OUTFOXED: Fox Doesn't Want You To See This Movie; Sly as a FOX a review of OutFoxed (part one)
By Anthony Wade
In a season of important news stories, this should be at the top. Most would probably concede that the FOX News channel is right-leaning, and most would probably say they lean to the point that they fall over, but Outfoxed clearly brings it together in a more cohesive manner.
The amount of commentary to pay the appropriate attention to this matter will require two separate articles, this being the first. As I stated in the preview, Greenwald uses four areas, which he states when seen together, amount to a clear pattern of propaganda, and not journalism. Those areas are:
Clips from FOX News
Stories from the former FOX employees
F.A.I.R. study of FOX news
Internal FOX memos
The second article will specifically address the internal memos leaked through this documentary. They need separate attention because there are so many excellent examples, from the mouth of FOX themselves that prove that they are not a news organization, but rather a shill for the Bush Administration.
The clips from FOX themselves are probably the most effective tool used by Greenwald in this movie. There is nothing more damning than having Bill O'Reilly state that in the six years of his show, he only told a guest to shut up one time, then to see in rapid-fire style, him saying it over and over again, to many guests. It also was particularly frightening to see the Jeremy Glick interview. Mr. Glick was the son of a man who died in the 911 attacks who had gone against the administration's war policies. O'Reilly pushed hard for him to come on his show, and eventually Glick agreed. Jeremy gives us insight into his "training" to have to go on the show, including having to use a stopwatch to make sure he could get his main point out, before O'Reilly tossed him. To watch Glick, bravely explaining that he didn't believe that America was blameless for the attacks, and to see O'Reilly get more and more heated until he finally says, "I hope your mother isn't watching this", cutting his microphone, and tossing him out with security, is quite disturbing. Of course, after the cameras stopped rolling, O'Reilly's famous quote was "get him out of here before I f*cking tear him to pieces! Ahh fair and balanced.
The clips expertly displayed the way this network operates. The upper management would pass out talking points of the day, suggesting which way the news should be directed, then every show that day, would go out and parrot the talking points, which obviously came from the RNC, or the administration. So, if the topic of the day is that Kerry is a flip-flopper, then Greenwald walks you through every FOX commentator that day, speaking that line, in many different ways, but to drive home the talking point, that Kerry is a flip-flopper. In one amusing point, the topic of the day was apparently to say that Kerry looked "French", the connotation being negative because of France's opposition to our war. I thought there would be no way this would be parroted, but sure enough, Greenwald walks us through many different FOX commentators stating in some manner or another, that Kerry looks French, even having a French guest on one of the shows to discuss why it is not a good idea for Kerry to be correlated to the French at this point in time; priceless.
The other techniques exposed by using the clips and the testimonies of the former employees is the way the news is framed. When FOX shows clips of the President, he is always framed in as best a light as possible, looking Presidential. Conversely, when they show Kerry, he is walking out of a Wal-Mart talking to a small group of people in a parking lot. These are very subtle, yet effective tools they utilize. When you combine this with the fact that FOX will constantly cut to Bush live, the resulting coverage is neither fair, nor balanced. The constant coverage of Bush live, almost gives the appearance that FOX is Bush's public relations agent, which is the point of Outfoxed.
One thing, which I had not picked up on, was the use of background graphics. There is always a trailer at the bottom, or some kind of symbol somewhere in the background. When you look at what is being represented, it is usually either pro-Bush, or anti-democrat. If there is an alleged "fair and balanced" debate going on about Kerry switching his mind on subjects, the trailer will read "Kerry a flip-flopper?" This psuedo-fair technique can actually be considered subliminal, or as Bush likes to say, subliminable. The idea is that you put in the mind of the viewer, what your conclusion is.
Another interesting point made by Greenwald was the use of the phrase, "some people say", to interject opinion or commentary into segments which are supposed to be news. Greenwald effectively uses multiple clips, of all FOX personalities, using this phrase to taint the news and it was very effective. Besides this Greenwald exposes the fact that FOX has virtually never painted the Bush economy negatively, it is always on the upswing, growing, and as we will see in the memos, this slant was ordered. Even when the economy is shown as negative, such as a drop in the market on the Neil Cavuto show, it is described as being caused by investors concerned about a Kerry victory due to a poll. The message: support the President and the stock market will go up.
The FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting) study looked at a 25-week period of time for the Special Report with Brit Hume show and who the one-on-one guest was each night. This study showed that 83% of these guests were from the right, and of the 17% that were from the democratic side; most of those were centrist democrats. If FOX really wanted to be fair and balanced, we would see a more balanced percentage.
The personal accounts were telling, and supportive of the overall theme. One whistleblower, Larry Johnson, was a former terrorism expert and FOX News contributor. A lifelong republican, Mr. Johnson is upset that the Bush administration uses the FOX News channel as its propaganda machine. He paints a story about giving his honest opinion on Hannity and Colmes, but it disagreed with Hannity, which was not his role as the right wing guest. The result? They never used him again, even though he was under contract for two more months. These whistleblowers are almost exclusively, lifers in the business, with decades of experience.
What is the problem with all of this? You must understand that FOX passes themselves off as a news network. That means that they are supposed to research and present findings, not merely opinion. There are people out there that watch this station as if it was providing them with impartial news, when in reality it is feeding them the talking points of the RNC and the White House. That is not only inherently wrong, but it cuts to the heart of our democracy. If we cannot rely on the media, then our information is controlled, not accurate. Furthering this problem is that the other mainstream media is also concentrated. About ten sources control nearly all mainstream media in this country. These sources are corporations that do not have your best interest at heart, but their own bottom-line profits. If cow-towing to the administration is what is good for business, then that is what they will do.
There is no better example of that than this story. Yesterday there was a press conference announcing this movie at the Ritz-Carlton. Tonight there was a premier at NYU. This is a major news story, yet the silence is deafening. FOX threatened other stations to not cover it and it looks like they may be bowing to the pressure. Ultimately, Murdoch does not differ much from his counterparts, except in gall. In the New York Daily News, it was only covered, in the gossip section! The message is clear, mainstream media will want this to be a non-story and only we can stop that. News stations are supposed to provide fact, not rhetoric or opinion. Commentary shows can provide opinion, but FOX has done such a masterful job of blurring the lines between the two, that you can no longer tell the news from commentary. They do not have to report, because they already decided what to tell you and that should be very frightening to everyone in a free society.
Anthony Wade takebacktheus@gmail.com is an independent writer from New York.
