Picking Fights

Valerie Jarrett: It’s Not Just Fox

“We're calling everybody out,” top Obama aide says.

Senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett told CNN’s Campbell Brown that she considers Fox News “biased” and that the television network does not live up to its “fair and balanced” slogan—but the administration’s complaints aren’t limited to the home of Glenn Beck. “I don’t want to just generalize that all Fox is biased, or that another station is biased. I think what we want to do is look at it on a case by case basis. And when we see a pattern of distortion, we’re going to be honest about that pattern of distortion.” Jarrett didn’t put MSNBC in the same category or name any other names, but said the administration is determined to actively avoid untruths in media coverage: "We're calling everybody out," she said. "This isn't anything that's simply directed at Fox. We want the American people to have a clear understanding. There's so much at stake right now, we really don't have a lot of time for nonsense and distortions."