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Friday, September 25, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: FOXNews ALTERED ' Obama Praise ' Story To Exclude ' DEATH THREATS '

Source: RawStory
" In a story about a group of elementary school kids who sang the praises of President Barack Obama for a Black History Month event, Fox News appears to have removed key information regarding the fallout triggered by intense right-wing media coverage.
The story, titled "Elementary School Students Taught to Sing Praises of President Obama" (live link screenshot), opens with these three paragraphs:
The superintendent of a New Jersey school where students were videotaped being taught to sing the praises of President Obama issued a statement Thursday saying the taping was unauthorized, but failed to address whether the the lesson -- taught durnig Black History Month -- was approved.
A YouTube video shows nearly 20 young children being led in a song overflowing with campaign slogans and praise for "Barack Hussein Obama," repeatedly chanting the president's name and celebrating his accomplishments, including his "great plans" to "make this country's economy No. 1 again."
The video has set off families in Burlington, N.J., who say that politics shouldn't be forced on young students.
The credited author on that URL is "FoxNews.com," although a tag under the text reads, "FOX News' Michael Sorrentino contributed to this report."

But, that's not how it read when we first saw it.

At the very same URL linked above, a prior version told a very different and much longer story. Here's how it began, with emphasis added (cache link screenshot):
Some parents in a New Jersey school district are up in arms after a class of elementary school students was videotaped singing the praises of President Obama, an activity that has been criticized as "indoctrination."
The tension at B. Bernice Young Elementary School escalated to such a degree Thursday that the school was placed temporarily on lockdown after its principal received death threats over a YouTube video that showed nearly 20 children being taught songs lauding the president, though back-to-school night events continuing as planned Thursday night at the school.
Video of the students at the Burlington, N.J., school shows them singing songs seemingly overflowing with campaign slogans and praise for "Barack Hussein Obama," repeatedly chanting the president's name and celebrating his accomplishments, including his "great plans" to "make this country's economy No. 1 again."
Clearly, information about death threats leveled against the school's principal, and the school's "lockdown" response following wide exposure among right-wing media, were removed. LinkHere
Flashback: Students Sang Bush's Praise Too (And For Katrina Response!)
Republicans have been in an uproar recently over video footage of children at a New Jersey elementary school singing the praises of President Barack Obama. The outrage has been fueled mainly by a constant drumbeat from conservative media. But on Friday it boiled over into the realm of political opportunism when the Republican National Committee sent out a fundraising appeal calling the episode an "indoctrination of our nations... children" and "fanaticism."
"Friend," RNC Chairman Michael Steele wrote, "this is the type of propaganda you would see in Stalin's Russia or Kim Jong Il's North Korea. I never thought the day would come when I'd see it here in America."
Alas, such "propaganda" has not been limited to despots, dictators and the Obama White House. As a savvy source points out, back in 2006 children from Gulf Coast states serenaded First Lady Laura Bush with a song praising the President, Congress, and Federal Emergency Management Agency for their response to -- of all things -- Hurricane Katrina. The lyrics were as follow:
Our country's stood beside us People have sent us aid. Katrina could not stop us, our hopes will never fade. Congress, Bush and FEMA People across our land Together have come to rebuild us and we join them hand-in-hand!
The event took place at that year's White House Easter Egg Roll and included roughly 100 children from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. President Bush, it seems, wasn't in attendance during the song itself. But he was there earlier, when the First Lady read the book, Will You Be My Friend: A Bunny and Bird Story by Nancy Tafuri, to the children. LinkHere

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