Outfoxed is a great documentary which really exposes Fox News and how they don’t broadcast journalism but what Rupert Murdoch and News Corp wants to tell and what they don’t want to tell.
Jeff Cohen states in Outfoxed that
"media is the nervous system of a democracy. If it’s not functioning well, the democracy can’t function. We’re heading towards an election where most people are never going to be in a room with Kerry or Bush. What they learn about the candidates is what the media shows them or tells them; decides not to show, not to tell."
The documentary goes on to illustrate that the media and Fox News often broadcast wrong information which gets passed on and repeated over and over until it is very distorted from the real story.
David Brock in the documentary says that
"this is the environment we’re living in and … it’s fundamentally undermining democracy which is based on knowing some good and solid information so I can make an informed choice."
Outfoxed demonstrates that there is a very strong, conservative point of view that Fox News must broadcast, for example one interviewee even mentioned that News Corp didn’t like Fox News to mention racism, aids and the Kennedys. Those working at Fox News are ordered to carry Republican right wing propaganda, not their own news. The interviewees of the documentary go on to talk about the memos which are sent to the Fox News room every morning which state what the reporters can and cannot talk about. They also say that they are unaware of any other organisation which is so extreme in this sense.
Other interviewees in the documentary said that many people at Fox News work in fear because all of their activities are monitored and if they say anything wrong or want to leave the organisation, they face pretty harsh circumstances. However they say that reporters are rewarded for pushing the envelope in demonstrating negativity about the Democrats and positive views about the Republicans.
The Outfoxed documentary also shows some very interesting footage of Fox News, such as multiple examples of the Fox News reporters cutting off anyone who starts talking about anything controversial. The documentary also shows the reporter O’Reilly who runs the segment called ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ and how he says shut up so many times to people who do not support Fox’s conservative point of view. Also the Fox News alert, which was invented for very important news such as the Columbine shootings, is now used for news about celebrities etc. It’s very funny that the Fox News slogan is ‘Fair and Balanced’ when it is really the opposite.
Check out Outfoxed at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6737097743434902428
