Frank Rich

Frank Rich: Fox News Has Been Defeated On The Media And Political Battlefield

Posted by on January 30, 2014 at 12:50 am. 8 Comments :

New York Magazine columnist Frank Rich believes that the war on Fox News is over – and Fox News lost. His article published this week is titled “Stop Beating a Dead Fox,” and counsels liberals and media critics to retreat from the battle against Roger Ailes & Company because we have already won.

Rich is both right and wrong, but through it all he is clear-headed and thought provoking. But in the end his conclusion is faulty, and I will explain why along with some highlights from his article.

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“The most interesting news about Fox News is that for some years now it has been damaging the right far more than the left. […] Democrats have won the popular vote five out of six times. You’d think they’d be well advised to leave Fox News to its own devices so that it can continue to shoot its own party in the foot.”

The fact that Fox has been a dead, stinking albatross around the wrinkled neck of the GOP is a point I made more than four years ago in an article with the understated headline “Fox News Is Killing The Republican Party.” Finally, the mainstream media is catching up with me. Rich continues…

“The million or so viewers who remain fiercely loyal to the network are not, for the most part, and as some liberals still imagine, naive swing voters who stumble onto Fox News under the delusion it’s a bona fide news channel and then are brainwashed by Ailes’s talking points into becoming climate-change deniers. They arrive at the channel as proud, self-selected citizens of Fox Nation and are unlikely to defect from the channel or its politics until death do them part.”

This is another revelation I made when I exposed “The Cult Of Foxonality” five years ago and observed that “Fox viewers are married to the channel and couldn’t care less what’s playing down the dial.” The Fox audience are hardened partisans with a devotional attachment to their tele-church. And finally, Rich says that…

“Rather than waste time bemoaning Fox’s bogus journalism, liberals should encourage it. The more that Fox News viewers are duped into believing that the misinformation they are fed by Ailes is fair and balanced, the more easily they can be ambushed by reality as they were on Election Night 2012. […] we should start considering the possibility that it now works to the Democrats’ advantage that Fox News does manufacture its own facts.”

Here is where Rich and I part company. While there may be some entertainment value in watching floundering wingnuts desperately trying to make sense of a reality that contradicts their delusions, in the end it is bad for the nation to encourage ignorance. And even though the antics of Fox News have been proven to drive down the approval ratings of Republican politicos, we would still be better off if there weren’t a disinformation factory poisoning the minds of our friends and family and neighbors.

That’s why the need to be vigilant in exposing the lies and bigotry of Fox News and other rightist propagandists is still vitally important. It is crucial that the record be set straight because an unanswered lie can too easily become a perverse version of the truth. It isn’t a mission embarked upon out of concern that the Republican Party is getting its ass whooped in national elections. It’s out of love for those who do not deserve to be exploited and abused by the mouthpieces of corporations and nationless plutocrats. So laugh, if you will, at the dunces who spew their hate-filled rhetoric of greed and bigotry, but never surrender to it.

Ann Coulter Found Guilty Of Serial Lying

Posted by on January 5, 2009 at 6:25 pm. NO Comments :

The arch-right-wing provocateur, Ann Coulter, has another book of disinformation and smears coming out tomorrow. This one is called “Guilty,” continuing her custom of disparaging one-word titles (i.e. Slander, Treason, Godless). And in another custom in which she engages, the book release has become embroiled in controversy. Sure, it’s a made-up controversy, but they all are with her.

In this case, Coulter was scheduled to appear tomorrow on NBC’s Today Show to pitch the book. That appearance was canceled this morning. Shortly after that news, Coulter placed a notice of the cancellation on her website with the commentary:

“I guess this ends the ‘they just want to get ratings’ argument about liberal media bias.”

She didn’t bother to give any reason for the cancellation, just that snarky remark alleging bias on the part of NBC.

But that’s not all. The cancellation was also reported on the Drudge Report, but Drudge went further to allege that Coulter had been “banned for life” from the peacock network. Drudge cited the usual anonymous top network insiders who said:

“We are just not going to have her on any more, it’s over.” [and] “We are just not interested in anyone so highly critical of President-elect Obama, right now. It’s such a downer. It’s just not the time, and it’s not what our audience wants, either.”

This is such a phony quote it barely deserves mention. No “top network source” would ever make that sort of comment to a legitimate reporter, much less to a hack like Drudge. What’s more, it flies in the face of NBC’s relationship with Coulter, which has always been welcoming. Whenever she desired a platform for her views or to sell something, NBC was cooperative. They have always been aware of her opinions and her scorched earth attitude, and they still provided air time for her. Nothing has changed in that regard. Clearly this is another of her attempts to manufacture controversy in order to boost her exposure and book sales.

For the record, NBC released a statement saying that:

“We’ve had Ann Coulter on ‘Today’ many times, but because of the news in Washington and the Middle East, we decided to cancel her appearance tomorrow. Understanding the media as well as she does, we are sure she knows this happens from time to time. We look forward to welcoming her back in the future.”

So much for having been banned for life. However, the fact that it did not happen has not prevented the rightist media machine from disseminating this fiction, which is presently spreading across the web. Not that she wouldn’t deserve it. One look at the analysis by MediaMatters demonstrates that her writing is intentionally inflammatory and filled with errors/lies. Nonetheless, in an article on her web site this morning Coulter hilariously asserts that she is “usually stunningly error-free,” then proceeds to describe what she calls an editing mistake:

“On Page 89 of my new book, Frank Rich is quoted as referring to a ‘barrage of McCarthyesque guilt-by-association charges against [the media’s] candidate, portraying him as a fellow traveler of bomb-throwing, America-hating, flag-denigrating terrorists.'”

Coulter says that the brackets around the words [the media’s] were inadvertently left off. Unfortunately, even with the brackets on Coulter has mischaracterized Rich, who actually said this:

“Obama fans were angry because of the barrage of McCarthyesque guilt-by-association charges against their candidate…”

It is the word “their” that Coulter replaced with her brackets and the words “the media’s.” Obviously Rich was referring to Obama supporters and not to the media. That has quite a different meaning. Coulter just wanted to take a gratuitous slap at the media without regard for accuracy.

This is Coulter’s idea of a correction. But it is everyone else’s idea of lying.

Update: After having been “banned for life” from NBC, Ann Coulter has now announced that she will appear on NBC tomorrow. That was a short life. She gives the credit to her accomplice in publicity whoring, Matt Drudge, saying that “DRUDGE GETS RESULTS.” Of course since they made up the whole banning business, it’s easy to claim victory when the imaginary ban is lifted.

Update: In her appearance on NBC, Coulter was her usual bombastic, dishonest and delusional self. But the funniest moment was when she said that “The Drudge Report has never had to retract a report.” Is she on drugs? Because, if not, perhaps she should be.