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You are here: Home / The Big Liars

The Big Liars

by John Cole|  February 10, 20113:08 pm| 41 Comments

This post is in: Blatant Liars and the Lies They Tell

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This Media Matters piece is worth a read.

It’s worth remembering that when the WH tried to push back against these propagandists, the Beltway classes had an aneurysm.

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Reader Interactions

41Comments

  1. 1.

    WyldPirate

    February 10, 2011 at 3:14 pm

    Jesus, John. Why in the hell would you believe something that Media Matters writes? They’re a.) not “real media” and hence can’t do “real journalism” like the Kaplan Post, b.) the source is clearly anonymous and has an ax to grind, c.) George Soros funds MM thus that proves MM is a soshulist propaganda organization and, d.) Al Gore is fat and uses more energy than any ten real ‘Murikkkans (TM).

    ETA-to fix formatting fail.

  2. 2.

    Southern Beale

    February 10, 2011 at 3:16 pm

    Yeah you’d think the White House Correspondents Assn. would boot FOX News from their hallowed ranks. Kinda sullies the institution, don’tcha think? Though I think that ship sailed when they allowed “Talon News” correspondent Jeff Gannon in the door.

    Anyhoo, speaking of propaganda, someone with a little more influence than a lowly local blogger has finally called out my Gannett fishwrap for running astroturfer Rick Berman propaganda as legitimate op-eds. About damn time.

  3. 3.

    Violet

    February 10, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    OT: John, you asked about Sully. He just posted a little bit ago:

    Physical Health Break Update
    __
    Virtually normal finally. Back Monday. Can’t believe I missed a revolution. Andrew.

    Glad he’s doing better.

  4. 4.

    Joel

    February 10, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    It’s not really a story, nor is it a revelation. Unfortunately, Fox News is enabled by its viewers, who want to be lied to.

  5. 5.

    gnomedad

    February 10, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    Somewhat OT:
    Limbaugh: “Our Young Boy President” Is “Co-opting” Egypt Unrest “And Relating It To His Re-election Campaign”
    C’mon, Rush. Use the word you keep choking down.

  6. 6.

    13th Generation

    February 10, 2011 at 3:22 pm

    Read that earlier.

    Can’t tell you how shocked I was. I mean, who woulda thought?

  7. 7.

    Cat Lady

    February 10, 2011 at 3:24 pm

    @gnomedad:

    “Rush Still an Anal Cyst on the Buttocks of Humanity.”

    In other news, water is still wet.

  8. 8.

    hilts

    February 10, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting analysis of Fox News
    http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3957

  9. 9.

    SpotWeld

    February 10, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    It’s the classic justifaction writ large.
    Everyone cheats on their taxes, so when I get caught doing it, it’s not fair…

    Everyone knows the media has a liberal bias, therefore it’s not fair to complain when FOX gets caught doing it.

    In fact, it’s so unfair we’re going to call you a Nazi wife-beating dog-kicker until you shut up and take it.

  10. 10.

    hilts

    February 10, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    @Cat Lady:

    Don’t forget Glenn Beckistan as part of that cyst

  11. 11.

    Church Lady

    February 10, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    It didn’t tell anyone anything they didn’t already suspect, if they were so inclined. However, basing an entire article on a single, anonymous source doesn’t exactly have the punch you attribute to it.

  12. 12.

    Ash Can

    February 10, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    I still can’t help wondering if, someday, some (more or less) legitimate news producer might get a wild hair to do a big, sensational cover-blow of Fox, if for no other reason than to get tons of ratings, publicity, etc. out of it. And then I think, well, what would happen then? People would just accuse that news outlet of being envious of Fox’s ratings and doing a smear job as a cheap ploy to boost its own ratings. And by drawing attention to a rival channel, the outlet would be risking directing even more viewers — including its own — to it. So I guess chances are somewhere between slim and none, and slim’s got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. Nevertheless, that thought won’t go completely away.

  13. 13.

    El Cid

    February 10, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    I’m pretty sure the brain damage came first, not after the administration mentioned some true things about Fox Nutz.

  14. 14.

    Svensker

    February 10, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    @gnomedad:

    Limbaugh: “Our Young Boy President” Is “Co-opting” Egypt Unrest “And Relating It To His Re-election Campaign”

    You’d think with all the stretching Rush has to do to make any sense whatsoever that he’d be quite trim.

  15. 15.

    pragmatism

    February 10, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    MSNBC false equivalence coming soon to a blog near you.

  16. 16.

    hilts

    February 10, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    Good anti-Fox News sites

    http://www.newshounds.us
    http://www.newscorpse.com

  17. 17.

    Agoraphobic Kleptomaniac

    February 10, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    If the media can’t even be bothered to talk about how BoA hired people to discredit Wikileaks, this story might as well be on Kobol.

  18. 18.

    Ash Can

    February 10, 2011 at 3:38 pm

    @Church Lady: Except that it’s a “single anonymous source” that happens to confirm a whole mountain of evidence that already exists. If what this source said appeared to contradict conventional wisdom, the “single” and “anonymous” factors would be far more salient. In this case, however, the only unusual aspect of this article is the detail into which the source was willing to go.

  19. 19.

    nestor

    February 10, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    It’s worth remembering that when the WH tried to push back against these propagandists, the Beltway classes had an aneurysm

    Morning Joe had a succinct explanation of why so many in the conservative base believe that Obama is a sekret Muslim:

    1) Obama isn’t Reagan, no matter how hard he tries.

    2) Both sides do it.

  20. 20.

    Culture of Truth

    February 10, 2011 at 3:42 pm

    Reading the whole piece is a reminder not of not just that Fox is right-wing propaganda, but of why it’s so successful. What the source describes are the attributes of extremely compelling television. i.e., the example of covering an execution, or further down the road, invention of the War on Xmas. The few times I watch Fox I’m stuck by how easily it sucks you in – it’s paranoia, and shrillness are the equivalent of a high-production value car wreck or an explosion at a fireworks factory, – you know it’s freakishly awful but you can’t look away.

  21. 21.

    Quaker in a Basement

    February 10, 2011 at 3:44 pm

    Limbaugh: “Our Young Boy President”

    So Rusty finally took the step from “man-child” to “boy,” eh?

  22. 22.

    Southern Beale

    February 10, 2011 at 3:44 pm

    @Culture of Truth:

    The few times I watch Fox I’m stuck by how easily it sucks you in…

    Yes, lots of celebrity gossip, waterskiing squirrels, fearmongering about weird ass shit … It’s sorta like the Weekly World News of television. So much of it isn’t even political it’s just amygdala-triggering stuff …

  23. 23.

    dmsilev

    February 10, 2011 at 3:45 pm

    My internal compass was to think like an intolerant meathead,” the source explains. “You could never error on the side of not being intolerant enough.”

    Heh.

    dms

  24. 24.

    Napoleon

    February 10, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    @Ash Can:

    I am actually surprised that no-one has done one to date. Just goes to show just how corrupt the media is in this country.

  25. 25.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    February 10, 2011 at 3:47 pm

    I can’t believe the provenance of Fox News stories is seriously debated by anyone. My dogs make less tendentious arguments about food and walks.

  26. 26.

    Culture of Truth

    February 10, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    Fox also benefits from having a unified vision. What is the mission statement at CNN? What purpose does it serve?

    MSNBC is arguably closer (“your place for politics”) but their Lockup obsession shows they have some work to do.

  27. 27.

    gene108

    February 10, 2011 at 3:51 pm

    @gnomedad: Pushed the wrong button on my car radio and I turned into listen to Rush going off about how Obama was co-opting Egypt for his re-election and bunch of other stuff that basically boiled down to, if it wasn’t part of his re-election campaign he’d not care about it at all.

    Rush is impressive in creating an alternate reality for his listeners, where their biases get reinforced all the time.

  28. 28.

    fasteddie9318

    February 10, 2011 at 3:51 pm

    @Ash Can:

    In this case, however, the only unusual aspect of this article is the detail into which the source was willing to go.

    Well, it’s also unusual that CL was willing to insert head up ass in order to take a phony reasonable “moderate” position on the whole thing.

    Oh, wait, that’s not unusual at all. Nevermind.

  29. 29.

    joes527

    February 10, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    @Ash Can: This is known a confirmation bias.

    I don’t disagree that Fox News is Cthulhu’s evil twin. But the media matters piece reads more like …. well like something that Fox News would put out than like journalism.

    Just because I think that they are probably right doesn’t mean that they get a pass for standards. They hung that whole long piece on (seemingly) 1 unnamed source and didn’t address the weakness of their own story.

    Definitely not worth a read.

  30. 30.

    Elizabelle

    February 10, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    Why doesn’t Frontline do something along these lines?

    Misinformation, delivered on purpose, can ruin a democracy. It can also make any attempt at compromise futile.

    But this piece, from Media Matters?

    1) Media Matters has its own bias, and

    2) an anonymous source does not have the same credibility as someone who will speak on the record.

    Even if Shepard Smith decides to blow the whistle on his way out the door, don’t you just see people saying “well, yeah, he was always suspect. And he’s doing it to further his own career.”

    Fox News and the teatard demographic are a cancer on our society.

    Go after them, Frontline. (Yeah, which is run on PBS stations.)

  31. 31.

    Zifnab

    February 10, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    So much of it isn’t even political it’s just amygdala-triggering stuff …

    Honestly, CNN and MSNBC aren’t much better.
    The thing that kept me from tuning in to Olbermann and Maddow was the “Oh hey look at this YouTube video clip!” mind rot that got wedged between actual news segments.

    Is it so wrong to demand a 24 hour news network actually cover 24 hours worth of news? You don’t see the WSJ or the Economist leading with a squirrel-based headline.

  32. 32.

    WyldPirate

    February 10, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    … waterskiing squirrels,…

    I am not going to sit idly by while you denigrate the entertainment value of waterskiing squirrels. That’s just wrong.

  33. 33.

    Culture of Truth

    February 10, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    In my opinion Fox is better at creating compelling television and tapping into the lizard-brain than CNN or MSNBC. The others have their moments – Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, but so much of the rest is a mess.

  34. 34.

    nestor

    February 10, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Frontline ran a critical piece on the passing of HR 3962.

    It was far from flattering.

  35. 35.

    asiangrrlMN

    February 10, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    @Culture of Truth: ::Pushes bottom lip out mutinously::

    …but you can’t look away.

    Can so.

    Actually, I do not have the cable, so I don’t even have to rush by the channel.

  36. 36.

    morzer

    February 10, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    @Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel):

    Why do you hate cats, you liberal fascist?

    Sorry, all this Foxification got to me for a moment.

  37. 37.

    Parallel 5ths (Jewish Steel)

    February 10, 2011 at 4:28 pm

    @morzer: When are your dogs going to stop torturing cats, Mr. 5ths?

    COMMENTER CLAIMS HIS DOGS NO LONGER TORTURE CATS

    Journalism. So cinchy.

  38. 38.

    hilts

    February 10, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    @Church Lady:

    “Charlie Reina, a former producer for Fox News, has posted a letter to the Poynter Institute’s online journalism forum, explaining how the network deliberately slants the news. “Editorially, the FNC newsroom is under the constant control and vigilance of management,” he writes. “The pressure ranges from subtle to direct. First of all, it’s a news network run by one of the most high-profile political operatives of recent times. … The roots of FNC’s day-to-day on-air bias are actual and direct.”

    h/t http://www.prwatch.org/node/2253

    More info at http://archive.pressthink.org/2003/10/30/fox_thememo_p.html

  39. 39.

    Tonal Crow

    February 10, 2011 at 6:32 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    So much of it isn’t even political it’s just amygdala-triggering stuff …

    And triggering the amygdala is exactly what makes con propaganda so effective.

    Maybe Democrats could learn something from this observation?

  40. 40.

    Bill Arnold

    February 10, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    @hilts:

    a news network run by one of the most high-profile political operatives of recent times

    And not so recent – media consultant for Richard Nixon.

  41. 41.

    kindness

    February 10, 2011 at 11:48 pm

    It’s not funny that I haven’t seen any other media outlet (MSM one) report on this. You’d think this was ratings gold but apparently the MSM thinks it’s sand.

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