Fox News Chief Says Clinton Comments Assault Journalists

Fox News chief Roger Ailes says President Clinton's response to Chris Wallace's question about going after Osama bin Laden represents "an assault on all journalists."

Mr. Ailes said Mr. Clinton had a "wild overreaction" in the interview, broadcast on "Fox News Sunday." Hundreds of thousands of people subsequently watched clips over the Internet, with Fox foes rallying behind Mr. Clinton.

"If you can't sit there and answer a question from a professional, mild-mannered, respectful reporter like Chris Wallace, then the hatred for journalists is showing," Mr. Ailes said in an interview with the Associated Press yesterday. Mr. Wallace has said he asked Mr. Clinton about Mr. bin Laden partly because of ABC's recent docudrama "The Path to 9/11," widely criticized as full of falsehoods by former Clinton administration officials for depicting a bungling effort at going after the terrorist leader.

Mr. Wallace asked: "I understand that hindsight is always 20/20, but the question is: Why didn't you connect the dots and put him out of business?"

Mr. Clinton said his administration did more than President Bush to go after Mr. bin Laden before the 2001 attacks. While Mr. Clinton said Mr. Wallace's question was legitimate, he called it a "conservative hit job" and accused Fox of not being similarly tough on Mr. Bush. Clinton aides later said they considered the question an attack.

The watchgroup Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, which has repeatedly criticized Fox News Channel for favoring Republican and conservative points of view, said it could see why Mr. Clinton got frustrated. FAIR senior analyst, Steve Rendell, said it seemed that Mr. Wallace was trying to cut off Mr. Clinton's answer.

"I would dismiss Roger Ailes's complaint as simply whining in an attempt to make Fox News appear the victim in this fight," Mr. Rendell said.The president of the Radio and Television New Directors Association, Barbara Cochran, said she worked with Mr. Wallace at NBC's "Meet the Press," where she was once executive producer. Mr. Wallace, who left ABC News to become "Fox News Sunday" host in 2003, was always a professional who asked tough questions and was not partisan, she said.

Mr. Ailes said he was surprised the story created such a reaction and that he understood the political response.

"They're trying to do this to rally their base, go after Fox News, set up a straw man," he said.