Fw: Fox News: Deploying Reporters/Pundits to Distort the Facts

[Guest guest]

All, REALLY?!! NG

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J

N

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 9:35 AM

Fox News: Deploying Reporters/Pundits to Distort the Facts

 

 

Fox News: Deploying Reporters/Pundits to Distort the Facts

 

July 13, 2004

 

On everything from Enron, to tax cuts, to national security, Fox News has used

its reporters, anchormen and pundits to parrot the Bush administration's

right-wing policies as if they were conventional wisdom or fact.

 

FOX: ANCHOR MAN SAYS ENRON HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BUSH ENERGY POLICY: Despite

the White House coordinating its energy policy with Enron's Ken Lay during the

energy crisis, Brit Hume said Enron, " is not a scandal about the Bush energy

policy. " [ABC, 2/9/02; Fox anchor Brit Hume, 1/16/02]

 

FOX: REPORTER IGNORES POLLS, SAYS EVERYONE HAS TO AGREE TAX CUTS HELPED: Fox

News correspondent Brian Wilson claimed, " A lot of people are doing their taxes

right now and seeing the benefits of that kind of tax cuts that's in the system.

Last time, everybody will have to agree, it did generate quite a little bump in

the economy. " He said this despite Fox News' own September 2003 poll showed that

61 percent of Americans believed tax cuts have not helped their families

finances, and a January New York Times poll finding " fewer than one in five

people said their tax burden had been eased. " [Fox reporter Brian Wilson,

3/5/04; FOX Poll, 9/23-24; NY Times, 1/18/04]

 

FOX: HOST SAYS BUSH DID 'EXACTLY THE RIGHT THING': Despite questions about

Bush's Iraq policy, Bill O'Reilly declared " Americans are looking for a strong

leader. Mr. Bush has been that. And most Americans had emotion invested in him.

He did exactly the right thing after 9/11. " [Fox host Bill O'Reilly, 7/22/03]

 

FOX: ANCHOR SUGARCOATS IRAQ, OFFERS NO PROOF OF CLAIM: Despite burgeoning

violence in Iraq and the Fox News Sunday host Tony Snow said Bush's Iraq policy

" has created peaceful conditions in more than 90 percent of Iraq. " He offered no

source for his statistic. [Fox anchor Tony Snow, 10/14/03]

 

FOX: ANCHOR & REPORTER SPIN BUSH EDUCATION POLICY: Despite the prospect that

Bush would propose reducing education funding, Fox's Jim Angle reported " Bush

seems to see education reform as the next big front in the battle for Civil

Rights. And of course, it will be the number-one priority once he takes office. "

When asked about Bush's clear plan to push for vouchers, Angle said, " Well, it's

a mischaracterization, obviously, of his education plan. " [Fox reporter Jim

Angle, 1/15/01]

 

FOX: HANNITY SPEWS UNSUBSTANTIATED LIES ABOUT IRAQ: Fox's Sean Hannity claimed

" We now have documents proving the connection between al Qaeda and Iraq but

that's not enough to convince people. We had weapons dumped in the Euphrates.

That's not enough to convince people. " He produced no evidence of his

assertions, and they have never been substantiated. [Fox host Sean Hannity,

4/28/03]

 

FOX: ANCHORMAN SUGARCOATS ANTI-UNION POLICIES: Chastising AFL-CIO President John

Sweeney, Fox anchor Neil Cavuto claimed Republicans' anti-union agenda was

acceptable because it represented " a view of individual worker spirits, a

boundary-less type of environment where managers can talk directly to workers

rather than through an intermediary like unions. " [Fox anchor Neil Cavuto,

7/30/02]

 

FOX: REPORTER SAYS PUBLIC SUPPORTS RIGHT-WING ECONOMICS: While Fox News' own

polling showed 69 percent of Americans thought the economy under Bush was either

" fair " or " poor " in early 2002, and 68 percent in a Bloomberg poll felt that

Bush's economic policies had made no difference on the economy or made it worse

off, Carl Cameron reported, " Most polls show that the public prefers the

Republican economic approach over that of Democrats. " [Fox News/Opinion Dynamics

Poll, 1/9-10/02; Bloomberg Poll, 1-13/02; Fox reporter Carl Cameron, 1/18/02]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Re: Fox's news Bias and new ways to organize and

learn, I just returned from viewing OutFoxed by Fox at

a neighbor's house, organized through

http://www.moveon.org

 

(See http://www.outfoxed.org for more details about

the documentary.)

 

Moveon.org organized viewings of the documentary at

homes around the country. Fifty people showed up at

this one little house, a stranger who had volunteered

to show the DVD in their livingroom!

Very interesting how moveon is bringing people

together in homes across the country to take back our

democracy. Afterwards we had an interesting discussion

with many valuable comments made by the range of

people attending.

 

The grassroots nature of the get-togethers and meeting

in homes is a great feeling and a good way to network

as well.

 

You can sign up to get notice of future events,which

are entirely free.

 

This is what the website said:

 

Meet Other MoveOn and Common Cause Members in Your

Area to:

Watch Outfoxed together

Join an interactive online conference call with

comedian Al Franken and director Robert Greenwald

Plan to take on Fox and take back our media

Uncovered director Robert Greenwald -- working with a

group of Fox-monitoring MoveOn members -- has put

together a documentary film that exposes Fox for what

it is: partisan spin, not news. Outfoxed features

interviews with seven ex-Fox News employees who

describe how, every day, highly partisan talking

points are drawn up to influence newscasts.

 

 

 

(RE earlier post concerning Fox's bias:

Distort the Facts

 

Fox News: Deploying Reporters/Pundits to Distort the

Facts

 

July 13, 2004)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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