Opinion: Fox faux news forces rare apology
By Leonard Pitts Jr., Miami Herald
Tucker Carlson said on Fox that more children die of bathtub drownings than of accidental shootings. They don’t.
Steve Doocy said on Fox that NASA scientists faked data to make the case for global warming. They didn’t.
Rudy Giuliani said on Fox that President Obama has issued propaganda asking everybody to “hate the police.” He hasn’t.
John Stossel said on Fox that there is “no good data” proving secondhand cigarette smoke kills non-smokers. There is.
So maybe you can see why serious people — a category excluding those who rely upon it for news and information — do not take Fox, well…seriously, why they dub it Pox News and Fakes News, to name two of the printable variations. Fox is, after all, the network of death panels, terrorist fist jabs, birtherism, anchor babies, victory mosques, wars on Christmas and Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi. It’s not just that it is the chief global distributor of unfact and untruth but that it distributes unfact and untruth with a bluster, an arrogance, a gonad-grabbing swagger, that implicitly and intentionally dares you to believe fact and truth matter.
Many of us have gotten used to this. We don’t even bother to protest Fox being Fox. Might as well protest a sewer for stinking.
But the French and the British, being French and British, see it differently. And that’s what produced the scenario that recently floored many of us.
Thanks for the article on Fox faux “news”. I’m glad they are being exposed for what they really are, a propoganda machine for the far right, full of lies, distortions and just made up stuff.
Good story by Mr. Pitts jr. Read the whole opinion piece…you’ll be glad you did! OLS
Fox News is a processed, synthesized fact killing machine. It takes advantage of the freedoms we have given the press and strangles reality, twists facts and dismisses science. Watching Fox News everyday is like eating McDonalds for every meal. Do that, and your body becomes toxic. And what’s worse, it has literally brainwashed an entire generation of mainly retired, older people. I have seen many families and friendships ripped apart by this brainwashing. Fox is an amazing phenomenon unlike anything before and as a pure marketing machine I am in awe. And disgust.
Freedom of the press has been hijacked and we stand back and let it be. The Europeans have taught us that it is indeed an outrage and standing silent empowers the ignorant.
Thanks for posting this Kae. I’ve pretty much avoided Faux news in recent years, having seen enough of its nonsense as well as experiencing the Faux fed opinions of some of my more ignorant relatives.
But the day before yesterday I was forced to spend several hours in a cramped hospital waiting room, waiting for my 90 year old mother-in-law to go through several attempts at an MRI. The large and loud TV in the room was permanently tuned to Faux.
I swear I lost at least 20 points on my IQ during that experience (and I don’t have all that many to lose, although undoubtedly more than the nut-balls on the TV who were creating the loss).
After a 15 minute report on Michael Moore, followed by, so help me, by a 20 minute report on Marilyn Manson (who knew he/she was even still alive?),I got the distinct impression from the five commentators’ comments that they had intellectual differences with these two cultural icons.
I recall Faux news being right wing; I did not recall their broadcasts being low grade comedy. And, I hate to admit, I have serious, financially successful relatives, who not only depend on Faux news for their view of the world, but also for their proof that real news sources are obviously corrupt because they seem to cover a different world. The real one.
I’m not sure which entertains me more…this well-written article or the spot-on responses it has evoked from my fellow LTN readers. I am glad to hear that Faux news has been called on the carpet for lying and that they had to publicly eat some crow. That makes my day.
Hey, we can thank Fox news (and CNN) for giving us unlimited fodder for the Daily Show!
Atomic & Copper, Good comments both, about Fox “news”. I also have relatives, friends and neighbors who’s sole source of information is from Fox “news”.
Sad really, that so many people fall for what is promulgated from this “news” outlet. Talking with a Fox viewer who believes in that stuff just makes me walk away shaking my head in disbelief how anyone could think that’s the truth. Take care, OLS
Justice, Dogula, Kits Carson, Business Owner, Gaspen Aspen and 4-mer. Where are you? Love to hear what your thoughts are on this!
More comments from the 10% hard core liberals who would be better served not worrying about Fox and start paying attention to the major network leftist media outlets and their agenda driven reporting and ties to Insane Hussein and their not even covering scandals or bothering to investigate the most corrupt and inept administration in history. If they did there might be some truth found. This article quoted many opinions of the people on Fox which is not considered news anyway and that wasn’t even stated which is a distortion. Some things that were said that were false should have been fact checked. Fox isn’t perfect, no media is 100% of the time, but they are better than major network leftist media that is tied to the liberal agenda and part of the misinformation of the Bummer gang that people aren’t being fooled by anymore and don’t believe or care to watch. There are reasons that Fox is the ratings leader because they at least hold liberals responsible for their actions and scandals and aren’t afraid to report it.
But MSNBC is totally objective!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA_TCItjx1U
I get my news from the internet. The only news I watch anymore on tv is the local evening news. Best weather reports!
Haddi, it’s damn funny how you and everybody else thinks that anybody whose opinion differs from yours MUST watch Fox news exclusively. Your horizons are so limited.
Lefties dissing Fox News. What a surprise. In other news, the sun rose today from the east, water is drinkable, and Hillary still hasn’t accomplished anything of substance.
I could google and compose a list of all of the untruths published by MSNBC, NBC, ABC, the NYT, the LA Times etc. but what would be the point. I come to this site to read up on Tahoe, not read tripe from leftist and their incessant moaning about Fox News.
Haddi- I’m in the same place your selective reporting liberal media and your idles like Sharp-Tongue and the lying tyrant in the white house go when a black cop shoots an unarmed white person….or anything black on white. Funny how selective your media is, if it wasn’t so pathetic.
I’m with Justice and Dog on this one.
Haddi T. Uptahere, You rallied the “rightist” troops and they’ve got pitchforks and torches! Quick, all you moderates and liberals, lets run to the liberal/ lefty/ socialist castle and block the huge door so they can’t get us! Fill the moat with alligators(all humanely treated and fed all natural food, of course). Once inside we all settle in for a meal from our home grown food and home brewed ale. Let the “rightists” outside argue amongst themselves about who is the most conservative.
Enjoy fox “news”, as it’s always good for a laugh and explains some peoples talking points. OLS
What is the TERROR ALERT LEVEL today?
OLS, How long are your old skiis? 215’s, 225’s? I’ve been meaning to ask.
Local news is the best and only news that matters. Without mass-media we’d all be limited to knowing what we could find out in a days walk/run away from where we live. Humans aren’t made to know the trials and tribulations of the entire planet.Besides, I don’t trust any network to tell us the ‘truth’.
One of the saddest and most alarming thing about the Fox News phenomenon is that quite a few seemingly educated people fall for this hateful, divisive and prejudiced presentation of world affairs. I speculate that some people addicted to Fox (they have it on all day) are unhappy in their personal lives, have too much time on their hands and find that the rants on Fox give them a target for their anger and disappointment. I would think that the shouting and hate spewed on Fox would keep people angry and agitated preventing them from ever calming down and seeing things reasonably. You can’t reason with a Fox devotee. No amount of evidence presented about the “no go” zones in Europe will matter; they will steadfastly believe in them and in anything else presented on the station. This has damaged a lot of friendships and family relationships. What our world needs is accurate, news and rational discussions of solutions to problems but that’s not going to happen on Fox.
I think Rush Limbaugh and his ilk are criminals who engender the kind of violence that our world needs to be rid of.
I think LTN only posts this stuff so that we will all argue in the comments. This allows for an increase in advertising revenue because the website has more traffic.
Also if you think any news source is right and always true, or never right or true, you are an idiot. Follow the money, like this article, only posted to increase advertising revenue. And maybe LTN is writing a book based on the comments on the website, and we all are going to look like idiots.
I also wonder how long the old skis are.
Drink more beer, it will all be ok.
Isee, My alpine skiis for a long time were 210’s but did ski on 220’s for a time. The back country skiis are 215’s. Back in the 70’s when the freestyle craze got going there were yahoos skiing on 150’s or shorter.
Not that size matters. OLS
Al Jazeera. Better than I anticipated and this is only my opinion.
OLS, those were fun times. My touring skis were 220’s, but my alpine skis were 200s. I was so proud of those ’cause I’m only 5’5″. But then came shaped skis, and my current favorite pair is 165!! The shame of it all!
Couple years ago, I broke out the old 200 slalom boards, just trying to decide whether or not to get rid of them. Damn twitchy! How the heck did we ever ski those things??
People don like me cause i am white, male and hetero…but theyre not racists bigots, theyre progressives moving the world to a better understanding and acceptance of eachother…except people like me…go figure.
Elvis…spot on…follow the money. Beer drinking commencing in 3,2,1…
Haddi T. Uptahere:
Gee, I guess 4-mer should consider himself privileged that you’ve “invited” him to be a part of the conversation. But since he’s not home I’m going to reply in his absence.
First of all, neither 4-mer nor I are affiliated or registered with either the Democrat or Republican parties as we believe that each party is too rooted in their own political platforms and agendas and each have discontinued placing the best interests of the people of this country before their own interests. We are registered as Independents and vote for whomever we most closely align after we’ve performed our own due diligence homework, and we disregard political information that is reported on network television which is nothing more than big business spewing their respective political positions.
In this instance I totally agree with Old Long Skiis, Atomic, Copper, Janice Eastburn, ljames and Really?? about “Faux” news and think this article was spot on. I am completely guilty of just ignoring obvious national political news tripe and I thank France and Britain for this reminder that the “news” as presented by Faux is really intended to incite anger in those that are far-right politically minded rather than to accurately inform.
As an aside, I’d like to add the Weather Channel to the same category as Faux News and think that the high drama with which they present weather forecasting is completely unprofessional. Their recent declarations on the east coast “Storm Juno – the great blizzard” were incorrect, the giddiness in their reporting prior to the storm was an embarrassment, and I bet they cost a lot of businesses/jurisdictions a lot of money due to their declarations.
The virtues of professional, accurate reporting have become fairly non-existent.
Spouse – 4-mer-usmc
Oh business owner — that’s not why people don’t like you.
Spouse – 4-mer-usmc
Let the Faux News rants begin… Why is anyone who doesn’t agree with the liberals on this site accused of watching “Faux News Propaganda?” Fox isn’t perfect, nor is any network. Just because someone doesn’t agree with you liberals, doesn’t mean that they watch Fox News. I am a conservative, and I don’t watch Fox News. OLS: Are you really a socialist?
Faux news…..the name says it all.
‘People don like me cause i am white, male and hetero’
Those people are imaginary, they only exist in your head.
Oh, all you faux noise supporters are frothing at the mouth over your beloved nonews source being ripped a, well you know what I mean. The source of all that is wrong with America, the lies, the finger pointing, the, well we all know the b s that comes over the airwaves or through the cable from that network. Remember the Ebola scare? Yup, the sky is falling…and its all Obamas fault, its a liberal plot to ruin America, LMAO
Hey Nature, I am not a Faux News supporter. In fact, I think that almost all the news networks are corrupt. You really got to be careful these days with what you listen to. Justice, you’re taking it way to far. Faux News and right wing politicians aren’t gods. I oppose bad ideas, not all liberal ideas. Moral of the story: think for yourselves, and don’t let other people tell you what to believe. B.O: You’re white, male, and hero, you must be a racist, you must hate women, and people of color you teabagger. /sarc
Seriously… news outlets are comprised of people and all people are fallible. With respect to the “Muslim No-Go Zones” they are not formally established self-governing entities, but they are definitely present, and if you happen to find yourself in one you’d better not be a girl in a short skirt or a guy with a beer in his hand because bad things WILL happen to you.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/10/25/american-student-slashed-in-london-police-eye-muslims-patrols.html
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3555/sharia-law-london
Getting back to Journalists… anyone remember “Rathergate”? Sometimes Journalists are just sloppy or incompetent, other times they are malicious, as with Dan Rather. There are myriad examples of leftist media committing assaults on the truth so please, let’s not pretend this is an exclusive province of Fox News. At least one thing you can say about Ailes, when he claims “Fair and Balanced”, it’s true. You always get the left’s view expressed on virtually every topic of discussion, something you do NOT get on the ever-so-tolerant “Lamestream Media”. They just present their left wing view and expect you to accept it as gospel. In their insulated left-wing media bubble there are NO conservatives, so they just assume the entire country is like that as well. And that is why Fox news is the highest rated cable news programming, and even beats the network news on ratings on occasion.
http://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/midterm-election-tv-ratings-fox-news-tops-broadcast-nets-beats-cablers-combined/246045
4mer spouse…sinner!
Duke…u didnt vote for romney cause he is white…racist!
Tahoe..at least somebody gets it..thank you
To everyone else..good luck and god bless or is that not inclusive enough?
” understanding and acceptance of eachother…except people like me”
Read your own comments, think about why people don’t like you.
Accusatory, ignorant, illogical, aren’t positive attributes.
Duke: Stop picking on other people because you’re losing the argument and try adding something useful to the discussion. Then we could get somewhere…
I didnt vote for romney because he is a morman and I do not like how that religion treats women or the environment. Had nothing to do with the color of his skin.
Does it matter that the author of this piece is a full on leftist lunatic? There should be an alternative article titled “Why does liberal broadcast media appeal to less and less Americans every year?” Fox is an option that does have different voices debating issues from all sides of the isle, the liberal media doesn’t, and at times they are standing alone debating important issues and the ratings prove it is more popular than leftist broadcast media. That must be the real anger on this issue about like the last election for liberals.
Nature, how come conservatives are racists because they didn’t vote for Obama but you are not a racist for not voting for Romney. Maybe we just don’t like Mr. Obama’s religion and moral standards. Don’t be a hypocrite.
You know I’m so tired of people bashing Fox just because they don’t agree with them. The first comment said Fox is “propoganda machine for the far right” well then you can say CNN (and some others) are a propaganda machine for the far left. No matter how hard news tries to be free from bias they aren’t no matter what side they are on.
ALL MEDIA stretches the truth (and outright lies) at times, and ALL MEDIA have their bad apples and reporters who say stupid or incorrect stuff, ALL MEDIA find themselves in the error (only everyone dwells on Fox’s mistakes all the time).
Fox happens to be the only large media that tends to lean more right and they get trashed by all the other left leaning media. If you are more liberal don’t you want to watch news that is more liberal? Well guess what a conservative person wants to watch news that is more conservative. And I know you really want the bias free media, but like I said that doesn’t exist. Let Fox be and give conservatives at least one station they can watch.
And you know what else Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc are all a business, they are out to make money. If you think they won’t stretch the truth or show data to favor themselves and show their competition is worse and lying then I have some land to sell you. Wake up, it’s all perceptive. Even after a political debate you can listen to one person say yes what he said was true because of x, y and z and then another person can say no what he said was not true because of x, y and z.
Spot on TL.
Tahoe and TL…awesome, thank you. To the rest of the libs..some of the stuff i said sure sounds stupid and inflamatory doesnt it? Next time you open your hippycritical mouths how bout you fight with facts and not excuses. And natbat..seriously, u said that about a persons religion? That is one of the most bigoted statements i have heard in a while. Try judging a person by their content and actions..daily, you might live a happier more fulfilled life.
I don’t know if it’s accurate but my ‘conspiracy theory’ friend says all media- newspapers, radio, TV- are owned by 3 families. Control information and you can control the world, is the idea, I guess.
Hey bo. Bite me..
its ok for you and your cronies to bash, daily, anyone with a left leaning and a environmental interest so ask me if I care what you think or say. Unfortunatly religion and greed has gotten our country (and the world) into the mess its into today. How am I being a hypocrit? I never said anything about any specific individual, you accused duke of being raceist and I stated the reasons I chose not to vote for romney.
I’m curious. How has religion ‘gotten our country. . . into the mess its into today’?
Fox News is pure marketing genius. With the continued dumbing down of America due to lack of educational opportunities previous generations benefited from, we are becoming a nation of uneducated morons. Check the rankings with the west of the world.
Fox is merely pandering to that “don’t confuse me with the facts” type of thinking.
It is brilliant.
T-hoe. What are you talking about; there is no “racism” against Caucasians.
Racism means, “the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others… a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine”
The Caucasians renditioned Native African people, brought them to the Americas and enslaved them for Southern land owners. The US Constitution blessed this relationship in Article 1, Section 2 Paragraph 3, ” including those bound to Service…”
We had to fight a bloody Civil War to bring an end to Slavery in America and make amends with changes to the Constitution.
Jackie Robinson had to endure death threats during the 1950’s to break down racist barriers in America.
African Americans had to fight Jim Crow Voting Laws, water cannons, dogs, beatings, lynchings and more in the 1960’s to end racist segregation in America
And you want to somehow compare all that to the Life and Times of Willard Mitt Romney… In the 1800’s Africans were given chains and slavery while Mormon’s were given the whole state of Utah.
Barack Obama is a Christian, he was born in Hawaii, he has his Birth Certificate and in my opinion has a much higher “moral” standard they you will ever have.
Yes Rock, the nobel peace laureate has now bombed 7 countries in his 6 years of service. He is trying to start wars in the Ukraine, supporting Israel so the Jews can take over the entire Middle East, and let millions of illegals into this country. What a great guy! Such high moral standards! If he’s a christian, why does he set up a 7 story tall menorah in front of the white house? Nothing christian about that! And if he’s such a great christian why do you vote for him, seeing as though you frown on anything to do with God or religion? You just admitted in your comment that you voted for him because he was black. Racist.
T-Hoe says. “Nobel, blah, Ukraine, blah, Jews, blah, Illegals, blah, Menorahs, blah, Black…” is this Just@ss.
There were about 750,000 Total Casualties (killed) in the Civil War; America’s bloodiest War. Was Abraham Lincoln “Christian” because he ordered his fellow “Christians” (Yankees) to kill other “Christians” (Rebels) or was he a President. Well, his face is on Mount Rushmore; clearly history has decided.
Clearly, your vision of Christ and Mine are completely different… Bigot.
Dog, you said “white people are bad” not me.
About 300,000 Southern Rebels, mostly Caucasians, were killed defending Slavery in the Civil War. About 40,000 African American Soldiers were killed in the Civil War and it is unknown how many Slaves were killed.
We have sex slaves in America today.
Yes, slavery has existed a long time; even in the Pre-Historic Americas… well… that is if you believe in an Earth older then 6000 years. However, I do not believe the Mayans or Incas imported their slaves from Africa.
And we both know “who” the bigot is here… you evil Dog.
There’s a reason that Fox News is the top rated news network in the country. That’s because people trust Fox News. When you are number one you are going to get attack. I like Fox News because they report news that CNN, NBC and the liberal news media won’t cover. Fox often forces CNN and the liberal left to have to cover stories because of Fox’s reporting. I call CNN the Censored News Network because it censors what the American people are told and it goes out of its way to protect the President, The White House and the radical left. If you like slanted and bias news then CNN, MNBC and NBC are the news networks for you. If it weren’t for Fox News we would not know about the IRS targeting of conservatives or Bengahzi. President Obama won’t go on Fox News because he knows he will be asked hard questions unlike the soft ball questions he gets from the liberal media who has a love affair with him.
Rock: You are making fun of me because you don’t want to acknowledge my point. I’m not talking about slavery or the Civil War. I’m talking about the president whom you seem to think is like the greatest guy ever. “There were 750,000 total casualties” Actually 620,000. Hey, but you’re only a few hundred thousand off LMAO. “You’re vision of Christ and mine are completely different,” Yeah, that’s because you don’t believe in any sort of God, except maybe Satan, and you think that Christianity is destroying the world. Blame everything on religion LOL! “This is Just@ss,” actually, this is Tahoe. “History clearly decided,” the people who write the history decide what is history. “I do not believe the Mayas or Incas imported their slaves from Africa,” whoa, is this Rock actually using the brain that he doesn’t have? I never said that slavery was right, and I don’t see what Obama, slavery, and the Civil War have to do with Fox News. Maybe try sticking to the point of the article? That is if you have the comprehension to do so. And don’t come back with some stupid comment about how bigoted I am, and how “this is just@ss,” and how I am mentally ill and need to take my meds.
Bubba. You are confusing opinions with News. The Iraq War II was stoked by Faux opinion writers like Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity and Charles Krauthammer:
Examples. In early 2003, Bill O’Reilly famously gambled with anti War activist, Janeane Garofalo, on the Air about what would happen in Iraq and what Janeane would do if she was wrong about the War going very badly; she said she would get on her hands and knees and kiss Bush’s feet… That didn’t happen. In 2004 Bill said this, “Well, my analysis [on the War] was wrong and I’m sorry.. I was wrong. I’m not pleased about it at all.”
In February 2003 Sean Hannity said, “We’re going to go in and we’re going to liberate this country in a few weeks and it’s going to be over very quickly…. you’re going to hear stories of rape and torture and misery, and then we’re going to find all of the weapons of mass destruction that all of you guys on the left say don’t exist.” Sean is still looking for WMD’s but we did hear stories about torture and Abu Ghraib… by American GI’s and the CIA.
In early 2002, Charles Krauthammer said, “Saddam has weapons of mass destruction. He is working on nuclear weapons. And he has every incentive to pass them on to terrorists who will use them against us.” Chuck is still looking for WMD’s too.
Is the first time America has gone into a War because of the “News” Media… clearly not. However, one would think that in the 21st Century we would have learned.
Oh, by the way….
“I don’t oppose all wars. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other armchair, weekend warriors in this administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.” Barack Obama 2002.
T-hoe. Oh boo hoo. YOU brought Romney, religion and morals into this thread; Clearly you are an ignorant bigot that has no point. LOL!