FOX Declares War On Mistakes?

FishBowlDC has obtained an internal FOX News memo, where it looks like they are tired of all the mistakes lately and making changes:

Subject: Quality Control We had a mistake on Newsroom today when a wrong book cover went on screen during a guest segment, the kind of thing that can fall through the cracks on any day with any story given the large amount of elements and editorial we run through our broadcasts. Unfortunately, it is the latest in a series of mistakes on FNC in recent months. We have to all improve our performance in terms of ensuring error-free broadcasts. To that end, there was a meeting this afternoon between senior managers and the folks who run the daytime shows in which expectations were reviewed, and the following results were announced:

OK stop right there! This latest rash of mistakes started off with Hannity showing false footage of a tea party rally last month to try and inflate the numbers. Hannity isn’t daytime, so why wasn’t his people in there? It certainly seems like as many mistakes happen between the 8:00 and 10:00 hours as does throughout the day.

Let’s continue:

Effective immediately, there is zero tolerance for on-screen errors. Mistakes by any member of the show team that end up on air may result in immediate disciplinary action against those who played significant roles in the “mistake chain,” and those who supervise them. That may include warning letters to personnel files, suspensions, and other possible actions up to and including termination, and this will all obviously play a role in performance reviews. So we now face a great opportunity to review and improve on our workflow and quality control efforts. To make the most of that opportunity, effective immediately, Newsroom is going to “zero base” our newscast production. That means we will start by going to air with only the most essential, basic, and manageable elements. To share a key quote from today’s meeting: “It is more important to get it right, than it is to get it on.” We may then build up again slowly as deadlines and workloads allow so that we can be sure we can quality check everything before it makes air, and we never having to explain, retract, qualify or apologize again. Please know that jobs are on the line here. I can not stress that enough. I will review again during our Monday editorial meeting, and in the days and weeks ahead. This experience should make us stronger editorially, and I encourage everyone to invest themselves one hundred and ten percent in this effort.

Now this is a very harsh sounding memo, and I’m sure it was meant to be that way since it was “leaked” out.  They want to use “manageable” elements, and something like showing a image of a congressman would be manageable, but we all remember Mark Foley and how FOX constantly showed him with a (D) behind his name. This wasn’t some isolated accident – it was continual.

Then we also have some bigger “mistakes” that News Hounds point out:

So what about criminal threats and death threats against Democrats and the Obama administration that are becoming almost routine on Fox? Or does The Daily Show have to do a segment on them before Fox is embarrassed enough to call a halt?

These type of “mistakes” have been occurring on FOX for years now and they were never upset before.

Don’t be fooled by this memo – it was all a PR attempt. FOX is hoping this will show that they are serious and people will stop watching them so closely. Fortunately for us that won’t happen. We will watch even closer now to see if FOX is living up to their new standard.