The other night I was flipping through the channels and landed upon Faux News. Sean Hannity was on (I can only take about 5 minutes of his show at a time).
The latest "scandal du jour" was regarding the group called ACORN.
While I'm in no way defending the out and out wrong actions of a select few of the ACORN employees, I still had to smile at the irony of Hannity's comments...
A little backstory...
A young man and young woman used an undercover disguise of a prostitute and her pimp to catch ACORN employees in the act of allegedly providing tax evasion advice (among other bad advice and possibly illegal advice). This couple used a hiden camera to record the events, and have been releasing the footage a bit at a time to the Fox news network (who is reveling in playing it over and over again).
Back to last night's show...
Sean Hannity made a comment something to the effect of "Journalism is dead in 2009" - now on the one hand I absolutely get his point... it took two younger "kids" (I think they are around 20). to land a MAJOR news story and they put the major networks and reporters to shame in doing so. On a budget of about $3000 they managed to break this story. So Sean's point is right on in that sense. (yes - you read that right - I'm agreeing with Hannity!).
Now here's where the Irony comes into play...
The new footage last night featured an ACORN employee apparently BRAGGING about killing her ex-husband! Shocking right?! I was. Hannity even mentioned something about - "did anyone check this out yet?" - the young woman danced around the issue and didn't really give a good answer. I thought 1) Here we have Hannity a "news reporter" on a "News network" asking the same kid if she had investigated the ACORN woman's claims.
Now... today, I learn (via the intertubes)... apparently the entire "bit" of the woman bragging about killing her ex-husband was a made up story! She claimed in an interview, that she "knew" that these kids were "playing her" so she decided to "play back" and make some wild claims of her own. IT even garnered a visit from the local police to investigate the woman in her claims of shooting her Ex - to which they found no evidence of.
So here we have a "news reporter" airing an amateur video claiming that "journalism" is dead, when if Hannity (or his co-workers) had done an ounce of investigating themselves before releasing the story, they would have found out that the woman's claims were false.
Irony.
Again - for the sake of making a point - I'm not condoning ACORN's bad employee's at all. I think what they did in several of the other video's is completely wrong. The ACORN group obviously needs to clean up their act.
Showing posts with label faux news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faux news. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Long time
I just realized it's been a while since I posted anything. I guess not much to talk about :)
I thought maybe I'd add a little of my thoughts regarding the recent "tea parties" the other day.
The events were on April 15th - to coincide with Tax day. I believe it was only around the 13th that I had heard anything about these tea parties. I was surfing the channels and stopped in to see what Fox "news" was talking about and that's when I learned about them. So the next day, I emailed my conservative buddy to ask him what the story was behind the events. From my web surfing, it sounded like Glenn Beck had a lot to do with promoting the event(s). My buddy is a big Beck fan. My first question was: Is this a republican/conservative thing or is it for everyone? He replied it was for anyone. So I started looking further into the events. I thought it odd, that I kinda have a finger on the pulse of politics, I've got my internet sources, I watch the news channels a little each day, yet I had not heard anything about these tea parties. As I dug further, I kept seeing that the only people talking about these events were the right wing media. People like Glenn Beck, The entire FOX talking heads line-up really, and the right wing blogger Michelle Malkin. I could not find one "left wing" or even "middle wing" group talking about the events. I started to think perhaps my friend was not being totally up front with me. I questioned him on this... his reply was something like "well, anyone is allowed to attend". Okay, I get it now. I thought of the analogy, that it's like a Christian Easter celebration... sure anyone is "allowed" to attend, but since the message is about the resurrection, chances are that you're not going to get many Jewish or Muslim folks showing up.
On the day of the event, I was skimming the web for news updates. A lot of photos I saw that showed a large crowd with banners and signs and T-shirts had some slogans that were anti-obama. Yet, I was still hearing claims on Fox that this was a "bi-partisan" event.
I watched the coverage on TV when I got home on Fox, and noted some of the "personalities" that were speaking at the events... the entire fox news commentators were scattered around the the different cities. Then there were guys like "Tim Rich" who is a country western singer, who I can only assume is a Rep/Con because he was friends with Hannity. There was former Rep Presidential candidate "Mike Huckabee" sitting next to "Neil Boortz" and they were promoting the "fair tax" issue. At another city was Newt Gingrich. My point here again, I didn't see any "middle of the road" personalities, and I certainly didn't see any Left wing speakers.
The reason I bring all this up - to be clear, I'm not against some of the messages (of which there were a lot of topics), I'm certainly not against the idea of people gathering to protest something they believe in! What interests me (and scares me a little) was how this event came about. Here you have the Fox news organization who were doing a tricky dance and carefully choosing their words... they made it a point to say they were not "promoting" the event, they were just "covering" the event because it was news worthy. But the genius of that, was that it was a self fulfilling prophecy - in that, it only became news worthy when the news covered it :) I really give them credit for thinking like this. It was a brilliant way to "manipulate" a bunch of people into believing this was a "grass roots" event. Yes, I know, there is a certain element of this that WAS grass roots. But the websites put up to organize the event were Republican/Conservative groups, then the fox news promoting it as newsworthy, was the perfect formula to get people to show up.
One final comment, cause this is MUCH longer than I anticipated.
I found the message and the timing of this event rather... ironic (I think that's the correct word).
For 8 years, we were under a republican president who has set several records on the amount of spending that he has done, the amount of debt that he caused the country to fall into, the initial bailout plan, the growth of government, etc... all the things that I would have thought would raise the ire of the Rep/Conservative members. But not once did they "demonstrate". Then... you have a Democratic President elected into office who cut the taxes on 95% of the American public (including MANY of the protestors), and yet the demonstrators were full of angry signs against Obama. I'd love to see a statistic to see how many of those demonstrators voted for McCain where they would of had higher taxes. Yep, I think Irony is the right word.
Perhaps Jon Stewart sums it up in his typical way...
I thought maybe I'd add a little of my thoughts regarding the recent "tea parties" the other day.
The events were on April 15th - to coincide with Tax day. I believe it was only around the 13th that I had heard anything about these tea parties. I was surfing the channels and stopped in to see what Fox "news" was talking about and that's when I learned about them. So the next day, I emailed my conservative buddy to ask him what the story was behind the events. From my web surfing, it sounded like Glenn Beck had a lot to do with promoting the event(s). My buddy is a big Beck fan. My first question was: Is this a republican/conservative thing or is it for everyone? He replied it was for anyone. So I started looking further into the events. I thought it odd, that I kinda have a finger on the pulse of politics, I've got my internet sources, I watch the news channels a little each day, yet I had not heard anything about these tea parties. As I dug further, I kept seeing that the only people talking about these events were the right wing media. People like Glenn Beck, The entire FOX talking heads line-up really, and the right wing blogger Michelle Malkin. I could not find one "left wing" or even "middle wing" group talking about the events. I started to think perhaps my friend was not being totally up front with me. I questioned him on this... his reply was something like "well, anyone is allowed to attend". Okay, I get it now. I thought of the analogy, that it's like a Christian Easter celebration... sure anyone is "allowed" to attend, but since the message is about the resurrection, chances are that you're not going to get many Jewish or Muslim folks showing up.
On the day of the event, I was skimming the web for news updates. A lot of photos I saw that showed a large crowd with banners and signs and T-shirts had some slogans that were anti-obama. Yet, I was still hearing claims on Fox that this was a "bi-partisan" event.
I watched the coverage on TV when I got home on Fox, and noted some of the "personalities" that were speaking at the events... the entire fox news commentators were scattered around the the different cities. Then there were guys like "Tim Rich" who is a country western singer, who I can only assume is a Rep/Con because he was friends with Hannity. There was former Rep Presidential candidate "Mike Huckabee" sitting next to "Neil Boortz" and they were promoting the "fair tax" issue. At another city was Newt Gingrich. My point here again, I didn't see any "middle of the road" personalities, and I certainly didn't see any Left wing speakers.
The reason I bring all this up - to be clear, I'm not against some of the messages (of which there were a lot of topics), I'm certainly not against the idea of people gathering to protest something they believe in! What interests me (and scares me a little) was how this event came about. Here you have the Fox news organization who were doing a tricky dance and carefully choosing their words... they made it a point to say they were not "promoting" the event, they were just "covering" the event because it was news worthy. But the genius of that, was that it was a self fulfilling prophecy - in that, it only became news worthy when the news covered it :) I really give them credit for thinking like this. It was a brilliant way to "manipulate" a bunch of people into believing this was a "grass roots" event. Yes, I know, there is a certain element of this that WAS grass roots. But the websites put up to organize the event were Republican/Conservative groups, then the fox news promoting it as newsworthy, was the perfect formula to get people to show up.
One final comment, cause this is MUCH longer than I anticipated.
I found the message and the timing of this event rather... ironic (I think that's the correct word).
For 8 years, we were under a republican president who has set several records on the amount of spending that he has done, the amount of debt that he caused the country to fall into, the initial bailout plan, the growth of government, etc... all the things that I would have thought would raise the ire of the Rep/Conservative members. But not once did they "demonstrate". Then... you have a Democratic President elected into office who cut the taxes on 95% of the American public (including MANY of the protestors), and yet the demonstrators were full of angry signs against Obama. I'd love to see a statistic to see how many of those demonstrators voted for McCain where they would of had higher taxes. Yep, I think Irony is the right word.
Perhaps Jon Stewart sums it up in his typical way...
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | M - Th 11p / 10c | |||
| Nationwide Tax Protests | ||||
| thedailyshow.com | ||||
| ||||
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Rupert Murdoch admits to manipulating news
There you have it - straight from the horses mouth. Fox News' Owner (Rupert Muurdoch) admits to trying to push an agenda by offering opinion in the news.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Fox Attacks Obama
Nah... no spin here what-so-ever. This sort of reporting is completely "Fair and Balanced". (/sarcasm)
What amazes me is that people believe this sort of spin.
The above clips is courtesy of FoxAttacks.com
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Faux News banging those war drums
I got this email today... a new video by Robert Greenwald.
Really scary stuff.
I also read on TIME.com yesterday that they have an inside source that says we will be at war with Iran in 6 months. Ugh. I hope not.
Friday, April 06, 2007
O'Reilly and Geraldo loose it
I just saw this video clip thanks to reddit [via] (currently the number one spot) of Bill O'Reilly and Geraldo getting in a heated debate about illegal aliens vs drunk driving. Has anyone else noticed though that this seems to be a recurring theme lately? The "anger" factor has been turned up on these conservative talk shows. I saw a program not too long ago where B.O.R. had a similar blow-up and I also caught a show of Glenn Beck's where he was "shaking mad". I'm beginning to think this is all an act to garner ratings. Who can be more "passionate" about what they believe and cause more "drama". Another example of how "news" is being turned into an entertainment media.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Faux News
It's been a while since I've posted a faux news rant so here's one for today. I've actually stopped watching faux for about a week now. About a week ago, (I can't recall if I mentioned this on my blog, I think I did) wait, let me back up... I've been in an email debate with a friend of mine about Global Warming. He would probably fall in the conservative republican category and he is a big fan of the Glenn Beck Show (both on TV, radio, and he pays to subscribe to his website). Our emails about GW (global warming) have been going back and forth, but I noticed a trend... I would send him a quote or factoid about GW and I'd provide the link for the source where I got the info. He would send me quotes from either Glenn Beck himself, or to articles written by people who have been discredited online. Finally, he sent me a link about how PETA is quoting a recent UN paper that says that the livestock industry, contributes more to GW than all of transportation, so they were saying that Al Gore should become a vegetarian if he really cares about the planet. This was the straw that broke my back. Somehow, I wasn't arguing the "facts" about GW, but I was trying to defend the ex-vice president in that he likes to eat a hamburger. I also became frustrated because I realized no mater what link I sent, or quote, I would never prove my point. So I gave up. This all happened when I was feeling stressed about other things and so I gave up watching Glenn Beck on TV to eliminate stress. I also eliminated Faux news too for the same reason. I think there is a marked change in faux news' programing where they are not trying to hide their bias anymore. And fyi, my stress levels dropped.
SO... all of that huge back story to point you to this link about Bill O'reilly. Apparently B.O.R. lost it while interviewing Salt Lake City's Mayor Rocky Anderson. From what I read on this blog post it sounds like Mr. Anderson handled himself well in the BOR crossfire.
I really think something legally has to be done about faux news. They need to put some sort of a disclaimer on their "news" to say "for entertainment purposes only".
Friday, February 02, 2007
news hounds
I just had to pass these two blog posts onto the rest of you... I don't remember how I found this website called newshounds.us but I have it in my Bloglines subscription. In a nutshell, it's a similar site to mediamatters.com, in that they watch some of the more conservative "news" sources with a critical eye, and when they make a mistake, mis-report an item, or simply say something pretty stupid, then these websites pick it up and post it. At times it can seem juvenile I'll admit, but it's also a good way for someone like me who is interested in what "the other side" is saying without having to watch their shows every night. So this morning I read the two posts below and thought they needed to be spread. (Oh, and there is something on their site about Jim having a lung transplant. I don't know who Jim is, but I wish him well and a speedy recovery!
>>>
Al Gore gets no respect on FOX
By Chrish on Big Story w/John Gibson
John Gibson couldn't bring himself to be respectful, never mind congratulatory, to the former Vice-president and majority presidential vote-getter as he announced that Al Gore has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. No, he had to be juvenile and grudging in his reporting of this national story.
"It appears global warming is good for somebody. It's given Gore's career a much-needed boost. First his documentary on climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth", was nominated for an Oscar, and now the former vice-president's head may swell to match the rest of his growing body because he's been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Gore was nominated this morning by a Norwegian lawmaker who said Gore has done more than anyone else to draw attention to the dangers of global warming.
If he's going to borrow Michael Moore's triple-X tuxedo for the Oscars, he might as well keep it a bit longer. He may need it in Sweden to pick up his Nobel."
What an ungracious, unprofessional, biased, hateful piece of garbage. And the segment sucked too.
>>>
and number two
>>>
Laura Ingraham Confronts O'Reilly About Sexist Agenda On FOX
By Deborah on O'Reilly Factor
Laura Ingraham made Bill O'Reilly squirm with embarrassment when she confronted him tonight about all the sex laden videos on The O'Reilly Factor.. She asked him if there was a " rampant mid-life crisis" going on with the male anchors on FOX. " What's the purpose?, she asked. "We don't care about coffee shop babes".
Ingrahams comment about " coffee shop babes" refers to the segment about a drive through coffee shop with hooter type cashiers that FOX has run all week with videos shot from all the right angles.
Then she wanted to know why O'Reilly did a segment on naked parties at Brown? " Do you think that's a cultural phenomena?" She asked him why we needed to see the naked bodies at the party or why a bikini clad babe was needed for a plastic surgery segment? For once. O'Reilly was speechless.
Cavuto got the next well deserved scolding.for his " Girls Gone Wild" segments. O'Reilly joked, "He's demented" But Ingraham wasn't kidding and since nobody had ever called him on it before, he was stymied.
Ingraham's final comment was perfect, She asked BOR if he was a " T-Warror" and of course he eagerly agreed. " Then act like it!", she barked. Bill O' Reilly was busted tonight and I applaud Laura Ingraham.
>>>
And just a little side note on my part...
Have you ever noticed on these News Stations (especially FOX) that when the talking head wants to interview someone to explain the issue further, they interview... another news person! Why are they not going to the source of the story? Like Bill O'reilly having Laura Ingraham on who is another talk radio Fox affiliate.
>>>
Al Gore gets no respect on FOX
By Chrish on Big Story w/John Gibson
John Gibson couldn't bring himself to be respectful, never mind congratulatory, to the former Vice-president and majority presidential vote-getter as he announced that Al Gore has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. No, he had to be juvenile and grudging in his reporting of this national story.
"It appears global warming is good for somebody. It's given Gore's career a much-needed boost. First his documentary on climate change, "An Inconvenient Truth", was nominated for an Oscar, and now the former vice-president's head may swell to match the rest of his growing body because he's been nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Gore was nominated this morning by a Norwegian lawmaker who said Gore has done more than anyone else to draw attention to the dangers of global warming.
If he's going to borrow Michael Moore's triple-X tuxedo for the Oscars, he might as well keep it a bit longer. He may need it in Sweden to pick up his Nobel."
What an ungracious, unprofessional, biased, hateful piece of garbage. And the segment sucked too.
>>>
and number two
>>>
Laura Ingraham Confronts O'Reilly About Sexist Agenda On FOX
By Deborah on O'Reilly Factor
Laura Ingraham made Bill O'Reilly squirm with embarrassment when she confronted him tonight about all the sex laden videos on The O'Reilly Factor.. She asked him if there was a " rampant mid-life crisis" going on with the male anchors on FOX. " What's the purpose?, she asked. "We don't care about coffee shop babes".
Ingrahams comment about " coffee shop babes" refers to the segment about a drive through coffee shop with hooter type cashiers that FOX has run all week with videos shot from all the right angles.
Then she wanted to know why O'Reilly did a segment on naked parties at Brown? " Do you think that's a cultural phenomena?" She asked him why we needed to see the naked bodies at the party or why a bikini clad babe was needed for a plastic surgery segment? For once. O'Reilly was speechless.
Cavuto got the next well deserved scolding.for his " Girls Gone Wild" segments. O'Reilly joked, "He's demented" But Ingraham wasn't kidding and since nobody had ever called him on it before, he was stymied.
Ingraham's final comment was perfect, She asked BOR if he was a " T-Warror" and of course he eagerly agreed. " Then act like it!", she barked. Bill O' Reilly was busted tonight and I applaud Laura Ingraham.
>>>
And just a little side note on my part...
Have you ever noticed on these News Stations (especially FOX) that when the talking head wants to interview someone to explain the issue further, they interview... another news person! Why are they not going to the source of the story? Like Bill O'reilly having Laura Ingraham on who is another talk radio Fox affiliate.
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