Fox News are Really the Worms I Thought they Were

McClellan on Fox News and White House talking points

On MSNBC's Hardball the other night, former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan described how the White House sends talking points to commentators on Fox News. This is the reason you should get your news elsewhere.

All one needs is to view "Outfoxed" and you will never watch Fox news again...

video.google.com...

Sometimes I wonder how the people at FOX sleep at night...,

Oh yeah, it's called booze.

This is why Sean Hannity and the rest, are so against Ron Paul. This is why they're so against 911 investigations.

Thanks coastlinekid, I will watch that video link you provided.


[edit on 31-7-2008 by Swingarm]

[edit on 31-7-2008 by Swingarm]

reply to post by Swingarm

Oh please, give me a break.
The whitehouse sends out their talking points to all the major networks. This is how the media knows the position of the government so quickly for any given event. Instead of making knee-jerk reactions, perhaps some should think a little first. When the press does a story, they say stuff like, "The Whitehouse says blah, blah, blah.....". These talking points are not the positions of any of the anchors, they are only the position of the government on any given subject.

reply to post by WhatTheory


Fox muddies every interview with their own opinions, Thats opinion not fact. Opinion that originates in the white house.

I knew this well before I ever saw this little piece. It's just confirmation.

Fox is the mouth piece for the Bush administration plain and simple. It is not a fair and balanced news program, its a fraud.

i used to think along the lines of what theory then i decided that staying loyal to liars , while sometimes working to sway the beliefs of those who like to give people the benefit of the doubt, and manipulating them is fun for some people, that is not the type of person i want to be, it leaves me feeling empty inside

but the reality to all the wishful thinkers out there, is that there are alot of people out there with a completely different mindset (survival of the fittest, and damn if they will help you, in fact they will try and mess you up and if you allow them to then you are weak and deserve it) this is my impression and these types of people are everywhere. Heartless by some sort of delusional reasoning, greed, abuse, genetics or something 02 cents
and in the sort of world we live in today, most of these types seem to make a bit of $

[edit on 31-7-2008 by cpdaman]

Originally posted by Swingarm
Fox muddies every interview with their own opinions, Thats opinion not fact. Opinion that originates in the white house.

Sorry, but that entire statement is only your opinion.
Any person from any media source will ask questions from their perspective. However when it comes to delivering the news Fox seems to be the most fair. They always seem to give both sides of every issue unlike CNN or MSNBC.

Fox does it correctly, this is why they blow the rest of the news organizations out the water in ratings.

Even if you believe they skew the news a little to the right, so what? All the other channels like CNN and MSNBC skew it to the left. This is why you must get your news from multiple sources.

[edit on 31-7-2008 by WhatTheory]

Fox News is the most credible news source that I know of. No one presents a more balanced view of the news than Fox, even if a preponderance of commentators are conservative.

I can say this with some validity because I've been watching and listening to the media for the better part of sixty years.

You don't have to take my word for it, though. All you have to do is watch Fox News to see all the liberals they have providing analysis. Of course, most of them sound like idiots, because they can only speak in clichés and code words, but that's not Fox's fault. They've got the most highly credentialed liberals available.

Oh, and by the way, Scott McClellan not only was lying about O'Reilly and Sean Hannity taking talking points from the White House, but he admitted it and not only that, but he apologized publicly for his lies.

Not only did McClellan retract his accusation that while he was in the White House talking points were being sent to O'Reilly, but under what turned into almost a cross-examination on Tuesday's "Radio Factor," the former press secretary apologized:

"The truth is I messed up. I was specifically not trying to single anyone out, including you. But the way a couple of the questions were phrased in that interview along with my response left things open to interpretation and I should not have let that happen."

Listen to the whole thing, for O'Reilly completely nails this guy.

/5jok3j

[emphasis mine]

You can listen to it here:

homepage.mac.com...



Now, who're the worms.


[edit on 2008/7/31 by GradyPhilpott]

Even if you believe they skew the news a little to the right, so what? All the other channels like CNN and MSNBC skew it to the left. This is why you must get your news from multiple sources.

reply to post by WhatTheory


It's almost IMO 80% commentary. The bulk of the US population is being manipulated by their propaganda. Ratings mean zero. The federal reserve is raping the entire US population, do you see Americans moving to or supporting a candidate that wants to abolish it, and the IRS. Why is that? Are Americans aware of this? If they are they are, do they choose to do nothing ? The bulk of people tune into Fox news after NASCAR because thats the sorry state of the USA.

reply to post by GradyPhilpott


You can't be serious, right?

Ok, if they offer "balanced" viewpoints, then they continually laugh in their faces while hearing it. Sean Hannity is literally the most annoying human being on TV. As soon as someone presents a case against his own, he talks and talks and talks until no one else can be heard. Bill O'Reilly is a joke, I don't honestly believe he is more than a character played on his show.

Not that the other networks are any better, but Fox is so far from balanced its pathetic.

reply to post by SantaClaus


I'm as serious as a heart attack.

I agree Sean Hannity is annoying and Alan Colmes is worse. That's why I watch Glenn Beck during that hour.

You are making the mistake of confusing the news with commentary and analysis.

Fox News is as fair and balanced as it gets and I know this to be a fact because I have the other news outlets to compare them with and I have decades of life experience to apply to my analysis.

Fox makes a lot of liberals mad, but a very large number of them are tuning in every day to get their news.

CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC might the the news equivalent of comfort food for liberals, but Fox is the meat and potatoes of news and the ratings back them up.

By the way, I was once like you and religiously listened to and watched NPR, BBC, CBS, et al., but eventually I had to listen to my own sense of reason, because when it came to the things I knew about intimately, they were lying through their teeth and I decided to stop believing them about anything.

I use the same standard for Fox and they are not perfect. I do find that they confuse the facts from time to time, but it is my observation that when the dust has settled, Fox has set the record straight.

Originally posted by SantaClaus
Sean Hannity is literally the most annoying human being on TV. As soon as someone presents a case against his own, he talks and talks and talks until no one else can be heard. Bill O'Reilly is a joke, I don't honestly believe he is more than a character played on his show.

Do you know the difference between news anchors and a show host?
Apparently not!
Hannity and Bill are show hosts and NOT anchors or reporters. They are allowed to give their opinions. It's also apparent you don't watch the shows because if you did, you would know that they always have someone on who gives the 'other' side of the story. You don't know what you are talking about. You are only spewing liberal talking points. Stop being a brainwashed sheep and think for yourself once a awhile.

Originally posted by Swingarm
It's almost IMO 80% commentary.

And what is wrong with that? Aren't the other cable news networks that much and more?

There's plenty of hard news on Fox and plenty of analysis. That's their bailiwick and no one does it better.

So, besides the Allstate 400 fiasco, what's your beef with NASCAR? Is it just that you think all NASCAR fans are ignorant, white-trash?

What does that say about you?

I'm a huge F1 fan and I watch Fox. Do you have a problem with that?

[edit on 2008/7/31 by GradyPhilpott]

When you have one network that is so powerfull and is so intent in warping the dialog it limits that discourse. It actually influences it to be a narower discourse, and I think thats what citizens should be up in arms about. We can't accept this anymore if we do accept this we handing on to our children a lesser democracy than we inhereted, and thats the one thing we don't have a right to do.

John Nichols author "Dick : The Man Who is President"

reply to post by GradyPhilpott


I agree with that quote. Fox is highly biased trash news. IMO


[edit on 31-7-2008 by Swingarm]

[edit on 31-7-2008 by Swingarm]

Originally posted by Swingarm
I agree with that quote. Fox is highly biased trash news. IMO

That's your opinion, but you'd be hard pressed to back that up with evidence.

Here is a youtube vid, where Murdoch admits to actively backing the Bush agenda, etc.. Seems pretty telling to me.

reply to post by RegionalChaos


Thanks for that video.

I think its clear the fox news actively works at shaping the agenda as R.M admits. Now you can take his admissions and see where they fit into Fox's daily offerings.

As Fox likes to say, If you don't like it SHUT UP. just kidding, I like open discussion. I also agree most news outlets are guilty of the same tactics through the need for ratings. Once again it's the individual that pays the price for ratings which have precious little to do with truth.

Fox patented this kind of journalism. Sorry if I disagree that they should commended for it. The INTERNET here in Canada is on it's way, to the same format as cable packages, then it will be on to US market after they perfect it. Then Fox will be back to it's drooling loyal followers in 5-10 years after that. And the proliferation of entertainment before news/truth continues. The web is the venue for freedom of speech and truth it seems to be coming to end in the not to distant future. You can bet that R.M has his hands in that pie.


[edit on 31-7-2008 by Swingarm]

@ Grady

No, I actually watch the same garbage you do, but I get most of my real news from Google, cause I can roam around lots of AP articles on the same subject.

NPR radio at least has moments during the day when they speak in statements and not opinion.

On balance, its hard to balance a subject when you can't hear part of the argument. Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly ARE FoxNews. They make it what it is, a joke.

I am conservative, in the traditional, lost sense. These talking heads are not true conservatives, they are biased rednecks who use rhetoric, spin it and use it for their own agendas.

The lowest form of infotainment. And that "info" part hardly even belongs anymore.

Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are important components of Fox News, as is Greta van Susteren, Shepard Smith, I hope someday again, John Gibson and Neil Cavuto and a parade of other hosts and reporters.

But, when you start trying to define the heart of Fox News, you should be watching and listening to Brit Hume and Chris Wallace.

It's Hume and Wallace who do the hard news and analysis in a dignified and sober manner and who enforce the fair and balanced model for their shows. Neil Cavuto and Paul Gigot do excellent jobs with the financial news.

Fox has never tried to be Headline News and in fact, Headline News does not now fit the model of the original Headline News. So, there's always enough time for plenty of analysis and commentary. That's the model.

Journalism is in a sad state these days, but remember it was in 1968 that Walter Cronkite, "the most trusted man in America," took off his glasses and stared into the camera as he stabbed in the back those who fought, were fighting, and would fight for freedom in Vietnam.

That set a bad precedent for future journalists, but the history of journalism is not so golden as we sometimes like to think.

Rupert Murdoch is in the media business to make money and he does a very good job of putting his hand on the pulse of the public.

Anyone who has a double digit IQ knows that the left wing had won the journalism war in 1968 and by the time Fox News came along, the public was ready for something just a little more balanced, even if that was a daily dose of conservative radio talk shows to counter the left-wing broadcast network nightly news.

What Murdoch did was to build a new network that capitalized on the need defined by the public--a broad swath of the public across both social and economic classes, at that.

I happen to like Brit, Chris, Greta, Shep, John, and Neil. They're the more buttoned down, academic types, whose shows are content and analysis oriented.

But on the other hand you've got the sort of folks who are interested in the news, but need something like a Jerry Springer, "professional wrestling" kind of atmosphere to keep their interest up--a kind of tabloid feel, if you will--so, Murdoch's got the head-butting O'Reilly, the swashbuckling Geraldo, and the modern day "The Bickersons" or "Heckle and Jeckle," Hannity and Colmes.

Add to that a throng of analysts that runs the gamut from Susan Estrich to Laura Ingram and Ellis Henican to Bill Kristol and you have something for everyone.

Oh, and don't forget the morning show with it's jocular tone and street theatre motif.

Fox has struck a chord because no matter what you're looking for in a news format, Fox can deliver it. Whether you wear a pinstriped suit or a pair of overalls to work or whether you like an evening of bridge with the better half and some friends or an evening of beefy buffoons performing a bloody ballet, Fox has a show for you and in the course of any given day, a lot of views and opinions get covered.

Fox may not be a perfect universe of news coverage, but among the competition, they're leading the way and everyone else is playing catch-up ball.

So, you may see Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity as defining Fox News and maybe most people do the same, but in reality they aren't even half the story, even if they get the bulk of the ratings. Greta is at the top of the charts in her time slot, too.

You might think that Fox is a joke, but I assure you, no one who works in TV news thinks Fox is a joke.

Fox comes closer than anyone to giving a balanced view of the news and because the left had TV journalism sewn up for nearly three decades, that is the worst reality imaginable and what is worse, people are watching and listening.


[edit on 2008/7/31 by GradyPhilpott]