According to a recent headline, Fox News is the most watched cable news channel – for the 159th month in a row, which makes 13 years, 3 months of ratings dominence. Cue the balloon drop and confetti cannons. Whoop-dee-doo!
However, what does that really mean when the station’s lies pile up like cordwood as The Fox News Campaign To Defend Indiana’s Anti-Gay “Religious Freedom” Law went into sudden death overtime? What does it mean when “It’s A Conflict”: Tucker Carlson Admits He Won’t Let His Daily Caller Employees Criticize Fox, yet Fox News [says]: We Don’t Care if Tucker Carlson’s Daily Caller Criticizes Us? What does it mean for ‘Merkin society when President George W. Bush could do no wrong, but President Obama can do nothing right?
It means Fox “News” is right not to care about criticism, this column included. It has long ago come to the conclusion that its brain-dead audience is far too incurious to seek out any truth for themselves and will believe any lie Fox “News” spoon feeds to them, starting with the slogan “Fair and Balanced.” By stoking fear and resentment, Fox “News” is more concerned with manipulating the viewer. The biggest lie Fox tells after “Fair & Balanced” is, “We tell you what the mainstream media won’t tell you.”
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Dudes! You are the mainstream!! You’ve been the mainstream for — at the very least — 159 months now!!!
Fox “News” has proven one thing: propaganda will always work against the low information viewer. Studies show Conservatives tune into various media to have their opinions confirmed. Liberals consume news differently; to learn, to test their opinions, and to get the facts. Consequently they tend to be grazers, sampling many news sources and deciding for themselves where the truth lies. Whereas the Right Wing locks onto stations and stay there.
Yet, by the simple rules of tee vee, Fox “News” is wildly successful. Never forget: the product of tee vee is the commercials. The commercial airtime — what the station can charge for 30 seconds — increases in value when you have more bums in the seats. However, by the only measure that really counts — being honest and truthful with the viewers — Fox “News” remains a FAIL.
LOOFAH LAD AT WAR: While Bill O’Reilly’s Cameraman Contradicts His Argentina Riot Claims, Friday Fox Follies had the honour of communicating today with someone who has done battle with The Falafel King — and lived to tell the tale. In this FFF exclusive, John Doyle of The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper, lays it all out.
Some brief background: Back in 2004 the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (think: Canuk FCC) was hearing public submissions on whether it should add Fox “News” to the cable dial. Doyle picks up the story:
I made fun of the channel in my columns. In particular Bill O’Reilly and said he was hilarious, comical, and Fox News was so crazy right-wing it was hilarious.
Bill O’Reilly saw it & responded on-air, calling me names and claiming the Globe and Mail was “left-wing.” I then got thousands of abusive e-mails from Fox News supporters in the USA. I wrote about this and the foul language and threats. O’Reilly kept attacking me on-air. Some other publications picked up on the issue , next I started to get tons of e-mail from Americans apologizing for Fox News.
The New York Times noticed the battle and did a Feature story about it for their Sunday edition. This resulted in me getting more thousands of e-mail from Americans apologizing or attacking me again.
This was before the perpetual hyper-outrage Twitter and Facebook machines. Imagine if this were to happen today. Doyle pointed me to the NYT’s article, When a Canadian Insults Fox News, Them’s [Expletive] Fighting Words!:
“The other day I read in this newspaper . . . that some honchos in the cable-TV racket are applying for permission to offer the Fox News Channel in Canada.
“Beauty. Bring it on, I say. We’re all in need of a good laugh. The barking-mad Fox News Channel is something that most Canadians have only heard about. It’s time we saw it for ourselves, and made up our own minds about the phenomenon. We’ll find out if this Bill O’Reilly fella is as stupendously pompous and preening as he appears to be in the rare clips we see of Fox News.”
That prompted Mr. O’Reilly to respond in kind on his evening program, “The O’Reilly Factor.” Noting that Canadians only occasionally get glimpses of Fox News, Mr. O’Reilly takes aim at the “far left” Globe and Mail.
“So they see rare clips, but think we’re laughable. The Globe and Mail sounds like a real responsible enterprise, doesn’t it? Hey you pinheads up there, I may be pompous, but at least I’m honest.”
Back then even O’Reilly’s thought he was honest. That’s probably no longer the case. Every word he utters is compared against every word he’s ever said or written.
Giving the last word to Doyle from today’s email correspondence:
It was all very, very funny. There was coverage in Australia and the UK and other places.
Right now, I still find Fox News hilarious, often demented. And i was correct – Fox News has been easily available in Canada for years but hardly anybody watches it. A Canadian version of Fox News, Sun News, with similar right-wing ranting lasted for a few yeas on cable but went out of business a few months ago. There just isn’t the appetite for it in Canada.
INDIANA WANTS ME; LORD, I CAN’T GO BACK THERE: Tucker Carlson Attacks Opponents Of Indiana ‘Religious Freedom’ Law As ‘Jihadis’ Who ‘Want To Make You Obey’ • Megyn Kelly Hosts Leader Of Anti-Gay Hate Group For Second Straight Night To Defend Indiana’s “Religious Freedom” Law • Megyn Kelly Really Goes To Bat For Indiana’s ‘Religious Freedom’ Law – But Not So Much For The Truth • Fox’s Hume: Indiana Anti-Gay Bill Not Discriminatory Because “It Never Mentions Gay People” • Bill O’Reilly Tries To Link Opponents Of Indiana’s Anti-LGBT Law To Terrorists Targeting Christians In Kenya • Steve Doocy: Mike Pence Had ‘Good Intentions’ In Crafting ‘Religious Freedom’ Law • Fox Host Links Backlash To Indiana’s Anti-LGBT “Religious Freedom” Law To Terror Attacks Against Christians • O’Reilly: Religious People In America Are Getting The Hell Kicked Out Of Them • O’Reilly: Divide Over Indiana’s Anti-Gay Law Is A “Cultural Civil War”
A little foot-tapping nostalgia for the Old Folks:
FOX BYTES: When Fox Likens Obama To Neville Chamberlain, They’re Really Calling For War With Iran • 32 Reasons Fox Is Wrong About Global Climate Negotiations • Russell Brand Explains Why Fox News Pundits ‘Have To Attack Bowe Bergdahl’ • Megyn Kelly Throws A Hypocritical Hissy Fit Over Harry Reid’s Comments About Romney’s Taxes • Fox’s Gutfeld Accuses The NY Times Of Breaking Hillary Clinton Email Story Now So They Can Shill For Her Later • Fox Regular Brad Blakeman: Obama Has “Inserted Racism” Into America • Howard Kurtz Wants You To Think Fox Got The Better Of Jon Stewart • O’Reilly: Ending Stop-And-Frisk Has Led To More Shooting Deaths “In East New York, Which Is A Ghetto Situation” • Fox Guest: Obama’s ‘Just Inciting Some (Birther) Chatter’ By Visiting Kenya
Headly Westerfield worked a decade as a News Writer in Canadian television, but has never met John Doyle.
