Unrest Abroad: The Blame Game

Devin Bartolotta
DB181708@ohio.edu

While many news outlets spent this week covering the protests in the Middle East, it seems as though FOX News spent much of its energy figuring out who to blame.

One article details how UN Ambassador Susan Rice is defending Obama's position, pointing the finger at the "Innocence of Muslims" film that aired on YouTube recently.

 Another discusses the opinions of John McCain and Michigan representative Mike Rogers, pointing the finger at Obama's "disengagement" as the cause for unrest in the Middle East.

A third article even reaches out to the Libyan President, Mohammad el-Megarif, (pictured, left) giving him an international forum in which he places blame on Al Quaeda for the recent attack on the US Consulate. Unrelated, FOX also misspelled his last name in the photo caption on their website.

A fourth article discussed Obama's reaction, which essentially said that who ever actually is at fault in this situation, it definitely isn't the United States.

This coverage left me frustrated. It's as if instead of finding the real reasons for the attacks, or reporting on the protests themselves, FOX gave us what some "think" what "might have" happened and "maybe this is why." It's almost contradictory reporting in my opinion. FOX has created a web of "he said, she said" and finger pointing that is even more complicated than the initial issue.

It seems obvious to me that these events will impact the election in one way or another. However, FOX is pushing that factor by simply speculating who or what is responsible.