MARC CHOQUETTE
Perspectives Editor
Fox News loves to ram the idea that they are “Fair and Balanced” down the throat of viewers. “We Report, You Decide,” they say at some point during nearly every commercial break.
But it tends to become clear after only a few minutes of watching the talking heads on Fox News that they have already decided for us.
Pretty much everyone (minus those in denial) has come to realize over the past few years that the channel tends to be the conservative bastion of the mainstream press. Rupert Murdoch — who started Fox News under the auspices of media goliath News Corporation — has publicly said he thought a void of “Fair and Balanced” reporting existed and needed filling. Add in the fact that most conservatives view the mainstream media as blatantly liberal, it seems that this statement was code for the need to counter the left-leaning media (i.e. the accusation that CNN has liberal tendencies).
So now that cable news has taken sides on the political spectrum, the neutral and objective nature of television news seems to be fading fast. Add in pundits who are proud of their political stripes (O’Reilly and Hannity on the right, Olbermann on the left), and it seems we’re not really deciding anything anymore. Someone has already spun nearly every issue we confront.
For example, I was flipping through the boob tube Tuesday and stopped at channel 10 to document the fear-mongering and scare tactics Fox has relentlessly been directing toward Sen. Barack Obama around the clock.
In case you missed the history of Fox trying to take down Obama, I’ll give a quick rundown: First, it was falsely surmising that he was a Muslim. When that didn’t stick, it was that his middle name, “Hussein,” indicated he was a terrorist (Ann Coulter said while a guest on one show that using his middle name was “funny”). When that didn’t stick, it was that he was not a patriotic American because he chose not to wear a flag lapel pin. When that didn’t stick, it was that a picture of him wearing the native Kenyan garb showed he was a Muslim. When that didn’t stick, it was that his pastor, and thus Obama himself, hated America.
Bill O’Reilly even said Obama himself was “anti-white” due to guilt by association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, then quickly added “You decide.” One commentator referred to him as a “Halfrican,” and a Fox News Radio host compared Obama’s speeches to Nazi propaganda, concluding that, “He sounds like Hitler!” Too bad it wasn’t on TV, so we could see the “Obama Uber Alles!” caption appearing next to a swastika.
But it even got better Tuesday. With a lot of time between primaries, Obama decided to take a couple days off and head to the Virgin Islands for some rest and relaxation. When the daughter of a couple American tourists recognized him, she asked for a picture and Obama obliged. The first thing the family did upon getting back to their hotel room was send the picture right to Fox News, who immediately aired the photo with a caption “Barack Obama on Vacation While Clinton & McCain Campaign.”
This is the mastery of Fox. While the information is technically true, the subliminal ridicule of Obama is obvious, and the bit of information characterized to be “news” is sickening. If this is what “Fair and Balanced” has become, I suppose it’s time to dig the grave and place objectivity in it.
The worst part about the whole “Faux” News epidemic, as media watchdog www.foxattacks.org points out, is that the rest of the mainstream media picks up these deceitful and opinion-laden “reports” with disturbing regularity. Just today, the New York Times’ Caucus Blog picked up the report on Obama vacationing, attributing it to Fox News.
The lesson here is to beware of those who have to call themselves “Fair and Balanced” instead of actually putting it in practice. I’m not saying CNN or MSNBC are much better, but it’s about time Fox News is exposed as the biased and completely illegitimate news organization it is. The lesson? For legitimate news, be sure to turn off your TV and look elsewhere.
03-27-2008
