Fox News apologizes 4 times for inaccurate comments about Muslims in Europe
By Brian Stelter @brianstelter January 18, 2015: 8:18 AM ET
money.cnn.com
Fox News took time out of four broadcasts on Saturday to apologize for four separate instances of incorrect information that portrayed Muslims in a negative light.Several of the cases involved incendiary comments about "no-go zones" in Europe, where Islamic law supposedly supersedes local law and where non-Muslims fear to go.
Other media outlets have accused Fox of exaggerations and falsehoods, and even British Prime Minister David Cameron mocked one of the assertions.
On Saturday, Fox apologized morning, noon and night.
Jeanine Pirro issued the final correction of the day, at 9:10 p.m., for something her guest Steve Emerson said a week earlier: that Birmingham, England is a "totally Muslim city where non-Muslims don't go in." Emerson was ridiculed for his comments, and he subsequently apologized.
"Last week on this program, a guest made a serious factual error that we wrongly let stand unchallenged and uncorrected," Pirro said.
She went on to say that "the most recent census data, which is from 2011, indicates 22% of the population of Birmingham identifies themselves as Muslim. Also, we could find no credible source that indicates Birmingham is a so-called no-go zone."
Related: Murdoch and Fox draw online backlash
"No-go zones" have been a theme on Fox. Critics have accused the network of advancing a frightening narrative that demeans peaceful Muslims.
Earlier on Saturday, on the morning show "Fox & Friends," co-host Anna Kooiman referred to the previous week's program, when "we showed a map of neighborhoods in France labeled as no-go zones."
"Some of the neighborhoods were highlighted incorrectly," she said. "We apologize for the error." |
