Feminist Daily News Wire
September 30, 2004
Fox Affiliate Releases Correction in Response to Voter Suppression
Allegations
Fox-11 News in Tucson, Arizona released a statement on Friday in response to
demands from the Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) and University of Arizona
Network of Feminist Student Activists (NFSA) that the channel issue a correction
after reporting erroneous information about student voting eligibility. On
August 31, Fox-11 News at Nine reporter Natalie Tejeda suggested during an
on-air report that University of Arizona students were committing an
���unintentional felony��� by registering out-of-state students during a Get Out
HER Vote event on their campus, which was organized by the NFSA, an affiliate of
the Feminist Majority Foundation.
The statement released by Fox-11 was billed as an update, not a correction, and
it stressed that the station has no connection to the Fox News Channel, a news
source known to be conservative. The station also denied the allegation that
there was any intent to intimidate potential student voters. In Friday���s
statement, Fox-11 did attempt to clarify voter registration eligibility, using
information from a press conference held by Kelly Kraus and Juliana Zuccaro of
the NFSA, as well as information released by the Pima County Registrar of
Voters.
The Pima County Registrar of Voters previously claimed that it was Fox who
misinterpreted Chris Roads��� comments, the state official initially
interviewed. However, Fox-11 emphasized that it was Roads who misspoke, and not
Tejeda, the station���s reporter. The station expressed confusion over
contradicting statements that have been released by Roads and his boss, Ann
Rodriguez. Kathy Spillar, who has been leading the Feminist Majority
Foundation���s charge to protect the student vote in Arizona, said ���The
Secretary of State���s office continues to put out erroneous information even to
this day.���
Though the national press was slow to report on the problem of student voter
suppression demonstrated by the events at the University of Arizona, several
publications have since picked up the story, including The Nation and the New
York Times.
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