July 15, 2004

Fox News Momos The famous John Moody talking points memos are now on online (thanks to Wonkette). Fox did this to show that they are fair and balanced because of the PR nightmare they are getting from the Robert Greenwald's documentry Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism.

Example of fair and balanced.

Heads of state don't leave G-8 meetings early unless they have good reasons. President Bush has two: he has to get to Egypt, and he doesn't like the French.
More:
Please offer a prayer of thanks for their safety to whatever God you revere (and let the ACLU stick it where the sun don't shine).
What's also amazing is how fascinated Moody is with National Enquirer-type stories like Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant. It's all RNC spin and sensationalism.
Air America, featuring Al Franken and other liberals, got on the air last week, but at what cost? Well, in New York, it took the place of an ethnic show. In LA, it knocked off a Korean program. And in CHicago,a spanish language broadcast was replaced. None of these people are happy.
I know that is a talking point since it appeared here. Note: the hysterical thing was that Glenn Reynolds linked to a anti-Jew Black Islam site to make his point. And he (unsurprisingly) backed off his previous post. So hard to get those talking points out when one makes an ass of himself. My personal favorite:
As is often the case, the real news is Iraq is being obscured by temporary tragedy. The creation of a defense ministry, which will be run by Iraqis, is a major step forward in the country's redevelopment.
Yep, that "defense ministry" is the real news. Can't people get beyond this death and war thing to see that the Iraqis have a defense ministry that can't defend anything. But that's not the point. THAT'S THE REAL STORY.
posted by Sullivan 20 years ago
  • Correction: the memos were released by the makers of Outfoxed.
  • A lot of it is stuff you'd see anywhere -- style guidelines, reminders to double-check certain information, background info on countries and situations. Then again, I'm surprised at how much babysitting seems to go on there. Could this be a general TV news thing? If so, what's the sense of having reporters? If you've already got your stories basically written, you're telling your field people EXACTLY what to do and you've predetermined the angle you're going to play, is this really journalism? The memos make it clear FNC reporters aren't even allowed to think for themselves. The bias, however, shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. The men and women at Fox are pulling for Dubya, and you don't need internal memos to know that -- just look at the enthusiasm and unquestioning manner with which they report the news. /But I'll still watch FNC any time Dari Alexander is on screen, 'cause she's hot
  • Many times I have walked into my parents home to find Fox 'news' (...and I use that word lightly) on the screen. I have gently sat my dad down to explain to him that that is NOT news. As a child I was always in awe of how smart he was........Whatever happened?
  • de Careabas: I am not just sniping when I say that I think those Fox Reporters need as much help in the field as they can get. Some of them seem entirely brainless and would be helpless were it not for little cards before them. I don't suggest that CNN reporters are much better, but some of the people Fox puts on I just feel emberassed for. Honestly, I wonder if it might not be intentional. Perhaps they are hoping that everyday USA viewers will relate to everyday reporters, rather than the stylish sophistication of the past. [Sorry, Couldn't resists] Has anybody seen the film? It sounds interesting and the price is just right.
  • Many times I have walked into my parents home to find Fox 'news' (...and I use that word lightly) on the screen. I have gently sat my dad down to explain to him that that is NOT news. You know it's funny when Fox News threatened to sue The Simpsons (also owned by Fox) because they feel that if FNC viewers saw the Fox News logo on The Simpsons that their viewers will confuse for real news programming. Sue another show with the parent company and think that your audience can't tell the difference between a cartoon and FNC.
  • Momos?
  • Momo?
  • Most people write memos, homunculus. John Moody writes momos. To quote the great philosopher Bill O'Reilly, "I could be wrong."
  • de Carabas: It's not normal according to my father in law's stories from his time as an editor of TVNZ news - in fact, his main frustration was reporters who needed too much guidance. OTOH, when I worked at the (Muchdoch owned) Dominion, the editor - a personal friend of various senior National Party figures - was quite happy to hector his reporters when they filed stories that didn't fawn over his mates and atack their enemies.
  • "Momo" from the OED: A Tibetan dish consisting of steamed dumplings filled with meat (or occas. vegetables). or An idiot; a stupid person. (U.S. slang) Hmm ... Next time I play Boggle people are in trouble.
  • Momus?
  • mao mao's?
  • Journalist eembedded with Fox News Money quote:
  • You know it's funny when Fox News threatened to sue The Simpsons (also owned by Fox) because they feel that if FNC viewers saw the Fox News logo on The Simpsons that their viewers will confuse for real news programming. Sue another show with the parent company and think that your audience can't tell the difference between a cartoon and FNC. Sullivan, while I would love to laugh at this, I find myself deeply frightened by that whole train of thought. It horrifies me to know that we have reached such a degree of idiocy that things like this even happen. Truly frightening.
  • Here's the Slashdot link on the Fox News/Simpson's story. Another article
    According to Groening, the Simpsons team refused to cut out the segment, which Groening told Fresh Air he "really liked," figuring that Rupert Murdoch wouldn't allow the Fox News cable network to sue the Fox Broadcast Network, which carries The Simpsons. The Fox News Network did back down on its threat, although it has told The Simpsons creators that in the future, cartoon series will not be allowed to include a "news crawl" along the bottom of the screen, which might "confuse the viewers."