A Cop Killing and a Beheading: How Fox News Picks and Chooses Its ‘Terrorism’ Targets
In two weeks since the shooting, the Fox programs monitored by Nexis have mentioned Frein’s name in just six reports, and most of those were simply news updates that consisted of one or two sentences. Only one segment, which aired on On The Record With Greta Van Susteren, featured an extended conversation about the killing and the subsequent manhunt. In none of the six Fox reports however, were Frein’s vocal anti-government leanings mentioned, nor was there any suggestion Frein was a domestic terrorist.
Hosts Neil Cavuto, Bill O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly and Sean Hannity have all ignored the shocking cop-killer story. In general, Fox has provided almost no commentary, no context, and certainly no collective blame for the execution.
By contrast, in the days since the Oklahoma killing, Fox programs monitored by Nexis have flooded the zone with coverage of the beheading, totaling hours and hours of coverage. Most of Fox’s reports offered extended, overheated commentary, and most of them dwelled on the fact the killing may have been an act of terror.
As some of you may recall from seeing my multiple pages on it, the trooper shooting is a local story for me. The entire area, and especially the two townships in the dedicated search area, has been terrorized by the incident. Schools closed for a week, small businesses closed or experiencing loss of customers, law enforcement under attack all seem like natural hooks for the “conservative” news channel. Plus the suspect is still on the loose - a perfect excuse to pound the story into the ground.
I will note without further comment the two big differences between the two suspects - race and religion.
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