Obama BBQ hip hop kool bash

Fox News under fire for article calling Obama's 50th birthday bash a 'hip-hop BBQ'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:49 PM on 6th August 2011


A Fox News website is being called out over possible racial overtones in an article about President Obama's White House birthday celebration.

The article, posted on TheFoxNation.com and titled 'Obama's Hip-Hop BBQ Didn't Create Jobs,' drew hundreds of comments.

Most were from users who found the article inaccurate, racist or both.

The 'Obama's Hip-Hop BBQ Didn't Create Jobs' article posted on TheFoxNation.com drew hundreds of comments - most of them critical.

Splashed below the headline were photos of former NBA star Charles Barkley, President Obama, comedian Chris Rock and rapper Jay-Z.

Not pictured were any of the celebration’s white partygoers, like actor Tom Hanks, former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel or Hillary Clinton.

When contacted by The New York Times, a spokeswoman for Fox News would not say whether the article went along with the site’s standards.

Birthday boy: President Barack Obama had a star-studded guest list for his 50th birthday bash on Thursday night

Bill Shine, the executive vice president for programming, said the 'hip hop BBQ' reference was taken from Politico.com story that mentioned Mr Obama’s guests dancing to ‘hip hop songs’ in the East Room.

Some user comments on the article page were racist in nature, but others condemned the article altogether.

One commenter said: 'Racism is still alive, and Fox Nation is exploiting it.'

The Fox Nation site, an offshoot of FoxNews.com, later purged the offensive remarks.

Mr Shine said: ‘We found many of the comments to be offensive and inappropriate and they have been removed.

We were there too: Despite photos of black celebrities with Obama on the Fox Nation site, Tom Hanks and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel were in attendance

He added: 'We also shut down further comments on this piece.'

White House spokesman Jay Carney would not comment on the article.
Fox’s Web sites and broadcasts are no strangers to scrutiny over racial overtones concerning President Obama.

In 2009, former anchor Glenn Beck called the president a racist with a 'deep-seated hatred for white people and white culture.'

The comments cost Mr Beck several advertisers, who pulled their ads from his show’s 5 p.m. time slot.

More trouble: News Corporation, headquartered in New York City, is already embroiled in a phone hacking scandal.

In May, the Fox News network,which is owned by News Corporation, devoted significant time to conservative complaints about rapper Common’s attendance at a White House poetry event.

In June, Eric Bolling, an anchor at sister network Fox Business generated backlash with remarks about the president of Gabon’s White House visit.

Mr Bolling said: 'It's not the first time’ Obama had ‘a hoodlum in the hizzouse.’

He later apologized for the quip, saying 'we got a little fast and loose with the language.'

Offensive? Fox Business anchor Eric Bolling, left, was criticized in the media over comments about the president of Gabon visiting the White House

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023186/Fox-News-Under-article-calling-PResident-Barack-Obamas-50th-birthday-bash-hip-hop-BBQ.html#ixzz1UJQIiSW2