Shepard Smith Unloads On Fox News, White House Over Shirley Sherrod Scandal

Shep Smith laid into his own network Wednesday, calling out Fox News for its role in hyping the Shirley Sherrod story based on an edited videotape (h/t Mediaite).

Smith's critique began when he cut into Wednesday's briefing by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. He opened by naming a long list of participants in the Sherrod affair, from the White House to the NAACP to the Big Government website, which posted the edited video, to "this network," Fox News — which, he said, was one of the places where the video had been played "totally out of context."

He went on to explain why his program, unlike others on Fox News, had not covered the story:

"We here at Studio B did not run the video and did not reference the story in any way for many reasons, among them: we didn't know who shot it, we didn't know when it was shot, we didn't know the context of the statement, and because of the history of the videos on the site where it was posted, in short we do not and did not trust the source."

Smith then brought on Fox News contributor Juan Williams to discuss the firestorm.

"The White House says it is not, but it is clearly obsessed with Glenn Beck," he said to Williams, citing reports that Sherrod was ordered to resign because she was going to be talked about on Beck's program the same evening. "Anybody who doubted it can stop doubting it," Smith said.

He blasted the White House for reacting so drastically, based on:

"an edited videotape on a widely discredited website that has had inaccurate postings of videos in the past--edited to the point where the world was deceived......what in the world has happened to our industry and the White House?...how can they lead and govern if what they're worried about is something that happens on a cable news channel that they've already said doesn't matter?"

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