Al Punto Versus Fox News Sunday

As you may have heard, President Obama is going to appear on five Sunday shows this Sunday (rumor has it that McCain is despondent to learn that he hasn’t actually been President for the last eight months).

That, by itself, is notable. But there’s another notable detail about Obama’s Sunday blitz. Here are the five shows on which Obama will appear:

  • CBS’ Face the Nation
  • NBC’s Meet the Press
  • ABC’s This Week
  • CNN’s State of the Union
  • Univision’s Al Punto

Note the last one: instead of rounding out the top five with Fox News Sunday, Obama is appearing on Univision’s Sunday show, Al Punto.

Now, this not the first time that Presidents have appeared on Univision: Clinton appeared on Univision five times, W was on six times, and Obama has done a couple of interviews with Univision as well.

But this is the first time a Obama is the first President who has appeared will appear on Al Punto (the show started in September 2007, at the same time as Univision was hosting a Presidential debate) [correction: Obama has been on before]. 

As such, it seems to me, it ought to focus some attention on Al Punto’s role in the Sunday line-up. And, as it turns out, the White House can justify blowing off Fox for Univision not just to reach out to Latinos rather than white racists. According to Univision’s corporate communications, Al Punto (531,000) does better than FNS (417,000) in the all-important 18-49 demographic (and has done so for the last 10 months), and it often beats CBS’ Face the Nation in that demo as well.

The white racists are in a tizzy crying that Obama is unfair in ignoring Fox.

[Joe "You Lie!"] Wilson, who was reprimanded this week by the House for his outburst at Obama last week, said that by excluding Fox, the president was not being fair.

“If people are going to be on the Sunday talk shows, they should be on all of them,” Wilson said.

Wilson, incidentally, appeared on “Fox News Sunday” last week, but not on any of the other Sunday shows.

Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told The Hill that Obama has “handpicked” his audience.

“I think that Fox News would ask some realistic questions that members of Congress are asked and the American public is aaaasking. And he’s the one who’s choosing not to take part in that,” Sessions said on Wednesday.

But what’s really going on is that Obama has chosen to appear on the more popular show. Of course, as it turns out, Latino news is more popular among key demographics than white racist news, at least on Sunday shows. Which might explain why people like Joe Wilson are so upset.

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57 replies
  1. Sambot says:

    But what’s really going on is that Obama has chosen to appear on the more popular show. What must really gall the white racists is that Latino news is more popular–at least on Sunday mornings–than racist news.

    Yeah, right!

  2. Neil says:

    Wouldn’t it be great if the major networks read it this way? The story could be told from Joe Wilson’s perspective with balance coming from the media’s knowledge of viewership numbers: No it’s not race-driven or ideology-driven, it’s market-driven. We’ll see it on MSNBC tonight for sure. They get a lot of their good material reading netroots in general and our favorite author in particular.

  3. 1boringoldman says:

    But what’s really going on is that Obama has chosen to appear on the more popular show.

    On the other hand, maybe he’s joining our boycott of that wretched network. Of all the people in the country, Barack Obama is the most deserving of that right.

    As things progressed, I didn’t notice Dick Cheney spreading himself around. Joe Wilson says that Obama isn’t being fair [Fox News is fair?] and Sessions says Obama is handpicking his audience [yeah. Sane people].

    Why continue to legitimize Fox News? If people want to see Obama, they can change channels. It’s easy…

  4. freepatriot says:

    faux gnus, meet karma

    karma, you already know faux gnus

    now you kids try to get along

    go play …

    hey rupert, yer kid is throwing a temper tantrum

    (wink)

  5. SmileySam says:

    Hand Picked Audiences ? What we need on the frontpage is a piece on the way Bush not only picked his crowds, but how the Secret Service scanned the parking lots for liberal bumper stickers to make sure no liberal snuck in to protest the Torture , or the Wiretapping of Americans. Bush rarely , if ever, appeared in front of a crowd of Americans that had not been vetted by republicans operatives. How soon we forget.

  6. Peterr says:

    But what’s really going on is that Obama has chosen to appear on the more popular show. Of course, as it turns out, Latino news is more popular among key demographics than white racist news, at least on Sunday shows.

    Oh, sure — appeal to the masses and go for what’s popular.

    Why does Obama hate the oppressed white racist minority community? Has he no compassion for the poor and downtrodden?

    /s

  7. jayt says:

    Wilson, incidentally, appeared on “Fox News Sunday” last week, but not on any of the other Sunday shows.

    the man just doesn’t know when to shut up. RawStory has him busted on another issue today:

    Two months before he heckled Obama, he introduced legislation to keep Sainey Fatty, an illegal immigrant from Gambia, in the country. Fatty came to the U.S. for school in the early ’90s and lived here for seven years while under a deportation order, according to his friend Bill Cook’s blog.

    In his bill, Wilson asks Congress to forgive Fatty’s immigration woes, drop the deportation order against Fatty and allow him to remain in the country legally.

    Look out Eric Cantor – you have a new competitor for “Dumbest of The Dumb”!

    • Neil says:

      Apparently, Wilson also made a claim about being an immigration lawyer yet nobody who does practice that specialty in South Carolina can corroborate it.

    • bmaz says:

      That is actually a very nice little piece of under the radar jiu jitsu. Obama can’t play chess for squat, but Leahy just made a major move.

  8. GregB says:

    Who would want to sit on the same chairs that Bill O’Reilly and Dick Morris sit on?

    Talk about needing bleach.

    Eeepah!

    -G

  9. nahant says:

    Fu*k Joe Wilson and Faux news!! Why should he ever go on Faux news?? They will never ever present a view that differs from Republican Talking Points!!

  10. ratfood says:

    Snubbing Fox News is the first thing Obama has done in quite some time of which I approve. Two days to go though, I just hope he doesn’t capitulate (yet again).

    • OldFatGuy says:

      Dood, it’s comforting to know one can count on RF to bring a good belly laugh as much as one can count on the sun rising.

      Thank you muchly.

      Again.

  11. ThingsComeUndone says:

    Univision’s Al Punto
    Note the last one: instead of rounding out the top five with Fox News Sunday, Obama is appearing on Univision’s Sunday show, Al Punto.

    I am so glad Obama is using Hispanic Media thanks for the good news EW:)

      • ThingsComeUndone says:

        Good job if they have been using the posts you spotlighted then maybe Obama noticed and decided to reward them:) Plus they do have a larger audience and don’t lie like Fox does.
        If Fox wants Obama maybe they could get Fox News to stop lying about Obama first!

        • OldFatGuy says:

          If Fox wants Obama maybe they could get Fox News to stop lying about Obama first!

          In all fairness to Faux News, it’s not a discriminatory thing reserved solely for Obama. They lie about EVERYTHING, not just Obama.

  12. ChuckinDenton says:

    Man, its not like this is rocket science, GOP. Obama looks like he’s playing eleven dimensional chess when its only, ya know, actual chess. Its just that y’all are so incompetent that it looks like eleven.

    Or, you’re afraid he’ll get *more* Hispanic votes than he has already.

    Can I choose all of the above?

        • ChuckinDenton says:

          It is Denton, Texas. Why would I fear the Hispanic vote? I’m still mystified by your possible mystification. I’m calling out the GOP for their barely concealed hissy fit over Obama’s choice not appear on their unoffical mouthpiece Faux News. Perhaps my humor (such as it is) is too obtuse?

        • Bluetoe2 says:

          It’s all coming into focus ChuckinDenton. It may well be that your humor is not obtuse but merely my power of perception.

        • ChuckinDenton says:

          To quote a bad cliche, “its all good”. I don’t post here often enough for anyone to know me. I’m sure your perception is fine. After all, you are following the most excellent Emptywheel! Cheers!

        • freepatriot says:

          I don’t know about “obtuse”, but that barely counts as humor

          if ya gotta splain em, they jes ain’t that funny

          that’s what got ya in trouble here

          (wink)

  13. Bluetoe2 says:

    McCain hasn’t been President for the last 8 months??? Despite the lofty feel good rhetoric, it’s sometimes hard to tell.

  14. ThingsComeUndone says:

    Fox needs ratings to pay off the bank loan they got to buy the WallStreet Journal

    The world’s most famous stock index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, may get a new owner and possibly a name change after 113 years, if Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation follows through on selling its stock-index business.

    The Wall Street Journal, owned by Dow Jones until its sale to News Corporation in 2007, has reported the company is exploring a sale of the unit.

    Goldman Sachs has been hired to evaluate deals that may fetch $US700 million and prompt a new moniker for the flagship index.

    http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/d…..nge-108877

    Rupert is selling the Dow Jones the WallStreet Journal Editor picks which companies belong in the index.
    Think about index funds they are all required to buy what is in the index the Dow Jones says in the index.
    Rupert would not give up such power if he was not already hurting.
    Losing Obama and hopefully losing Dems coming on his Network shows won’t help.
    If the Christmas Newspaper ad buy is weak this year expect Rupert to sell more companies.
    5 to 7 pound Sunday papers full of Christmas ads were the norm before Bush destroyed the economy light weight Christmas season papers this year will mean Rupert is in trouble.

  15. helenwiells says:

    Well, first of all, does ANYBODY still believe that Fox is an actual news network (cuz I got this great bridge…). And, please people…there are few choices that President Obama (have you noticed Fox RARELY refers to him as “President”?) can make to deliberately diss these jokers. Good on ‘im.

  16. SparklestheIguana says:

    “I think that Fox News would ask some realistic questions that members of Congress are asked and the American public is aaaasking. And he’s the one who’s choosing not to take part in that,” Sessions said on Wednesday.

    Someone at The Hill got their finger stuck on A?

  17. Legion303 says:

    “Wilson, who was reprimanded this week by the House for his outburst at Obama last week, said that by excluding Fox, the president was not being fair.”

    You know what? Fox can eat a bowl of dicks. And Wilson can help them.

  18. pluege says:

    what hopefully is going on is that Obamadmin has given up on their foolery thinking they could ever do anything productive with the lying sack of shit insane white racist party, finally realizing that the lying sack of shit insane white racist party will not support health care reform no matter what Obama does, or how much is given away to the plutocracy, and that he better work on maximizing his support for health care reform among real people and the reality-based community if he hopes to pass anything recognizable as health care reform and to stave off the shrieking shit storm that the lying sack of shit violently insane white racist community will throw after something passes NO MATTER WHAT PASSES. Hopefully that is what this means.

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