Fox News Opposes Ban On Assault Weapons But Imposes Ban On Talking About It

Never mind that Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of the Fox News parent company, supports taking “bold leadership” to restrict access to assault weapons, executives at Fox News have dictated that the subject of gun control is forbidden on their network. Sources told Gabriel Sherman of New York Magazine that…

“David Clark, the executive producer in charge of Fox’s weekend coverage, gave producers instructions not to talk about gun-control policy on air. ‘This network is not going there,’ Clark wrote one producer on Saturday night, according to a source with knowledge of the exchange.”

This is the sort of overt bias that is practiced at Fox News on a regular basis. There is nothing new about Fox demanding that their anchors and contributors follow the marching orders from the executive suites. They receive a morning memo informing them on the topics of the day and what their positions will be. Even loyal Fox associates like pollster Frank Luntz have revealed that failing to “comport with the outlet’s orthodoxy” will result in getting you blacklisted. Sherman’s sources went on to say that…

“During the weekend, one frustrated producer went around Clark to lobby Michael Clemente, Fox’s executive vice-president for news editorial, but Clemente upheld the mandate. ‘We were expressly forbidden from discussing gun control,’ the source said.”

Sherman noted that there was a bit of discourse on gun control on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. However, he did not mention that the program airs on the Fox Entertainment Network, not Fox News (although it is repeated later in the day on Fox News).

This is how Fox directs the editorial content of the network. They have a heavy hand enforcing what people may, and may not, say on the air. It is not a coincidence that nearly everyone on Fox spews the same talking points throughout their broadcast day. It is by design and it is imposed by an editorial politburo that monitors the dissemination of their propaganda.

Roger AilesSince Fox CEO Roger Ailes is against gun control, then everyone at Fox must be. And if they think that discussing a subject is not in the interests of their agenda, then discussion is shut down. In this case, the network’s censorship is in lock step with the NRA, who have been maintaining media silence ever since the tragedy on Friday. The NRA’s Facebook and Twitter accounts have gone blank. And so has free speech on Fox News, not that it was ever there in the first place.

It’s also worthwhile to note that while Fox has banned all talk of gun control, they have not similarly banished talk of other explanations for the atrocity in Connecticut. For instance, they had no problemn with laying the blame on movies and video games. And Fox host Mike Huckabee was permitted to go on the air and blame the killings on the absence of God in the classroom. That’s is a particularly idiotic theory when you consider that other mass killings have taken place in churches where there presumably was no shortage of Godliness.

Advertisement:

13 thoughts on “Fox News Opposes Ban On Assault Weapons But Imposes Ban On Talking About It

  1. I agree this is bias by omission, and has not place in journalism. The issue of gun control is the elephant in the room and should not be ignored,especially if they talked freely about other issues that may have contributed to the attack in Newtown.

    Reminds me of how little air play Fast & Furious and the Benghazi attack received on the network news shows and MSNBC.

    • John, in Mark’s world only Fox News is biased and needs to be cleaned up. MSNBC pushes his point of view and is therefore ok as is – I’m glad others are noting the hypocrisy of this website.

      • Imagine having the fruit that could be harvested from the fertile ground that a Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz and the Rev. Al Sharpton, among others provide on a regular basis, and leaving it to rot.

  2. Roger Ailes runs this media outlet similarly to the old Soviet news agencies, nothing that is in opposition to the official party position will be reported on or even mentioned.

    Huckabee’s completely and totally asinine theory that this tragedy was the result of taking prayer out of public schools is their alternate explanation and is how they are attempting to steer this conversation. How any person can put forth this kind of nonsense and expect serious minded people to not laugh him out of the room is unbelievable, yet if any politician would criticize this buffoon they would be attacked mercilessly. Unfortunately, this is all they have to offer and I find it absolutely sickening.

  3. This story has been debunked. Daily Caller pointed out that gun control has been discussed on several of the shows, and not just “Fox News Sunday”.

    Speaking of which:

    “…(Fox News Sunday)…airs on the Fox Entertainment Network, not Fox News (although it is repeated later in the day on Fox News).”

    Umm…what?? If the show gets repeated on Fox News, then it gets aired on Fox News. I should know, because I watch it on Sunday afternoon. So your statement is a lie.

    You really embarassed yourself on this thread.

    • Daily Caller debunked something? When would they have time between all the lies they post? And you know that it is run by a Fox News employee, don’t you?

      FYI: The Hollywood Reporter also tried to debunk this along the same lines, but failed miserably. And how could I be lying when you are quoting me saying all the things you said I lied about? You really are mentally challenged, aren’t you Scott?

      • You’re the one who is mentally challenged. I just ran back your quote and pointed out that you contradicted yourself IN MID-SENTENCE.

        The proof is in the pudding. There has been ample discussion on Fox News about the issue of gun control right after the shooting. Furthermore, you posted a link from Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher; he is almost as dishonest a columnist as Paul Krugman.

Comments are closed.