Monday, June 29, 2009

Fox Nation Pushes ‘Satire’ Site’s Article About Ridge Attacking Limbaugh As Fact-Based Truth

THINK PROGRESS

Last Thursday, while appearing on C-Span’s Washington Journal, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R) was asked about former Vice President Dick Cheney’s statement that “Rush Limbaugh is Republican and Colin Powell is not.” “Colin Powell was a Republican as far as I’m concerned,” said Ridge, adding that “it’s that mindset” displayed by Cheney that is hurting the GOP’s “unity.” Watch it:

On his radio show, Limbaugh responded to Ridge, saying, “I must have missed something, because I remember that Colin Powell endorsed the Democrat, Barack Obama, at a strategic point in the campaign in 2008.” The blog, Elective Decisions, which features “the satire of Chris Davis,” then wrote up a post saying that Ridge responded to Rush by challenging him to a fight:

So this morning, Ridge went back on Washington Journal, responding to Limbaugh’s rhetoric. “I’m so sick of Rush Limbaugh. He’s the reason we lose elections. He needs to get the hell out of the Republican Party. As far as I’m concerned, he isn’t a Republican anymore. The man’s running. The man’s hiding. He’s too scared to face me!”

Ridge continued his rant, threatening Limbaugh. “Meanwhile, he sits there in his ‘Southern Command Post,’ and destroys the Republican Party! I’d like to just have three rounds in a boxing ring with that guy so I could shut him up! I’m caling (sic) you out, Limbaugh. Let’s see if you have a big enough set of marbles to back up your crap!”

Though the “Elective Decisions” blog is clearly marked as “satire,” the Fox Nation linked to the post and promoted it as if it were based on reported facts:

Fox Nation promotes a satire story as a true story.

This isn’t the first time Fox News has promoted a parody as truth. In 2007, the network aired at least eight segments on a purported “news” story that was actually a parody article.

Update - The Fox Nation post appears to have been taken down. If you follow the above link, it will lead you to a page saying that "The requested page could not be found."

No comments: