Fox News Won't Show Ad Opposing Alito

WASHINGTON - Fox News is refusing to air an advertisement critical of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, citing its lawyers' contention that the spot is factually incorrect.

A spokesman for the groups sponsoring the ad said the network's decision reflects the political right's effort to shield President Bush's choice for the high court.

The ad says that as an appellate court judge, Alito has "ruled to make it easier for corporations to discriminate ... even voted to approve strip search of a 10-year-old girl." Referring to a document Alito wrote in 1985 while seeking a job in the Reagan administration, it quotes him as saying that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion."

The groups backing the ad include the Alliance for Justice, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, People for The American Way and abortion rights organizations.

"It's not about ideology, it's about quality and honesty," Irena Briganti, a Fox News spokeswoman, said of the decision to reject the ad.

...

• Fox's Gibson and Hannity, NY Post falsely claimed that House voted on Murtha's resolution
• Hannity again falsely claimed that Reagan's tax cuts "doubled revenue"
• Milking a story for all it's worth, media uncritically report crumbling allegation that Democrats threw Oreos at Steele
• Barnes: War in Iraq is "not intensifying"; U.S. troops "aren't the targets"
• O'Reilly: "War" on Christmas part of "secular progressive agenda" that includes "legalization of narcotics, euthanasia, abortion at will, gay marriage"

An additional point: the anti-Alito advertisement is designed to show a persuasive message rather than provide balanced, neutralized perspectives. It's an advertisement. 'Accuracy' is probably not the best test. Unless you need to fabricate a reason to throw it out. Faux News: I suggest you apply this same test to a few commerce-oriented commercials and see how they fare. I predict a low success ratio.

Kevin Drum puts it this way:

Put it this way -- if Fox News was willing to run Bush-Cheney 2004 ads, this Alito spot should have cleared the network's fact-checking process with flying colors.

Lastly, if Faux News is promoting the confirmation of Alito, and the organizations listed above are against it, we should all be scared of him.

FYI - People for the American Way has a petition to sign...

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