Slog

News & Arts

Monday, July 20, 2009

Media That Fox

Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 3:54 PM

The gate between worlds:
3101/1248129910-2009-07-20_14.09.07.jpg I was in the Southwest this weekend and what struck me forcefully was the popularity of Fox News. People actually watch it like it's for real. They sit on chairs and learn from Fox News! I could not get over this. It amazed me to no end. It was like walking through some jungle and coming upon a tribe that's trying to solve basic problems (who should lead? should we go to war with such and such?) by staring at a special pig. You just can't believe it. Fox News! Your jaw has to drop. Like the primitive tribe in the jungle, these Fox folks deserve our contempt.

Comments (32) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

Whatever were you doing in the Southwest?

Posted by danhowes

on July 20, 2009 at 4:25 PM

One day in a music class at San Diego State University, the subject of broadcast news arose. A young blond girl from Orange County (you know the type) piped in, "I only watch Fox News because I was the REAL story."

It was disturbing because at such a young age, she was already so determined in her biases.

Ignorance, like wealth, may be inherited.

Posted by Bauhaus I on July 20, 2009 at 4:26 PM

There is so much about America that Slog does not know.

Posted by Clueless in Seattle on July 20, 2009 at 4:27 PM

2
Are you aware of media in America that does not have a bias?

Posted by Please Share on July 20, 2009 at 4:28 PM

4: I am aware of media that aims for unbiased reporting. And even if it misses its mark, it deserves more respect than propagandists.

Correction: The young woman said that she "wants the REAL story."

Posted by Bauhaus I on July 20, 2009 at 4:33 PM

How dare you make a comment about "primitive tribes in the jungle" being akin to the ignorant Fox News watching John Waynes of the south west.

Those few tribe left in the jungle should have contempt for your frappachino drinking fat ass.

Posted by sall on July 20, 2009 at 4:46 PM

Charles, when you say "the Southwest", were you referring to the Southwest suburbs of Seattle? Because you don't have to go too far from Cap Hill before Fox News becomes the preferred news source.

Posted by tiktok on July 20, 2009 at 4:48 PM

You are cute sometimes, Charles.

Posted by tuesday harmony on July 20, 2009 at 4:56 PM

"With the possible exception of things like box scores, race results, and stock market tabulations, there is no such thing as Objective Journalism. The phrase itself is a pompous contradiction in terms." - Hunter S. Thompson

Posted by Reg on July 20, 2009 at 4:57 PM

I just drove through Idaho, Utah and Colorado and experienced the same thing, Almost every restaurant and hotel we visited had flatscreens piping in a constant stream of FOX News dribble. And people watched, transfixed, clearly believing it all.

Posted by Morgan on July 20, 2009 at 4:58 PM

Every news channel in my Huntington Beach hotel room earlier this year was a Fox channel. I didn't even know they had four fucking Fox news channels.

Posted by brocaine

on July 20, 2009 at 5:02 PM

Travel, travel, travel: you can't get to know a nation of 300 million people without traveling more.

Posted by Simac on July 20, 2009 at 5:13 PM

It is insane isn't it? Faux Nooz produces some of the most patently false, unbelievably unsophisticated bullshit propaganda, yet people eat it up with a spoon and beg for more. It's like they're challenging someone to call them on it, yet no one does.

Their sole function is to transmit bias-confirming lies to right-wing morons, which is quite honestly one of the main reasons it's nearly impossible to respect the American public. How can anyone with a functional brainstem respect people who are so aggressively ignorant?

Posted by Original Andrew on July 20, 2009 at 5:14 PM

Some people watch Fox, some people watch Marx ... get over it.

Posted by RonK, Seattle on July 20, 2009 at 5:42 PM

This doesn't just happen in the SW. This happens ALL over Eastern Washington--people who vote on issues in OUR state!

Posted by Thanks a lot, Tri-Cities on July 20, 2009 at 5:46 PM

Staring at a special pig sounds awesome.

Posted by TheRain on July 20, 2009 at 5:49 PM

It's the "two minutes hate" with extra bonus fear, over and over again.

Posted by tdonut on July 20, 2009 at 6:06 PM

All media may flatter itself to think it "aims for unbiased reporting".
All media has a pronounced bias.
Fox at least isn't hypocritical about it.

If you are aware of a news source in America that actually achieves unbiased reporting please let us know...

Posted by Pot/Kettle on July 20, 2009 at 6:17 PM

The McDonald's & Taco John's restaurants in WI that are redesigning their buildings with flat-screen tvs only show The Weather Channel, ESPN, or Fox News.

It's a great motivator to be thin ;)

Posted by Drew2u on July 20, 2009 at 6:46 PM

I'm a Charles lover unlike the haters here, but it did cross my mind that somewhere in the world there's probably someone who has written this:

"I was in the Northwest this weekend and what struck me forcefully was the popularity of Charles Mudede. People actually read him like it's for real. They sit on chairs and learn from Mudede! I could not get over this. It amazed me to no end. It was like walking through some jungle and coming upon a tribe that's trying to solve basic problems (what is this movie really about? What is it that makes Bratz, as a cultural phenomenon, great?) by staring at a special pig. You just can't believe it. Mudede! Your jaw has to drop. Like the primitive tribe in the jungle, these Mudede fans deserve our contempt."

Posted by stinkbug on July 20, 2009 at 7:02 PM

The Special Pig Network. I like it. Pigs are jolly, social and like to eat and lie around in their own filth. When they least expect it, they're loaded on to a truck and slaughtered and made into bacon. Bacon's good. Every pig is special. Down with Fox News! Long live Special Pig News! News you can trust!

Posted by blecky on July 20, 2009 at 10:16 PM

No one has ever learned anything from Charles, stinkbug

Posted by Reader1 on July 20, 2009 at 10:24 PM

Well, if FOX does end up hiring Palin, you'll get your wish Chaz - only the pig will be wearing lipstick.

Posted by COMTE

on July 20, 2009 at 11:08 PM

I'd like to know more about these strange creatures who can't tell that Fox News is not real!

Who are they??? Do they have families? Do they vote? Do they shit in the woods?

Inquiring minds want to know...

Posted by blackhook on July 20, 2009 at 11:34 PM

Not so much contempt as pity. They've been brainwashed and lied to. Their ears have been brutally abused, but like most abused people, they can't let go of their abuser because the abuser confirms their suspicions about people who look, act and think differently than they do, as well as their suspicion of the guvmint and dislike of paying taxes.

Posted by I have always been... east coaster on July 21, 2009 at 1:36 AM

where does slog get it's unbiased news?

Posted by Please Share on July 21, 2009 at 3:42 AM

Isn't un-biased news an oxymoron?

Posted by stormblade on July 21, 2009 at 7:40 AM

The thing about Fox News is that it did not create the audience. The audience was always there, seething and waiting for someone to come along to tell them what they believe to be true, and to legitimate it by broadcasting it to them. It's like the mirror in "Snow White" as long as it tells the evil queen she is the fairest, everything is fine. That's what she believes, and that's what she wants to hear. All hell breaks loose when the mirror contradicts what she believes. In the Fox world however, Snow White doesn't exist so the mirror always says, "It you, Queenie baby." It doesn't matter that the rest of the world knows that Snow White exists, and that she is a solid 10.

Posted by stella on July 21, 2009 at 9:01 AM

This post says more about you than people in the Southwest, Charles. You do realize that Fox News's ratings are through the roof, don't you? And that you don't have to go far from the Strangers offices to find people watching it?

Perhaps you should buy a car; then you could see parts of the world other than the straight line between your condo and Capitol Hill.

Posted by bigyaz on July 21, 2009 at 9:04 AM

Posted by bigyaz on July 21, 2009 at 9:05 AM

So what's the main criticism of Fox News again?

Posted by cliche on July 21, 2009 at 9:11 AM

I can't believe how uncouth these comments are about people who watch Fox News.
How about you take an unbiased look at why people actually watch Fox News? Isn't it possible that the consistent one-sided bias from mainstream media created this monster by itself: this horde of people looking for something primarily different, not necessarily looking for a holy grail of unbiased media, but more simply different from the one-sided liberal media bias. Hence the entrance of a different (yes, biased) reporting.

You have to watch more than just MSNBC to get a grasp of both sides, and you have to watch more than just Fox. They create a necessary balance for anyone trying to understand the news rather than trying to bolster their political-esteem.

I blame mainstream media for creating the need for Fox News, people with attitudes like you allowed mainstream media to continue in its ways until, thanks to you and your encouraging, you helped create a vacuum that would be filled by non-liberal-bias media.

Thanks

Posted by MJLangiii on July 29, 2009 at 12:48 PM