Fox & Fiends

If in trying to nail something down you keep hitting your fingers with the hammer it’s time to give it up.

I have been diligently watching Fox & Friends weekday mornings for three reasons; first, to get a different prospective on the previous day’s political events, second, because our President has publicly declared it to be his news source of choice, and, third, because a significant majority of self-defined “Conservatives” view it as true information.

I have to stop…my fingers are all swollen.

It isn’t simply that I disagree with most of the premises they base their reporting on. I do, but that’s precisely why I’ve been following Fox News. I have watched a variety of other Fox News programs as well.

I’ve been troubled why I am someone who always thought of himself as a centrist finding myself pushed further and further to the Left. So I assumed I was falling prey to confirmation bias and I thought an ample dose of Fox News would even things out…at least a bit.

Instead what I’ve discovered is that Fox News generally, and Fox & Friends specifically, completely distorts the news they cover.  They do this by grossly altering conclusions by careful editing.  Oh sure, you knew that already?  No, you only assumed it.

 I have determined the “gross” part of this undermining intention of Fox News by using my DVR to capture pieces of news (notably interviews and testimonies) compare them to other news sources and then compare those to online transcripts.

Fox News is a travesty and moral crime upon the American Public.  I am disgusted.  

Although competent news persons have been jumping the Fox ship with abandon, it hasn’t resulted in any change of course for the producers and directors of that news network. Nor has the obvious fiddling with either the truth or multiple scandals had any affect.  

The only pressure to bear should be on any remaining actual TV journalists (Wallace, Baier, Smith e.g.), who could more effectively deliver a Conservative view not buried in bullshit if they joined those who have already left. Of course, that would require they place integrity on equal footing with money.

I have to assume that Rupert Murdock and company continue to allow the manipulation of reality because it is so tied up in the ratings (and associated dollars). They appear to have a monopoly on self-interested, ignorant (by choice) white Americans. It is just so sad and appalling that such a large sub-set of this Nation can be so easily exploited as to let this happen.

Other cable news sources (MSNBC, CNN e.g.) are not innocent of bias or intent. But nothing compares even remotely with Fox News. There should be a picket line at their studios on the Ave of the Americas 12 hours a day, 7 days a week…to replicate a funeral dirge for the death of American truth.