{"id":1401,"date":"2009-09-16T12:58:18","date_gmt":"2009-09-16T19:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1401"},"modified":"2009-12-13T10:39:24","modified_gmt":"2009-12-13T18:39:24","slug":"fox-nation-news-priorities-an-acorn-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1401","title":{"rendered":"Fox Nation News Priorities: An ACORN Obsession"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>New Undercover Video! Beck and O&#8217;Reilly Break Down the ACORN Scandal<\/li>\n<li>Voting for More ACORN Funding?! Fox News Confronts Sen. Burris<\/li>\n<li>Gibson Too Busy &#8216;Sailing in Maine&#8217; to Cover ACORN and Tea Parties<\/li>\n<li>ACORN On Sting: We Were Just &#8220;Messing With Them&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Police Pay Visit To Woman In ACORN Video<\/li>\n<li>Stewart Skewers ACORN, Blasts Media for Getting Scooped<\/li>\n<li>Video: CBS Evening News Finally Covers ACORN Scandal<\/li>\n<li>NYT: Conservatives Draw Blood From ACORN, Favored Foe<\/li>\n<li>The ACORN Seven<\/li>\n<li>ACORN Confronts More Pressure Over Videos<\/li>\n<li>Former Leftist Activist, Turned FBI Informant, Exposes ACORN<\/li>\n<li>ACORN Founder Wanted Terrorist Attack On RNC To Succeed<\/li>\n<li>Video: Explosive Undercover ACORN Video!<\/li>\n<li>Three Strikes And You&#8217;re Out, ACORN!<\/li>\n<li>ACORN Story Grows But Mainstream Media Refuse to Cover It<\/li>\n<li>Senator Calls for &#8216;Immediate and Thorough&#8217; Investigation of ACORN<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Health Care Bounce Over: Support Back to Pre-Speech Levels<\/li>\n<li>Just 12% Believe Most Opponents of Obama Health Care Plan Are Racist<\/li>\n<li>Snowe Falls: Now Senate Dems Have No GOP Health Care Support<\/li>\n<li>Liberal Reps Angry That Obama Doesn&#8217;t Want Health Care For Illegals!<\/li>\n<li>45% Of Docs Would Consider Quitting If ObamaCare Passes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibdeditorials.com\/IBDArticles.aspx?id=337909690110379\" target=\"_blank\">right-wing Investors Business Daily<\/a> that itemizes the results of their <em>&#8220;poll&#8221;<\/em> 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:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"color:#0d00d0;\">&#8220;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&#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>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&#8217;s admission that <em>&#8220;responses are still coming in&#8221;<\/em> indicates that they didn&#8217;t even bother to wait sufficient time for the questionnaires to be received and included in their already suspect results.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;t care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,361,8],"tags":[414,527,33,1142],"class_list":["post-1401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-healthcare","category-propaganda","tag-acorn","tag-fox-nation","tag-fox-news","tag-healthcare"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-mB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1490,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1490","url_meta":{"origin":1401,"position":0},"title":"Study: ACORN Did Nothing Illegal &#8211; Fox News: So What?","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/13\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last summer Fox News participated in a media frenzy surrounding some sensationalistic videos produced by conservative activists and promoted by right-wing propaganda outlets. The ACORN representatives in the videos appeared to counsel a couple of cartoonish characters posing as a pimp and a prostitute on how to apply for loans\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1411,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1411","url_meta":{"origin":1401,"position":1},"title":"Fox News Is Soliciting Donations For ACORN Foe Hannah Giles","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/25\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"In yet another example of the interconnectedness of Fox News to blatantly partisan political activities, a \"news\" link on the Fox Nation website actually goes to a defense fund donation page for ACORN foe, Hannah Giles. You may recall that Giles is the YAFfie who dressed up as a hooker\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7265,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=7265","url_meta":{"origin":1401,"position":2},"title":"Fox Nation Revives ACORN Phobia While Mitt Romney Hires Corrupt Consultant","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/8\/2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been two years since ACORN closed up shop after being falsely accused of voter fraud. But right-wing obsessives refuse to abandon their neuroses once they latch onto them. Never mind the fact that ACORN was exonerated by numerous independent investigations and that the only criminal conviction to result from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Election&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1392,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1392","url_meta":{"origin":1401,"position":3},"title":"Fox News Insults ACORN With Blatantly False Headline","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/9\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Fox News is reporting its distinctly dishonest version of a story concerning voter registration fraud in Miami. The article on the Fox News home page features a blaring headline and photo that declares an \"ACORN INSULT\" has been made against the late Paul Newman in commission of voter fraud. Clicking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1507,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1507","url_meta":{"origin":1401,"position":4},"title":"The Fox Nation Knowingly Lies About ACORN Chief Visiting The White House","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/1\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Starting the new year off right (extremely far-right), the folks at the Fox Nation are featuring as one of their top stories a report that is completely false. In other words, they appear to be entering 2010 doing exactly what they have done since their inception a few months ago.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1396,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1396","url_meta":{"origin":1401,"position":5},"title":"Prostitution And Criminality Rampant At Fox News","author":"Mark NC","date":"9\/11\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The big story on Fox News yesterday was the undercover video of ACORN employees improperly advising a couple of conservative activists, posing as a pimp and a prostitute, on how to deceive the IRS and acquire funds to operate their illegal business. The video was featured throughout the day on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1401\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}