The Outfoxed gals just can't avoid the L-word. It's what Dr Freud called "projection". Updated!

Roger Ailes dared to give an interview to C-Span, and the newshounds (another fine product of the Outfoxed syndicate) sprung into action. Reckless as ever, newspup ellen headlined her piece "The Lies of Roger Ailes". But with a teaser like that, you'd better be able to deliver:

According to Ailes, he requires his reporters to "present the news, if there is more than one side, make sure you have it. If you think there's something else you don't agree with make sure it's in the story." Comment: If Ailes isn't lying, then either his reporters are failing miserably with that assignment or Ailes must not be following their reports. See, for example, my posts Prison Abuse a la FOX: The Military Perspective Only, Major Garrett Promotes Bush's National Sales Tax, and FOX Acquits the US Marine in Fallujah Again.

Prison Abuse: ellen's complaint is that, besides reporting the New York Times story that there may be abuses at Guantanamo Bay, Bret Baier also included denials from Pentagon spokesmen and showed video of prisoners. In Ellen's World, the report would be the Times allegations and nothing else--in other words, one-sided. Score 1 for Ailes, 0 for ellen. And, it might be added, ellen was reporting on a foxnews.com website report, not an FNC broadcast.

Major Garrett: Garrett was interviewed by Alan Colmes about the National Sales Tax. Far from "promoting" it, he gave the arguments from both sides, and was careful to note pro-NST arguments with the disclaimer "proponents say...". Callers phoned in serious reservations about the NST, but if Garrett was there "promoting" it, he did a poor job. As ellen herself admits: "Garrett did not dispute any of these points." Ailes 2, ellen 0. And, it might be added, ellen was reporting on Garrett's appearance on the Alan Colmes radio show, not an FNC broadcast.

Fox Acquits: Finally, an actual broadcast on FNC to illustrate ellen's point. However, it turns out to have nothing to do with Fox's straight news reporting at all. It's a segment from The O'Reilly Factor, where a military analyst--an expert there to give an opinion--gave an opinion. It was not a Fox reporter at all. Ailes 3, ellen 0.

"We haven't retracted a story in eight years." Comment: Off the top of my head, I can think of two: The Kerry is a Metrosexual "joke" played by reporter Carl Cameron and the phony Communists for Kerry story by Jane Roh.

Of course the first was a mistaken upload, not a story. And, it might be added, ellen is again referring to items that appeared on the foxnews.com website, not FNC broadcasts. Ailes 4, ellen 1 (we're being generous--'tis the season).

"(The Oil for Food scandal) is "the largest financial scandal in history." Comment: What about BCCI? Off the FOX radar screen, apparently, along with Halliburton.

What about BCCI? It amounted to 10-17 billion dollars, a bit short of the 22 billion of the Oil for Food scandal. And Halliburton? Not even in the same ballpark. Ailes 5, ellen 1.

Ailes may like America but he seems to like better demonizing any Americans who disagree with him....See, for example, Taking Sides in Cupertino.

That particular entry was a diatribe against the wording of an advertisement for Hannity and Colmes, who were in Cupertino for a special show--a show on which there were equal representatives for all points of view on the issues discussed. Ailes 6, ellen 1. And, it might be added, the advertisement ellen is complaining about appeared in a banner on foxnews.com, not on an FNC broadcast.

How exactly does presenting all sides of an issue "demonize" anyone? Ellen should know, since she is doing her best to demonize Ailes. She throws out multiple examples as her "proof" that Roger Ailes is a liar, but not one of the items she cites has anything to do with the straight news reporting on the Fox News Channel. So instead the cur critics hammer at the twin devils of opinion and analysis, O'Reilly and Hannity, as if they each broadcast 12 hours of every news day. It is not by accident that On the Record with Greta van Susteren always escapes the scrutiny of the tail-waggers--in all the months the newspoodles have been maligning Fox News Channel, they have never posted an article about Greta's work on this program or any of her guests. Not one! It may be a lie of omission, but it's still another lie.

Update: It appears ellen found another "lie":

A FOXNews.com article about the USA Patriot Act says "The Justice Department has said it has not used Section 215 to access library records." If FOX News had made any effort at all to check that fact, they could have easily discovered that the American Library Association has information to the contrary....Another link leads to the referenced survey. Question 15a asks whether any of the court orders for information about patrons were pursuant to Section 215 of the Patriot Act. 10% were.

Ellen wants the reader to believe this is an example of Fox not telling both sides of the story. But unfortunately the survey she quotes has long been discredited. Regardless of what the underpaid library assistants who filled out the ALA forms wrote down, FBI data made public in 2003 (but previously known to Congress) reveals no--zilch, zero--search warrants pursuant to Section 215 during the year covered by the ALA "survey" and beyond. The "facts" that ellen cites were, quite simply, wrong. Only in the world of the newspoodles does telling both sides mean including falsehoods to balance the true facts.