Perino says it "feels un-American" for White House to criticize a news outlet, but she did it

[NNN0LHI]

http://mediamatters.org/research/200910230002

Perino says it "feels un-American" for White House to criticize a news outlet, but as Bush's press secretary she blasted NBC

Perino said she "could have" criticized MSNBC, "but I thought it was not the right thing to do ... it feels un-American"

Perino to Van Susteren: I felt criticizing MSNBC from the podium "was not the right thing to do ... it feels un-American." On the October 22 edition of Fox News' On the Record with Greta van Susteren, Perino stated: "What was interesting to me is, just from my perspective having been in a White House, there is a network, MSNBC, that I could have said that about the evening anchors, or some people in the morning or -- I could have taken that tack, but I thought it was not the right thing to do, and I think it's mostly because it's really unproductive, it feels un-American, and it's not inspiring."

Perino on Fox & Friends: "{T}here were some people who really wanted me, from the podium, to go after MSNBC, and I just thought it was a bridge too far." Perino stated on the October 19 edition of Fox & Friends: "I could have asked the same thing about MSNBC or about some of the programs that are on CNN. I understand that there are some commentators that have prime-time hours on Fox that they don't agree with and that they wouldn't want to do interviews with. And that's fine. But I think that they should then, you know, rise above it." She later added: "{B}elieve me, there were some people who really wanted me, from the podium, to go after MSNBC, and I just thought it was a bridge too far, not something that should be done from the White House. If they want to have the DNC bash Fox News all they want, you know, so be it. But, I would not do it from the White House. I don't think it's presidential, and I think people would see through it."

But Perino did take shots at NBC from the podium

As press secretary, Perino stated how "we had gotten fed up with the way that the President's policies are being mischaracterized" by NBC. In a May 20, 2008, press briefing, when asked about "the back-and-forth between you guys and NBC News," and a letter sent by then-White House counselor Ed Gillespie to NBC alleging the network had "deceptively edited" an interview with Bush, Perino stated, "The reason that we sent the letter yesterday is because we had gotten fed up with the way that the President's policies are being mischaracterized." She added, "We had complained before. And it just reached a boiling point when things had boiled over when we believed that NBC News specifically edited out -- intentionally edited out -- something that the President said in response to a question in an interview regarding Iran, and that it mischaracterized the whole interview because of it."

[hobbit709]

1. Who pulled her string, and why?

[KharmaTrain]

2. Cause The Corporate Media Can...

I could see Newton after discovering gravity questioned on the medivial cables..."it's just a theory", "some people say Newton is in the pocket of the heretics" and "some people say Newton is trying to push an agenda". Typical corporate media claptrap. It's far easier to get an "expert" than to do real reporting.

The corporate media loves and hates this story. They love it cause it puts them in the center of the political universe. For faux, they're using it to boost ratings and play "victim" to rally their base. MSNBC benefits as they are seen as the "anti-faux" (no they're not "liberal" or progressive as long as they're owned by GE and have asshats like Joey on the air every day) and Chicken Noodle Nuze is pretending to be oblivious to all around them...playing as if they have no conflicts of their own and are the "adults" in this sandbox fight.

Perino was the ultimate coporate hack press secretary. She was given the job for one sole purpose...boredom. After seeing McClelland and then Snow get beat up and how the Press gaggles turned into lightning rods of criticism, they brought in Perino to look pretty and say nothing. She did her job well.