Month: October 2009

Neil Cavuto Moves In On Carrot Top’s Territory

Posted by on October 30, 2009 at 3:44 pm. 9 Comments :

Thanks to Fox News honcho Michael Clemente, who revealed that Your World with Neil Cavuto is not a news program, we can now evaluate the program for what it is. Clemente explicitly left out Cavuto’s program when he said that Fox’s news schedule is from 9:00am to 4:00pm and 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Cavuto’s show starts at 4:00pm.

So what can we say about this entertainment/opinion hour? Well, for one thing, Cavuto seems to regard himself as a humorist. He spends at least as much time cracking what he thinks are jokes as he does yelling at, and interrupting, his guests. He closes every program with a “Common Sense” essay that he stuffs with lame puns. I guess that’s why they call him a pundit. (Oh damn. Now I’m doing it).

But that isn’t really what’s at the core of his act. When we look closely, it is clear that Cavuto has a deep appreciation for stunts and props. That would make him a threat to the reigning master of prop comedy, Carrot Top.

Some recent examples include his interviews with guests who had nothing substantive to contribute to any public debate, but were coincidentally engaged in some field of work that Cavuto found relevant. For instance, he brought in a Cadillac dealer when discussing a proposed tax on generous employer sponsored health plans that were being called “Cadillac Plans.” Of course, the dealer had no particular expertise in insurance policy or taxation, but he did have a big chunk of real estate with some GM cars parked on it. Another example was Cavuto’s dialogue with the CEO of AstroTurf Technologies. This non-illuminating discussion was sparked by the question of whether organizers of Tea Party events were really grassroots citizen groups or well-funded lobbyists and foundations. Once again, nothing in this segment advanced understanding of the issue because the AstroTurf chief’s experience had more to do with synthetic fiber products than with campaign development and event planning.

In addition to Cavuto’s unique selection of irrelevant guests, he also plotted some pathetic stunts. For several days Cavuto was obsessed with Democrats who were holding meetings “behind closed doors.” Cavuto couldn’t get over the fact that there were doors and that they weren’t open. He seems to think that Democrats are obligated to allow Republicans and Fox News into private caucus meetings. Does he also think that Democrats should have free access to Republican caucus gatherings? Cavuto’s response was to invite Mr. Handyman to the show. Mr. Handyman demonstrated some techniques for keeping doors open, like wedge stoppers. On another occasion, Cavuto played clips of Dora the Explorer when President Obama declined to be interviewed by Cavuto or others at Fox. I still don’t know what point that was supposed to be making, but Cavuto was clearly hurt that the President had snubbed him.

But the piece de resistance was hiring a speed reader to plow through the voluminous health care bill. His apparent intent was to draw attention to the sheer size of the bill. So he has the world’s faster speed reader inhabit a little box in the corner of the screen where viewers can watch him discard pages unto the floor at about a second per page. Unfortunately for Cavuto, this prank doesn’t really help his argument. First of all, it is another pointless exercise because, although this fellow can read fast, he can’t contribute any informed analysis after having consumed the bill. He is not a doctor or a lawyer or a health policy expert of any kind.

However, the big failure on Cavuto’s part is that the only thing his shenanigans accomplished was to demonstrate how quickly the bill could be read. The speed reader completed his task in less than an hour. Even if someone else took ten times as long, it proves that it could easily be done in a day or two. And if it were split up between several staffers with specific areas of expertise, it could be done even faster. So the length of the bill is really pretty easy to digest. I also have to wonder what Cavuto’s alternative is. Would he prefer a short bill of a dozen or so pages? It seems to me that that would be a recipe for legislative disaster as it could not possibly anticipate the myriad complexities of a major health care system overhaul.

None of that matters, though, if your goal is simply to amuse, and to pull goofy props out of a steamer trunk. That’s the level of understanding that Cavuto is presenting to his audience. And since his audience is made of people who watch Fox, he’s probably still a little over their heads.

Jon Stewart Breaks It Down: Fox News Is NOT News

Posted by on October 30, 2009 at 1:51 am. 22 Comments :

Once again it takes a fake news program to reveal where the real fake news is. Jon Stewart, of the Daily Show, continues to prove that he is a far better informed and a more insightful media analyst than just about any of the so-called professionals with degrees and awards and jobs on “reputable” news networks.

It is apparent to any objective observer that Fox is a journalistic wasteland. Their entire schedule is populated by partisan hacks whose intent is to disinform their audience with reporting that is so slanted as to be little more than press releases and promos for Republican operatives and issues. They even feature a Psycho-Chicken Little (Glenn Beck) who accuses Obama and his staff of worshiping Mao, even as he himself admits that he idolizes Adolf Hitler. But it took Stewart to artfully, and hilariously, point out that Fox has defined themselves into a corner. Stewart, noting that Fox regards their news day as the hours between 9:00am to 4:00pm, and 6:00pm to 8:00pm, rips to shreds the false Fox fiction that there is a distinction between their news content and their editorials.

When you add it all up, the Fox “news” programming, by their own calculation, is just nine hours. But the Fox morning block, plus the afternoon Cavuto/Beck double bill, plus the primetime fare (which is repeated and then leads into Red Eye), is 13 hours. So the majority of their schedule is what they themselves regard as editorial content. Then consider the fact that what they call “news” is heavily infested with opinions straight out of Beckville and Hannityland, and it’s clear why Fox has zero credibility when it comes to authentic journalism.

All of this is just further confirmation that it is pointless, and even harmful, for any Democrat or progressive to appear on Fox. All it does is provide them the opportunity to edit your appearance in a misleading and disparaging way; to leech off of your credibility; to persist in making the false claim that they are fair and balanced; and to pretend that what they do is associated with real news. Add to that the fact that Fox’s audience is not receptive, and is in fact hostile, to our message and messengers, and it leaves the inescapable conclusion that Fox bookings are a total waste of time.

Please join with MoveOn and sign the petition to Stay off of Fox.

Fox News Bias: It Is NOT Just Primetime

Posted by on October 29, 2009 at 1:06 pm. 3 Comments :

What on earth is it going to take to get rid of this persistent falsehood that Fox is only slanted right in primetime? So much of the recent squabble between the White House and Fox is predicated on this easily refuted premise. If it were only O’Reilly and Hannity spewing their nonsense, the President would likely have never mentioned it. But the bias is firmly integrated throughout the day’s programming and is presented as news.

The latest clueless commentary comes from CNN’s Campbell Brown who said:

“Just as Fox News leans to the right with their opinionated hosts in primetime, MSNBC leans left. I don’t think anyone at Fox or MSNBC would disagree with that.”

In addition to perpetuating the primetime myth, Brown conveniently forgets that three hours in the morning on MSNBC are given over to a conservative Republican, former congressman, Joe Scarborough. But more to the point, a quick look at Fox’s schedule reveals the lie that seems to be invincible. But here is the truth:

Glenn Beck is not on in primetime. Neil Cavuto is not on in primetime. Major Garrett is not on in primetime. Steve Doocy is not on in primetime. Gretchen Carlson is not on in primetime. Carl Cameron is not on in primetime. There are, in fact, more hours of rightist propaganda that are NOT in primetime than there are IN primetime. Why is it so hard to get these facts to sink in?

This troubling tunnel-vision can only make things worse. It gives Fox a pass on their most egregious violations of journalistic ethics. And it makes reports like yesterday’s announcement that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs met with Fox News executive Michael Clemente, seem useless. What could they discuss of substance if such a large chunk of the truth is waived off.

I wonder what they would discuss anyway. The gossip in the press is that a truce was on the table. Really? Does that mean that, in exchange for refraining from calling out Fox, Glenn Beck would stop calling everyone in the White House a radical Marxist? Will Sean Hannity stop finding corruption in everything from the Olympics to the Nobel Peace Prize? Will Neil Cavuto stop implying that every jump in the stock market is due to the tea baggers and every dip is Obama’s fault? How would the Fox audience respond to the revelation that Fox agreed to moderate their prejudices in an effort to make nice with the President?

Media Matters has established a method of distinguishing between a legitimate news organization and a propaganda dispenser. Here is an abridged sampling:

  • If you regularly doctor quotes and videos to completely change the original meaning – sometimes to the complete opposite of the original meaning … you might be Fox News.
  • If you allow your hosts and contributors to use your airwaves to raise money for political organizations … you might be Fox News.
  • If your executives position your network as the “opposition” to (or defenders of) the administration … you might be Fox News.
  • If you repeatedly organize, promote and encourage political protests … you might be Fox News.
  • If you pass off the research and talking points (and typos) of a political party as your own reporting … you might be Fox News.
  • If you declare “Victory!” when legislation is defeated (or passed) … you might be Fox News.
  • If you advance baseless conspiracy theories … you might be Fox News.

Now we just have to get the Campbell Browns of the world to pay attention and recognize reality.

Desecrating The American Flag

Posted by on October 29, 2009 at 11:43 am. 2 Comments :

Much of the right-wing blog and cable crowd is aghast at what they regard as the disrespect accorded to the American flag by a video in an online contest for health care reform ads. The contest is sponsored by the Democratic National Committee’s Organizing for America.

I happen to think that’s a pretty fine video. It makes its point in a creative and compelling way. There is nothing derogatory directed at the flag because there is, in fact, no flag. It’s a painting. And the commentary affixed to it tells a story about our nation and what we can achieve.

Nevertheless, the hypersensitive panic attackers on the right are having conniptions. Sean Hannity and Michele Malkin tried desperately to twist this into a scandal. Fox Business News anchor, Jenna Lee, hosted a debate that featured Armstrong Williams calling it obscene. Gretchen Carlson and the Fox & Friends crew commiserated about what Carlson said was a movement to make the flag offensive. Bill O’Reilly wasn’t all that disturbed until his guest, Laura Ingraham got him riled up. Ingraham even talked hypothetically about how disrespectful it would be if someone were to walk on a flag.

That’s funny, she never had that problem when George W. Bush actually did walk on a flag. It goes without saying that stepping on a flag is disrespectful, and letting it touch the ground is officially regarded as desecration. So is placing any mark, insignia, letter, word, etc., on it. But that didn’t stop Bush from signing a flag.

These hypocritical pseudo-patriots just don’t know the difference between art and actual desecration. They are obsessed with exploiting non-events to promote their own twisted view of patriotism. More than anything else, they want to manufacture controversies that harm the President, Democrats or liberals in general. Fortunately, this is precisely the sort of fanatical ranting that is driving reasonable Americans farther from the Republican Party and its PR arm, Fox News.

Bill O’Reilly’s Bald-Faced Lies About His Ratings

Posted by on October 27, 2009 at 8:52 am. 15 Comments :

On his program Monday, Bill O’Reilly had another episode of Ratings Derangement Syndrome. I first reported this malady exactly one year ago when O’Reilly became unhinged at what he believed was a conspiracy by Nielsen to destroy him:

“The bottom line on this is there may be some big-time cheating going on in the ratings system, and we hope the Feds will investigate. Any fraud in the television rating system affects all Americans.”

Of course the Feds have no oversight authority to investigate private polling firms. And O’Reilly had no evidence of wrongdoing anyway. It’s also interesting to note that O’Reilly has no problems with Nielsen’s data now that they are reporting a rosier picture of his program’s performance. But he still has his knickers in a twist over any media critic who dares to question his primacy. This most recent outburst began with a declaration dripping in hyperbole and delusions of grandeur.

“Fox News is now the most powerful news organization in the United States of America, and that means in the world.”

It is statements like that that require linguists to create new adjectives, because supercilious, delusional, and narcissistic, simply don’t cut it anymore. O’Reilly still doesn’t get that Fox reaches a mere 1% of the American public. The vast majority of news consumers are opting to watch programs other than his. O’Reilly was responding to criticism from Time Magazine’s Joe Klein, who raised O’Reilly’s ire by saying that, “Fox News peddles a fair amount of hateful crap.” O’Reilly ought to be grateful to Klein for being so gentle. The truth is Fox News peddles a huge amount of hateful crap. But instead, O’Reilly’s misguided indignation led him to spew a batch of unmitigated lies:

“Look what’s happened. Fox News thirteen years on the air, OK?. Wipes out every other cable network, OK?. It’s not even close. Now, we’re approaching, the Factor is approaching Katie Couric numbers. We’re real close to Katie Couric numbers. We beat everybody else. Good Morning America. Nightline. I think the Today show is a little bit ahead of us, but it’s close.

First of all, Fox News does not wipe out every other cable network. They lead only amongst cable “news” networks. TBS, ESPN and USA, routinely beat Fox News (it’s not even close), but O’Reilly failed to make that distinction.

Secondly, O’Reilly’s contention that he is approaching Katie Couric numbers is laughable. Primarily because it wouldn’t be that much of a feat. Couric is the worst performing broadcast news program. But to compound his comedic dishonesty, he doesn’t come close to Courics ratings. Couric’s average of approximately 5.5 million is almost twice O’Reilly’s 3 million viewers. and the top rated NBC News brings in about 8.5 million, nearly triple O’Reilly.

Finally, O’Reilly doesn’t beat Good Morning America. Nightline, or the Today show. Setting aside the fact that these shows don’t even compete with O’Reilly, and their time periods have an entirely different potential audience, he still fails to best them. In fact, the Today Show also nearly doubles O’Reilly’s numbers even though it is on in the early morning hours while O’Reilly is on in primetime.. He could have claimed a victory over CBS’s perennial loser, The Early Show, but for some reason didn’t bother.

In the end, this is just another display of O’Reilly’s dishonesty and arrogance. And despite his objections, and his egotistical fantasies, he is only illustrating why knowledgeable observers do not regard Fox as a news network. It is merely a platform for self-serving propaganda, manic paranoia and partisan disinformation.

Guilt By Association With Fox News

Posted by on October 26, 2009 at 4:57 pm. 6 Comments :

Much has been made the past week of the so-called “war” between the White House and Fox News. Never mind the fact that there is nothing occurring that remotely approaches being characterized as even a metaphorical war. The administration merely expressed an opinion that Fox is more engaged in partisanship than journalism, a view most objective analysts would regard as obvious.

Ironically, it is Fox itself that has been the most vocal about the dispute. They have devoted more airtime to it and have enlisted their corporate cousins at Fox Nation, the New York Post, and the Wall Street Journal to pile on. And at the same time that they bemoan their being the target of a presidential smackdown, their own Glenn Beck offers his conspiratorial thesis that it is all an attempt to distract the public from the administration’s attempt to ram what he calls a socialistic, government-run health care bill through Congress. In a double-reverse, pitchback, fakeout, Beck’s accusation that this spat is nothing but a red herring is delivered even as he dedicates the majority of his own program to the fishy story. He is, therefore, a major contributor to the distraction about which he is complaining.

This is the sort of strategic schizophrenia that makes it difficult to even bother trying to engage with Fox. They want people to believe that they are a credible news enterprise, yet they sponsor anti-Obama tea party protests. They want people to believe that they are fair and balanced, but they populate their air with wall-to-wall propaganda and Republican talking points. They want people to discriminate between what they claim is their news and editorial content, but their news is fully contaminated by the right-wing fungi with which their editorial is fatally infected.

It appears that the only way to relate to Fox is to disengage. That is the course that Jane Hall, an associate professor in the School of Communication at American University, and a frequent Fox contributor, has taken. This weekend on CNN’s Reliable Sources she told Howard Kurtz that she has left Fox and gave as part of her reason that…

HALL: I’m also, frankly, uncomfortable with Beck, who I think should be called out as somebody whose language is way over the top. And it’s scary.

KURTZ: Was that a factor in your decision to leave Fox?

HALL: Yes, it was.

I can’t help but wonder why more people haven’t come to the same conclusion. An association with Fox can only bring derision and ill repute to anyone who actually covets a career in journalism. Being yoked to Fox ought to be regarded as scarlet letter that permanently stains any hope of a reputation for ethical reporting.

It is time to start holding people accountable for the choices they make and for the partners with whom they align themselves. If someone elects to be on the same team as Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, that relationship cannot be swept under the rug. They must expect to be identified as the professional comrades that they are. Just as Jane Hall ankled Fox due to her objection to being affiliated with Beck, any others who share that objection ought to do the same thing.

This is not a case of an aversion to being affiliated with a deviant associate who broke the law or violated rules of the company or society. Certainly Katie Couric should not be held to blame because another employee of CBS News was caught blackmailing David Letterman. In the case of Fox, the deviants are celebrated and highly promoted by Fox. They are regarded as treasures and they contribute significantly to Fox’s success. They are not black sheep, they are leaders and they are the most visible icons of Fox’s identity.

For this reason people like Chris Wallace should not be able to set aside his relationship to Sean Hannity. In fact, Wallace has said of Hannity that “I generally agree with him.” Major Garrett cannot pretend to be a journalist when he shares airtime with Bill O’Reilly. In fact, Garrett, formerly of the Washington “Moonie” Times, is amongst many Fox presenters who has written books that are as overtly partisan as O’Reilly’s. And all the other wannabe reporters who rub shoulders with the likes of Dick Morris, Ann Coulter, Neil Cavuto, etc., should be made to feel the embarrassment they are due.

Most importantly, News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch cannot be permitted to wash the slime from his hands. Rupert Murdoch IS Glenn Beck. They are inseparable and indistinguishable. Murdoch likes to present himself as an old school news publisher, but he is actually a tabloid sensationalist who has done more to tarnish the profession of journalism than anyone before him. His purchase of the Wall Street Journal was intended in part to bring him respect and to co-opt the credibility of the iconic financial digest. But instead of the Journal lending its glow to Murdoch, Murdoch has leeched his bile onto the Journal. From now on the Wall Street Journal is the paper of Glenn Beck. His picture should appear in the masthead. In fact, Glenn Beck’s alternately smirking and scowling visage should grace the cover of every News Corp enterprise. It should be sewn onto the lapels of every News Corp reporter. It should edited into every Fox News program and promo.

It is precisely because the editorial content at Fox is indistinguishable from what they call news, that no one in the Murdoch family of companies should be allowed any distance from the insane ravings of Glenn Beck. From now on it is Glenn Beck’s Fox News, Glenn Beck’s Wall Street Journal, Glenn Beck’s Rupert Murdoch. If Murdoch is happy to sponsor Beck’s program, even as advertisers desert it, then let him be melded to it. If he is proud of his racist and incendiary provocateur, then fasten Beck around his neck and let this be the legacy he leaves. If Beck is what he wants, then Beck is what he gets. And Murdoch will forever be remembered, not as a media baron or press magnate, but as a disreputable exploiter of division and hate. His legacy, in the twilight of his career, is inextricably intertwined with the mugging buffoonery of Glenn Beck. And heretofore, no one will be able to conjure up the memory of Murdoch without being drenched in the spittle and dementia of Beck. Congratulations Rupert.

[Update:] Beck has responded to Jane Hall, calling her “that idiot who left Fox:”

BECK: “Well, don’t let the door hit you on the ass when you leave. I’m going to miss you, I am, whatever your name is.”

Here we have Glenn Beck, a drug-addicted, alcoholic dropout, calling Hall, a Phi Beta Kappa with a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, an idiot. And Beck doesn’t even know her name although she’s been a Fox News contributor for eleven years. No wonder she doesn’t want to be associated with that network anymore. Why would anyone want to be?

Roger Ailes For President?

Posted by on October 23, 2009 at 12:39 pm. 3 Comments :

Mike Allen at Politico is reporting that:

“Friends and associates are encouraging Fox News chief Roger Ailes to jump into the political arena for real by running for president in 2012”

I am at a near loss for words. The only thing I can think of to say (when I stop laughing) is, “How can I help?”

The prospect of an Ailes candidacy would be a dream come true. Just imagining that corpulent hulk on the campaign trail sends shivers of joy through me. This is the man who gave us Richard Nixon. This is the man who produced the Rush Limbaugh show that failed miserably in TV syndication. Ailes is a creature of the media. His entire professional life has been dedicated to propaganda. He may be able to hammer together an effective media campaign from time to time, but he has never had much of a public presence and his appeal on that basis is on a par with Dick Cheney.

The ramifications of Candidate Ailes are numerous and exhilarating. Who would he choose for a running mate? Sarah Palin? Michele Bachmann? Glenn Beck? And what would his cabinet look like? A bunch of aging white men surrounded by anchor babes in short skirts? As Secretary of State, Bill O’Reilly could shout down world leaders and issue directives detailing which foreign diplomats were pinheads. Press Secretary Hannity would make certain that nothing but the right lies and innuendo emanate from the White House.

It’s interesting that this ludicrous notion is being floated just as the press is wallowing in a fabricated war between the White House and Fox News. It seems to me that having the head of Fox drafted as an opponent to the President seals the case that Fox itself is an opponent of the President and, therefore, not a credible news enterprise.

The article in Politico asserts that Ailes “has an aggessive [sic], winning personality….” That appears to be the opinion of the article’s author, Mike Allen, who cites Ailes pal Frank Luntz for confirmation. Allen also says that the talk about Ailes running is “based on more than mere speculation.” However, there is nothing but speculation in the column. There is no quote from Ailes, or anyone close to him, that affirmatively addresses the question of his running or even thinking about it.

This idea is so patently absurd that you have to wonder who’s behind it. What motives would the rest of the “friends and associates” Allen references have? And why would they want to remain anonymous? It’s not as if this is an insult to Ailes. Allen doesn’t bother to reveal his sources, but I have it on good authority that Allen was seen having lunch with Richard Heene, of Balloon Boy fame.

Is Ailes running for president? Is Politico being punked? Is that a balloon over the White House with an old fat guy hanging out of it? I think Glenn Beck is hard at work connecting dots that prove that Obama and ACORN are behind an effort to sink Ailes’ campaign before it has even begun. And the madness goes on…..

[Update] Allen is now reporting that Ailes laughed off the entreaties that he run for president.

“Ailes replied when asked about the possibility, according to the aide: ‘This country needs fair and balanced news more now than ever before, so I’m going to decline a run for the presidency.'”

If Ailes believes that the country needs fair and balanced news more now than ever before, does that mean he’s going to shut down Fox News?

Obama Bamboozles Beck And Fox News

Posted by on October 22, 2009 at 6:34 pm. 3 Comments :

Yesterday’s edition of Glenn Beck’s Acute Paranoia Revue contained a remarkable confession from Beck. He embarked on an elaborate demonstration to illustrate how political operatives in the White House use misdirection to achieve their goals. In order to convey this concept to an audience he apparently believes are rejects from remedial kindergarten, he performs a hackneyed magic trick wherein a coin astonishingly disappears from one hand and then magically appears in the other.

The lesson Beck hopes to impart is that, through the use of distraction, government can enact some nefarious and secret legislation while the people are entranced by an irrelevant shiny object. That’s actually true and it happens with some frequency. And it even appears to be happening to Beck even as he speaks.

“You know what? They believe that if they can get you to watch the coin, if they can get you to have you watch me and Fox, well then they can slip [health care] by and get it passed.”

So the scheme employed by the White House is to get you to watch Glenn Beck. The cads! And Beck appears to be abetting the scheme. How insidious! Beck then goes on to quote from an editorial in the Wall Street Journal:

“The press corps will mostly ignore all of this [health care] because it is complicated and boring policy, as opposed to the epic drama of Anita Dunn vs. Glenn Beck.”

It’s downright Machiavellian. Beck’s contention is that the “war” that has recently erupted between the White House and Fox News is the shiny object. He wonders why the administration would waste its time and energy attacking Fox News. He asserts that it is a deliberate attempt to sway attention from the more serious issue of health care so the administration’s reform bill will sneak past a beguiled public and into law. This plan is only plausible because health care reform is so completely under the radar. No one in the whole country is aware that it is even under consideration. Are they?

Apparently Obama’s plan is working brilliantly. He has manged to get Beck himself to spend hours, virtually every day since the original volleys in this war, consumed by this distraction that he has said is an attack on Fox News and him personally. He has become obsessed with White House communications director Anita Dunn, placing a dedicated phone line on the stage in his studio with a staffer sitting next to it ready to answer should Dunn heed his pleas to call. He is now signing off every program by saying, “Good night Mrs. Dunn, wherever you are.” Obama has masterfully manipulated Beck into waving the shiny object around for almost two weeks now, even though he knows it’s a ploy to shove health care down the throat of America (in which case America would at least be able to see see a good ear, nose and throat specialist).

His daily sermonizing on delusional associations between Dunn and Mao keep getting more complex. And the larger ramifications he proposes with regard to the end of free speech are getting more absurd. He is frothing at the mouth with allegations of Maoists in the government. Yet he still seems to be serenely oblivious to the connections that his employer, Rupert Murdoch, has with Chinese communists, or to his own admission of idolizing Adolf Hitler. [If it’s not true, Glenn, PLEASE call me]

This campaign of misdirection has taken root throughout the Murdoch empire. Fox News airs frequent segments about their squabble with the White House. The Fox Nation website today has nine separate stories on its home page pertaining to the skirmish, some of which also appear on FoxNews.com:

  • President Obama Fueling War With Fox News?
  • Is WH Coordinating With Media Matters & MoveOn to Smear Fox News?
  • FCC-Church Conspiracy To Silent [sic] Talk Radio And Fox?
  • Why the WH bullies Fox
  • Why the WH shouldn’t play chicken with Fox
  • Fox News as White House Bogeyman
  • Obama Responds to Administration’s Attacks on Fox News
  • Fox News On the White House Enemies List
  • WH Cites Opinion Shows as Basis for Fox News Complaints

So if the goal of the White House is to manufacture a controversy between them and Fox News, with the purpose being to shift attention away from other matters, why is Fox News taking the bait? Why is there more coverage of this distraction/war by Fox than by any other news outlet? Why are Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and numerous other Fox presenters and contributors hammering on this every single day?

Don’t they know that it’s a ruse? Glenn Beck knows. He said so. Yet he’s still playing along. He’s still filling his show with almost nothing but the phony war. Is he in on it? Is he brain damaged? (You don’t need to answer that). What’s clear is that he is so thoroughly outmatched by Obama that he is falling for what he believes is a scam, even as he declares that it’s a scam. How demented do you have to be to do that?

MoveOn.org Petition Calls On Democrats To Stay Off Fox

Posted by on October 20, 2009 at 5:41 pm. 5 Comments :

What took so damn long? MoveOn.org has just announced a petition drive to persuade Democrats to Stay Off Fox.

This could be a turning point in the campaign to isolate Fox News and to re-brand them as a partisan purveyor of propaganda. As my regular readers may know, I have been calling for all Democrats and progressives to stay the HELL off of Fox News for more than two years. I launched my Starve the Beast campaign in August of 2007, by saying:

“The problem with Fox News is not that it’s a right-wing platform for war, intolerance, and greed; it isn’t that it’s spreading propaganda in support of an out-of-control White House that is hoarding unprecedented levels of power; it isn’t that they engage in relentless and unfounded attacks on Democrats, progressives, and the rest of the 72% of Americans that Fox portrays as unpatriotic because they disapprove of Mr. Bush and his war; it isn’t even that it sits at the center of a politically charged media empire run by Rupert Murdoch, a monopolistic ideologue with no allegiance to country or the common good.”

The problem with Fox News is that people grant them far more credit and influence than they deserve. They are a niche player in the cable news universe. Their highest rated program (The O’Reilly Factor) has fewer viewers than the lowest rated broadcast news program (CBS/Couric). They reach an audience of about 3 million, which is less than 1% of the population. In Starve the Beast, and its two follow ups, I painstakingly made the case that Democrats can and should avoid Fox News. There is almost nothing to be gained by patronizing them.

Now MoveOn.org has come aboard:

President Obama is fighting back against FOX. The White House communications director said FOX is a “wing of the Republican Party…let’s not pretend they’re a news network.”

To draw attention to its biased coverage, President Obama will not appear on FOX for the rest of this year. Can you sign this petition asking Democrats to support President Obama’s stance by staying off FOX as long as he does?

A compiled petition with your individual comment will be presented to Democratic senators and representatives.

MoveOn’s petition drive was inspired by the recent courageous comments by White House communications director, Anita Dunn, who said that Fox is “the communications arm of the Republican Party.” That simple and obvious observation has sparked a dialogue that, in the end, will reinforce the public perception that Fox is merely masquerading as a news enterprise. For her trouble, Dunn has been smeared by Fox presenters, particularly Glenn Beck, who has falsely asserted that she worships Mao Zedong. That is especially ironic considering that Beck himself was caught on video confessing his idolization of Adolf Hitler (Call me, Glenn. Tell that I’m wrong).

My original Starve the Beast column ended with a plea to my political compatriots that still reflects the urgency of embargoing Fox News and treating them as the partisan prevaricators that they are:

“Please stop hurting our cause by appearing on Fox News. Rupert Murdoch and his media megaphone is openly hostile to our agenda and our representatives. They will only use your appearance to distort your message and derail our mission. Studies have proven that their audience is unreceptive, and even antagonistic, to us. Your appearance will be rewarded more with ridicule than respect.”

Many thanks to MoveOn for coming aboard and giving this movement a much needed boost.

More Consensus On The Fox Opinion Channel

Posted by on October 20, 2009 at 4:46 pm. NO Comments :

It’s only been a little more than a week since Anita Dunn made her initial remarks about Fox News being “the communications arm of the Republican Party.” At the time I regarded it is a purely positive development that exhibited courage and honesty. It seemed to me that inciting a discussion of Fox’s journalistic legitimacy could only do harm to Fox. Their unprofessionalism and ingrained biases would do them in and the formerly reluctant media would find their spine:

“For some reason, the targets of Fox’s attacks never seem to fight back. Well now they have an opening to do so in the form of addressing the allegations from the White House. If they miss this opportunity they are either incompetent or have a death wish.”

Much of the reaction by media pros to Dunn’s comments were a kneejerk condemnation of the White House for expressing what is a fairly non-controversial observation. Rather than conceding the obvious, they appeared to be taking a position that protected their own interests in some future administration when they may be on the outs. But so long as your reporting is honest, you have nothing to worry about. That’s where Fox goes off the rails – they lie.

Well, now some of the Conventional Media stalwarts have re-thought their original assessments:

Eugene Robinson (Washington Post): [I]t bothered me that virtually everyone I knew felt the same way. And then I came across a piece by media writer Michael Wolff in which he posits an interesting theory: That this might be a shrewd gambit to draw bright lines around the Fox ‘no to everything’ line. If the ideological struggle can be defined as Fox viewers vs. everybody else, the White House wins.

Michael Wolff (Newser): So I am revising my theory of what the Obama administration is doing in its frontal assault on Fox: I think they want us to take sides. Are you a Fox person or not a Fox person? And I think they want to identify Fox as the standard bearer of American conservatism. If you’re a conservative, you’re for Fox (ie, is that who you want to be?).

Peter Roff (US News): Now the White House is drawing conservative attention off onto other things […] And now, thanks to the White House’s provocation, there are those who are spending time trying to motivate the public to act in defense of Fox.

Each of these views recognize that by having a discussion about the proposition that Fox is not a news organization inures to the detriment of Fox. A network whose anchors air doctored video clips, read RNC talking points complete with the original typos, and take every opportunity to disparage their ideological opposites, is going to lose that argument every time.