Things Fox News Does: 101 Days of FNC Idiocracy

So, we’ve met the team and we’ve met the guests – now lets take a look at some the “things” Fox News does. I can only cover so much so if you feel something is missing from this list, go ahead and add it to the comments below.

We’ll start this series off with this bluntly honest assessment made by a Fox News panelist.

Day 28: June 17 2006

All of them are trying to copy FOX News now to be honest. Many of them are doing tabloid, more big lipped blondes and all this kind of stuff. There’s only so much of that trailer trash pie to go around.

Very much shows that whatever Fox News does, they know who their audience is.

• Crooksandliars.com – There’s only so much of that trailer trash pie to go around
• Wikipedia – Cal Thomas

Day 29: July 21 2006
One thing that Fox News does is edits material and presents it out of context: There are new examples of this practice everyday. But this one below is my favourite because they were baited into it by Stephen Colbert.

• The Colbert Report – Better Know a District – Florida’s 19th – Robert Wexler
• The Hill – Wexler cocaine comment may haunt him

Day 30: July 2 2008
Being as unprofessional as they are, altering images is also part of what Fox News does. This is the most classic example.

• BroadcastingCable.com – Cable News Ratings: Fox News Channel Still On Top
• MediaMatters.org – Fox News airs altered photos of NY Times reporters
• Wikipedia – Jacques Steinberg
• The New York Times – Fox News Finds Its Rivals Closing in
• NPR – Fox News Thrives In The Age of Obama
• Fox News via YouTube – Fox News Kills MSNBC CNN ABC CBS NBC
• Mahalo – Fox News Photoshop

Day 31: January 25 2007
Finding excuses to show scantily clad women: I’ll always remember the day I learned about Neil Cavuto’s infamous roundtable discussion with a group of hooters girls. The list of this example goes on, also notable are the Lingerie Bowl girls and the “Knockout” hair cutters.

• The Huffington Post – Your World With Neil Cav-Hoot-O

Day 32: November 7 2007
Fox knows that sex sells: Fox will report on stories with little to no value for the simple reason of having hot chicks on display for their audience. The video below is a pretty mashup of examples.

• Fox Attacks – Decency
• The Daily Show – Serial Killer Manhunt
• Newshounds – FOX News uses sex segments to divert outrage from the real obscenity, the war
• Newshounds – Is it Fox News or is it Sex News?

Day 33: June 21 2007
Another thing Fox will do is find and old or non-story and report on it as if it’s the biggest story. This example is a personal favorite of mine. It was entitled “Lesbian Gang Epidemic” (no, this is not Geraldo circa 1988.) O’Reilly and legal correspondent Rod Wheeler discuss a lesbian gang epidemic. Of course it’s not true, later, O’Reilly had to correct himself and Wheeler had to issue an apology.

Even the footage used was not from gangs, but from high school girl fighting videos Fox found on YouTube.

• Regret The Error – Fox News correspondent apologizes for errors about lesbian street gangs
• Radar Online – O’Really, Bill? Pink Pistols Not a Gang
• Radar Online – Fox News-er to Lesbian Gun Nuts: My Bad
• Orcinus – O’Reilly and the pistol-packin’ mamas
• SF Gate – Bill O’Reilly’s homoerotic fantasies go nuclear

Day 34: August 11 2009
Bad Nazi references: August ‘09 will be remembered for the bat-shit crazy health care discussion. Many people showed up to Town Hall meetings and compared the USA to Nazi Germany. Probably because millions watch bad Nazi references being thrown around by Fox.

• Thinkprogress.org – Beck claims he’s not saying ‘eugenics is coming,’ but he’s implied that before.
• Thinkprogress.org – Glenn Beck: I was wrong. We’re not marching to socialism, we’re marching toward fascism.

Day 35: August 13 2009
Speaking of Glenn Beck, one thing he does is create conspiracies. The Young Turks provide this analysis from the same Glenn Beck episode as above.

• The Young Turks

Day 36: March 3 2009
Bad Science analysis: Can somebody walk these guys through how climate change works works. This is just embarrassing.

Now I’m not the sharpest meteorological tool on the map, but even I wondered how my tree-hugging pal could have it both ways.

It seems every winter when there is snow fall in the South Fox News questions the theory of Global Warming. The difference between weather and climate isn’t that hard to figure out is it? You would think a News network of all people would take the time to understand it.

• Fox News – The Cause of Cold Weather Is Global Warming?
• Media Matters – Fox News again suggest a few days of cold weather trump climate change science
• YouTube – Again Neil Cavuto Confused about Global Warming

Day 37: July 28 2004
Fox News will insist that the “Liberal Media” smears conservatives, but you must admit, they are the king when it comes to smearing politicians. Do anybody with a straight face say Fox News provides fair coverage?

• Outfoxed

Day 38: October 3 2006
We’ve noticed Fox mislabels Republicans only when they face scandal (as they did with Mark Sandford) or when Republicans have low poll numbers (as they did with Lincoln Chafee.) Republican Mark Foley was the most infamously mislabeled by Fox as a Democrat after it was revealed he liked little boys.

• Flickr – Misidentified
• Media Matters – Fox Misidentified Republicans facing scandal, poor poll numbers
• Brad Blog – Fox Labels Foley as Democrat
• Huffington Post – Fox News Apologizes For Identifying Sanford As Democrat

Day 39: July 28 2009
Inaccurate Facts: I am pretty sure Bill O’Reilly is smart enough to understand how life expectancy works. I am convinced he trusts that his audience does not. Is he really this twisted.

• CIA – Life Expectancy by country
• Wikipedia – Life Expectancy Definition
• Mahalo Answers – How is Life Expectancy calculated

Day 40: May 11 2009
Spin zone: Let’s disregard the facts that animals can’t sign marriage papers and go straight to saying gay marriage is a slippery slope to animal marriage.

• Causecast – Bill O’Reilly: Gay Marriage Leads to Turtle Marriage
• Media Matters – O’Reilly’s Ark: Gay marriage could lead to goat, duck, dolphin, and turtle marriage
• YouTube – Bill O’Reilly wants to marry a turtle

Day 41 June 27 2009
Since Bill Keller is still the NYT editor, nothing ever came out of this. But Fox News threatening other news agencies as they do, just made for really stupid TV.

• Wikipedia – Bill Keller
• Crooksandliars.com – Did E.D. Hill threaten Bill Keller?
• Newshounds – FOX’s E. D. Hill Intimates That She Has Dirt on NY Times Editor Bill Keller

Day 42: March 30 2003
Fox does not learn from past mistakes: Even after his fail in Afghanistan, Fox sent Geraldo Rivera to cover the Iraq invasion. He failed again and this time, he ended being escorted out of the country by the military.

”At one point, he actually revealed the time of an attack prior to its occurrence,” Lt. Mark Kitchens, a spokesman at Central Command, said yesterday morning. Lieutenant Kitchens added that Mr. Rivera had been escorted to Kuwait.

• New York Times – Pentagon Says Geraldo Rivera Will Be Removed From Iraq
• The Daily Show – Quality Journalism Wins Out
• The Daily Show – Cry me a Rivera

Day 43: June 29 2005
Fox enjoys mocking their opponents a little too much. Howard Dean screamed and Fox News found time to constantly make fun of it, pretty much to the point where Dean’s career was ruined.

• Crooksandliars.com – Young Republicans in Action

Day 44: December 7 2005
Manufactured controversies: Fox News blamed Jon Stewart and the Daily Show for “The War on Christmas.” It made for great comedy.

I highly recommend the Daily Show’s take in the link below.

• The Daily Show – Secular Central
• Media Matters – O’Reilly: “War” on Christmas part of “secular progressive agenda” that includes “legalization of narcotics, euthanasia, abortion at will, gay marriage”

Those are some of the outrageous things we’ve identified Fox of doing, now move on to the next section which rapidly highlights the greatest “What the fuck Fox” moments.

101 Days of Fox News Idiocracy Introduction
Day 1 to Day 16: Meet the Fox News Team
Day 17 to Day 27: Meet the Fox Guests
Day 28 to Day 44: Things Fox News Does
Day 45 to Day 63: What the Fuck Fox!
Day 64 to Day 75: The Obama Era
Day 76 to Day 87: Fox around the World
Day 88 to Day 101: Conclusion: Fox News Broadcaster to the Idiocracy