In a stunning and unexpected development, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and the CEO of its parent corporation News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, appeared at a hastily assembled news conference this afternoon to announce that they are abandoning their long-time affiliation with the Republican Party in favor of a political organization that more closely reflects their [...]
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Apr 28
Justice Scalia Knows Foul-Mouthed Glitteratae
The Supreme Court ruled today on a case pitting Fox Entertainment against the FCC and involving the use of naughty language on TV. The crux of the debate centered on “fleeting expletives” like when Bono of U2 appeared at an awards ceremony and used the phrase “fucking brilliant” in his acceptance speech. The court’s ruling [...]
Apr 24
Fox News Confidential: The Truth Behind Its Secret Mission
Ever since October of 1996, Fox News has been regarded by serious media analysts as a somewhat less than objective mouthpiece for conservative propaganda. From the start they adopted a posture that appeared to be bent on shilling for Republicans by drenching their reports with partisan disinformation. [Purchase FreakShow stickers at Crass Commerce] The intent [...]
Apr 23
Jesse Watters Crashes GE Shareholders Meeting
The reigning weasel of news hackery, Stuttering Jesse Watters, is striving mightily to surpass his personal worst. At the GE shareholders meeting, Watters, who did not identify himself as Bill O’Reilly’s attack troll, or even as an employee of Fox News, commandeered the microphone and began lobbing antagonistic questions at GE brass. Paul Bond’s column [...]
Apr 23
Shepard Smith Doesn’t Give A Rat’s Ass
I just can’t let this go by… Shepard Smith is the Fox anchor most hated by entrenched Fox viewers. This video is a good example of why. Smith takes a principled stand against torture and in favor of living up to our national values when he says: “We are America. I don’t give a rat’s [...]
Apr 21
All Of A Sudden Fox News Cares About Privacy Rights
For the past eight years, there have been so many intrusions to the civil liberties that Americans are promised by the Constitution that it’s hard to recount them all. Amongst the most significant are the Patriot Act, the removal of Habeas Corpus protections, and Wireless Wiretapping. Now there is a bill in Congress that poses [...]
Apr 21
Rasmussen’s Guide To The Political Class
Scott Rasmussen is to polling what Rush Limbaugh is to objective reporting. That is to say he has no scruples other than to serve up a pre-mashed helping of right-wing propaganda. Whenever the Democratic agenda gains favor, or Obama’s popularity is rising, you can count on Rasmussen to deliver a survey that reports precisely the [...]
Apr 20
The Case Against White House Press Briefings
Ana Marie Cox posted a brief item today about the reportorial brain power that’s wasted at White House press briefings: “It’s not that the reporters covering the president are bad at their jobs. Most are experienced journalists at the top of their game — and they’re wasted at the White House, where scoops are doled [...]
Apr 19
Fox News Calls Market Gains A Tea Party Rally
As the economy sputters along, trying to find it’s way out of the ditch dug by George W. Bush and his Republican allies in Congress, Fox News is trying to find new ways to blame Obama for our hardships and to deny him any credit for good news. And just when you thought that it [...]
Apr 17
Even Conservatives Think Glenn Beck Is Nuts
To most liberals and Democrats (and Americans), it goes without saying that Glenn Beck left sanity behind a very long time ago. His Acute Paranoia Revue, now daily fare on Fox News, is a testament to just how damaged the human brain can become when not given proper care. Beck has distinguished himself by fantasizing [...]
Apr 16
A Tale Of Two Tea Parties
Now that Tax Day has come and gone, we can take an objective look at what all the excitement over the so-called “grassroots” Tea Party movement has wrought. For an alleged phenomenon that was sweeping a nation of angry revolutionaries, it has left us with no more than a resounding thud. Nate Silver has produced [...]
Apr 15
Some Tea Party Tidbits You May Have Missed
The Tea Baggers must be proud of their little parties. Even though attendance has fallen far short of their expectations, they were able to get their message out thanks to their media sponsor, Fox News. Media Matters has compiled a nice little montage of videos from various Tea Vee sources: But there was so much [...]
Apr 14
Right Wing Radicals Resist Recognition
The Department of Homeland Security has issued an interesting report titled, “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” An excerpt: “The consequences of a prolonged economic downturn-including real estate foreclosures, unemployment, and an inability to obtain credit-could create a fertile recruiting environment for rightwing extremists and even result in [...]
Apr 13
Glenn Beck Gives Guest The Vapors
On today’s Glenn Beck show, a guest was stricken and, after warning Beck three times that he was about to pass out, he fell to the ground. The alert director made sure to take a wide camera shot so that the audience could see the poor man prostrate on the studio floor. David Buckner, professor [...]
Apr 09
Fox News Tea Baggers Consumed With Fear
The upcoming Tax Day Tea Parties are shaping up to be a source of unending hilarity. A week before the event, supporters are already fretting over their self-invented fears of being infiltrated by the liberal, Soros-sponsored, ACORN hordes, who apparently have nothing better to do than disrupt the Foxbots’ Mad Hatter Fests. [Isn't it a [...]
Apr 06
Who’s Afraid Of Fox News? The Rest Of The Media!
Fox News has long established itself as the biggest bully on the block. We already know that they have no journalistic standards. They will lie, proselytize, demean, and censor, all in pursuit of an ultra-rightist ideological agenda. But it is not enough for them to spread disinformation on public policy, they are also engaged in [...]
Apr 06
How To Get Fired At Fox News
Roger Friedman, the entertainment columnist at FoxNews.com has reportedly been fired for an unforgivable breach of Fox’s ethical standards. He disclosed in his column (since deleted) that he had acquired and viewed a bootleg copy of 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.” A statement from Fox said: “This behavior is reprehensible and we condemn this [...]
Apr 03
Fox News: Comfort Food For Fearful Fools
Last month I composed an analysis of the ratings success at Fox News this year. Amongst the reasons I posited was this: “…by heating up the aggressive tone, Fox has fashioned a hearth around which despondent conservatives can huddle. In 2006 they suffered the loss of both houses of congress. Now they have lost the [...]
