Fox News Chastises Staff For Cheerleading The Teabaggers: We Are Not Performers

Embarrassed by a widely circulated video showing a Fox News segment producer exhorting a crowd of teabaggers to scream for the camera, Fox vice president Bill Sammon has issued a stern warning to all employees.

We do not cheerlead for one cause or another. We do not rile up a crowd. If a crowd happens to be boisterous when we show it on TV, so be it. If it happens to be quiet, that’s fine, too. It’s not our job to affect the crowd’s behavior one way or the other. Again, we’re journalists, not participants — and certainly not performers. Indeed, any effort to affect the crowd’s behavior only serves to undermine our legitimate journalistic role as detached eyewitnesses. Remember, our viewers are counting on us to be honest brokers when it comes to reporting — not altering –the important events of the day. That is nothing less than a sacred trust. We must always take pains to preserve that trust.