Latest News of Fox and Its Attempts to Suppress Alternative Viewpoints

[Guest guest]

Latest News of Fox and its Attempts to Suppress

Alternative Viewpoints

Februrary 5, 2005

 

According to a February 1, 2005 Newsweek article, Fox

has just purchased Al-Jaseerah. Given Fox’s obvious

bias, this is something akin to the fox buying the

chicken house.

The Bush administration’s alleged involvement is an

obvious conflict of interest.

 

Newsweek 2-1-05 “Under intense pressure from the Bush

administration to sell

its controversial Al-Jazeera network, the nation of

Qatar stunned the

television industry today by agreeing to sell the

broadcast company to

Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Corporation.”

 

Fox’s Oreilly is now going after a writer who has

published a lot of articles in the same above Internet

News, Counterpunch, which published the expose on

O’Reilly alleged sexual misconduct.

 

See “Fox News Puts Me in Its Crosshairs”

http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload & name=News & file=article & sid=1716 & m\

ode=thread & order=0 & thold=0

 

This approach resembles that described in the book by

a former congressman, They Dare to Speak Out

where free speech was silenced through this technique

with numerous professors and congresspeople through

this technique of harassment. http://www.amazon,com

 

More Background of Fox:

Updated: Who Rules America?

(see page 9 for Fox News)

http://www.realnews247.com/who_rules_america_updated_2004.htm

 

Other evidence of Fox’s bias taken from below link

from wanttoknow.com:

http://www.wanttoknow.info/mediacover-up

Jane Akre—Fox News. After our struggle to air an

honest report [on hormones in milk], Fox fired the

general manager [of our station]. The new GM said that

if we didn’t agree to changes that the lawyers were

insisting upon, we’d be fired for insubordination in

48 hours. We pleaded with [him] to look at the facts

we’d uncovered. His reply: “We paid $3 billion dollars

for these TV stations. We’ll tell you what the news

is. The news is what we say it is!” [After we refused]

Fox’s general manager presented us an agreement that

would give us a full year of salary, and benefits

worth close to $200,000 in “consulting jobs,” but with

strings attached: no mention of how Fox covered up the

story and no opportunity to ever expose the facts.

[After declining] we were fired. Book – Into the

Buzzsaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free

Press –Edited by Christina Borjesson P. 43-45, 49

 

 

VIDEO DOCUMENTARY: OutFoxed exposes the biased

reporting of Fox News

Video Link

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7798.htm

 

Allegations of sexual misconduct by Oreilly

This is a quote from a forum:

“For even better political dirt, I’ll suggest the

leading articles in the Drudge Report

(DrudgeReport.com) concerning sexual misconduct of

Bill O’Reilly (O’Reilly Factor - Fox) I read the

lawsuit a few minutes ago and it is pretty horrible.

If she has tape recordings, which looks like it could

be possible given the long quotations, this could be

the beginning of the end for O’Reilly.”

 

Oreilly is now going after a writer who has published

a lot of articles in the Internet News, Counterpunch,

which published the expose on O’Reilly’s alleged

sexual misconduct. Once again Oreilly and Fox are

using the theme of “America” to manipulate the public

for Fox’s own political purposes.

 

It appears that Bill O'Reilly is doing a series on

'unAmerican' professors on US campuses. Last night, my

wife tells me, he did a piece on Ward Churchill.

Tonight will be my turn. - M. Shahid Alam

 

 

See “Fox News Puts Me in Its Crosshairs”

http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload & name=News & file=article & sid=1716 & m\

ode=thread & order=0 & thold=0

 

FOX Sics its Dogs on " Un-American " Professors

 

It appears that Bill O'Reilly is doing a series on

'unAmerican' professors on US campuses. Last night, my

wife tells me, he did a piece on Ward Churchill.

Tonight will be my turn. - M. Shahid Alam

 

See: American University Professor set to be fired

 

O'Reilly's Fatwah on " Un-American " Professors

FoxNews Puts Me In Its Crosshairs

By M. SHAHID ALAM

February 2, 2005

 

I published an essay, " America and Islam: Seeking

Parallels, " in Counterpunch on December 29, 2004. A

day later, I began to receive nasty and threatening

emails, all at once. These were orchestrated by a

www.littlegreenfootballs.com

Shortly thereafter, other right-wing websites got

into act, posting excerpts from the essay; these

included jihadwatch.org, campuswatch.org,

frontpagemag.com, freerepublic.com, etc. The messages

posted on these websites were equally vicious, and

some of them, containing explicit death threats, were

'kindly' forwarded to me.

 

What did I say in this essay? I made two points.

First, that the 9-11 attacks were an Islamist

insurgency: the attackers believe that they are

fighting--as the Americans did, in the 1770s--for

their freedom and dignity against a foreign

occupation/control of their lands. Secondly, I argue

that these attacks were the result of a massive

political failure of Muslims to resist their tyrannies

locally. It was a mistake to attack the US.

 

I followed the first essay with a second one, " Testing

Free Speech In America, " where I elaborate on the

points I had made earlier. This too was published in

Counterpunch.Org on Jan 1/2, 2005.

 

The emails to me and the University continued for

another two weeks, eventually tapering off. In the

meanwhile, I was speaking to people at the ACLU,

Boston, and the ADC, Boston. On the suggestion of the

ACLU, I contacted the campus police and the police in

my hometown to let them know about the death threats

posted against me.

 

I had a feeling this was not the end of the matter. So

yesterday, February 1, I received an email from Fox

News asking for a TV interview; they were producing a

program " on me. " At this point, I spoke to people at

ACLU who advised me against going on the program. I

received the same advice from other friends. I wrote

back to Fox saying I could not do the interview but

would be glad to answer any questions. They did not

take me up on my offer. Clearly, this would not help

them in their designs against me.

 

It appears that Bill O'Reilly is doing a series on

'unAmerican' professors on US campuses. Last night, my

wife tells me, he did a piece on Ward Churchill.

Tonight will be my turn. I expect he will make all

kinds of outlandish accusations that will resonate

well with the left- and Muslim-hating members of his

audience. This will generate calls and emails to

Northeastern and to me, containing threats, calls for

firing me, and threats to withhold donations. I am not

sure how well NU will stand up against this barrage.

 

If we can generate a matching volume of emails,

letters and call to NU supporting my right to free

speech, it might be helpful.

 

What else can we do?

 

The contact information for President Richard Freeland

is available at:

 

http://155.33.227.141/president/letters.nclk

 

 

Contact for Provots and Senior VP for Academic

Affairs:

 

Ahmed Abdelal

Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

112 Hayden Hall

(617) 373-4517

a.abdelal

 

The contacts for the leading people in the President's

office are available here:

 

http://www.president.neu.edu/cabinet.html

 

Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

James Stellar

100 Meserve Hall

Northeastern University

360 Huntington Ave.

Boston, MA 02115

ja.stellar

 

(617) 373-3980

 

M. Shahid Alam, professor of economics at Northeastern

University, is a regular contributor to

CounterPunch.org. Some of his CounterPunch essays are

now available in a book, Is There An Islamic Problem

(Kuala Lumpur: The Other Press, 2004). He may be

reached at m.alam

 

 

Ward Churchill Under Attack

From IndyMedia.org

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2005/02/112864.shtml

 

[please see original for links]

 

Ward Churchill, generally considered a friend of

radical and indigenous communities, is under attack

for his views and perhaps his race. He is a Native

American, contributor to many publications including Z

Magazine, and Professor of Ethnic Studies at

University of Colorado at Boulder where his job is at

risk. Under pressure triggered by local press in

Denver, and FOX's Bill O'Reilly (excellent article!),

he has has already resigned his department chair

position. His recent speaking engagement at Hamilton

College was cancelled due to security concerns and

death threats in response to an essay he wrote several

years ago about 9-1-1.

Denver's Rocky Mountain News is currently running a

live poll about whether he should resign his

professorship as well. Churchill opponents' on-line

poll comments are instructive in their anger and

ignorance: " He should resign his citizenship " (he's an

Indigenous American), and various comments that free

speech is ok until it criticizes the US. If the poll

comes out against Churchill, it can be used to exert

additional political pressure on his employer. The

attack against Churchill was fomented by two AM talk

radio DJs in Denver and FOX's Bill O'Reilly.

 

Other articles and resources: [info on the O'Reilly

attack and contact info for taking action | Panel

Including Ward Churchill Cancelled in New York

(indybay) | Another good one from indybay | Interview

with Derrick Jensen | Older Churchill audio Q & A | More

audio (2004)]

 

Ward Churchill, generally considered a friend of

radical and indigenous communities, is under attack

for his views and perhaps his race. He is a Native

American, contributor to many publications including Z

Magazine, and Professor of Ethnic Studies at

University of Colorado at Boulder where his job is at

risk. Under pressure triggered by local press in

Denver, and FOX's Bill O'Reilly (excellent article!),

he has has already resigned his department chair

position. His recent speaking engagement at Hamilton

College was cancelled due to security concerns and

death threats in response to an essay he wrote several

years ago about 9-1-1.

 

Denver's Rocky Mountain News is currently running a

live poll about whether he should resign his

professorship as well. Churchill opponents' on-line

poll comments are instructive in their anger and

ignorance: " He should resign his citizenship " (he's an

Indigenous American), and various comments that free

speech is ok until it criticizes the US. If the poll

comes out against Churchill, it can be used to exert

additional political pressure on his employer.

 

The attack against Churchill was fomented by two AM

talk radio DJs in Denver and FOX's Bill O'Reilly.

 

These same DJs were recently critical of Denver's

court finding Churchill and other organizers of the

anti Columbus Day parade protest innocent. They

denigrated jurors and " interviewed " Churchill on their

talk radio show and were obviously upset that

protestors were found innocent, employing typical

aggressive host tactics to silence and misrepresent

people who disagree. Shortly after their Columbus Day

coverage, they went on the attack against Ward

Churchill inflaming listeners with passages from an

essay he wrote years ago about September 11 which

later turned into the book On the Justice of Roosting

Chickens : Reflections on the Consequences of U.S.

Imperial Arrogance and Criminality. This timing and

common connection through Churchill makes it appear

they're attacking those who oppose the Columbus Day

parade.

 

As Churchill explains in a recent press release these

DJs and other press are taking him out of context,

suggesting he advocates violence against Americans and

hates this country (which even if true isn't a crime,

and it's worth noting he's a veteran). While his

essay's conclusions are stated in ways inflamatory to

middle-class white folks, which is nothing new, they

are solidly argued, also nothing new. His biggest

" crime " seems to be suggesting US foreign policy is

sometimes criminal and humanizing people around the

world who view that policy from the receiving end.

 

Professor Churchill's many books on topics from

genocide to COINTELPRO to indigenous struggles are

invaluable contributions to a radical understanding of

our world. He is perhaps best known in the radical

community for a pamphlet entitled Pacifism as

Pathology Churchill is a long-standing member of the

Colorado American Indian Movement and steadfast

supporter and organizer of the yearly struggle to stop

the state-supported celebration of Columbus.

 

The talk radio DJs and O'Reilly are still calling for

him to be fired. At the Rocky Mountain News in Denver,

the live on-line poll is currently running 3:1 against

him.

 

Other articles and resources:

 

Info on the O'Reilly attack and contact info for

taking action

http://www.newshounds.us/2005/02/01/fight_back_freedom_of_speech_under_attack.ph\

p#more

 

Panel Including Ward Churchill Cancelled in New York

(indybay)

Another good one from indybay

Interview with Derrick Jensen

Older Churchill audio Q & A

More audio (2004)