As the occupation of Wall Street enters its third week, the New York Observer points out that the notoriously right-wing Fox News has been doing its best to dismiss the protests. Fox has had its producers try to “prank” demonstrators, and the network has aired edited video interview footage to try to mock protesters.
Yet the Observer notes that there was one interview with a protester that Fox failed to air. Last week, a producer from Greta van Susteren’s show interviewed a demonstrator named Jesse LaGreca. LaGreca offered an eloquent defense of the protests and growing economic inequality in the United States, and scolded the Fox staffer for his network’s role as a far-right “propaganda machine.” LaGreca noted Fox’s parent corporation was under investigation by the Department of Justice and that the network was “wasting time” on subjects such as President Obama’s birth certificate and Solyndra.
The Fox producer promised LaGreca he would “put any message you want out there, to give you fair coverage,” yet when the show was aired Wednesday, the footage was nowhere to be found. Watch LaGreca’s interview with Fox:
As the Observer writes, “no news organization is under obligation to air every interview they’ve filmed.” But it raises eyebrows to watch a network that totes itself as “Fair and Balanced” not air an interview with a protester who intelligently defended his cause and criticized the network’s coverage while it continues to take constant potshots at the demonstrators.
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