Boycott Watch received several emails asking us to
investigate Tarek M. Baydoun who reports as a pollster on Fox2 in Detroit
Michigan. Mr. Baydoun is no stranger to us at Boycott Watch, as we have read
about him in articles by Debbie
Schlussel who has reported
his
support of Hamas. In this case however, Boycott Watch is concerned with a
different matter which we addressed to senior executives at Fox.
While Mr. Baydoun appears on news casts as a pollster,
ostensibly as a fair reporter, it turns out that he advertises himself as a
political consultant to help candidates in their campaigns on
his own website. In fact,
Boycott Watch has saved a PDF of a page
on his website where he clearly offers his services to assist political
candidates.
"This is a clear conflict of interest" said Fred
Taub, President of Boycott Watch. "By offering paid services to candidates
and then being able to report about candidates on a television newscast, Mr.
Baydoun has opened himself up to being paid to promote political candidates
illegally, as he is essentially able to represent candidates and deliver their
messages without disclosure. He also puts the Fox 2 Detroit television station
in danger as the TV station may be in violation of Federal Election Commission
rules."
Boycott Watch discovered this while doing a cursory look at
Mr. Baydoun's credentials. In his Twitter activity, we see Mr. Baydoun has
applauded suicide bombers attacking Israel, advocates the complete destruction
of Israel and even praised Hamas terrorist rocket attacks upon Israel, photos
of which are posted here. "Praising terrorists who murder innocent people,
especially women, children and the elderly as being "honorable" is
beyond disgusting. No reputable news station would ever hire anyone who praises
terrorists, or especially a fan of the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center
as a reporter, just a Fox station should not give credibility to a Hamas
supporter as a fair report.
In the following tweet, Mr. Baydoun is calling for the
boycott of Israel via their BDS plan to get Americans and others to support the
Arab League campaign to destroy Israel via economic warfare. The topic is
covered in detail in Fred Taub's book Boycotting Peace.
Boycott Watch is primarily concerned with the election
conflict of interest. We bust scams on a regular basis, and we believe there is
no way a television station could have missed the fact that Mr. Baydoun is an
active political consultant when they hired him. Like every business, news
outlets surely have a code of conduct for their employees, and blatant
conflicts of interest are hard to miss. Boycott Watch therefore sees this as
planned deception of the public.
Boycott Watch wants to know who hired Mr. Baydoun and why.
We see this as corruption of the public trust and plan to file complaints with
both the Federal Election Commission and the Federal Communications Commission,
the later because by deceiving the public about reporter credentials, Fox 2 is
not acting in the public best interest."
Boycott Watch sent emails to several Fox officials inquiring
about the matter, asking everyone the same questions as follows:
1) Does Mr. Baydoun appear on Fox 2 as a pollster or as a commentator? There
is a distinct difference. If he appears as a commentator, who does he appear
against for balance?
2) What is the Fox conflict of interest policy for hiring people as pollsters
or reporters?
3) Based on our information that Mr. Baydoun is touted as a pollster, how does
Fox conduct basic background checks, as in this case the conflict of interest
is beyond all doubt since Mr. Baydoun has already displayed it?
4) Does Mr. Baydoun routinely publicly disclose the general conflict of
interest since he does advertise his services to political candidates? If yes,
please forward examples.
5) Being a clear conflict of interest, does Fox post a disclaimer before his
appearances?
6) Who vetted the hiring of, and authorized the hiring of Mr. Baydoun as a
pollster despite a clear conflict of interest?
7) Mr. Baydoun has tweeted his positions in support of rocket attacks by Hamas,
recognized by the US State Department as a terrorist organization, on Israel.
What is the Fox policy regarding contributors and other on-air paid staff who
advocate terrorist attacks, including the murder of women and children.
8) What is the policy of Fox regarding contributors and other on-air paid staff
who state the terrorist murderers of innocent women and children are "more
honorable than either of us?"
After several days, Boycott Watch has received no replies
from Fox and will update this report as information becomes available. |
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