For the first time in his presidency, a broadcast network is declining to give President Obama an hour in primetime for a news conference. Fox says it will run a new episode of drama Lie To Me instead. ABC, CBS and NBC all say they will air the press conference, set for Wednesday at 8 pm. Fox has two cable outlets that will be covering the presser live. As a result, Fox will present an on-screen graphic at the start of the hour directing viewers to Fox News Channel or Fox Business Network to watch the press conference. While pressers are the bread and butter of cable news, broadcast networks stand to lose millions in advertising revenue by shifting or rescheduling their normal programming. Fox has twice this year shifted its top show American Idol to make room for the White House requests.
If another network did this to Bush, FOX would have railed on it as unpatriotic, which it sort of is since this is the President talking to the country. Fox's reporters must be busy tracking down comments from Karl Rove on his statement that we shouldn't spend money on Swine flu medication or taking a closer look at why a Governor of Louisiana has an opinion on why we shouldn't study volcanos.
If another network did this to Bush, FOX would have railed on it as unpatriotic, which it sort of is since this is the President talking to the country. Fox's reporters must be busy tracking down comments from Karl Rove on his statement that we shouldn't spend money on Swine flu medication or taking a closer look at why a Governor of Louisiana has an opinion on why we shouldn't study volcanos.