Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Funny tidbit on the on Fox spin and the Marine Corps
What can you say?
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Fox News Channel, which famously prefers the term "homicide bomber" over "suicide bomber," is taken to task in the new documentary "Outfoxed" for another attempt to make sure its newscasters use the right words. (And by right, we mean "correct," of course, not right wing.) A batch of internal advisories to Fox staffers, obtained by the filmmakers, includes one issued April 28 when U.S. Marines were conducting operations at Fallujah:
"Let's refer to the US marines we see in the foreground as 'sharpshooters,' not snipers, which carries a negative connotation," the network's senior vice president for news, John Moody, told staffers via e-mail. One problem: Marines want to be called snipers. "Sharpshooter" has less luster.
"There is no better sniper than a U.S. Marine Corps sniper," Maj. Jason Johnston, a USMC spokesman at the Pentagon, told us Friday. "A sniper would say, 'I'm not a sharpshooter, I'm a Marine Corps sniper, not to be confused with any other service's snipers.' . . . Hey, Marines are very proud of their titles."
In sniper school, he explained, "we have three levels of marksmanship. The lowest level is marksman. The second one is sharpshooter. The highest you can get is expert."
Though Fox prides itself on accurate, pro-military coverage, Johnston described the blunder this way: "It's just as bad as when the media calls us soldiers." (A soldier serves in something known as the Army.)
A network spokesman said he had no comment on the memos but referred us to Moody's remarks in The Post last week defending Fox and saying: "People are free to call me or message me and say, 'I think you're off base.' Sometimes I take the advice, sometimes I don't."
Our advice: If a Marine calls, listen.
What can you say?
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