Tag: Media Watch
Mrs. Juan Williams Says NPR, Not All-White FOX, is Racist
The Fox gatherings are much [more] diverse. They have both African-American and whites. It’s great because when I sometimes go down to Fox and wait for Juan in the green room, they all speak to me as if they know me and are very friendly. I feel very comfortable there. With the NPR people, I did not feel comfortable.
Delise Williams, wife of FOX News darling Juan Williams, who is held up by FOX as proof of liberal hypocrisy. Mrs. Williams’ anger with NPR seems to leave her unbothered by the fact that there are zero non-white show hosts on FOX. Williams was fired by NPR after a series of comments at his “other job,” including that people in traditional Muslim garb on planes make him nervous and that Michelle Obama has this, “Stokely Carmichael-in-a-designer-dress thing going…her instinct is to start with this…you know, I’m the victim.” Williams is on tour promoting his new book, “Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate” which details the harassment and victimization he says he experienced at NPR, where he continues to be a guest on the Diane Rehm Show.
Will Palin Documentary Be Defeated by Meager Box Office?
Movies produced by right wingers always suck, and they never make money. (See the recent release of “Atlas Shrugged,” an “objectivist” fantasy based on Ayn Rand’s 1957 novel, which circled the drain after its first weekend, for example.) So it would have been a surprise if “The Undefeated,” the deceptively titled documentary about the Quitter from Wasilla had done boffo box office when it opened in limited release this weekend. Why anyone would waste their hard-earned money on a puff piece about a unpleasant, vindictive ignoramus is another question.
Here, from IndieWIRE, are the preliminary numbers:
How Much Does Rupert Murdoch Own? Too Much
Here’s a handy graphic published by Reuters, which provides a quick reference for all things Murdoch. After looking it over, all I can say is, “Hulu? Who knew?”
Fox News Owner’s Phone Hacking Scandal in Britain Gets Scant Coverage on Fox or Other U.S. Right-Wing Propaganda Outlets
More evidence, as if any were needed, that what Fox and the rest of Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing NewsCorp media empire does is not “news,” it’s propaganda:
Fox News stayed mainly silent on the News of the World scandal during prime time Thursday, largely filling its roster of shows with discussions about topics such as the Casey Anthony sentencing and the federal budget. A Fox News spokeswoman did not elaborate on the network’s approach but pointed to coverage as a business story on several news programs.
Earlier this week, Murdoch abruptly euthanized News of the World, a 168-year-old British media institution he purchased in 1969, because its top editors had been accused of approving the hacking of voicemail accounts of terror victims, war veterans and even a 13-year-old murder victim. Hundreds of journalists and other staffers suddenly found themselves unemployed as a result.
On Friday, Andy Coulson, one of those former editors, was arrested “in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking,” according to police. Coulson left NotW in 2007 to take a position as chief spin doctor for British Prime Minister David Cameron, a right-wing politician with ties to the Murdoch empire. Coulson resigned from government in January because of his association with the phone hacking scandal. Prime Minister Cameron held a news conference on Friday to deny he was aware of Coulson’s involvement in the scandal, despite alleged evidence to the contrary.
But Fox News apparently finds none of that to be sufficiently newsworthy to report about it online. On Saturday morning, the FoxNews.com homepage, which is chockablock with dozens of headlines to stories on a range of topics from gossip and politics to finance and entertainment, presented no stories about the scandal.
Meanwhile:
Bill Maher: Republicans ‘Have to Tell Us What Exactly It Is They’re Good At’
Quick. Name one thing George Bush accomplished during the eight years he was president — one successful endeavor that benefited the citizens of the United States that did not blow up the deficit or utterly fail later on.
Now name one thing that Republicans in Congress have done since Bush left office that could be called an unvarnished success and that, in some way or other, improved the lot of the people they represent, rather than their corporate masters.
On Bill Maher’s HBO show “Real Time,” last Friday, he asked, in the wake of the killing of bin Laden and the ongoing financial crisis caused by the Bush recession, what is it Republicans are actually good at.
The obvious answer is that Republicans are excellent at propaganda, lying, cheating and stealing elections, both outright, as they did in Florida in 2000, and by creating wedge issues based on hatred and fear, as they did in Ohio in 2004. No one can beat them at manipulating the news in order to, as Karl Rove once put it, create their own reality.
A better question would be, what is it Republicans are good for? Other than handing the goods, resources and treasury of the United States over to their big-money sponsors as fast and as efficiently as they can, it’s hard to say why the GOP even exists.
Here is a partial transcript of Maher’s take down of the GOP:
Most Want to See Bin Laden Death Photo
56%
Of Americans say they would like the government to release photos of Bin Laden’s dead body, according to CNN; 39% said they would not.
CNN Confuses Osama and Obama
If you thought you had to turn to FOX News for this kind of stuff, think again. CNN is running a hyperlink that says, “CIA boss expects release of Obama pics.” When you click the link to the story, of course, it’s about whether the government will release pictures of a dead Osama bin Laden, not pictures of Pres. Obama.
You use the left index finger to hit the “b” CNN guys, and the left ring finger to hit the “s.”
No doubt the error will have been corrected by the time you read this.
Update: Yes it has.
