Inappropriate... Confusion
This will be the first and last blog posted on the Fox News site regarding the miscommunications that are directly related to NBC's Meet the Press broadcast. As the Fox News anchor, I would like to make a few statements so that all of this confusion can be put behind us. Thursday January 17, 2008 NBC hosted a live broadcast event, Meet the Press. As the Fox News anchor I had inquired about the format and what NBC was focusing on for their Meet the Press event the Tuesday before the broadcast. I was informed that they would be touching on a range of issues regarding the campaign ads and they would like me to be prepared with comments both relating to issues inside and outside of the class. This is exactly what I did in planning for Thursday's event. In coming to the Sociology 118 class that Thursday, I was prepared on many levels. I came dressed as professionally as possible with a wealth of information and opinions relating to the campaign ads. Unfortunately, upon my arrival, I was informed that NBC had not planned on Fox News participating in their event. This was slightly insulting at the time, and when they offered to pull up a chair or allow me to participate if the Davis Enterprise arrived unprepared, I declined. In fact, I did state "If I don't have to be on camera, I would rather not be," which NBC mentioned on their blog site as well. This was my attempt at remaining cordial, while not allowing myself to show that I was insulted and slightly hurt. At the time, my only qualm was that NBC neglected to inform me, when I inquired about the event on the prior Tuesday, that they had no intention for me to participate. I would like to state that Fox News no longer has any problems with NBC, and in fact we applaud their tatics. It certainly makes excellent strategic sense to prevent your competition from airing on your own broadcast, and we do not hold any personal grudges. The final clarification I would like to make, relates to Senator Hillary Clinton's comment stating her "disgust over [my] inappropriate dress and the unnecessary use of professional attire" (The New York Times). It is clear from my above comments that I came prepared to participate in Meet the Press that day, which would explain my use of professional attire. As for Hillary Clinton's disgust and belief that I was dressed inappropriately she is certainly entitled to her opinion. I felt that it was important for me to come well dressed and composed that day, and I believe that is what I did. I only regret Senator Clinton's unnecessary mention of my attire in an interoffice memo. My dress has no pertinance to the issues of candidates who are running in the Presidential race. Now that I have hopefully cleared up any misconceptions about that day, we at Fox News would like to get back to the issues that candidates find most important rather than a miscommunication between broadcast stations. If you have any statements relating to this article feel free to let us know by posting them in the comments section. And thank you for your support of Fox News, where we report and you decide.