Fox's Super Bowl Rightacular kicks off at 9:00 AM EST with Fox News Sunday hosted by Chris Wallace. After that, Studio B's Shepherd Smith will be joined by Fox News regulars Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly for two hours of Super Tuesday coverage from the game site in Glendale, Arizona:

FOX Super Sunday will also include a behind-the-scenes look as the action gets underway for the Superbowl. Meanwhile, FOX Business Network's Alexis Glick will offer a peek at the best commercials and the economics behind the biggest sporting event of the year while FOX News correspondents Carl Cameron and Major Garrett will provide live updates from the campaign trail alongside correspondent Bret Baier in Washington, D.C.

Also reporting from campaigns across the country will be Dick Brennan (WNYW FOX 5) with Rudy Giuliani, Harry Martin (WWOR My9) with Hillary Clinton, Jack Conaty (WFLD FOX 32) with Barack Obama, Scott Sayres (KDFW FOX 4) with Mike Huckabee, Joe Battenfeld (WFXT FOX25) with Mitt Romney, Steve Krafft (KSAZ FOX 10) with John McCain, Jason Carter (WHBQ FOX 13) with Fred Thompson and Bob Buckley (WGHP FOX8) with John Edwards.

While the outcome of the Patriots-Giants clash won't be known until Sunday night, the ultra conservative bias of Fox News' coverage can be taken as a given. Among other his other offenses, host Shepherd Smith referred to Democrat John Edwards as an "ambulance chaser." As MediaMatters reported, Smith introduced the January 3, 2008 segment by saying "John Edwards took a lot of heat for his $400 haircut" and airing a brief clip from the "I Feel Pretty" YouTube video showing Edwards adjusting his hair.

Meanwhile, Smith's Sunday studio partner Megyn Kelly has made Barack Obama the target of her fair and balanced reporting, as this November exchange with Hemmer showed:

KELLY: Well, in other news, Barack Obama makes a little girl cry. What? That story, Bill, in five minutes. He's made me cry many times.

HEMMER: And the day is not over.

For his part, Bill Hemmer (as John McCain might say) has always been a loyal foot soldier in Roger Ailes' right-wing media revolution. Last October, Hemmer aired a segment attacking Air America Radio subtly titled "War on God?" While displaying an image of former Air America host and Minnesota Democratic Senate candidate Al Franken with the chryon "Godless Programming," Hemmer teased:

"Is this the new war on religion? We'll check that out."

Of course, other aspects of Fox's Super Bowl coverage are much harder to predict. Will the New York Giants' NFL-leading pass rush be compared to the surge in Iraq? Will Fox analysts claim that the Giants' All Pro defensive end Osi Umenyiora attended an Islamic madrassa in Nigeria? Which will be greater - the number of Eli Manning touchdown passes or the numbers of spoken or graphic references to "Barack Osama?" Will Tom Brady be criticized for fathering a child out of wedlock with model Bridget Moynahan, or will the now-separated couple be seen a paragon of the "culture of life" for keeping the baby? Will Shepherd Smith denounce stadium workers at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona as illegal aliens taking jobs from hard-working Americans as part of a Democratic plan to "crush the economy?" Might Joe Buck and Troy Aikman voice Roger Ailes' lament that his close friend Rudy Giuliani was forced out of the starting lineup? Did the NFL destroy Bill Belichick's Spygate tapes to keep America safe?

On Friday, Fox News reported that 38% of Americans surveyed will be cheering for the Giants on Sunday, versus 33% for the heavily favored Patriots. No doubt, that will be the last fair and balanced reporting we get from Fox on Super Bowl Sunday.

—Perrspective 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) |

1 Comment

OMG. I think I'm going to be sick.

Posted by Sarah on February 2, 2008 3:16 PM

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