Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:37 pm
There’s a lot to get to this week, so let’s start with the trivial juiciest gossip. NewsHounds asks the musical question Are Rupert Murdoch And Mick Jagger Ex Jerry Hall An Item? as The Mirror assures us Rupert Murdoch is dating Jerry Hall and they’re set to go public with secret romance.
Friday Fox Follies has two things to say: 1). Some secret; 2). Ewww!
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THE DEBATE: Ever since the GOP debate, pundits have argued over who won and who lost. The biggest loser was clearly CNBC. The biggest winner? The Fox “News” Channel.
Fox has for years been indoctrinating the world into believing the rest of the news media is left-leaning and only Fox is FAIR & BALANCED. Consequently, Fox News throws a temper tantrum over GOP debate: “Walk off the stage!”
Following the debates, Returning To Their Roots, Conservatives Take Comfort In ‘Liberal Media Bias’ Debate Charge because that’s their comfort zone. According to the WashPo in The conservative war on the mainstream media hit a new phase at the GOP debate:
Democrats, Pew Research found last year, trust media outlets like the Washington Post and New York Times — meaning that Democratic candidates are less likely to start battles with those institutions.
Conservatives distrust those outlets more than they trust them. There’s one popular outlet that they do trust, of course: Fox News. Fox News is consistently the most-watched cable news network, but often itself refers derisively to the “mainstream media” — of which it is objectively a part. Fox News straddles a line drawn by Rubio later in the debate when he said that a newspaper editorial calling on him to resign his position in the Senate was “another example of the double standard that exists in this country between the mainstream media and the conservative movement.” (Rubio later called the mainstream media “the ultimate Super PAC” on behalf of Democrats — presumably not including Fox in that group.)
The “fair and balanced” mantra of the network is regularly mocked by the left as downplaying the network’s obvious conservative tilt. But within the spectrum of media outlets, Fox is playing a role that conservatives think is necessary — treating them fairly and balancing out everyone else. Fair and balanced — which makes it trusted and popular, likely at the expense of other networks.
In the year 2000, when Fox hadn’t yet broken out as the most popular network on cable news, Republicans were six points more negative than Democrats in their trust of media. By 2005, after Fox News’s ascent, they were 39 points more negative — though that gap has narrowed to about 23 points this year, which is precisely where it was in 1997. Trust overall is lower.
Long story short: The propaganda worked!!!
THE DEBASEMENT: Whether Fox “News” is deliberately trying to start a Race War or is just unconcerned about where its incendiary language may lead is an academic question historians can settle following the next Race War. FFF merely provides the latest evidence:
From “Hate Group” To “Nazis”: Fox News
Ramps Up Their War On Black Lives Matter
Big City Sheriff Says Black Lives Matter ‘Will
Join Forces With ISIS’ To Take Down America
Fox Guest: Black Lives Matter Is A “Terrorist Group”
Fox Guest Calls Out Bill O’Reilly For Equating
Black Lives Matter Supporters To Nazis
O’Reilly Now Denies He Compared
Black Lives Matter To Nazis
Roland Martin: ‘Despicable Coward’
Bill O’Reilly Is Lying About Black Lives Matter
As always, Fox “News” ignores any evidence that would contradict its BS. That’s why they won’t tell the audience that Prosecution Of U.S. Police For Killings Surges To Highest In Decade and that Police are searching black drivers more often, but finding more illegal stuff with white drivers.
It’s pretty clear that Fox “News” is Pro-cop, even if that cop is later fired:
Fox’s Kilmeade Blames Student Thrown
To The Ground By Officer: “Have
Some Respect For Your Teachers”
Media Figures Blame Student After She
Is Slammed To The Ground By Police Officer
Glenn Beck Calls SC Confrontation
Video ‘Absolute Ticket to Anarchy’
But, doncha dare say something negative about cops:
Fox’s Disgusting Attacks On Quentin
Tarantino And #RiseUpOctober Rally
O’Reilly Tears Into Tarantino: ‘Destroyed
His Career’ with ‘Lies’ About the Police
‘Black People Kill Black People!’ Fox
Panel Gets Heated Over Tarantino, Police
Long story short: The propaganda seems to be working. Police departments across the country are now urging a boycott of Tarantino’s movies.
THE FOX FACEBOOKERY:
Shareablee Social Scorecard Reveals
Top 25 U.S. Social Brands in Q3 2015
Old School Fox News Notched More Facebook
Play Than BuzzFeed Video And MTV In Q3 2015
Who’s Bigger Than the Kardashians on Facebook?
THE LEGGINGS: Believe it or not, Fox News Features Cringeworthy Panel of Dads Talking About Leggings. When Fox News Turns To A Panel Of Men To Debate Whether Women Should Be Allowed To Wear Leggings, Media Matters responds:
Fox & Friends’ overt sexism reached a new level during its October 27 edition in which a panel of three men were asked to judge the appropriateness of three women’s appearances. Co-host Steve Doocy started things off by asking panelist Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty, “Are you comfortable with the women in your life parading in public in leggings?” Throughout the segment the panelists weighed in on each outfit, with Robertson quipping, “I’d like a photo” of one of the models, and Fox’s Arthur Aidala saying of another model’s “physique,” “God bless you, you’ve worked out, you’ve earned that.” Aidala then joked, “We all took nitroglycerin pills before she came on, just to make sure.” To conclude the panel discussion, Doocy speculated that, “I don’t think anybody is in too much trouble,” with Aidala agreeing, “No, I think we made it.”
THE HANNITY HANDJOB: The Los Angeles Times printed a fawning profile of Sean Hannity without ever mentioning the disappeared money from his Freedom Concerts and his pal Hal from North Bergen. Oddly titled Sean Hannity says his show had nothing to do with Hillary Clinton’s sudden good fortune, it goes on to say:
“I have a Top 5,” he said, referring to the candidates he’d like to see represent the GOP.
When pressed, Hannity acknowledges that real estate mogul Donald Trump is one of those five. The two men have been friends for years, and although Hannity wears jeans behind the glass table where he does his show every night, he is often wearing a tie that bears the Donald J. Trump label.
“I get the whole collection,” Hannity said. “He’s been sending them to me for years. They are great ties and they look great on TV.”
Which may explain why Hannity’s in the tank for Trump.
The funniest thing to come of out of his mouth this week is that Hannity Wants To Moderate A Republican Debate – With Rush Limbaugh And Mark Levin, Too. According to NewsHounds:
In a post-debate interview on the Hannity show, [Ted] Cruz complained about the CNBC moderators. “How about a debate moderated by Sean Hannity and Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh?” Cruz suggested. “Now that would be a debate.”
“I’m in,” Hannity readily answered. “And I think I can speak for the other two – they’re in as well. I do agree with you because these questions are downright hostile. And I believe this was a horrible night for the news media and in many instances tonight a disgrace to the profession of journalism.”
If that isn’t throwing stones from a glass house, I don’t know what is. Because it’s hard to think of anyone who’s a bigger disgrace to the profession of journalism than Sean Hannity.
Did somebody say “disgrace to the profession of journalism”?
Then read The Fake News Food Chain about how Sean Hannity falls for hoax website on claim that U.S. is taking in 250,000 Syrian refugees. First Sean Hannity Uses Fake News Website To Claim ISIS Will Invade America, and then Fox News’ Sean Hannity Feeds Donald Trump Fake Middle Eastern Refugee Claim From Hoax Website. You read that right. Sean Hannity Falls For Parody News About Syrian Refugees – And Donald Trump Repeats It.
When caught, Hannity Throws Massive Tantrum On Air After Earning Yet Another ‘Pants On Fire’ Rating and then Hannity Hilariously ‘Explains’ His False Claim About Refugees by making up more crap.
FIRST AMENDMENT FOR ME; JAIL FOR THEE:
Bill O’Reilly Wants The San Francisco
Board Of Supervisors Arrested
ROUGH WATTERS: Bill O’Reilly’s lapdog Jesse Watters complains about being kicked off campus after he started randomly hitting on undergraduates. Because he had not obtained permission to film, Jesse Watters of The O’Reilly Factor Kicked Off Cornell University Campus.
THE TARANTULA STRIKES AGAIN: Fox Host: Trump Made Billions From “Small” Million Dollar Loan, Unlike Liberals Who Would Blow It Because They “Know Nothing” About Business
FUNNIER FAULKNER: To follow up on a story FFF brought to you several weeks ago, Hasbro Wants “Implausible” $5M Lawsuit From Fox News’ Harris Faulkner Tossed:
“Indeed, the human Harris Faulkner is a journalist, author, and Fox News anchor; the fictional Harris Faulkner is a cartoon-like toy animal who resides in the Littlest Pet Shop world designed for young children,” the response from attorneys at NYC firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, PC states. “The Hamster Toy does not have an identifiable gender, does not have a profession and does not have any biographical or contextual attributes that make reference to Ms. Faulkner’s public persona.”
No, really.
THE FOX BYTES: Bette Midler Perfectly NAILS Benghazi Truthers And Idiot Fox News Viewers • Fox News Ratings Plunge As Rachel Maddow’s Viewership Grows By 31% • Fox’s Brian Kilmeade Inadvertently Reveals What’s Wrong With A Restaurant Discount For Gun-Toting Customers • Fox News Channel Anchor Megyn Kelly to Keynote 2015 NACDS Foundation Dinner • Megyn Kelly’s Act After Hillary Humiliated Gowdy And Friends Was The Lowest Point In Her Career • Bob Woodward Smacks Down Fox News’ ‘Benghazi Is Watergate’ Meme • ‘Pathetic and Petulant’: Fox Panel Slams Jeb for Complaining About Campaign • Fox Picks Up Miss Universe After NBC Dumped It Over Trump • Fox Pushes Carly Fiorina’s Debunked Claim That Women Held 92 Percent Of Jobs Lost Under Obama • Fox News Stupidity Of The Day: We Don’t Regulate Cars, So Nobody Should Regulate Guns • Fox Contributor Newt Gingrich Baselessly Speculates That “Odds Are About 1 To 3 [Hillary Clinton Will] Be Indicted” • Pete Hegseth Pimps Franklin Graham Charity While Attacking Military Religious Freedom Foundation • ‘More Free Stuff’: Bolling, Geraldo Clash on O’Reilly Over Why America’s So Liberal • Oh, Look! Another Fox News Sunday Without Democratic Guests • President Obama Blasts Fox News For Lying About His Position On Guns • Fox’s Charles Payne Calls Work-Life Balance “A Bunch Of Crock” And Calls For Children To Work More • Jeb Bush’s Appearances On Fox Coincidentally Rise Along With Bush Ad Buys • Fox’s Dana Perino Thinks Bacon-Cancer Link Is Part Of A “Conspiracy” About Climate Change • Sean Hannity Dismisses Katy Perry For Supporting Hillary Clinton
Headly Westerfield, of the Not Now Silly Newsroom, is tired of writing biographical blurbs and pretending he didn’t.
