First, an admission. The Fox News phenomenon is rather new to me. I haven’t watched TV news in years, preferring to sift through the newspaper or the best I could find online from sources like Reuters and Associated Press. For me, the reason, outside of the annoying increase in commercials, was the endless parade of, “woe is me because the government ain’t taking care of me” stories. Outside of headlines of the day, practically every “focus” story on the major networks had a definite left-wing bent. I couldn’t stand the overriding feeling that I constantly was being told how I should think, or more accurately, that I shouldn’t think at all. So I tuned out – and missed Fox’s rise to fame or, I suppose I should say, notoriety.

How surprised was I to skim through the channels and discover this upstart news channel that wasn’t, well, boring! Flashy graphics, hot news babes and, best of all, people who weren’t afraid to mix it up with their guests. No more pandering and slobbering on the mic (Larry King) to get a guest. If you started mouthing off, getting off track, or just being an idiot in general, they would flat-out tell you to shut up (O’Reilly). Sure, there was a definite right-wing slant, you’d have to be a moron not to realize that. Some are so far right they may have fallen off (Hannity). I didn’t care. I was hooked! Then, slowly, after a couple of months of viewing, I started realizing something.

Those on the right never, ever, lose.

This was already in the back of my mind, but it never became clearer than at Fox’s recent coverage of the Democratic Convention. Here sits Hannity with a stack of prepared talking points and reference notes while the supposed liberal, Colmes, has a post-it note or two containing some hastily scrawled handwriting. Colmes mutters something about not being ashamed to be a liberal. Hannity then proceeds to eviscerate not only Colmes, but three democratic pundits simultaneously. Sorry folks, but even at their own convention, the dems just couldn’t compete.

There’s a reason why, and it’s why you should watch Outfoxed.

Outfoxed goes much deeper into the psyche of Fox News than just the flashy graphics and the right-wing agenda. Among the movie’s claims, interviews appear to be legitimate or objective, while the graphics and headers on the bottom third of the screen often contain opinionated headlines. Off the cuff remarks are encouraged and any promoting the republican agenda or discrediting the democrats will get you the “atta boy” after the segment ends. Many internal memos obtained, while not necessarily incriminating, do reveal a definite agenda reporters needed to use on stories or when talking to guests.

Even more interesting is Fox’s use of the term, “Some people say…” While other journalists may say this in order to advance a storyline without revealing the source of the information. Fox uses the term liberally, (pardon the pun), so their reporters can insert political opinion instead of remaining objective. Of course you can gather which side of the political spectrum these opinions fall. As one writer explains, it’s not necessary that Fox wins an argument. They simply need to muddy the argument to keep the viewer in a state of confusion. This way the viewer is unable to make a decision one way or the other which, to Fox, is as good as a victory.

Most interesting, however, are the numerous times that people with a liberal agenda are simply outmatched. Again, there’s a reason for this. After 25 weeks of study of the guests appearing on Special Report (Brit Hume) in 2003, 83% of the guests were republicans. On top of this, the liberals appearing repeatedly on the channel are usually “faux liberals” that often agree with the conservative side after some debate. Real liberals are rarely seen, intelligent liberals are rarely invited, and the ones who can put up a good argument are rarely invited to return. Fair and balanced?

Finally, numerous ex-Fox employees testify of the almost crushing conditions they experienced while working there. In one hilarious segment, ex anchor Jon du Pre relates how he was suspended because he was unable to find anyone outside of a few people and a class of fourth graders celebrating Ronald Reagan’s 80th birthday at his presidential library.

Other reviewers have complained this movie is as much a propaganda piece as the news channel they’re attacking. Frankly, they’re right. Repeatedly, conservative media outlets like Fox and Clear Channel are railed against in this movie. Strange how no complaints were made against Viacom and Infinity (owners of MTV and Howard Stern.) The testimonies of so-called anonymous employees contain little credibility in my view. And, once you consider the backers and financiers of this film, the timing of this release during an important election is certainly no coincidence. As one writer correctly states, the reason why our propaganda system is vastly superior to the old Soviet-style propaganda machine, is we don’t realize we are constantly being manipulated.

If you get past the spin to the left, you get to the main reason why I recommend this movie. This movie made me see that media concentration is a worse problem than even I originally realized (and I consider myself a cynic and skeptic by nature.) I certainly don’t want my news filtered by Murdoch any more than I want it filtered by Soros. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you are on, the FCC’s relaxation of limits on media ownership severely limits the information you receive, not to mention the quality of the information, so you can form an objective opinion. How can you do this when independent publications keep getting silenced?

Ok, I gotta run, Laurie Dhue’s on. Hope the review helped.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older