Roger Ailes Out at FOX "News"

Grab-ass Murdoch, from source, Reuters

I'll bet Jabba Roger Ailes never thought that positively ancient Rupert Murdoch would live long enough to outlast him at FOX "News," and probably was more worried about doing battle with Murdoch's kids, should they inherit the place. But it looks like the loathsome toad (Ailes, not Murdoch) is going to be out on his ass, and very soon!

[Excerpt]

Murdochs decide to oust Fox News chief Ailes: report

Rupert Murdoch, executive co-chairman of 21st Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O), and his sons James and Lachlan agree that Fox News Channel boss Roger Ailes should leave the company but they have not settled on the timing, New York magazine reported on Monday, citing anonymous sources. . .

Read more at: Reuters

Is FOX "News" Dying?

One can only hope!

[Excerpt]

Frank Rich: Fox News Is Dying

. . .In truth, Fox News has been defeated on the media battlefield—and on the political battlefield as well. Even the 73-year-old wizard of Fox, Roger Ailes, now in full Lear-raging-on-the-heath mode as ­portrayed in my colleague Gabriel ­Sherman’s definitive new biography, "The Loudest Voice in the Room," seems to sense the waning of his power. The only people who seem not to know or accept Fox’s decline, besides its own audience, are ­liberals, including Barack Obama, whose White House mounted a short-lived, pointless freeze-out of Fox News in 2009, and who convinced himself that the network has shaved five points off his approval rating. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

FOX "News" Tried to Recruit Petraeus for President?

It now makes more sense why FOX "News" seemed less than interested in Mitt Romney at first. Roger Ailes wanted to manage a campaign for General David Petraeus to run for President? Rupert Murdoch wanted to finance it? Holy conflict of interest, Batman! FOX "News" would have bought and paid for their own presidential candidate! Well, I mean besides Sarah Palin (who was teasing us that she'd run), Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum (who both gave it their hilarious best shots). And of course, Herman Cain and Donald Trump, both of whom were trumpeted as heroes relentlessly by the channel.

All that aside, a picked, bought and paid for candidate would have been a real coup, wouldn't it? Potentially embarrassing, what with Petraeus' recent flame-out, sure. And it would have been highly unlikely that Ailes' and Murdoch's roles could have been kept undercover. It would have been the Official FOX "News" Tea Party Tax Day Presidential Candidate! With running mate Steve Doocey! Romney's campaign turned out to be something less than a success. But think of the fun we missed out on!

[Excerpt]

Gen. David Petraeus and Alfred Hitchcock Roger Ailes.
Image from source, ABC News.

Petraeus Turned Down Fox News Presidential Run ‘Deal’

David Petraeus running for president, with Fox News chief Roger Ailes as his campaign manager and News Corporation boss Rupert Murdoch “bankrolling” the whole operation. That, as first reported in today’s Washington Post story by Bob Woodward, was the broad strokes of an offer delivered by a Fox News contributor, on Ailes’ behalf, during a meeting with the future, and now former, CIA director in the spring of 2011. . .

Read more at: ABC News

Ted Koppel Takes Partisan Cable News to Task

"Is it me? It's him, right? It's him."

Am I Nathan Thurm?

That's a quote from Martin Short's old Saturday Night Live character, Nathan Thurm, the perpetually nervous and stressed attorney, who was always defending the indefensible.  But, that's how I felt watching Ted Koppel's report on Rock Center on Thursday night. Ted Koppel is of course from the old school of journalism, not quite Walter Cronkite, but close. And his topic was the hyper-partisan nature of discourse in the "news." All the while, I'm thinking, "False equivalence!" "But, FOX has 'news' in its name!" "But, FOX lies!!!"

And yeah, I get it. We are a deeply divided country, on seemingly every topic. One could argue that it began with Newt Gingrich back in the nineties. Oh, sure, there was partisanship before that, but Newt (and Lee Atwater and others) took it to a Whole. 'Nother. Level.  The political division grew, and flourished into the political coverage. And nowhere did it flower more brightly than at Rupert Murdoch's (and Roger Ailes') FOX "News," the first attempt at news with a point of view. 

As you know--though it lost millions for years--FOX was eventually very successful. And though it has taken rival MSNBC many years, they are finally nipping at FOX's heels, at least in recent weeks. And while MSNBC is demonstrably and admittedly from a liberal perspective (at least in prime time), there are numerous differences in their approach. You could maybe align Chris Matthews with Bill O'Reilly and Ed Schultz with Sean Hannity for bombast. But you won't find MSNBC running with debunked "some say" garbage for days on end. You won't find MSNBC claiming themselves to be an island of sanity in a sea of biased media (as FOX and its fans seem to believe every other outlet is liberally biased). You won't find a moron of Hannity's scale on MSNBC, and you won't find an intellect on Rachel Maddow's scale on FOX. FOX will never run a three-hours-per-day program headed by a former Democratic Congressman as MSNBC does with Joe Scarborough.

In short (I know, too late), there are differences. As reported here a couple of days ago, FOX "News" hires Romney campaign surrogates and SuperPAC people as commentators, and doesn't usually disclose this when they appear, commenting on the very races they are a part of. You don't see that anywhere else. As Bill Maher says in Koppel's piece, while both sides are guilty of sometimes being in a bubble, the left's is nowhere near the scope of that on the right. There is an extreme right, but there is no mirror extreme left. The extremity of the right has dragged the left toward the center.

But Koppel presented this as a he-said-she-said, pitting Maher against Ann Coulter's clearly (to me) alternate reality view. And I kept saying to myself, regarding Koppel's false equivalence. . . "It's not me. It's him, right? It's him."

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Rupert Murdoch: "Doubtful" Romney Will Beat Obama in 2012

I'm not entirely sure that this isn't something
from Jim Henson's Creature Shops.

The Eye of Mordor  Emperor Palpatine   Satan   Rupert Murdoch has spoken, and in his eminence has proclaimed that it is unlikely that Willard "Mittens" Romney shall be victorious over Barack Hussein Obama in the November 2012 election contest of we mere mortals here in the United States of America. And this, despite the fact that Herr Murdoch is running the most ratings-drenched of the so-called "news networks" on cable and satellite television. His propaganda station is spending neigh 95% of its airtime to painting the Obama Administration as the second coming of Hitler. And even he thinks the RomBot 3000 has a long row to hoe. Good.

[Excerpt] 

Rupert Murdoch: 'Doubtful' That Romney Will Beat Obama In 2012 Election

Rupert Murdoch took to Twitter on Sunday to weigh in the U.S. presidential election.
"Met Romney last week. Tough O Chicago pros will be hard to beat unless he drops old friends from team and hires some real pros. Doubtful," he wrote.  He added: "US election is referendum on Obama, all else pretty minor. . ."

Read more at: Huffington Post

Blast from the Past [Bonus Edition]: Early FOX TV Shows, Pt. 1

When I sat down to do the previous post, I just didn't have an idea in me for Blast from the Past. The only thing I could think of was old FOX TV shows, and what relevance would that have? Then I turn on FOX, and they're rerunning their anniversary special! Whattaya know? So, I figured I could slap something together for this week afterall. But it's just gonna be clips, no commentary. This blogger is tired!

And with that, I realize I'm done for this week, and I've retroactively retitled this "Pt. 1," and may come back at some point to ad commentary! This one really did give me a blast from the past.

Have a great week, everyone. Happy Monday!

The History and Purpose of FOX "News"

Image from source, Addicting Info

Okay, I know this article is more than six weeks old. But it's good, and it's the weekend. And the Republican debate doesn't start for half an hour!

[Excerpt]


Understanding The History And Purpose Of FOX


News You’d think a thing like FOX couldn’t happen in the United States. Although they’re free to be crazy and free to support the Republican Party, you’d think Americans would be too smart to fall for the made-up outrages, dishonest reporting and relentless appeal to our meaner nature. Unfortunately, many Americans are not as smart as we used to assume: a huge swath of Americans (especially elderly white Southerners) believe FOX is just another news media outlet. They aren’t. . . 

 Read more at: Addicting Info

Rachel Maddow: Will FOX "News" Pick GOP Candidate?

They're sure going to try, that part is clear. But it didn't really work out for them in 2008, did it?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Steve Jobs Really Didn't Like FOX "News"

Jobs throws Murdoch on the barbie.
Image from source, Huffington Post

As the first bits of the new Steve Jobs biography leaked out, right-wing world was positively giddy about what Jobs thought of President Obama and his policies. Ostensibly liberal, Jobs still was a mogul. One who has his beloved products made in China, for instance. Well, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and countless others were gushing over these details. Hannity gave every few words that annoying uptalking thing that he does. All of this despite the fact that Jobs wanted to help run Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.

Something tells me they're not so thrilled with this. . .

[Excerpt]

Steve Jobs: Fox News 'A Destructive Force In Our Society' 

. . ."You're blowing it with Fox News," Jobs told him over dinner. "The axis today is not liberal and conservative, the axis is constructive-destructive, and you've cast your lot with the destructive people. Fox has become an incredibly destructive force in our society. You can be better, and this is going to be your legacy if you're not careful." Jobs said he thought Murdoch did not really like how far Fox had gone. "Rupert's a builder, not a tearer-downer," he said. "I've had some meetings with James, and I think he agrees with me. I can just tell.". . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Rupert Murdoch's Devil Horns are Showing

"Those aren't 'orns, thats a bloody collar, you poofter!"
Image from source, TV Newser

 

Posted only because of the funny first-glance image of this particular screen capture. It's from TVNewser, an informative source of information about television news. Just don't wander into the commentary boards, it's like FOX Nation let out for recess in there.

Source: TV Newser

Olbermann: Could News Corp. Be Behind "Climategate" Hacking?

Oooh. Do you remember what "climategate" was? A bunch of scientists had their emails hacked, see, and their mails were kind of unprofessional and snarky. It was alleged--often by News Corp. property FOX "News"--that the emails proved that global warming (aka global climate change) was a hoax. Or something. They didn't really do that, but you know how those FOX narratives go. Like how ACORN may have been exonerated, but FOX viewers still believe that James O'Keefe is some sort of folk hero for "bringin' 'em down."

But how interesting would it be if this whole climategate thing was a result of Rupert Murdoch's companies' illegal hacking? For one thing, it would drag this scandal into an even bigger light.

[Excerpt]

Olbermann: News Corp. could be behind ‘Climate Gate’ hacking

On Countdown Wednesday night, Keith Olbermann discussed with Joe Romm, editor of ClimateProgress.org, the possibility that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation was behind the “Climate Gate” hacking. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Rachel Maddow Helps Us Wrap Our Brains Around Rupert Murdoch Scandal

This is a couple of days late, but it's a great wrap-up of the News of the World/News Corp./Rupert Murdoch ongoing scandal. It's a scummy scandal, and it's about time that ol' Rupe got a smack down. But this scandal isn't a neat, easy to understand in one quick sentence story. Rachel Maddow--a personal favorite, as stated here many times--does a great job laying it out for us.

Now, hold on just a second. If you're one of those MSNBC = the opposite of FOX "News" folks; a Rachel Maddow is the anti-Sean Hannity, I get where you're coming from (even though you're wrong). But skip to the 5:00 section of this video for an interesting demonstration. There, you'll find a dude on FOX "News" who is equating hacking scandals at banks and other areas with the Rupert Murdoch thing. Then watch Rachel's frustrated WTF? OMFG! response to his f'd up analogy. Then try to say Rachel is wrong. Dare you.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

MySpace is for Sale: There is One Bidder

MySpace used to be the place to go on the internet. I joined it, but never quite figured it out. In fact, almost every MySpace page I ever went to was so badly designed--with text that couldn't be read over the loud background images, and loud music files playing with no obvious "off button--that it just wasn't worth the time. Then Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp bought MySpace at just about the time that Facebook was taking off. Facebook was easy to understand, easy on the eyes, and much more usable. I don't think I ever went to another MySpace page.

It's kind of interesting to see which services become so common that they are now parts of speech (Google), and which ones wither and die. Sometimes it's sad. Other times--like when Rupert Murdoch is involved--I feel a bit of schadenfreude.

[Excerpt]

Myspace Has Just One Bidder, Sources Say



The tragic tale of once successful Myspace may finally come to an end. . .
 
Read more at: Huffington Post

Rolling Stone Chronicles Roger Ailes and FOX "News"

Image from excerpt source, Rolling Stone

And it ain't pretty. A week or so after New York Magazine delved into the genesis of FOX "News," and the main man behind it--Roger Ailes, not owner, Rupert Murdoch--Rolling Stone has an in-depth piece that is bound to tick you off. If you have a built-in revulsion for FOX "News" and/or Ailes, this article will give you even more (many more) tangible reasons to feel that way. And if you're a tea baggin', Sarah Palin lovin', Rush listenin' FOX fan, you'll be pissed for one of two reasons: 1) you've been had, or 2) you'll think the author, Tim Dickinson is a dirty, stinkin' socialist Obamabot!!11!1!!

But this article is thorough. Unlike the NYMag piece, this one names names. It has more sources. It has more detail of Ailes' past (past Ailes projects include the Nixon campaign stagecraft, The Maury Povich Show, The Rush Limbaugh Show on TV, A Current Affair, and the Willie Horton racist ploy). It points out that FOX "News" was born as a right-wing infused news channel, in fact was bred to be one.  It was in fact Ailes' second go at that sort of thing. Both even had "fair and balanced" as their motto. With FOX, he just managed to keep the bias--somehow--halfway under wraps. Like details about Ailes' late friend Liberace, there are things people know, that for some reason aren't openly discussed.

There is no doubt that the author of this piece has no love for Ailes or his tactics. I'm not sure that it would be possible, if you were discovering all of this stuff fresh and never heard of Ailes or FOX "News." It's pretty contemptible stuff. It's basically turning news into propaganda--on purpose--to strongly influence elections and policy, for the enrichment of corporate elites. It's an ends-justify-the-means story, where the ends are just as morally dubious as the means. It shows the man behind the curtain to be every bit as vile as you think he is. It explains what Karl Rove is doing at FOX "News." And the few FOX fans who will actually read this thing will likely not recognize this. They'll read the list of things that Fox watchers erroneously believe, and will have already been preconditioned to think those things are correct.

When the history of this era of America is written, I have a feeling that Roger Ailes will figure into the narrative, along with the Citizens United Supreme Court decision as a time when America changed direction drastically, from a democracy to a corporatocracy. Or, more hopefully, when it almost did.

[Excerpt]

How Roger Ailes Built the Fox News Fear Factory

. . .The key to decoding Fox News isn’t Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity. It isn’t even News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch. To understand what drives Fox News, and what its true purpose is, you must first understand Chairman Ailes. “He is Fox News,” says Jane Hall, a decade-long Fox commentator who defected over Ailes’ embrace of the fear-mongering Glenn Beck. “It’s his vision. It’s a reflection of him. . .”

Read (much) more at: Rolling Stone

FOX "News" Chief Instructs Employee to Lie

Image of Alfred Hitchcock
Roger Ailes from source, NYTimes

Yeah, sure, this happened a while back. But it's just coming to light, and it's just further evidence that Rupert Murdoch's empire is run by folks like Roger Ailes who have a very loose relationship with the truth.

[Excerpt]

Fox News Chief, Roger Ailes, Urged Employee to Lie, Records Show



It was an incendiary allegation — and a mystery of great intrigue in the media world: After the publishing powerhouse Judith Regan was fired by HarperCollins in 2006, she claimed that a senior executive at its parent company, News Corporation, had encouraged her to lie two years earlier to federal investigators who were vetting Bernard B. Kerik for the job of homeland security secretary. . . 


Read more at: New York Times

Rupert Murdoch Sarah Palin's Biggest Supporter?

Which is less surprising, that Sarah Palin once again has a--surely ghost written--book out just in time for Christmas, or that Rupert Murdoch is financing the book tour? I curse John McCain for many things, but unleashing this woman upon the world is perhaps the worst thing he ever did to America.

[Excerpt]

Image from Raw Story

Bankrolling book tour, Murdoch emerges as Palin’s top 2012 supporter

As she embarks on her 16-stop book tour promoting "America by Heart," former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has one person to be enormously grateful to: media baron Rupert Murdoch.


Palin's publisher, HarperCollins Publishers, is part of the News Corp. media empire, and they're bankrolling her tour. It's not coincidence that her stops focus inordinately on swing-states, either. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Jon Stewart's Brilliant Glenn Beck Parody

Last week, Glenn Beck came up with a whopper of a story, using marionettes of all things, to prove that (cue scary music) George Soros is trying to take down America.  As with any good conspiracy theory, there were nuggets of truth, some wild conjecture, and lots of hyperbole.  But the funny part was, much of Beck's storyline--a rich, powerful old white dude with a media empire, and a stated political viewpoint--could easily fit Rupert Murdoch, Beck's own boss.

On Thursday's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Stewart gave us his latest comedic Glenn Beck impression, and nailed it.  It was brilliant, and it was funny. And it kind of went against Stewarts recent arguments that he's more comedian than political pundit

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
George Soros Plans to Overthrow America
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Manchurian Lunatic
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Rally to Restore Sanity

Glenn Beck IS Howard Beale

Other people have been compared to Network's Howard Beale, but no one fits the profile better than Glenn Beck.  Keith Olbermann, for example, has at times been bombastic, but outside of his occasionally displayed passion, the resemblance is scanty. Beck on the other hand--whom Olbermann himself has compared to Andy Griffith's "Lonesome Rhodes"--is eerily similar to Beale.  Both seem dangerously unbalanced. Both have had meteoric rises in popularity, with a cult-like following. Both seem to believe their own hype.  It just remains to be seen if Beck will have a similar comeuppance in Roger Ailes' or Rupert Murdoch's office: "Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beck? You have meddled with the primal forces of nature! And YOU. WILL. ATONE!!!"  


[Excerpt]

Glenn Beck says tea party will 'set things right'

Fresh off a week of stunning Republican primary victories, several thousand exuberant and newly-empowered tea party followers descended on the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates on Saturday for Right Nation 2010 -- a carefully choreographed night of conservative political cheerleading, headlined by radio and TV host Glenn Beck. . .

Read more at: Chicago Breaking News

Rupert Murdoch: FOX "News" Shouldn't Promote Tea Baggers?

Really, Rupert? Y'mean that?

FOX "News" Isn't News: Love Letter to Scott Brown

People with functioning brains have no trouble seeing that FOX "News" is something other than a news channel. But denials--all the way up to Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch--still happen anyway. If you're a doubter (and then doubtless a "FOX fan"), check out this drooling smooch-fest for the recently elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).