After video surfaced (first at Media Matters, then at Daily Kos and Huffington Post) of Fox News Channel producer Heidi Noonan riling crowds from behind the scenes at 9/12 events, it seems that Fox News felt compelled to remind their staff that they are, in fact, journalists and need to adhere to non-partisan, journalistic standards.
Mediaite obtained an internal email from Fox News Vice President of News and Washington managing editor Bill Sammon to the staff of the D.C. bureau. In the email, Sammon writes, “it’s useful to remind ourselves that, as journalists, we must always be careful to cover the story without becoming part of the story.”
In case employees weren’t certain about their role, he also writes, “That means we ask questions in a fair, impartial manner. When approaching interviewees, we identify ourselves, by both name and news organization, up front. We seek out a variety of voices and views. We take note of the scene in order to bring color and context to our viewers,” and of course, “We do not cheerlead for one cause or another.”
Read the entire email at Mediaite.