Friday, January 26, 2007

How Low Can Fox News Go?

Has Fox News really reached its nadir? With the Southern (sorry, Republican) Party in disarray following the Congressional wipe-out, it must be forgetting to send the daily marching orders to Roger Ailes. Spinning out of control, and not sure why its world is being turned upside down, Fox is getting desperate. Very desperate.

Take two recent stories.

One, Fox has been peddling a story that Barack Obama attended a radical Saudi-funded Indonesian madrassa as a child. In fact, reporters from CNN and the Associated Press went to investigate, and discovered that it was a secular institution. They even found that it had classes on Christianity, with pictures of Jesus on the wall. Unlike John Kerry, Obama swung right back and denounced Fox for its "malicious, irresponsible charges", and called out Fox commentators Steve Doocy and John Gibson by name. Obama's letter was signed by Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Islamic representatives. How did Gibson respond? By claiming that the "reporter" sent by CNN probably went to the same madrassa, and wondered how this person managed to miss the "terrorist training camps" and kids "bobbing their heads and memorizing the Koran." What can I say? Remember, this is the most popular news network in the country.

Two, Fox has decided to broadcast a total lie about Clinton and 9/11 that was excised even from ABC's ludicrous production (written by a Republican partisan) last year. Following widespread protests, ABC agreed to scrap some of the most offensive scenes, including the one that shows Sandy Berger refusing to allow the CIA to attack Bin Laden. No matter that the 9/11 Commission said this did not occur. Fox is a full part of the Bushite alternate universe where ideology trumps fact, where an insidious and cynical postmodernist vision holds sway, and where there is no such thing as objective truth. This, my friends, is moral relativism. And calumny to boot.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The argument goes that Fox News has the highest rating because it represents the single source for "pro-American"/"conservative" news; whereas all other channels have a liberal slant.

Can you recommend a suitable news source for a conservative, assuming that you agree that the news channels/shows have a political bend?

Morning's Minion said...

Fox News certainly appeals to the lowest common denominator. But it also beats CNN because it actually focuses on the news, albeit with a right-wing bent. Who wants to watch CNN when they inflict the insufferable Nancy Grace and the arch-panderer Larry King upon us? Interestingly, CNN International is a far better channel. Do they think Americans are too dumb to receive the same high quality news? I think some of the best news choices are BBC and Financial Times.

Anonymous said...

Fair enough, but I don't get the BBC. Any preference within the basic cable world - MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS, C-SPAN?