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Activists Call Upon U.S. Treasury Department to Probe Department Coziness With Fox News
Activists Call Upon U.S. Treasury Department to Probe Department Coziness With Fox News
Unearthed emails showed a Treasury official directing a Fox employee to use his preferred wording on a story. Democracy Forward wants the IG to see if that broke a federal law.
Maxwell Tani
Media Reporter
Published 09.03.19 12:40PM ET
https://www.thedailybeast.com/democracy-forward-calls-upon-us-treasury-department-to-probe-department-coziness-with-fox-news
Last month, advocacy group Democracy Forward released emails between Treasury officials and Fox Business Network employees after obtaining the messages through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The emails underscored the often cozy relationship that exists between Fox News or Fox Business and the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, in a new letter exclusively shared with The Daily Beast, Democracy Forward called upon on the Treasury’s inspector general to look into whether some of the actions unearthed in that FOIA deep-dive violated a relatively obscure federal law prohibiting government agencies from spreading information without disclosing its origin.
In a specific instance cited by Democracy Forward, a Treasury communications official directed a Fox Business Network employee to make changes to an article about a trip taken by Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin. The official crafted specific alterations for the article and Fox staff acquiesced to the official’s preferred headline and article text wording.
While lobbying for changes in a news article is common for flacks at both government agencies and private companies, Democracy Forward argued that the emails show Treasury officials “exerting substantial influence over FBN’s coverage and raises troubling questions regarding Treasury officials’ compliance with the covert propaganda ban.”
Unearthed emails showed a Treasury official directing a Fox employee to use his preferred wording on a story. Democracy Forward wants the IG to see if that broke a federal law.
Maxwell Tani
Media Reporter
Published 09.03.19 12:40PM ET
https://www.thedailybeast.com/democracy-forward-calls-upon-us-treasury-department-to-probe-department-coziness-with-fox-news
Last month, advocacy group Democracy Forward released emails between Treasury officials and Fox Business Network employees after obtaining the messages through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The emails underscored the often cozy relationship that exists between Fox News or Fox Business and the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, in a new letter exclusively shared with The Daily Beast, Democracy Forward called upon on the Treasury’s inspector general to look into whether some of the actions unearthed in that FOIA deep-dive violated a relatively obscure federal law prohibiting government agencies from spreading information without disclosing its origin.
In a specific instance cited by Democracy Forward, a Treasury communications official directed a Fox Business Network employee to make changes to an article about a trip taken by Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin. The official crafted specific alterations for the article and Fox staff acquiesced to the official’s preferred headline and article text wording.
While lobbying for changes in a news article is common for flacks at both government agencies and private companies, Democracy Forward argued that the emails show Treasury officials “exerting substantial influence over FBN’s coverage and raises troubling questions regarding Treasury officials’ compliance with the covert propaganda ban.”