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Gibson joined the [[Fox News Channel]] in September 2000 as the host of its news program ''[[The Big Story]]''. He also wrote the [[New York Times Bestseller|''New York Times'' bestselling]] books ''[[Hating America: The New World Sport]]'' and ''The War on Christmas''.<ref name="foxbio"/>
Gibson joined the [[Fox News Channel]] in September 2000 as the host of its news program ''[[The Big Story]]''. He also wrote the [[New York Times Bestseller|''New York Times'' bestselling]] books ''[[Hating America: The New World Sport]]'' and ''The War on Christmas''.<ref name="foxbio"/>


On [[March 12]], [[2008]], Fox News Channel announced that they would be replacing ''The Big Story'' with a program more directly geared toward following the [[United_States_presidential_election%2C_2008|2008 U.S. presidential election]]<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/arts/12arts-FOXVOTESOUTT_BRF.html?ref=arts "Fox Votes Out the Big Story"], "[[New York Times]]", [[2008-03-12]]. Retrieved on [[2008-03-12]].</ref>
On [[March 12]], [[2008]], Fox News Channel announced that they would be replacing ''The Big Story'' with a program more directly geared toward following the [[United_States_presidential_election%2C_2008|2008 U.S. presidential election]]<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/arts/12arts-FOXVOTESOUTT_BRF.html?ref=arts "Fox Votes Out the Big Story"], "[[New York Times]]", [[2008-03-12]]. Retrieved on [[2008-03-12]].</ref> This is the first thing Fox has done right with respect to John Gibson, who is a stain upon humanity.


==Controversies==
==Controversies==

Revision as of 16:16, 21 April 2008

John David Gibson (born July 25, 1946) an American conservative talk show host, formerly the co-host of the weekday edition of The Big Story on the Fox News television channel and The John Gibson Show on Fox News Radio.

Early career

Gibson earned a BA from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He began his reporting career with The Hollywood Reporter (1969-1972) and worked for Atlantic Records (1972-1974). Gibson worked for KFWB-AM (1974-1975) and KEYT-TV (1975-1977). At KCRA, he was a feature reporter on the "Weeknight" magazine show (1977-1979) and San Francisco bureau chief (1979-1989).[1]

Beginning in 1992, Gibson worked as an NBC News as a correspondent in Burbank, California. In 1994, he became the first West coast correspondent for NBC News Channel. He covered the O.J. Simpson trial for NBC News Channel and Rivera Live on CNBC.[2] In 1996 he was named anchor for daytime programming on MSNBC.[1]

Career with Fox News

Further information: [[:The Big Story]]

Gibson joined the Fox News Channel in September 2000 as the host of its news program The Big Story. He also wrote the New York Times bestselling books Hating America: The New World Sport and The War on Christmas.[2]

On March 12, 2008, Fox News Channel announced that they would be replacing The Big Story with a program more directly geared toward following the 2008 U.S. presidential election[3] This is the first thing Fox has done right with respect to John Gibson, who is a stain upon humanity.

Controversies

Cleveland school shooting

Following the 2007 SuccessTech Academy shooting in Cleveland, Ohio, on his radio show Gibson commented "I knew the shooter was white. I knew he would have shot himself. Hip-hoppers don't do that. They shoot and move on to shoot again. And I could tell right away because he killed himself. Black shooters don't do that. They shoot and move on."[4]

Gibson's comments were heavily criticized. Keith Olbermann called Gibson a racist,[5] Rick Sanchez called the comments "outrageous" and said Gibson "has some explaining to do",[6] Dan Abrams said Gibson was "out of line",[7] and Media Matters for America criticized him as well.[8][9]

Gibson vs. the BBC

Gibson claims that the British Broadcasting Corporation is anti-American, accusing the BBC of having "a frothing-at-the-mouth anti-Americanism that was obsessive, irrational and dishonest".[10][11] He also claimed that reporter Andrew Gilligan, who was covering the 2003 Iraq War for BBC Radio 4 in Baghdad, had, "insisted on air that the Iraqi Army was heroically repulsing an incompetent American military".[12]

Gibson's criticisms were rejected by Ofcom when it investigated viewer complaints of Gibson's item.[13]

"Make more babies"

On The Big Story on May 11, 2006, Gibson responded to a Washington Post story which noted that the US Census reported "Nearly half of the nation's children under five are racial or ethnic minorities, and the percentage is increasing mainly because the Hispanic population is growing so rapidly".[14] Gibson instructed viewers: "Do your duty. Make more babies... half of the kids in this country under five years old are minorities. By far the greatest number are Hispanic. You know what that means? Twenty-five years and the majority of the population is Hispanic. Why is that? Well, the Hispanics are having more kids than others. Notably the ones Hispanics call gabachos, white people, are having fewer."[15]

Time wrote that Gibson's interpretation of the census data was "wildly wrong".[16] Gibson's remarks were criticized by Keith Olbermann[17] and Media Matters for America,[18] which later named his remark one of the top 11 "Most outrageous comments of 2006".[19]

"Following the wrong religion"

Gibson stated while being interviewed on Fox News, "Minorities ought to have the same sense of tolerance about the majority religion -- Christianity -- that they've been granted about their religions over the years."[20] A few minutes later in the same interview, he said "I would think if somebody is going to be -- have to answer for following the wrong religion, they're not going to have to answer to me. We know who they're going to have to answer to." [21]. When reporting on the interview, Media Matters wrote that Gibson said non-Christians were "following the wrong religion."[22] In response, Gibson said that Media Matters had misquoted him.[23]

Heath Ledger

On January 23, 2008 following the announcement of the death of actor Heath Ledger, Gibson opened his show with funeral music and used an audio quote of Jake Gyllenhaal saying the line "I wish I knew how to quit you", taken from the movie Brokeback Mountain, and commented "Well, he found out how to quit you!" Laughing, Gibson then played another clip from Brokeback Mountain in which Ledger said, “We’re dead,” followed by his own, mocking “We’re dead” before playing the clip again. Throughout the course of the show, Gibson continued to bring up Ledger's death, jokingly claiming that current events may have caused him to commit suicide, suggesting that Ledger killed himself because he had "a serious position in the (stock) market" or perhaps "watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, cause he saw his Edwards guy was just completely irrelevant."[24]. He also referred to Ledger as "a weirdo" with a "serious drug problem".

The episode provoked a wave of severe criticism of Gibson. Several media sources called for Gibson to be fired, including the Catholic America Magazine, which called his comments "hateful". On MSNBC's Morning Joe, hosts Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist expressed disgust at Gibson's remarks. Scarborough commented "This is about as callous and harsh as anything I've heard. It is unspeakably rude. I don’t know who syndicates this guy, but that is absolutely stunning, that John Gibson would be that mean-spirited and hateful". Brzezinski stated that "I've got to tell you, that makes me nauseous...I don't know how you stay on the air after doing something like that, quite frankly".

On his January 24, 2008 radio show John Gibson responded to widespread criticism of his comments, saying that it was “a little Brokeback Mountain joke” and there is “no point in passing up a good joke.”

Gibson defended his comments by claiming that “for months and months and months,” his show has consistently made fun of the line, “I wish I knew how to quit you” from Brokeback Mountain. “I’m not giving that up,” exclaimed Gibson.

On the same day, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation denounced Gibson's behavior and released a statement:

“Gibson’s remarks are vulgar and disgusting,” said Rashad Robinson, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Media Programs. “It’s sickening that Gibson would exploit Heath Ledger’s tragic death to promote such hurtful intolerance. And to do so at a time when family and friends are grieving shows a level of insensitivity that is beyond the pale.”

Books

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b "John Gibson Named Anchor For Daytime Programming on MSNBC Cable", PR Newswire, April 30, 1996
  2. ^ a b "John Gibson - Bio". Fox News. 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  3. ^ "Fox Votes Out the Big Story", "New York Times", 2008-03-12. Retrieved on 2008-03-12.
  4. ^ The John Gibson Show, October 10, 2007
  5. ^ Countdown, MSNBC, October 11, 2007
  6. ^ Out in the Open, CNN, October 13, 2007
  7. ^ Live with Dan Abrams, MSBNC, October 11, 2007
  8. ^ "Gibson knew school shooter was white because "black shooters don't" shoot themselves; "they shoot and move on"", Media Matters for America, Oct 11, 2007
  9. ^ "Gibson defended his comments about race of school shooter, attacked "Soros-backed" Media Matters", Media Matters for America, Oct 12, 2007
  10. ^ Television - News - Ofcom criticises Fox News Channel - Digital Spy
  11. ^ The Daily Texan
  12. ^ Liar, liar. Editorial by John Gibson., published on FOXNews.com on January 29 2004.
  13. ^ Standards Cases - Upheld Cases - The Big Story: My Word - Published in Ofcom Broadcast Bulletin Number 11 on June 14 2004.
  14. ^ D'Vera Cohn and Tara Bahrampour, "Of U.S. Children Under 5, Nearly Half Are Minorities: Hispanic Growth Fuels Rise, Census Says", Washington Post, May 10, 2006
  15. ^ The Big Story with John Gibson, Fox News, May 11, 2006
  16. ^ Massimo Calabresi, "Is Racism Fueling the Immigration Debate?", Time, May. 17, 2006
  17. ^ Countdown, MSNBC, May 12, 2006
  18. ^ "Gibson: "Make more babies" because in "twenty-five years ... the majority of the population is Hispanic"", Media Matters for America, May 12, 2006
  19. ^ "Most outrageous comments of 2006", Media Matters for America, Dec 22, 2006
  20. ^ Media Matters - Fox's Gibson: Christians tolerate those who are "following the wrong religion ... as long as they're civil and behave"
  21. ^ Media Matters - CNN's Reliable Sources cited Media Matters item in noting "nasty spat" between Olbermann and Gibson over Fox host's comment about those who "have to answer for following the wrong religion"
  22. ^ Media Matters - Fox's Gibson: Christians tolerate those who are "following the wrong religion ... as long as they're civil and behave"
  23. ^ Media Matters - CNN's Reliable Sources cited Media Matters item in noting "nasty spat" between Olbermann and Gibson over Fox host's comment about those who "have to answer for following the wrong religion"
  24. ^ John Gibson Mocks ‘Weirdo’ Heath Ledger’s Death: ‘He Found Out How To Quit You’, Think Progress, 2008-01-23
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