There is a crucial difference between commenters who post comments on blogs or websites, and journalists. Generally, commenters may post only opinionated comments, facts that may or may not be true without providing citation, and facts that may include links to verifiable sources for their comments (of course, there are rumors, misinformation, out and out lies; and the campaigns designed to employ and do the same).
The distinguishing factor between commenters and journalists is the level of responsibility to which journalists are held. For one thing, journalists are responsible for accurately providing information in the context in which it originated, and providing the source for that information. From there, journalists may attempt to interpret, opine, or leave it to the reader to evaluate. What journalists are not to do is to deliberately take statements out of context and imbue them with an inference that does not exist.
Unfortunately for Foxnews, that is precisely what Megyn Kelly did while moderating the first Republican presidential debate. Kelly took an off-hand comment that Donald Trump made on his Apprentice show and inferred it was his general view that women belonged on their knees. Trump’s comment was in response to being told by a contestant that a fellow contestant had “got down on her knees” and pleaded passionately to be included on the team. After Trump verified that took place, he made his comment “must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees.”
Continuing to her question, Kelly went on to say that this, and other comments Trump had made, made it very plausible that opponents in the presidential race could, or perhaps should, cast him as a soldier in the of a war on women.
When the video clip containing the exchange is viewed, a few things emerge. Firstly, Kelly’s inference that Trump holds this posture as the subservient position all women should occupy cannot be substantiated. Secondly, and more importantly, the extent to which Kelly had to reach to make this comment a part of her bundled, question-frontload shows a clear design of sensationalism. One reason for this could be ratings boosting, but Foxnews must have calculated early on the Trump would give them a staggering ratings increase; which he did (24 million viewers over what might have been only 4 million viewers). Another and more likely reason would be to fire this cheap shot at a candidate that the establishment desperately wants to take down. And this includes the establishment Main Stream Media who are faced with a candidate they cannot control, and who threatens their continued existence as kingmakers.
