Fox throws Edye under the bus
June 11, 2008
Fox News afternoon anchor E.D. Hill, also known as former WPXI-TV anchor Edye Tarbox, has apparently lost her regular time slot on the cable channel after accusing presidential candidate Barack Obama of making a terrorist gesture.
Obama, the presumptive Democratic candidate, was videotaped last week in St. Paul bumping his fist against his wife’s fist — the alternative handshake that used to be known as a “dap.”
Hill on Friday called it “a terrorist fist jab,” sparking widespread criticism.
“If that kind of fist bump is indeed a terrorist gesture, then we’re starting to get very scared ’cause we saw them all the time in the recent Stanley Cup playoffs on NBC,” noted a blogger for the Los Angeles Times. “We’ve never liked the Detroit Red Wings; finally a reason.”
Left-wing activists claimed that Hill’s comment exposed Fox News’ alleged right-wing bias; others thought the remark was just careless and sloppy. Hill has since apologized.
Fox News announced today that Martha MacCallum’s “The Live Desk,” which airs at 1 p.m. EDT, will expand to two hours, replacing Hill’s 2 p.m. news block.
Although a Fox spokesperson said the move is “not related to the comment flap,” others think Hill offended Rupert Murdoch, CEO of Fox News’ parent company, News Corp.
Murdoch has praised Obama and told his New York Post to endorse the Illinois senator during the New York Democratic primary.
