The Providence Journal caught an interesting news bite while watching Sean Hannity’s program recently. Hannity had just finished pouring gasoline on the ACORN fire with his usual bombastic sensationalism. It was the routine right-wing attack formula. Then Hannity announced that it was time for a word from his sponsors…
“[A]fter he broke for a commercial, Hannity returned with what he calls his ‘Great American Panel,’ including one Vincent Cianci. The show described him as the former mayor of Providence, R.I., without mentioning how he lost his job: He went to federal prison as a convicted felon for running city hall (with the help of our tax dollars and public power) as a criminal enterprise.”
So after condemning ACORN for engaging in activities for which no laws were broken, he proudly welcomed his felonious guest without even disclosing that this “Great American” was a bona fide ex-con.
Posted by Mark NC on September 24, 2009 at 12:29 pm.
2Comments :
Illustrating the ever-widening rift in American politics, a new poll by the Sacred Heart University shows that Fox News is the most trusted news organization (30%), as well as the least trusted (26.2%). That adds up to a 3.8% net trust for Fox. By comparison, CNN was most trusted by 19.5% and least trusted by 8.5%, for an 11% net trust.
Much of the rest of the poll’s results were decidedly negative for the media as a whole. Respondents consider them to be biased and more concerned with ratings than quality reporting. But the most profound observation in the survey, in my view, dealt with public perceptions of the media business and the monopolistic enterprises that dominate it:
“Nearly three-quarters, 71.0%, believed it is very (31.8%) or somewhat (39.3%) important that limits be placed on how many media outlets one company should own. Another 24.7% believe such limits are somewhat unimportant (8.4%) or not at all important (16.3%). Some, 4.4%, were unsure.”
“Over half of all respondents, 56.7%, believed it’s “bad for democracy” that six companies currently own almost all the major media outlets in the United States. Another 30.4% suggested it does not matter while 7.8% indicated it was good for democracy.”
That’s a particularly encouraging response from a survey that also reports majorities who believe that the media is predominantly liberal. With that kind of support for expanding diversity in media ownership, the prospects increase substantially for responsible regulations. This may portend one of the best opportunities for efforts to roll back the destructive consolidation that ensued since the passage of the ill-advised Communications Act of 1996.
Update: Bill O’Reilly cited this study in his Pinheads and Patriots segment. Except the only part he cited was that Fox News is the most most trusted network. He conveniently neglected to mention that it was also the least trusted. Does that make him a pinhead?
Let’s face it…Glenn Beck is insane. He rattles off loopy conspiracy theories that connect dots that only he can see. He makes wild and unsubstantiated accusations against his perceived enemies. He weeps incessantly over unexplained threats to “his” country. And, best of all, he draws pictures of his hallucinations that he thinks makes everything oh-so-clear.
It occurred to me that he might be able to use a little help (OK, a lot of help). So I drew up a few pictures of my own that convey a bit of the altered reality that infests Beck’s brain. This is my contribution to enhancing the understanding of a profoundly disturbed individual going through a very public psychological collapse.
If you are so inclined, feel free to make your own contributions and leave links to your work in comments.
Have at it.
And just to put some perspective on the impact of Beck, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll reveals that most respondents don’t know who the heck he is:
“According to the poll, 24 percent have a “positive” view of the Fox News host, while 19 percent view him negatively. Interestingly, 15 percent were “neutral” and 42 percent said they didn’t know Beck or weren’t sure.”
That’s comforting. And I wouldn’t worry about the 24% positive. It’s probably the same deadenders that support Bush, Palin, and Joe the Plumber.
Posted by Mark NC on September 22, 2009 at 11:49 am.
NOComments :
The 30th Annual Emmy awards for News and Documentaries were announced last night. While I’m sure the winners are all grateful for the recognition, and many are respectable productions, there is much to learn from who did NOT win.
Emmys awarded to Cable News Networks:
Fox News – 0
MSNBC – 0
CNN – 1
Now, I don’t think anyone would have expected Fox to win an award for news. The Academy probably stipulates that any recipient for a news award has to actually produce news programming. And MSNBC hasn’t really gone out of its way to produce extraordinary programs either, though their cousins at NBC came in third in the trophy stakes, following PBS and CBS. It’s somewhat interesting that the two lowest rated networks took home the most awards.
But there is something disconcerting about the fact that the 24 hour networks devoted exclusively to news performed so dismally. The single Emmy amongst them (CNN) was for election night coverage. It seems to me that if you have a network that specializes in the production of a single genre of programming, you ought to be able to deliver some that deserves the recognition of your peers. All of the other winners were employed by networks for whom news was just a small part of their schedule.
If the cable news networks can’t deliver product that achieves a level of excellence worthy of an award or two, then maybe they are in the wrong business.
Posted by Mark NC on September 21, 2009 at 11:41 pm.
3Comments :
A little over a week ago, Fox News sponsored a rally in Washington, D.C. to vent their bitterness over having lost the election last year to a black man. The 9/12 Tea Party Project was conceived and promoted entirely by Fox televangelist Glenn Beck, and for six months it was peddled to his viewers with the help of just about every other personality on the network. The whole affair could have had a Fox logo stamped on the bottom.
Then, a few days ago, Media Matters posted a video showing a Fox News producer stage managing a live event at the Tea Party by whipping up the crowd to cheer for correspondent and ambusher, Griff Jenkins. It was an obvious violation of journalistic ethics caught on videotape, but I had no intention of writing about it because it seemed a rather insignificant incident for a network that had fabricated an entire rally. Jenkins’ reporting (and everything of Fox News) was already drenched with bias before this producer sought to manufacture the crowd response.
But now, in the aftermath of that embarrassing display, Fox News VP and Washington Managing Editor, Bill Sammon, has issued a memo on the subject of “standards” that raises the bar for irony:
For those of us who have only been at Fox for a relatively short period of time, it’s useful to remind ourselves that, as journalists, we must always be careful to cover the story without becoming part of the story. At news events, we’re supposed to function as dispassionate observers, not active participants. We are there to chronicle the news, not create it.
That means we ask questions in a fair, impartial manner. When approaching interviewees, we identify ourselves, by both name and news organization, up front. We seek out a variety of voices and views. We take note of the scene in order to bring color and context to our viewers.
We do not cheerlead for one cause or another. We do not rile up a crowd. If a crowd happens to be boisterous when we show it on TV, so be it. If it happens to be quiet, that’s fine, too. It’s not our job to affect the crowd’s behavior one way or the other. Again, we’re journalists, not participants – and certainly not performers.
Indeed, any effort to affect the crowd’s behavior only serves to undermine our legitimate journalistic role as detached eyewitnesses. Remember, our viewers are counting on us to be honest brokers when it comes to reporting – not altering -the important events of the day. That is nothing less than a sacred trust. We must always take pains to preserve that trust.
The fact that Sammon finds it necessary to remind his colleagues that journalists do not create the news is pretty sad to begin with. But it’s all the more astonishing when Fox News is presently plastering its air with reports about ACORN by James O’Keefe who explicitly states that…
“I’m not just reporting on something, I’m becoming something I’m reporting on.”
Sammon is being disingenuous and dishonest by pretending that he is interested in dispassionate observations. His pathetic admonitions sound like a scolding to the staff of a junior high school newspaper. His own appearances on Fox News are littered with prejudice and intended to sway the opinion of the audience. His confirmed partisanship is revealed in his reporting as well as the collection of books he has written.
The fallacy that Sammon is perpetuating that Fox News is either fair or balanced is beyond a joke. They do not seek out a variety of voices and views. They routinely cheerlead for one cause. It’s impossible for them to undermine their legitimate journalistic role because that would presuppose they were legitimate. What’s more, the last thing their viewers are counting on is for them to be honest brokers. To the contrary, their viewers are counting on them to provide the non-stop partisan propaganda that feeds their paranoia and rage. That’s the only sacred trust Fox News seeks to preserve.
Katie Couric is premiering a new Internet interview program tomorrow. Her first guest will be Glenn Beck. In a teaser for the episode, Couric asks Beck what he thinks of Hillary Clinton. That set off an interesting exchange:
Beck: How about this? I think John McCain would have been worse for the country than Barack Obama. How’s that?
That’s pretty remarkable. Considering that Beck has alleged that Obama is marching the nation to socialism; he asserts that Obama is both a Marxist and a fascist; he connects Obama to all sorts of figures that Beck regards as evil and/or corrupt; he believes emphatically that Obama is intent on destroying every principle on which our country was founded; he insists that, due to this administration, these are the most dangerous and frightening days of his lifetime.
I have to wonder then, how does it get worse than that? What does Beck think McCain might have done that would exceed in horror the destruction of America? Beck’s characterization of McCain as a “weird progressive like Theodore Roosevelt,” doesn’t seem to be enough to validate his fear. After all, Roosevelt served as president for eight years and the country survived and is still here a hundred years later.
I will be interested to see if Beck explains his position further in the Couric interview. Can he possibly present a coherent argument that justifies his bombastic assertion? And if he does, then how on earth can he remain silent about such an existential threat that still occupies a prominent place in the United States government?
Ever since Obama was inaugurated, Beck has been on a televangelistic crusade against some relatively low level administration advisors and non-governmental organizations. But McCain is the ranking member of the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee, he serves on several other important committees, and he is a frequent guest on television news programs. Yet despite the risk Beck sees in him, Beck has never bothered to alert his audience to the danger. If McCain is truly worse than Obama, shouldn’t Beck do a week-long series exposing him? Shouldn’t McCain be driven from office to protect our nation’s future?
On the surface, I have to agree with Beck (did I just say that?). McCain would indeed have been worse than Obama. But my reasons for that opinion have nothing to do with a paranoid and foreboding sense of doom, nor even a belief that McCain would have reduced America to rubble. This outburst is just further evidence that Beck is suffering from a dementia that may be deeper than modern psychology can address.
An advertisement for Fox News appeared in today’s Washington Post. The headline for the ad said:
“How did ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN miss this story?”
The premise that Fox News is posing is that these other networks neglected to cover the Fox-sponsored Tea Bagging in Washington, DC. The truth is that they all covered the event, despite how little news value it contained. They all had correspondents at the scene and they filed updates at least hourly.
It is remarkable how Fox gets away with these attacks on their competitors who generally do nothing in response or in their defense. Last April I published an extended essay on the failure of the broader media community to stand up for itself. I included documentation of Fox’s repeated insults that were met only with silence. And I made the case for why it is imperative to speak up when your detractors are falsely disparaging you. Well, today, Rick Sanchez of CNN spoke up.
In this rare defense, Sanchez made some withering rebuttals. For instance, one of the photos in the Fox ad was actually of coverage provided by CNN. Let that sink in. In the very ad in which Fox was lambasting CNN for neglecting to cover the event was a photo of CNN covering the event. Furthermore, Fox’s own Bill O’Reilly referenced CNN’s coverage on his program. Sanchez also played multiple clips of their coverage of the event throughout the day.
In summing up his deconstruction of Fox’s dishonesty, Sanchez noted that Fox’s claim of covering the event was less than accurate. In fact, he notes, they were promoting it. That is something that was proven unequivocally by viewing the reports from Fox’s Griff Jenkins, who actually rode along with the Tea Party Express bus. And in closing, Sanchez pulled no punches by adopting Joe Wilson’s trademark exclamation which he directed at Fox News: You Lie!
This is not the first time that Sanchez has called out Fox for lying. Back in June of this year Bill O’Reilly asserted that no network other than Fox reported on the shooting of Pvt. William Long. On that occasion O’Reilly had to issue a correction, but typically, he lied while correcting himself.
Fox News has long had a reputation for shoddy journalism. Surveys show that their viewers are decidedly less informed than consumers of other media outlets. Studies have proven that it is Fox News that has failed to cover important and newsworthy events. For instance, they broadcast fewer reports on the Iraq war than any of their cable news colleagues. So it is the height of cynicism for them to publish ads that criticize their competitors and aggrandize themselves. In fact is beyond cynicism. It is deliberately false and an insult to news consumers everywhere.
In other words, it’s Fox News.
[Update:] The networks are issuing their responses. ABC, NBC and CBS have all criticized Fox for their demonstrably false advertisement. Fox is defending their ad saying:
“Generally speaking, it’s fair to say that from the tea party movement … to Acorn … to the march on 9/12, the networks either ignored the story, marginalized it or misrepresented the significance of it altogether,” said Michael Tammero, vice president of marketing for Fox News.”
It seems, though, that Fox is defending an ad they didn’t run. This ad has nothing to do with ACORN or any event other than the 9/12 rally. The Tea Bagging was a Fox-sponsored program from the start, and other news enterprises have no obligation to help to promote Fox’s programming.
“The Post will not reject an advertisement based on its content or sponsor, unless the ad is illegal, false, advocates illegal actions, or is not in keeping with standards of taste. When we do not see anything in a particular ad that is contrary to these standards, we will not place limits on speech or content. That was our review and judgment in this case.”
They further claimed that the ad wasn’t false because Fox News was merely “expressing its opinion.” Of course, an opinion can also be (and in this case was) false, so that’s a pretty lame defense. An objective and independent observer would have to conclude that this ad violated the standards of the Post.
It should surprise no one that Fox News is hammering the ACORN affair with characteristic rightist zeal. They have featured the story across their media platforms on TV, radio, print, and the Internet, almost to the exclusion of all other news. Watching Fox would leave one with the impression that ACORN and a police car chase were the only stories available to tell. Fox News’ hooker and pimp show, starring Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe, has virtually taken over the schedule.
But the so-called “fair and balanced” network is demonstrating how inapt their slogan is and how transparently they manipulate what they call news.
ACORN’s CEO, Bertha Lewis, has been making the media rounds the past couple of days to rebut the charges against the organization. While taking responsibility for their shortcomings, she has announced that they will be conducting an independent review to uncover any and all misbehavior and will let the chips fall where they may. In addition, she has aggressively defended ACORN’s mission to increase voter registration and their work on behalf of low income citizens who are seeking assistance with housing.
Lewis’ appearances have raised important questions about the attacks on ACORN. For instance, the raw, unedited tapes are still being withheld from independent reviewers. This brings into question whether they were altered to intentionally create a false impression. Also, O’Keefe has steadfastly refused to turn over the tapes from dozens of their stings where they were thrown out of the ACORN office. This is deliberate deception intended to disguise the fact that, by far, the majority of ACORN employees are honest and moral.
These questions remain unanswered despite Lewis’ having raised them during interviews with journalists across the dial. She has submitted to multiple inquiries from the likes of Bill O’Reilly, Ed Schultz, Rick Sanchez, and others, on all of the cable news networks without regard to ideology. By contrast, O’Keefe and Giles have refused all interviews except for those on Fox News. They have already appeared on Hannity, Beck, Fox & Friends, and America’s News HQ. All Fox programs. The other news networks have standing requests for them to appear but, so far, none have been accepted. What do you think they are afraid of? They clearly have time available for the media, so long as it’s the friendly variety that will embrace them in a protective cocoon.
Obviously O’Keefe and Giles are either afraid, unprepared, or they are not being permitted to stray from the santcuary of Fox by their handlers. They refer to themselves as journalists, and O’Keefe went further describing himself as “the future of journalism” and told the New Jersey Star-Ledger that:
“The tone of my videos is unique. I’m not just reporting on something, I’m becoming something I’m reporting on.”
So he’s becoming a pimp? That would explain his association with Fox News. But if O’Keefe and Giles are unwilling to have their work be reviewed for accuracy, and they can’t defend themselves in independent forums, then how can they pretend that they are journalists? How can anything they report be regarded as credible?
Salon has published an article that explains a lot about how Glenn Beck came to his repulsive ideology of hatred, conspiracy, and rage. It focuses on the author of a book that Beck has described as having changed his life. “The 5,000 Year Leap” has become an integral part of Beck’s sermonizing. He has literally adopted it as a sacred text, even pleading with his disciples to read it:
“I beg you to read this book filled with words of wisdom which I can only describe as divinely inspired.”
Alexander Zaitchik’s article in Salon tells us something about the author, W. Cleon Skousen. And while it may not be the word of God, it is a revelation. Skousen was a man who was so far out on the fringe that the most committed right-wingers of his day would have nothing to do with him, a status Beck is beginning to share. Also like Beck, Skousen was a Mormon who was rabidly anti-communist and imagined conspiracies that mirror the delusions articulated today by Beck – including the ludicrous allegations that the Rockefellers were part of a vast communist plot.
Zaitchik’s article is long and filled with surprising details that close the circle on what makes Beck tick. A highly recommended read.
Posted by Mark NC on September 16, 2009 at 12:58 pm.
5Comments :
Our nation is facing some formidable problems in these turbulent days. We have an economy that is struggling to recover from the worst meltdown in decades. We are engaged in two wars and at least two other diplomatic crises that threaten to escalate. Our environment is being assaulted by toxins and the industrial enterprises who produce them. And there is hatred aimed at Americans from foreign terrorists as well as domestic Tea Baggers and rightist demagogues.
So what does Fox News, via its flagship propaganda site, The Fox Nation, consider to be the most pressing issue of the day? ACORN, of course. This morning Fox Nation is featuring sixteen separate stories on the ACORN controversy:
New Undercover Video! Beck and O’Reilly Break Down the ACORN Scandal
Voting for More ACORN Funding?! Fox News Confronts Sen. Burris
Gibson Too Busy ‘Sailing in Maine’ to Cover ACORN and Tea Parties
ACORN On Sting: We Were Just “Messing With Them”
Police Pay Visit To Woman In ACORN Video
Stewart Skewers ACORN, Blasts Media for Getting Scooped
Video: CBS Evening News Finally Covers ACORN Scandal
NYT: Conservatives Draw Blood From ACORN, Favored Foe
The ACORN Seven
ACORN Confronts More Pressure Over Videos
Former Leftist Activist, Turned FBI Informant, Exposes ACORN
ACORN Founder Wanted Terrorist Attack On RNC To Succeed
Video: Explosive Undercover ACORN Video!
Three Strikes And You’re Out, ACORN!
ACORN Story Grows But Mainstream Media Refuse to Cover It
Senator Calls for ‘Immediate and Thorough’ Investigation of ACORN
Whatever one thinks of the ACORN affair, it is still difficult to assign this absurd level of significance to what is essentially a story about a few less than reputable characters in an organization that has 400,000 members. On the surface (and there is still some speculation that the videos were doctored), the behavior of the ACORN representatives is indefensible. But it is still a tiny fraction of the employees and volunteers working for ACORN, and no laws were broken, except perhaps by the filmmakers. No loans were applied for or received. Video of the ACORN reps who refused to participate in the phony scam have been suppressed. And there is no evidence that senior ACORN managers would not have been appalled and taken action against the offending staffers had the matter advanced to their offices. In fact, ACORN has a history of uncovering malfeasance in its ranks and alerting authorities themselves.
Nevertheless, the Fox Nationalists saw fit to devote sixteen stories to the ACORN matter. That is far more than any other issue represented on the Fox Nation home page. Coming in second was health care. Some people may think that the health care debate that has been prominent nationally for the past couple of months would have rated higher as a matter of concern. The unprecedented vitriol and dishonesty that has been promulgated by town howlers and their enablers at Fox News has dominated coverage in most other news venues. But Fox Nation only published five stories related to the issue today. And all five of them were thoroughly lacking in substance. All five were about polling or other political considerations, not how the legislation would effect the lives and welfare of Americans:
Health Care Bounce Over: Support Back to Pre-Speech Levels
Just 12% Believe Most Opponents of Obama Health Care Plan Are Racist
Snowe Falls: Now Senate Dems Have No GOP Health Care Support
Liberal Reps Angry That Obama Doesn’t Want Health Care For Illegals!
45% Of Docs Would Consider Quitting If ObamaCare Passes
The first two stories reference polls by the notoriously right-leaning Rasmsussen Reports. Stories 3 and 4 report on negative responses to reform. The last story was particularly egregious. It links to an article in the right-wing Investors Business Daily that itemizes the results of their “poll” that they say contradicts the claims that the medical profession supports reform. However, their poll would not be regarded as credible by any legitimate survey enterprise. Here is how IBD describes their methodology:
“The IBD/TIPP Poll was conducted by mail the past two weeks, with 1,376 practicing physicians chosen randomly throughout the country taking part. Responses are still coming in…”
This is no better than any of the self-selecting online polls that employ no criteria whatsoever for respondents. You know, the ones with the disclaimer that they are not scientific. IBD posts no such disclaimer. The responses are only from doctors who chose to return the mailed questionnaires. There is no indication of how many of the questionnaires were actually returned. Theoretically, this could be a poll of 10 or 12 people who may not even be doctors. IBD’s admission that “responses are still coming in” indicates that they didn’t even bother to wait sufficient time for the questionnaires to be received and included in their already suspect results.
The fact that Fox Nation is focusing so intently on ACORN speaks to their goal of promoting a dramatic controversy as a diversionary tactic to keep people from learning more about substantive issues like health care. Fox has long utilized this sort of misdirection to assure that their viewers remain ill/misinformed. From the perspective of Fox News, it is far more important to spotlight tangential matters like ACORN, and use them to attack Democrats and the administration, who have nothing to do with them in the first place.
This is how Fox News endeavors to keep their viewers ignorant and, at the same time, incite them into a panicky rage. It is how they foment the fear of czars and socialism and tyranny, despite the absence of any such threats. It is how a mob is built from a community of dupes. And it is both cynical and dangerous, but Fox undoubtedly doesn’t care.
It should surprise no one that Fox News is hammering the ACORN affair with characteristic rightist zeal. They have featured the story across their media platforms on TV, radio, print, and the Internet, almost to the exclusion of all other news. Watching Fox would leave one with the impression that ACORN and a police car chase were the only stories available to tell. Fox News’ hooker and pimp show, starring Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe, has virtually