Thursday, March 18, 2010
Fox News: White trash?
The question has to be asked.
The evidence:
They're reactionary.
They're virtually exclusively white.
They've proven themselves to be racist.
They're embarassingly emotional (e.g., Glenn Beck, at minimum).
They yell at their guests, if they don't agree with them (e.g., Bill O'Reilly).
They interrupt their guests after they ask them questions, up to and including the most powerful man in the world, the sitting President of the United States, showing few good manners and no respect for that same guest (e.g., Brett Baier interviewing President Obama, above).
I'm not saying it's so.
I'm just saying it seems like a good and fair question.
(Or is that a "fair and balanced" question?).
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3 comments:
Being rude and contentious are the hallmarks of the new conservative media. Point of view is more important than dialogue and the desire for higher ratings trumps any notion of civility. Father Coughlin, Huey Long and Joseph Goebbels were masters of the art of pant and rant.
JOCOeveryman responds:
Your reaction is typical. We see the same from "liberal" media going after conservatives.
He was initially told 25 minutes and then cut to 20 before being told right as Obama sat down it would be 15. How would you feel if the saw your time ticking away and he still hadn't answered any question with any substance? They were hard but fair questions. Some of us would have liked to hear an answer to them.
His job isn't to kiss the President's ass.....it is ask him hard questions.
If Campbell Brown did that to President Bush you'd be giving each other high fives.
BTW...Glenn Beck isn't a journalist and neither is Bill O'Reilly. They entertain...like Rachel Maddow and sorta like Keith Olbermann only he isn't entertaining! --POINTLESS, PERSONAL INSULT REDACTED-- I'll say I enjoy O'Reilly when he has a liberal on to argue. I've never seen Rachel Maddow try to debate a conservative on the air. Of course I don't watch her that much....but I do check in on occassion......which is more than I say about most liberals and Fox.
Okay, first things first--some housecleaning here.
I want to state that my policy on posting responses is that everything gets posted except insults, personal insults, any and all racism and other ignorance and things like it. Other than that, all comments are always posted. The piece, above, from JOCOeveryman did get posted but I had to edit it, as you can see above. All else gets posted as is.
Secondly, in response to JOCOe:
Man, do we miss William F. Buckley.
No one suggests that any reporter's job is to "kiss the President's ass", as you so ineloquently phrased it but it is to ask questions and then be quiet and listen for the answer. If, as a reporter, you don't get the answer you want, a) it's not unusual, b) it is frustrating, c) it's been going on for at least decades and d) you go back in, after the person has finished with their answer and press again. It's called being professional, adult and mannered. Apparently Mr. Breit and most Fox "News" commentators know nothing of this.
As for your statement about Campbell Brown and Former President Bush, I can assure you you are mistaken. During "W's" presidency, we didn't call for shouting him down or being rude or disrepectful to him--or the office of the presidency--even though he took us into war in Iraq that was needless, unprovoked and against both our own, internal laws as well as international ones.
Perhaps we should have.
And Glenn Beck and Bill O'Really may not be journalists but they are mistaken for them by too many people who watch their shows and they are adding, unfortunately mightily and negatively, to the national, communal conversation and they haven't been responsible in their presentation of events as they have happened. They confuse their viewers greatly by reporting things emotionally, at times, vitriolically, negatively and, again, untrue.
As for me, I've stopped watching Keith Olbermann. While he is and has been correct on many issues, his vehemence and indignity got to be too much. I stick with NPR and PBS where both sides of issues are discussed calmly, logically and maturely, which is, too frequently, almost non-existent anymore in our country. I suggest it for all Americans who want to truly learn about the issues.
But then, most Americans either don't have the patience to do so (truly know the issues and what's going on) or they want to take up their time with the NFL, NASCAR (God forbid) or both.
Finally, I think Hyperblogal is right: "Being rude and contentious are the hallmarks of the new conservative media. Point of view is more important than dialogue..." and I think it's very sad, unconstructive, if not out-and-out deconstructive, and unfortunate.
Thanks for your notes.
MR
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