Earlier today, Fox New's Happening Now cut away from President Obama's signing of the health care reconciliation bill (the one that fixed a couple gaps in the big one passed last week) in order to cover…. wait for it… a plane crash that never happened. Fox News was (it claims) told that the airplane had flap problems, so they cut in to watch a pefectly fine 737 make a perfectly fine landing.
This is becoming quite a pattern:
America Live cut away from Obama health care speech for reports on Toyota Prius crash, "Erin Andrews Peephole Stalker." On March 15, in the last week before the historic health care vote, America Live host Megyn Kelly cut away from Obama's health care speech, gave her own summary of his comments, and directed viewers who wished to see the speech in its entirety to FoxNews.com. She then moved on to discuss a pending news conference about a Toyota Prius that had crashed — a week earlier.
On Twitter, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz reported, "Fox breaks away early from Obama health care speech, MS & CNN still with it." He later added, "Now on Fox (instead of Obama): Erin Andrews Peephole Stalker to be Sentenced This Afternoon. Hasn't even happened yet!"
Fox cut away from Obama-GOP Q&A but airs GOP "response" in its entirety. During President Obama's question and answer session with Republican members of Congress at the GOP House Issues Conference, Fox News Channel was the only cable news network to cut away and not show the exchange in its entirety, instead providing commentary on the event. However, Fox News subsequently aired all of the "Republican response" press conference held by House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) after the question and answer session with Obama.
Fox cut away from terrorism press conference to show Glenn Beck. Fox News contributors spent several days criticizing the Obama administration's response to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's failed attempt to bring down a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day. However, Fox News responded to the administration's January 7 press conference about its handling of the incident — featuring Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, whom several Fox News personalities had called to step down — by cutting away to commentary on the event and then its regular programming: Glenn Beck, and its host's attack on the progressive movement and its "hundred-year time bomb."
I guess they want to be able to spin the narratives about Obama (how socialist and angry he is, how he always needs a teleprompter, etc) and it doesn't look good when their own coverage contradicts the spin.