Fox News PAC

SUMMARY: Fox News crossed a new ethical line when it aired a 4-minute anti-Obama attack video last week, the morning after Mitt Romney officially secured the GOP nomination. Even conservatives are criticizing it as essentially a free campaign ad for Romney and the Republican National Committee.

CORE MESSAGE

Fox News is a partisan political operation, not a news organization.

Connect: Our democracy cannot function without a news media that's honest and fair.

Define: Fox News is a partisan political organization that routinely misinforms the public, not the news outlet it pretends to be.

Illustrate: Fox News smears Democrats, repeats GOP talking points word-for-word, and donates millions of dollars in free airtime to Republican candidates who fundraise and market themselves on air.

New low: The morning after Mitt Romney clinched the GOP nomination, Fox even aired its own $100,000 anti-Obama attack ad for Republicans.

Bottom line: Fox News is not in the business of journalism. It's not trying to inform people -- it's trying to misinform them on behalf of the GOP.

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FOX NEWS EXECS ON FOX NEWS:

Fox News has spent the entire Obama administration actively campaigning against the President, starting soon after the election when the network's president Roger Ailes admitted that he saw the network as "the Alamo."
Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming for Fox News, openly admitted in 2009 that the network is the "voice of opposition on some issues."
Fox News' Washington Managing Editor Bill Sammon has been caught ordering his reporters to slant their coverage and admitted to using the network for political "mischief," drawing criticism from veteran D.C. bureau chiefs that "this isn't journalism."

LIKE A POLITICAL CAMPAIGN, FOX DOES MONEY, MOBILIZATION, AND MESSAGE FOR THE GOP:

MONEY

More than 30 Fox News employees endorsed, raised funds, or campaigned for over 300 Republican candidates or organizations.
The 4 minute anti-Obama ad that Fox News recently aired was worth $100,000 in free advertising for the Republican Party. In 2010, Fox News gave potential Republican presidential candidates who also served as Fox News hosts or contributors over 85 hours of airtime, worth $55 million in free advertising.
During the 2012 Republican primary season, Fox News gave nearly every potential GOP presidential nominee a platform to get their message out and fundraise, totaling 600 appearances and 75 hours in airtime.
Fox News' parent company, News Corp. donated $1 million to the Republican Governors Association and $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce election coffers.

MOBILIZATION

Fox News relentlessly showcased the Tea Party rallies, explicitly mobilizing its viewers by encouraging them to join in and connecting the movement to its own brand -- building up the Tea Party into a potent force in Washington politics.
At the same time, Fox News has relentlessly smeared and demonized the Occupy Wall Street movement.

MESSAGE

Fox News routinely peddles Republican talking points, often repeating them word-for-word without citation -- including mistakes found in original GOP materials.
Fox News even commonly distorts simple charts and misleadingly twists factual data to reinforce Republican talking points.
As a result, Fox News viewers are the most misinformed audience of any major news network. And Fox News isn't doing the Republican Party big favors either.

We develop messaging by aggregating, analyzing and distilling polling, tested messaging, and expert recommendations, and monitoring the media to identify what is and isn't working. See here for some of the experts and organizations we draw on.