Are you a Fox News believer? part II

September 23, 11:58 AMAlbuquerque Immigration ExaminerJ. Stephen Wilson

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 Failures of American mass media

In my last article I pointed out how our perspectives are easily manipulated by cable news -- on both the left and the right. However, it is unquestionably the right that voices the most anti-immigration views. And it is currently Fox that dominates the cable news ratings. So it makes sense to examine their actions to see if they can be trusted and believed.

Let’s start with Bill O’Reilly’s claim of being “fair and balanced”.  Fox News is the unquestionably most biased, partisan network in modern American history and is considered a national embarrassment by most informed Americans. There are too many clear instances of Republican spin on Bill O’Reilly’s “The Factor” to list here. 

Someone correctly pointed out in a prior comment that Fox is to the right what NBC is to the left. But he omitted the fact that, unlike O'Reilly, progressive commentators on NBC like Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann never claim to present an evenly balanced perspective.

As I like to say, don’t watch Fox “News”. But if you watch, don’t listen. But if you listen, don’t believe. And if you believe then you may be an unwitting victim of the right wing propaganda machine that serves the Republican Party. Here are some of their far right opinions that may indicate that you too may be a Fox “News” believer:

• You think either Sarah Palin or Joe the Plumber would make a good presidential or vice-presidential candidate in 2012.
• You believe global warming is a hoax and 98% of the world’s scientists are engaged in a conspiracy, or that creationism should be presented in the classroom on an equal footing with evolution.
• You attend church regularly but supported the War in Iraq, indefinite imprisonment without trial at Guantanamo, or water boarding terrorism suspects.
• You blame President Obama for the budget deficit or think he is leading the USA to “socialism”, and want him to “fail” because he’s a Democrat.
• You believe that Saddam Hussein supported Al Qaeda or had weapons of mass destruction, justifying the War in Iraq.
• You agreed that we should sacrifice our Bill of Rights for the War on Terror.
• You think President Obama is an Islamist born in Kenya.
• You are unconcerned you will never be laid off or need to sign up for a new health care plan that will take into account your past illnesses.
• You disagree with a public option for health care, but enjoy the benefits of publically funded Medicare.
• You believe the Republican Party represents the people, not lobbyists and other monied interests.
• You agree with Bill O’Reilly that most Hollywood celebrities, residents of San Francisco and Manhattan, college professors, and most educated people are “pinheads” for disagreeing with his far right agenda.
• You believe in the death penalty despite evidence that has released innocent people from death row.
• You think illegal immigration is the root of a crime wave and all illegal aliens should be rounded up and shipped back to their home countries.
• You blame immigrants, illegal and legal, for the loss of American jobs, not Republican tax incentives (or the lack of them) that moved manufacturing jobs overseas.
• You believe President Obama should be politically accountable for the actions of 3-4 entry level employees of ACORN, and that this is a serious issue.

Many, including myself, believe Fox represents everything bad about the American mass media, especially for their focus on ratings at the expense of truth and accuracy. In my next commentary I’ll go into more detail how and why opinion now substitutes for real news.