This is my second diary now whereby I intentionally watch Fox and report what I see to my dear Kossack friends. I watch about a half hour, once a week, just to see what issues the Corporatists/MoneyCons want their voting masses to see. And it is fascinating. You know that, because Fox leaves low hanging fruit that is picked up by Keith or Rachel or Stewart and juxtaposed against easily provable facts. It is critical that real reporters do so because Fox routinely makes up their own version of "facts" on stories of great importance to us.
Just as fascinating, just as dangerous and yet flying under the radar is the topics Fox chooses to report on, the importance given them and the combining them with made to order facts. I have found that Fox misleads not just by inventing facts, but also choosing stories that are relatively benign and making them sound as if the stories are major ones that deserve big attention and those stories, of course, always leave palpable hatred toward Obama. Always. Come on over.
I never plan these diaries beforehand. I am motivated to write them by what I see and concentrate on the message, not who reported it or even the show. So, apologies up front for not being more specific, but this is not a "gotcha" refutation, it is more a "huh?" thing.
Last night at 9:00 p.m. I actually watched 10 minutes of the Fox Business Channel, simply because I overshoot my remote in aiming for the National Geographic Channel.
Well, I thought, I have read and watched a lot about the economy and "leading indicators" lately, so I decided to see what they reported as important.
OK - somehow they lead off by describing a "T-Shirt" that they giggle "you, undoubtedly have seen these" - the shirt says "Obama's Plan" and then has 5 steps, first of which is 1.) Apologize for the United States. The next four are wordy steps toward socialism, including, of course, higher taxes (not true for average viewers).
Before we even get to the facts, it is incredibly important to step back in awe of the sheer audacity and shamelessness here. The lead story on a business show is about a shirt. Were that the only problem. First, I live in blood red state that hates everything Obama and I have not seen the shirt, nor have I heard about a shirt that lists Obama's plan. Second, the shirt was put on the screen, not held up by the host or shown actually on someone, it didn't look like a "real" shirt, in that, even up close on TV, I could not read the steps. It was not cute, no funny anecdotes, blue shirt, white in normal type setting writing, with specific business language.
NO F'ing way does this "shirt" exist except the one written and matted for the show. But that doesn't matter because to excel at Fox, you have to have no shame. But it does not end there. This is on Fox Business, one would think there would be a market analysis that could be used to degrade Obama, or unemployment numbers to make him look bad. But those were not stories they reported on, they invented a shirt so they could focus on Obama's socialism to gin up fear about the deficit and runaway spending. They use a shirt to get there because actual mechanics of the economy is messy and could make the R's cons look bad themselves. So, why bother? Especially when you can make a stupid shirt, a F****** shirt! and simply say, "I am sure you have seen this". The message is Obama is a socialist, taxes are way up, your money is going to minorities - so why bother using the news to get there?
Well, Hat tip to thestructureguy commenting below who found a link to a T-Shirt that is similar to the one that was shown. I am nearly positive that the one shown on the show did not have the logo and the language might have been different, but the story is the same, show a shirt, not the news to get to your point.
The choice of stories is every bit as dangerous as the outright lies and a big part of the manipulation.
This morning, on Fox and Friends (what friends?), there was a report from a female reporter just back from Guantanimo. She reported that the inmates had access to a library, TV, one video game AND GET THIS "Life Courses" that help them write a resume, balance a checkbook and get a job when released.
I understand that Guantanimo is a problem, but the problem is what to do with it. I would actually applaud a report that said Obama promised to close it within a year and still does not have a plan. BUT - that never came up. Why? Because it is less likely to stir up hate for Obama than the thought that TERRORISTS (most of which have been let go b/c they did nothing) had a video game and a damn life skills course.
Then it got worse. The reporter says that they had full access to the site but they were no longer allowed to shoot video of the prisoners. The reporter stated that they could not shoot video of the prisoners undoubtedly because the last time they did, "a prisoner said that they got all these "toys" because Obama is a communist on video, I am sure you guys remember". It cannot be b/c it violates the Geneva convention.
Well. Who here thinks that if Fox had video of a GITMO terrorist holding up his video game saying that they have this because Obama is a communist, they would be running a loop of it every 5 minutes? But they did not show the purported video - "I am sure you remember it." "I am sure you have seen this shirt."
GITMO is a legitimate story. But they didn't report a story, just like the business news was not a story, the topic was Obama was a communist. And I am sure you have seen the tape where a GITMO terrorist says so. And, in case you didn't hate Obama for being a communist, they all gave a good head shake about TERRORISTS getting "life courses" and a good chuckle about a resume with 9 years blank. It can't be that these abused people, who are going to be released b/c they are innocent or minions, are being given a chance to see that the West is not all evil?
You see, its not just that Fox's commentary shows abuse facts to get to their crazy ideology. It is also that their ideology leads them to abuse the entire reporting process and create an entirely false reality, one where everyone is wearing shirts that they are sure you have seen and where even GITMO terrorists call Obama a communist.
The perfect "reporter" for Fox news is one with an advertising degree. But that is not enough. You can be a brilliant advertising specialist, alas, you also need to abandon any sense of shame and make use of your talents making commercials saying a moderate President is a communist and a threat to America. Oh, and you better have an M.A. in drama, because you have to act like a very concerned reporter and hide any remaining sense of shame.
I write these knowing that none of you need to be made aware how bad Fox news manipulates, but to give specific examples of how bad it is and how it is actually increasing in its shamelessness.