While taking a break from reading the classics (Book Report), I happened upon a great read called Fair and Balanced, My Ass!: An Unbridled Look at the Bizarre Reality of Fox News by Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer. These guys also are the authors of Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O'Reilly, and this book is a sequel of sorts.
"FOX-watching" has been sort of a hobby of mine, though it gets more and more difficult to actually watch the channel. It seems to have spun out of control since the 2006 elections. Or maybe its bag of tricks just coincidentally ran out at the same time. Since I can only take FOX for a few minutes these days, I rely ever more on sites such as MediaMatters and NewsHounds (motto: "We watch FOX so you don't have to"). I've also recently discovered Eyes on Fox News Network, which is also a terrific debunking site.
This book is a wonderful addition to the fore-mentioned sites, and like them offers countless descriptions of FOX's tactics. The book lays out the obvious (yet somehow oft disputed) hugely right-wing bias of the channel. They also rightly point out that while FOX is the highest rated "news" network, they barely even qualify as news in the first place. Now, if FOX or its supporters should deign to give this book any attention at all, I'm sure it will be called a "smear" or "attack." That has been their tactic with all of the sites mentioned. But that story won't have any more validity than most of their programs do.
You see, what all of these resources have in common is examples. Word-for-word transcripts, lots and lots of them. In the case of the websites, often times video. Calling verbatim quoting either "out of context" or "smears" is just weak. These guys have got them dead to rights. There is, of course, snark aplenty in the book, and that makes it particularly tasty.
Trust me, if you see FOX News for what it is: a right-wing propaganda network, you'll love this book. It's a tremendous validation to see what you know must be true proven in an entertaining way.
Highly Recommended
Trust me, if you see FOX News for what it is: a right-wing propaganda network, you'll love this book. It's a tremendous validation to see what you know must be true proven in an entertaining way.
Highly Recommended
Have you read Al Franken's book about Fox News (Lying Liars ...)and its followers? If so, how does it compare to this one?
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm a big fan of Al Franken, as well as Air America. I've read several of Al's books, and enjoyed each one. The difference in "Lies" is that he goes very in depth on each personality, and only has sporadic transcripts from FOX itself. "Fair and Balanced My Ass!" picks apart individual shows and segments, and focuses on the network itself. Al's book is much more broad. Both are very good.
ReplyDelete"The Truth" by Al Franken is also very good, and highly recommended. Thanks for visiting my site, and please come back! I'm just getting started, but I'm having a ball. Enjoy!