Fox closes out decade by pushing debunked falsehoods

http://mediamatters.org/items/201001030014

Fox News and its website The Fox Nation closed out 2009 by advancing debunked attacks on President Obama. Specifically, Fox News hosted Ann Coulter, who repeatedly made the false claim that Obama attended "madrassas" as a child, while The Fox Nation continued to promote Andrew Breitbart's story that "ACORN CEO Visited Obama White House Week Before Scandal Broke" days after it was reported that the "Bertha Lewis" who visited the White House was not, in fact, the Bertha Lewis who is the CEO of ACORN.

Coulter brings back 3-year-old madrassa lie on Fox News

Coulter: Obama "attended madrassas." On the December 28 edition of The O'Reilly Factor and the December 30 edition of Glenn Beck, Coulter repeatedly claimed that Obama "studied at madrassas" as a child, and suggested that such attendance made him "specially situated" to promote racial profiling. At no point did Eric Bolling, who was guest host of both programs, challenge or correct Coulter's falsehood.

Fox previously "clarif[ied]" its false report that Obama had attended madrassas. In January 2007, Fox & Friends' hosts advanced the right-wing falsehood that Obama had attended a madrassa in Indonesia as a child. Days later, co-host Steve Doocy "clarif[ied]" the report, stating that "Mr. Obama's people called and they said that that is absolutely false. They said the idea that Barack Obama went to a radical Muslim school is completely ridiculous. In his book it does say that he went to a mostly Muslim school but not to a madrassa." Indeed, CNN conclusively debunked the falsehood that the school Obama attended had been a "madrassa." Subsequently, John Moody, who was a Fox News executive at the time, reportedly said that the Fox News hosts who ran with the false story "violated one of our general rules, which is know what you are talking about. ... They reported information from a publication whose accuracy we didn't know."

Fox Nation still trumpeting Breitbart's ACORN story days after it is debunked

Big Government: "ACORN'S CEO was in the Residence at the White House." In a December 30 post titled "White House Visitors Log: ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis In Obama Residence Week Before Sting Videos Launched," Big Government contributor Publius, the pseudonym of the site's "Editorial Panel," claimed that the "Bertha E. Lewis" who recently released visitors logs indicate visited the White House on September 5 was ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis.

Ben Smith: Wrong Bertha Lewis. In a blog post the next day, Politico's Ben Smith reported that according to an "administration official," the "Bertha E. Lewis" who visited the White House was not the Bertha Lewis who is the CEO of ACORN. Moreover, Smith noted that the ACORN CEO's middle initial is "M," not "E."

Days after claim was debunked, Fox Nation still promoting Breitbart's story. On December 31, The Fox Nation promoted the Big Government post with the following image:

Fox Nation continued to promote the story through January 3.