miscreants at Fox News.
Hey – If there are any DailyKos readers here, please go REC this article over there. Thanks.
Steve Centanni didn’t desert his post.
It’s astonishing that anybody still thinks this is a credible website. It is run by a fraudulent and un-American miscreant. Nothing but lies and hypocrisy are belched forth here.
Steve Centanni made claims on air that he had “converted to Islam” and was now on the side of the terrorists.
He later claimed that he only said those things under threat.
Fox believed him, made no further mention about the incident.
Now, although Bergdahl made no such statement on air, and in fact no information about his time in captivity has been confirmed, Fox has accused him of converting to Islam and becoming a Jihadist.
Oh and by the way, his “desertion”? That hasn’t been confirmed either, you know by a military court and all? Just like what Shep Smith said, the same thing you were up in arms over in the other thread.
Why focus on something which hasn’t been confirmed yet even though it has no relation to the REAL issue of the article, the blatant hypocrisy of Fox to take the word of one of their own that the things he said on air was not voluntary, yet at the same time, spreading slander about the same issue on someone who never even made any such statements on air?
Why does Fox react with belief and blessing on one person when the only proof they have are his words and with condemnation and slander on another who not only has made no such statements, but also, similar to the incident with their correspondent, no information about his time in captivity has been forthcoming?
More important of course is the question why you chose to ignore the main salient point of the article for…a single statement which has not even been confirmed yet (but which you dearly like to believe).
The answer can be found in the rest of your post, the REAL reason why you post here for every post you make. That reason of course is the gigantic chip on your shoulder towards the left (for opposing your lord and masters on the right) as well as this site in particular.
It’s no surprise that most of your comments are either ad hominem, or baseless (if not outright untrue and illogical statements). The most tragic thing about this however that this distinguishes you in no way from any other idiotic right wing trolls anywhere else on the net.
“…ad hominem…”
Those words fully describe Mark’s 24/7 modus operandi.
If he were relying solely upon personal attacks to make his argument (This is actually the “bread and butter” of Fox News), your reply would make sense. But Mark is not “attacking the man”, he is attacking the inconsistent nature of Fox News reporting. I sometimes get the feeling that Fox conservatives view ANY kind of criticism as “ad Hominems” because they are criticized so much! But really, they are just wrong so much of the time, it’s hard to take them seriously.
And your proof that Bergdahl did desert his post? Post it or shut it. And I don’t mean any of the crap that Shlox Snooze calls evidence. Shlox keeps proving that it’s sole news source are right wing agitators like Drudge who are getting most of their news from Beckie or O’Reilly supporters anyway.
And about Centanni? Nice to know that Shlox’s hypocrisy remains intact, but this is the first I ever heard of this one, so I’ll stay on the fence here. I do have a brain, so the last time I actually watched a Shlox channel was, oh, gee, never. Go figure…
hey Kali, in regards to this being your first hearing of Centanni’s capture and “conversion”, u can pull it up as it’s well documented across several sources…..even at Foxnew.com 😉
So, this particular site aside, what part of the article is not true? Please be specific.
(crickets)…
chirrup…
chirrup…
In all fairness, Fox is largely owned by Saudis so their coverage of the news is bound to reflect the Saudi point of view. This may well explain odd details like invoking death penalty proposals before charges or trial and the rather odd habit of displaying cute but rather vacuous blondes to relay information.