Tag: Fox News

Poll: Fox News Seen As Least Trustworthy, Viewership Mostly Old Southern Republicans

Jon Ponder

Fox News is indisputably the most popular cable news channel. And yet in 13 years, Fox has never broken a story. That’s okay, because it is not in the news business. It is in the news-shaping business. Its programming is an admixture of right-wing propaganda and fear-porn for feeble-minded paranoiacs, served up by spokesmodels who have no clue what they are reading.

On a related note, Wal-Mart has joined 19 other big advertising in boycotting Fox News’ Glenn Beck in response to Beck calling Obama a “racist” who hates the white culture.

And, yes, it sells like hotcakes.

A new poll from DailyKos/Research 2000 finds that while almost all normal Americans see through this ruse, Fox depends almost exclusively on middle-aged and older Southern Republicans for its success.

Here’s Kos’ analysis:

Republicans watch Fox News and nothing else, Democrats split between MSNBC and CNN, and Independents watch nothing. MSNBC, in particular, depends on Democrats for the vast majority of its audience. One would think they’d realize this and get rid of Joe Scarborough to boost its morning ratings.

The South, unlike the rest of the country, appears to have their TV dials stuck on “FOX NEWS”. Except for the youth, that is. 82 percent of 18-29-year-old respondents never watched FNC.

When asked to rate the trustworthiness of the channels, Fox was called trustworthy by just 35 percent and untrustworthy by 41 percent. Among Southerners, 46 percent found Fox to be reliable, while only 25 percent did not. In the Northeast, 27 percent found Fox to be credible, while 55 percent did not. In the Midwest, the finding was 33 percent reliable, 46 percent unreliable; and in the West it was 33 percent vs 43 percent.

As Kos put it, “Republicans (and the South) obviously think [Fox is] the word of god, while Democrats think it’s shit.” (As if more evidence of the effectiveness of Fox’ brainwashing were needed, only 6 percent of Republicans found MSNBC to be credible.)

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Was GOP Leader Boehner Clueless Or Lying about Stimulus Spending on Fox News Sunday?

Jon Ponder

See Boehner’s false statement at about 2:30

On Fox News Sunday, GOP House Leader John Boehner of Ohio made an assertion about the status of stimulus spending in Ohio that he had to have known was false:

BOEHNER: “In Ohio, the infrastructure dollars that were sent there months ago, there hasn‘t been a contract let, to my knowledge. And the fact is I don‘t believe it will create jobs.”

This erroneous statement won him the bronze in the daily “Worst Person in the World” competition on MSNBC’s “Countdown,” with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: “You need to upgrade your knowledge, brother. The last update was from June 15th, by which time the Ohio Department of Transportation had already awarded $83.9 million in stimulus money in contracts for work on Ohio‘s highways, local roads and bridges. Work on a ramp-widening project in Cleveland began on June 9th.”

Olbermann also pointed out that Boehner had to have been aware of this, since the minority leader commented on it on June 15, on his official House website:

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Joan Walsh Demonstrates How Liberals Should Deal With Nutcases Like O’Reilly

Jon Ponder

After the interview, Joan Walsh, who is the editor of Salon.com, filed an after-action report on her site:

I think the high or low point was when he shrieked at me, “You have blood on your hands!” At one point he also either told me to “Shut up” or “Be quiet,” I can’t remember. (If I’m wrong about that, when I see the clip, I’ll correct it. UPDATE: Actually, he shouted “Stop talking!”) He called me “vile.” I think I said he was vile, too. There were a couple of “I know you are but what am I?” moments that I’m not totally proud of. It was a kaleidoscopic nightmare, a TV acid trip, and I don’t do acid. It almost seems like O’Reilly does, but I don’t think so. The man is driven by demons. God bless him and save him.

Shepard Smith Describes Fox Fans’ Email As Increasingly ‘Frightening’ – Freeper Responds: Shep Is An ‘Angry Little Queer’

Jon Ponder

In the wake of the right-wing terrorist attack at the Holocaust Museum in Washington yesterday, Fox News anchor Shepard Smith raised concerns over the increasingly hate-filled emails he has been receiving from his network’s viewers. Within minutes, some of these same angry Fox viewers began posting comments about Smith at Free Republic, one of the oldest websites that caters to the right-wing lunatic fringe. One commenter even referred to Shep as an “angry little queer.”

The transcript of Smith’s comments and a selection of responses from his viewers on Free Republic follow…

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Median Age of Fox News Viewers is 65 – Average Dittohead Is a 67 Year Old Man

Jon Ponder

About two-thirds of the way into media writer Michael Woolf’s Vanity Fair column, “The Man Who Ate the G.O.P.,” on the conundrum of Rush Limbaugh’s dual role as GOP party boss and hate radio megastar, this demographic nugget about the conservative media audience caught my eye:

“Among ad-supported cable nets, the news nets … sport the most gray, with Fox News Channel’s daytime and primetime skeds the absolute oldest, clocking in with a median age above 65.”
– Variety

Arguably no message apparatus like [Limbaugh’s show] exists in the nation, except, perhaps, at the White House (or in Oprah — whose position with American women is curiously analogous to Rush’s position with American conservatives). It is concentrated and extraordinary power.

Except that this power ought to be ending. It ought to all be on the wane. It is not just the Obama victory and the magnitude of his approval ratings. It is not just that the gravity of the economic crisis, with historic unemployment rates, means it’s a lot harder to get people excited about Reagan-and-Rush-esque hands-off government.

It is, rather, a crueler demographic point. The dirty little secret of conservative talk radio is that the average age of listeners is 67 and rising, according to [Jon Sinton, founding president of Air America] — the Fox News audience, likewise, is in its mid-60s: “What sort of continuing power do you have as your audience strokes out?”

Only dinosaurs listen to radio these days, and it’s doubtful many people under 50 even know AM radio exists, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the average age of right-wing radio listeners is 67. It’s also truly not shocking that this demographic is also predominantly male. According to a Pew study in February, 72 percent of Limbaugh’s elderly listeners are men and thus are statistically likely to “stroke out” sometime in Pres. Obama’s second term, assuming he wins one.

However, television viewership trounces radio audiences in every demographic, so the fact that the average age of FNC viewers is, well, retired could have huge ramifications on the political playing field over the next decade.

It took some googling but I found a reliable source that confirms that during the 2007-2008 television season, the most recent season for which figures are available, the average age of Fox News viewers was 65:

According to a study released by Magna Global’s Steve Sternberg, the five broadcast nets’ average live median age (in other words, not including delayed DVR viewing) was 50 last season. That’s the oldest ever since Sternberg started analyzing median age more than a decade ago — and the first time the nets’ median age was outside of the vaunted 18-49 demo…

Among ad-supported cable nets, the news nets (along with older-skewing Hallmark Channel, Golf Channel and GSN’s daytime sked) sport the most gray, with Fox News Channel’s daytime and primetime skeds the absolute oldest, clocking in with a median age above 65. (Emphasis added.)

By the way, MSNBC’s “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” does the best in cable news primetime among the most desirable younger demographic, but according to numbers from last season, the average “Countdown” viewer is 59 years old, and 55 percent of its audience is male.

Update: Hollywood Reporter, August 10, 2010:

In a survey released by analyst Steve Sternberg, Fox News has the oldest audience among fully distributed cable networks. The network’s average viewer last season was 65 years old, according to Nielsen. Heck, it’s viewers are even older than viewers of Hallmark Channel, Military Channel and Golf Channel.

(Note Hollywood Reporter is owned by Nielsen.)

UPS Cancels O’Reilly Ads In Response to Campaign Against Fox News Stalker Journalism

Jon Ponder

A few weeks ago, the Alexa Foundation, a group that offers support to rape victims, made the bizarre decision to invite right-wing propagandist Bill O’Reilly to speak at a fundraiser. O’Reilly, who is married, was famously sued by a Fox producer for making unwelcome sexual advances, has also made a statement on the air in which he suggested that a young woman who was raped and murdered had dressed in a way that invited attack:

O’REILLY: Now Moore, Jennifer Moore, 18, on her way to college. She was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now, again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at two in the morning.

On March 1, Think Progress reported the story that O’Reilly would be speaking at the Alexa Foundation fundraiser and published O’Reilly’s comment in which he said Jennifer Moore was complicit in her own rape and murder. A little over two weeks later, O’Reilly sent his goon squad out to ambush a Think Progress editor:

On Saturday, March 21, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly sent one of his producers to stalk, harass, and ambush ThinkProgress.org’s managing editor Amanda Terkel. Upset over a ThinkProgress report that noted O’Reilly’s insensitivity to rape, O’Reilly sent two men to track Amanda in a car for two hours, and then confronted her with hostile questions while she was on vacation.

Since then, Think Progress has launched a campaign to notify O’Reilly’s advertisers about his thuggish tactics:

Sadly, Amanda is just one of at least 40 different victims of O’Reilly’s Harassment Machine. O’Reilly has hired producers whose job is to track, harass, and intimidate anyone whom O’Reilly perceives as an opponent. That’s not “journalism” — that’s a mafia-style operation. And we need to put an end to it.

On Friday, the first of these advertishers — UPS — agreed to cancel future ad campaigns on O’Reilly’s show:

In response to our Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine campaign, UPS told us yesterday that it was investigating whether to continue supporting O’Reilly’s show. “We are sensitive to the type of television programming where our messages and presence are associated and continually review choices to affect future decisions,” spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg told us.

Today UPS announced it will stop advertising on O’Reilly’s show. Here is the statement UPS emailed out just moments ago:

“Thank you for sending an e-mail expressing concern about UPS advertising during the Bill O’Reilly show on FOX News. We do consider such comments as we review ad placement decisions which involve a variety of news, entertainment and sports programming. At this time, we have no plans to continue advertising during this show.”

To find out what you can do to support Think Progress’ campaign to Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine, go here.

Rep. Bachman Calls for ‘Revolution,’ Cites Jefferson’s ‘Blood of Tyrants’ Quote

Jon Ponder

Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-MN) has ramped up her calls for a revolution against the government of the United States. Here’s what she said Friday in an interview with Sean Hannity:

REP. MICHELLE BACHMAN (R-MN): At this point the American people – it’s like Thomas Jefferson said, a revolution every now and then is a good thing. We are at the point, Sean, of revolution. And by that, what I mean, an orderly revolution — where the people of this country wake up get up and make a decision that this is not going to happen on their watch. It won’t be our children and grandchildren that are in debt. It is we who are in debt, we who will be bankrupting this country, inside of ten years, if we don’t get a grip. And we can’t let the Democrats achieve their ends any longer.

And here’s what she said earlier this week:

BACHMAN: I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us having a revolution every now and then is a good thing, and the people — we the people — are going to have to fight back hard if we’re not going to lose our country. And I think this has the potential of changing the dynamic of freedom forever in the United States.

But when you read what Jefferson actually said, her call to arms violent and, by extension, treasonous:

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

Treason or not, what’s critical here is that Bachman is playing to the GOP hardcore base, which includes a violence-oriented lunatic fringe. By referring even obliquely to “blood” and “tyrants,” she is playing with fire.

Turn Out the Lights on Saturday

Trish

It’s that time again: Earth Hour! Don’t forget to turn out the lights wherever you are at 8:30 p.m. (your time zone) and keep them off for the next 60 minutes.

This year’s theme and artwork seem inspired by America’s last presidential election. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

Here’s a more inspiring and explanatory video that effectively answers the question, “Why bother?”

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RNC Chair Michael Steele Channels Michael Scott of ‘The Office’

Jon Ponder

As Michael Scott, the boss at a paper company’s branch office in Scranton on NBC’s “The Office,” Steve Carrell, a “Daily Show” alum, plays an incompetent egomaniac with perfect pitch. In scripted dialogue, Michael Scott says things like this:

Michael Scott: The most sacred thing I do is care… Today I am in charge of picking a great new healthcare plan. Right? That’s what this is all about. Does that make me their doctor? Um, yes. Like a specialist.

And:

Michael Scott: It’s simply beyond words. It’s incalculable.

And:

Michael Scott: Would I rather be feared or loved? Um… Easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.

Now, in an interview with CNN, Michael Steele, the real-life chairman of the Republican Party, has delivered a set of quotes that make the self-deluded rants of fictional Michael Scott pale in comparison:

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Palin Running Out of People to Insult and Offend

Trish
Duck!

Does this woman just stay up at night, cooking up new and better ways to burn bridges and insult people? La Llorona (the crying woman) herself is at it again. Sarah Palin shared this delightful little swipe in a speech at the recent Anchorage Lincoln Day Dinner, as she once again revisited her losing campaign to be vice president.

“So I’m looking around for somebody to pray with, I just need maybe a little help, maybe a little extra,” she said of the moments before the debate. “And the McCain campaign, love ’em, you know, they’re a lot of people around me, but nobody I could find that I wanted to hold hands with and pray.”

As the audience laughed, Palin noted that she meant no disrespect to the McCain campaign and that [she] ended up saying a prayer with her daughter Piper.

She meant no disrespect, she just meant they weren’t worthy to pray with her. You know, in a completely respectful way. Oddly, the former Palin aides, who had to be nice to this dolt for weeks, are offended.

La Llorona (the crying woman) herself is at it again

…another former staffer said…Palin is failing to distinguish between the strategists at McCain headquarters and the people who were at her side every day from late August through election day.

“It’s about us people who were on the plane, who showed extreme loyalty to Palin, continually getting thrown under the bus or slapped in the face by her comments, whether she means it or not,” the staffer said, adding that Palin’s remarks “cause you to question not only your loyalty but her judgment as a leader.”

The former aides said they place part of the blame for Palin’s post-campaign candor on the governor’s staff in Alaska. Several have reached out individually to offer advice or assistance to the governor, but “have gotten only pleasantries in response,” said one aide.

“Who is the one making the decision that she needs to be out there saying these things?,” the second staffer asked. “Someone needs to be telling her, ‘Listen, let’s not talk the campaign any more.’ We need to talk about what’s relevant and thinking about her influence as a voice in the Republican Party.”

If Palin had anything constructive to say, I’m sure she would. Instead she continues to rehash the failed campaign, coming up with more people to blame for her own shortcomings in each new round of attacks. What can we do to help this nasty halfwit go away and stay there?