Fox News has claimed that President Obama has not been keeping his campaign promises he has made since becoming president in 2008. He keeps "re-drawing" the red line for Republicans threatening to shut down the government over ObamaCare. The article says "The president has had mixed success in keeping that vow over the past few years...However, in 2011 he failed to reach a “grand bargain” with House Republicans over the debt ceiling, forcing both sides to eventually accept a series of drastic spending cuts known as sequester." President Obama responded that by saying that the sequester wasn't his idea, it was Congress'. This is a violation of one of the Nine Core Principles of Journalism: Verification. Fox News has no recordings of other sources or witnesses besides what they are saying. This article only has one point of view; from a republican.
Another violation of the Core Principal: Truth. The article says "President Obama vowing that Syria would “cross a red line” by using chemical weapons is far from the only marker he’s laid down or promise he’s tried to keep since running for president in 2008." Which is simply bashing Obama in how he is dealing with the chemical weapon situation. The whole truth is in fact not being told. From a different new source, the article "Obama: U.S. concludes Syria carried out chemical weapons attacks" from http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/28/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html says that "
"We do not believe that, given the delivery systems, using rockets, that the opposition could have carried out these attacks. We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out," Obama told "NewsHour."
"And if that's so, then there need to be international consequences," the president added.
Obama said that he has "not made a decision" about whether to conduct a military strike in Syria." CNN states more acurate facts, and also has more sources whereas Fox News is reporting false information about President Obama.
Violation of the Core Principle: Inclusive. Fox News is stating some of the truth, but not the whole truth. it says here, "The president appeared to try to blur the red line when he said earlier this month: "I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line. … My credibility isn't on the line. The international community’s credibility is on the line." President Obama did NOT set a red line. He says “I didn’t set a red line. The world set a red line.” from the article "President Obama and the ‘red line’ on Syria’s chemical weapons" from http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2013/09/06/president-obama-and-the-red-line-on-syrias-chemical-weapons/
Fox News is a more conservative point of view. Instead of just showing one side of the story, informing the people with both sides of the story would be more helpful and insightful for those reading the news. When writing an article, telling the whole truth and not leaving any important or key facts out, even if it doesn't agree with what you believe in. This is the Core Principle: Room For Dissent. Not letting morales and beliefs getting in the way of doing a job is an important part of being a journalist.
But even the Washington Post said that Obama's statement was muddled. He did clearly say that chemical weapons were a red line and then tried to attribute that statement to the global community. I find that this Fox News article is a lot more fair than you give it credit for. Its journalistic problems come from relying largely upon a single source (Politifact).
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