PrintTo be honest, I find the whole Obama v. Fox News kerfuffle so tedious and exhausting that I've tried to ignore it, which is why I haven't bothered to blog anything about it. Still, despite my best efforts, I can't seem to escape it. But if I had tried to write something about it, I doubt it would have been anywhere near as spot-on as this Jacob Weisberg piece:
Rather than in any way maturing, Fox has in recent months become more boisterous and demagogic in rallying the opposition against Obama. The "fair and balanced" mask has been slipping with increasing frequency—as when a RNC press release was regurgitated so lazily that it repeated a typo on air or when a reporter wondered why other networks weren't doing PR for "tea parties" that Fox covered the way the Hearst press covered the Spanish-American war. On Fox, fact-checking about the president's health care proposal is provided by Karl Rove. For literary coverage, it features the bigot Jerome Corsi's rants about Obama and John Kerry. Meanwhile, the crybaby Glenn Beck has begun to exhibit a Strangelovean concern about America's precious bodily fluids, charging the government with trying to invade our bloodstream by vaccinating us for swine flu. With this latest misinformation campaign, Fox stands to become the first network to actively try to kill its viewers.
That Rupert Murdoch may skew the news rightward more for commercial than ideological reasons is somewhat beside the point. What matters is the way that Fox's successful model has invaded the bloodstream of the American media. By showing that ideologically distorted news can drive ratings, Ailes has provoked his rivals at CNN and MSNBC to experiment with a variety of populist and ideological takes on the news. It's Fox that led CNN's Lou Dobbs to remodel himself into a nativist cartoon. It's Fox that led MSNBC to amp up Keith Olbermann. Fox hasn't just corrupted its own coverage. Though its influence, it has made all of cable news unpleasant and unreliable.
So unpleasant and so unreliable that I can't even bring myself to watch it anymore. I just wish I didn't have to read about it so much. Let's hope Weisberg's piece--in which he urges his fellow journalists to just ignore Fox--is the final word, although I know better that it won't be.
COMMENTS (7)
Jason,
I had a long conversation with my oldest friend - and political consiglieri - yesterday and we both agreed that challenging Fox is a good short term idea. There just has to be some push back on that network. It is so ironic that the right wing has for so long, accused the msm of latent liberal bias and when they create a network of their own, they perpetrate overt bias. And it is successful.
I would not suggest that the WH make this a permanent arrow in their media quiver but come back to it periodically, as needed and when the FoxFools get too crazy. Just to remind independents and conservative Democrats that Fox is truly an arm of the GOP and not an objective or even responsibl ... view full comment
Jason,
I had a long conversation with my oldest friend - and political consiglieri - yesterday and we both agreed that challenging Fox is a good short term idea. There just has to be some push back on that network. It is so ironic that the right wing has for so long, accused the msm of latent liberal bias and when they create a network of their own, they perpetrate overt bias. And it is successful.
I would not suggest that the WH make this a permanent arrow in their media quiver but come back to it periodically, as needed and when the FoxFools get too crazy. Just to remind independents and conservative Democrats that Fox is truly an arm of the GOP and not an objective or even responsible media news outlet.
Two rules for politicians in dealing with the media:
1. Never attack the media. It makes you look like a crybaby, and boosts their ratings.
2. See Rule #1
Two rules for politicians in dealing with the media:
1. Never attack the media. It makes you look like a crybaby, and boosts their ratings.
2. See Rule #1
They are like spoiled, pampered 5-year olds. What they want more than anything else is attention, whether it be positive or negative. Ignore them and they'll go away. Remember that Fixed News is an echo-chamber...their hard-core audience is fiercely loyal but does not have a wide demographic appeal. They would argue that they are the only counterbalance to the liberal MSM and giving them attention plays right into this argument.
See bl462's rule #1 above. Attacking Fixed News only serves to legitimize them even more.
They are like spoiled, pampered 5-year olds. What they want more than anything else is attention, whether it be positive or negative. Ignore them and they'll go away. Remember that Fixed News is an echo-chamber...their hard-core audience is fiercely loyal but does not have a wide demographic appeal. They would argue that they are the only counterbalance to the liberal MSM and giving them attention plays right into this argument.
See bl462's rule #1 above. Attacking Fixed News only serves to legitimize them even more.
The only broadcaster I watch with any kind of regularity is with Sheperd Smith, and occasionally (for laughs) Geraldo. The rest of the network is unwatcheable.
bl462, I agree but Fox news is not media, it is the propaganda wing of the GOP. To expect Democrats not to respond to that is like asking them not to respond to press releases from the RNC. Fox news might lead the ratings against CNN and MSNBC but it is still a pretty small portion of the public, prime time averages only 2.25 million viewers. That is less than 1% of the population. They are preaching to the choir. I have to imagine they have lost the occasional viewer, like myself, in droves since I find it unwatcheable. How many times ... view full comment
The only broadcaster I watch with any kind of regularity is with Sheperd Smith, and occasionally (for laughs) Geraldo. The rest of the network is unwatcheable.
bl462, I agree but Fox news is not media, it is the propaganda wing of the GOP. To expect Democrats not to respond to that is like asking them not to respond to press releases from the RNC. Fox news might lead the ratings against CNN and MSNBC but it is still a pretty small portion of the public, prime time averages only 2.25 million viewers. That is less than 1% of the population. They are preaching to the choir. I have to imagine they have lost the occasional viewer, like myself, in droves since I find it unwatcheable. How many times can advertisers sell the same crap to the same 2.25 million people? So Obama boosts their ratings, it will be the same subset who hate him already.
bl462's approach sounds good in theory, and in the absence of data on the question of whether attacking the media is good or bad for politicians, I would agree with bl462.
However, we do have about fifty years of data on the question, and that experience shows that attacking the media is almost always a net positive for any politician. Bad for the country, and I wish the Obama administration would use a quieter cold shoulder and implicit counterargument rather than direct attack, but in almost all circumstances good for the politician who attacks the media. It's simply a no-lose proposition. And inasmuch as the Obama-vs-Fox drama is giving Congress a bit of shelter from conservative media at ... view full comment
bl462's approach sounds good in theory, and in the absence of data on the question of whether attacking the media is good or bad for politicians, I would agree with bl462.
However, we do have about fifty years of data on the question, and that experience shows that attacking the media is almost always a net positive for any politician. Bad for the country, and I wish the Obama administration would use a quieter cold shoulder and implicit counterargument rather than direct attack, but in almost all circumstances good for the politician who attacks the media. It's simply a no-lose proposition. And inasmuch as the Obama-vs-Fox drama is giving Congress a bit of shelter from conservative media attacks to finalize work on health care reform, it's all good.
This is a difficult one. There is indeed a latent dislike of the media among the public (not just in the U.S.) and sometimes a political figure can garner support by painting himself as a regular guy persecuted by vile sensation-seeking papparazi, but something tells me ths could allow Fox to play the role of the brave little freedom fighter, outgunned by the big bad Obama Administration but pluckily carrying on.
This is a difficult one. There is indeed a latent dislike of the media among the public (not just in the U.S.) and sometimes a political figure can garner support by painting himself as a regular guy persecuted by vile sensation-seeking papparazi, but something tells me ths could allow Fox to play the role of the brave little freedom fighter, outgunned by the big bad Obama Administration but pluckily carrying on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Fox News versus the Obama administration. Oh, the drama! Oh, the bloodlust! Oh the 18 to 24 audience share!
So, what are we supposed to believe here, that Obama is really the true friend of Main Street?
On the contrary, Obama's biggest concern ought to be MSNBC. There [particularly on the less hysterical Rachel Maddow Show] Barack Obama is being exposed time and again for the fraud that he is. His administration, in so many crucial respects at home and abroad, a mere extention of the Bush board of directors.
But Weisberg apparently is more concerned with the clowns taking over the circus here. We need to beat back the business model in cable news where everything in reduced d ... view full comment
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Fox News versus the Obama administration. Oh, the drama! Oh, the bloodlust! Oh the 18 to 24 audience share!
So, what are we supposed to believe here, that Obama is really the true friend of Main Street?
On the contrary, Obama's biggest concern ought to be MSNBC. There [particularly on the less hysterical Rachel Maddow Show] Barack Obama is being exposed time and again for the fraud that he is. His administration, in so many crucial respects at home and abroad, a mere extention of the Bush board of directors.
But Weisberg apparently is more concerned with the clowns taking over the circus here. We need to beat back the business model in cable news where everything in reduced down to ratings.
Let's go back the original CNN model, perhaps? Serious news for serious people? But still serious news that aimed to carefully circumscribe the mission of journalism. In other words, all the news that advertisers deem fit to print.
Sure, we need to pull back from the buffoons*---left and right. But in it's place lets encourage the news media to stock the anchor desks with liberal and conservative Rachel Maddows. It's a pipe dream sure. If for no other reason that so many of the viewers themselves are and will continue to be buffoons too.
The way things are now? Get used to it.
* yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking: "Speaking of buffoons, George..." ; o )
george