General

Fox News screws up again

“Huge crowd” at Palin book signing was footage from a political rally

Fox News is back to its audience-inflating tricks. Yesterday, the network aired year-old stock footage to back up host Gregg Jarrett’s claim that Sarah Palin is “continuing to draw huge crowds while she’s promoting her brand new book,” the Think Progress blog reports. But the images being broadcast were from the 2008 presidential campaign, as indicated by individuals in the crowd holding McCain/Palin signs, while others are holding pom-poms and cheering wildly. This is the second time Fox has aired incorrect footage when reporting on crowd size. Recently, The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart caught Fox News’ Sean Hannity displaying crowd shots from a rally earlier this year to back a claim that a GOP health care protest drew a larger audience than it actually did. Hannity later acknowledged that he “screwed up.”

Think Progress

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