VOA: "The U.S. television channel Fox News has apologized for posting a fake story about Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry to its web site. A Fox spokesman says political reporter Carl Cameron has been reprimanded for writing the story, which Fox says [as it's excuse after having been caught] was written as a joke and was never intended for posting or broadcast. The piece contained made-up quotes Mr. Kerry supposedly uttered last Thursday after his debate with President Bush. One quote had the candidate praising the appearance of his own fingernails and cuticles. In another quote, Mr. Kerry allegedly said, "Women should like me! I do manicures." " This story was easily caught because it was such an obvious fake. But now we wonder - how many FOX stories, quotes, references, etc. about Kerry have been faked that slipped "under the radar," undetected, but harmful all the same?

The Guardian writes, "Fox News, the influential rightwing US television network, said yesterday it had 'reprimanded' its chief political correspondent after its website carried fabricated quotes attributed to John Kerry, in which he called himself a 'metrosexual' who enjoys getting manicures. The network, owned by Rupert Murdoch, apologised for the article in which the Democratic challenger was quoted telling a rally in Florida: 'Didn't my nails and cuticles look great? What a good debate!' ... The article appeared under the byline of Carl Cameron, who has been following Mr Kerry on the campaign trail. [FOX spokesman Paul Schur blamed] 'fatigue and bad judgment, rather than malice' [and admitted] 'Carl Cameron made a stupid mistake and he has been reprimanded for his lapse in judgment.'" After FOX demanded CBS fire Dan Rather for telling the truth about Bush going AWOL, when will FOX fire Cameron for lying?

How LOW can you go? FOX and Sinclair Broadcasting continually lower the bar. This one takes the cake: An alert Dem reported to us that on Sept. 8, 2004, that Sinclair Broadcasting-owned FOX affiliate WBFF-45 in Baltimore ran an infomercial for a company selling lots in Port- Charlotte, FLA - which took a direct hit in Hurricane Charley - except the infomercial showed pre-hurricane images - deceptive to say the least! The Dem called and complained - but at noon the same day, the station ran ANOTHER FLA real estate infomercial - this one for Sugarmill Woods - which sustained flooding - for a company that was found guilty of land scamming. Yet another testament to the vulture-like greed of FOX and Sinclair. Tell 'em what you think! http://www.foxbaltimore.com/baltimore_md/

Common Dreams: "A new analysis prepared for the FCC in Monterey, Calif., found that local Fox-affiliate KCBA-TV counts "NFL Under the Helmet" as part of its requirement to air three hours per week of educational/informational programming for children. In its filing to the federal agency, KCBA said the no-holds barred show "showcases the pro-social on and off the field activities of the NFL's leading players and coaches." Alongside its questionable characterization of "NFL Under The Helmet," the analysis by Children Now and the Institute for Public Representation found the station still fell short of the 3-hour minimum for children's educational programming. Among the three other high-powered stations in the Monterey-Salinas market, one station, Univision affiliate KSMS-TV, also failed to meet the three-hour rule, and KION-TV (CBS) and KSBW-TV (NBC) just barely met the minimum requirement."

"Murdoch has made no bones about his strong support for Bush... As one former News Corp. official told Fortune, 'part of our political strategy [in the U.S.] was the New York Post and the creation of Fox News and the Weekly Standard.' And as Slate reports, Murdoch put that empire to work for Bush. In 2000, Murdoch placed 'George W. Bush cousin John Ellis in charge of [Fox's] Election Night vote-counting operation in 2000.' And 'Ellis made Fox the first network to declare Bush the victor,' even as the New Yorker reported that Ellis spent the evening discussing the election with George W. and Jeb Bush. Most recently, Murdoch's partisan support for the Bush White House appeared when he took the extraordinary step of putting an editorial on the front page of his New York Post calling the 9/11 Commission a 'National Disgrace.' At the time, the Commission was in the process of revealing material showing how the Bush administration was not focused on counter-terrorism before 9/11."

"Though Fox News Channel wraps itself in slogans of journalistic evenhandedness, FAIR's latest study of Fox's Special Report with Brit Hume finds the network's flagship news show still listing sharply right. In one-on-one interviews, conservatives accounted for 72 percent of ideological guests, and Republicans outnumbered Democrats five to one. And, according to the study, Special Report rarely features women or non-white guests in these prominent newsmaker interview spots: 83 percent of guests were white males. The study, featured in the August issue of Extra!, was commissioned by filmmaker Robert Greenwald for the film Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. The film will screen across the country on Sunday, July 18 at house parties organized by MoveOn.org; you can find the screening nearest you at http://action.moveon.org/outfoxed/."

NY Daily News reports, "Murdoch's former employees - Fox News terrorism expert Larry Johnson, Fox News Washington reporter Alexander Kippen, Fox News booker Clara Frenk and Fox News freelance writer David Korb - stood with Robert Greenwald, the director of 'Outfoxed.' Johnson said his appearances on Fox News ceased last year when he questioned the war in Iraq. 'They never asked me back again,' Johnson told The News' Brian Harmon. Korb said he received orders to 'make protesters look stupid and use footage of small crowds where the protesters look like pot-smoking liberals.'... Dan Cox said that when he was the Post's media reporter in 2002, 'barely a day went by when Murdoch didn't force-feed items about his rival media moguls ... 'Not only were we not allowed to ask Murdoch any specific questions about these 'tips,' we were not allowed to check their veracity - anywhere.' Cox added, 'Murdoch expected us to use them wholesale, unattributed, of course.'"

Andrew O'Hehir writes, "Rather than politics, Fox News offers only lockstep ideology. It does not present arguments; it blends fearmongering and happy talk, rinses in red, white and blue, and pours the mixture down our throats. Instead of challenging its audience, it simultaneously terrifies and comforts them, painting a hostile world constantly in need of good, old-fashioned Republican-style American might. It shows us a busy screen of sound and fury, but devoid of all thought. It's a nonstop thrill ride for the paranoid American body politic, and the public -- at least Murdoch's target audience -- has been as delighted as kids on their first visit to Disney World. Fox News has conquered the TV news landscape so thoroughly that the other networks have remade themselves in its image. Maybe I was wrong about Shep Smith -- some people say he looks more German than French. "

"Fox News has been a major media force in parroting various unsubstantiated claims to buttress the Bush White House. On tax cuts, for instance, Fox News anchor Brian Wilson claimed on 3/5/04 that Americans were 'seeing the benefits of [the Bush] tax cuts that's in the system,' even though Fox News's own poll from a few months earlier showed 61% of Americans believed the tax cuts had not helped them. On energy policy, despite the White House meeting with Enron CEO Ken Lay during the energy crisis, Fox anchor Brit Hume said on 1/16/02 that Enron 'is not a scandal about the Bush energy policy.' Even though as a presidential candidate Bush said he was planning to propose private school vouchers (and has since reiterated that position), Fox correspondent Jim Angle claimed on 1/15/01 that calling it a pro-voucher plan 'is a mischaracterization, obviously, of his education plan... See a backgrounder for more Fox distortions."

Common Dreams: "At a New York press conference this coming Monday, four former Fox News employees will go on the record to expose Fox's persistent Republican partisan bias, while releasing internal memorandums from Fox News Channel showing executive level instructions to Fox on how to bias the news. The four Fox whistleblowers appear, along with three others, in Robert Greenwald's new documentary 'Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism,' excerpts of which will be shown at the news conference. The film is a devastating indictment of the Fox News Channel's purposeful disinformation in the pursuit of partisan objectives" See also http://www.outfoxed.org/

NY Times Magazine this weekend previewed the new movie "Outfoxed" - a documentary analyzing Fox News, sponsored by American Progress and MoveOn.org. The movie will premier in NYC Tuesday night, and MoveOn will promote the film at house parties across the country on July 18. Featuring "interviews with former Fox employees and leaked policy memos written by Fox executives," the film is "an obsessively researched expose" by Hollywood director Robert Greenwald, who shows how the network "distorts its coverage to serve the conservative political agenda of its owner, the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch." In one scene, Fox News's chief White House reporter Carl Cameron is shown hamming it up with Bush, telling [him] his wife was campaigning for the Bush-Cheney ticket. The movie highlights a trend whereby the broader right-wing media is parroting the conservative line on everything from the war to the economy to coverage of the presidential campaign - leaving facts and objectivity by the wayside.

NY Times reports, "When The New York Post tore up its front page on Monday night to trumpet an apparent exclusive that Representative Richard A. Gephardt would be Senator John Kerry's running mate, the newspaper based its decision on a very high-ranking source: Rupert Murdoch, the man who controls the company that owns The Post, an employee said yesterday. The Post employee demanded anonymity, saying senior editors had warned that those who discussed the Gephardt gaffe with other news organizations would lose their jobs. Mr. Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of the News Corporation, called his tip in to the Post's news desk just after 10 on Monday night, between the first and second editions, the employee said." Murdoch denies it all, of course. So who's lying? Put 'em all on lie detectors!

Tho' some of us love American Idol AND are also progressive, with its overabundance of rightwing bigot mouthpieces such as O'Reilly, FOX may attract a commensurate abundance of rightwing bigoted viewers. That's what Elton John thinks. When three fantastically talented, young finalists who all happened to be black ended up in the bottom three in a recent Idol, John said, "These three girls would have the talent to be members of The Royal Academy or Juilliard... The fact that they are constantly in the bottom three, and I don't want to set myself up here, I find it incredibly racist." Although a higher PERCENTAGE of blacks watch Idol than whites, approx. NINE TIME as many whites tune in each week. For a Canadian journalists encounter with bigoted FOX viewers, see http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040421/DOYLE21/TPColumnists/

Big News Network: "A cross-border dispute has developed over the ban on Fox News imposed by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. Fox earlier this year applied to televise their popular Fox News Channel throughout Canada. The commission turned them down earlier this month. The channel is a devout Bush administration fan and employs commentators that fall into the Republican line. It is said to be so biased it has to tell viewers that it is 'fair and balanced', that it is the channel, 'America can trust', and says repeatedly, 'we report, you decide.' Others say it is as close to a state-run news service as you can get. Canada, in any event, says it won't have a bar of it. But Fox News is to apply again." That's the FOX-Bushie way - if they don't want it, ram it down their throats anyway!

John Doyle, a columnist with the Globe and Mail, Canada's major newspaper wrote an amusing bit about FOX's efforts to push their way into the Canadian market:" Bring it on, I say. We're all in need of a good laugh. The barking-mad Fox News Channel is something that most Canadians have only heard about. It's time we saw it for ourselves, and made up our own minds about the phenomenon. We'll find out if this Bill O'Reilly fella is as stupendously pompous and preening as he appears to be in the rare clips we see of Fox News.. The Fox News Channel is a kind of live theatre of the airwaves, with right-wing pundits playing journalists in an ongoing soap opera. In this soap opera there are good guys and bad guys. The bad guys are the Democratic Party and a dark force that is sometimes known as The Liberal Media Elite and sometimes known as The Loony Left."

John Doyle dared to write a column in Canada's Globe and Mail that referred to O'Reilly, quite accurately as "stupendously pompous." The result: a major Freep attack: "Spurred by O'Reilly's remarks [on his show], dozens of Fox News viewers wrote to me," says Doyle." Me, I find it quite bracing to be so reviled and it's very encouraging to know that mere newspaper coverage of a TV news channel can make some people so very angry. The people who support Fox News must be the most uncivil and foul-mouthed creatures on the planet. This is an informed opinion. They'd give English soccer hooligans a run for their money. I lost count of the number of times I was called 'an a**hole.' It was at least 43 times, anyway. I was called 'a p**sy,' 'a wussy,' 'a pr**k,' 'a jerk,' 'a hack' and 'a creep.' I was also called a Canadian numerous times, as if that were an automatic and withering insult." These are the same quality folk who rabidly support Bush!

Alexander Coburn discusses The Murdoch Archipelago by distinguished journalist Bruce Page, which is "focused of the world's leading villains, who controls such properties as Fox in the US, huge slices of the press in the UK and Australia, a tv operation in the Chinese Peoples Republic... [The] core thesis is that Murdoch offers his target governments a privatized version of a state propaganda service, manipulated without scruple and with no regard for truth. His price takes the form of vast government favors such as tax breaks, regulatory relief (as with the recent FCC ruling on the acquisition of Direct TV) monopoly markets and so forth. The propaganda is undertaken with the utmost cynicism, whether it's the stentorian fake populism and soft porn in the UK's Sun and News of the World, or shameless bootlicking of the butchers of Tiananmen Square."

"The FCC conditionally approved the News Corporation's acquisition of control of Hughes Electronics and its DirecTV subsidiary from General Motors.The approval, by a vote of 3 [Republicans] to 2 [Democrats], removes the final obstacle to a $6.6 billion media megamerger that will combine the DirecTV satellite television service with News Corporation's Fox studios, pay television networks like Fox News and Speed, its Fox broadcast channel and 35 local stations. News Corporation, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, will become the only media conglomerate with such broad offerings and national reach. Time Warner also combines studios, cable and broadcast networks and cable systems, but it does not own local stations and its cable systems reach only certain parts of the country. The deal is expected to close within days." Just one more reason to Defeat ALL Republicans!

Susan Estrich is well respected for standing up for rape victims. So she should be the first to triple-check her facts before joining a character assassination stampede. Unfortunately, Estrich now works for Fox, and she enthusiastically repeats one right-wing lie after another. Estrich was forced to apologize to Laurie David for misrepresenting her recent Beverly Hills meeting as a "Hate Bush" affair, but she really needs to apologize to Al Gore for one smear after another. Shame on you, Susan!

Sunday Herald opines, "The relationship of Blair to Murdoch and Bush, despite the staged noises of fake warmth, Texan buddyness and antipodean camaraderie, has reeked of contractual convenience. Bush and Murdoch get what they want from their statesman pal. Bush believes some of his friend Tony's international street cred rubs off on his lightweight credentials. Murdoch gets what he wants in any country, with any citizenship he chooses, against any regime in his way: he gets to do business assured that the wheels of whatever government he befriends are well oiled. Murdoch is a man who would become an Indian, German or Nigerian citizen tomorrow if that's all it took to close a global deal."

"With Senate conservatives complaining that only 98% of the Administration's judicial nominees have been confirmed, the 30-hour vigil over the four most conservative nominees continues on the Senate floor. The stunt...turns out to be little more than a spectacle for Fox News, at a cost to taxpayers of over $100,000... A memo written by a staffer for Majority Leader Frist reveals why: 'It is important to double efforts to get your boss to S-230 on time ... Fox News Channel is really excited about this marathon and Brit Hume at 6 would love to open with all our 51 senators walking onto the floor -- the producer wants to know will we walk in exactly at 6:02 when the show starts so they get it live to open Brit Hume's show? Or if not, can we give them an exact time for the walk-in start?'... Frist criticized [Dems of] breaking 'dangerous new ground' by blocking full-senate vote... But, in 2000, Frist himself voted against cloture (and a full Senate vote) for Clinton nominee Richard Paez."

James Murdoch, son of Rupert Murdoch, the Don of the FOX cartel, has been confirmed as the new chief of TV giant BSkyB. The move, reports the Guardian, "is likely to spark fury among shareholders who believe the son of chairman Rupert was a shoo-in for the job. A board meeting this afternoon controversially confirmed the 30-year-old would take over from Tony Ball, with his appointment due to be rubber-stamped at next week's annual general meeting. The announcement will anger investors who have accused the BSkyB board and its chairman, Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation group has a 35.4% stake in the company, of riding roughshod over recently imposed corporate governance guidelines. [Shareholders] are concerned that having a father and son team at the helm of the company - on course to be making over 1bn [pounds] in profits by the end of the decade - flies in the face of good corporate governance." No kidding!

WashPost's Peter Carlin: "Taken to task on any issue - particularly the bias one - [FOX] refuses to address the question at hand, turning instead to a fierce ad hominem attack on their antagonist. Asked by the LAT about Charlie Reina's letter, FNC spokeman Robert Zimmerman went for the immediate kill, describing his 'rantings' as the work of 'a bitter, disgruntled former employee.' Then there's more: 'It's unfortunate that Charlie's career ended the way it did, but we wish him well.' Ooh, brutal. But what about the Memo? Here comes the non-denial denial: 'All we are saying is that these are false accusations.' Ah. But which accusations? The existence of the daily memo, its content or the way FNC employees respond to the content? You know who could really set this straight? How about Roger Ailes! That's what the LAT reporter asked, but don't hold your breath: 'Roger is not addressing this and is not available.' Oh, of course. He's probably too busy writing today's....oh, never mind."

Charlie Reina writes: "The fact is, daily life at FNC is all about management politics. I say this having served six years there - as producer of the media criticism show, News Watch, as a writer/producer of specials and (for the last year of my stay) as a newsroom copy editor. Not once in the 20+ years I had worked in broadcast journalism prior to Fox - including lengthy stays at The Associated Press, CBS Radio and ABC/Good Morning America - did I feel any pressure to toe a management line... But the roots of FNC's day-to-day on-air bias are actual and direct. They come in the form of an executive memo distributed electronically each morning, addressing what stories will be covered and, often, suggesting how they should be covered. To the newsroom personnel responsible for the channel's daytime programming, The Memo is the bible. If, on any given day, you notice that the Fox anchors seem to be trying to drive a particular point home, you can bet The Memo is behind it."

"Serious news is no laughing matter. Especially at Fox News Channel. That, at least, is the allegation of The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, who has accused Rupert Murdoch's 'fair and balanced' news channel of threatening legal action after a particularly pointed episode poked fun at Fox. The episode in question featured a 'Fox News Crawl' at the bottom of the screen, which parodied some of the more unlikely items featured by the right-wing news channel. The cartoon ticker read: 'Pointless news crawls up 37 per cent ... Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com ... Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer ... Dow down 5000 points ... Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay ... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party ... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple'... Mr Groening told National Public Radio that, after the cartoon was broadcast last year on Fox Entertainment Channel, he was threatened with legal action by the news channel."

"During an interview broadcast today on NPR's Fresh Air, Simpsons creator Matt Groening revealed that the Fox News Network had threatened to sue The Simpsons over a parody of the right-leaning news channel. The highly sensitive news organization, which is headed by Roger Ailes, made headlines this summer with an ill-starred lawsuit against humorist Al Franken's book. The Fox suit was thrown out in court and only succeeded in making Franken's book a bestseller. According to Groening, the Simpsons team refused to cut out the segment, which Groening told Fresh Air he 'really liked,' figuring that Rupert Murdoch wouldn't allow the Fox News cable network to sue the Fox Broadcast Network, which carries The Simpsons. The Fox News Network did back down on its threat, although it has told The Simpsons creators that in the future, cartoon series will not be allowed to include a'news crawl' along the bottom of the screen, which might'confuse the viewers.'" We don't make this stuff up!

"Rupert Murdoch said yesterday that he would never retire, as he was forced to withdraw a controversial share options package for executives at News Corporation after a shareholder revolt," reports the UK Independent. There are signs in the FOX empire of growing discontent with the outrageously greedy Murdoch, who tried to push through a plan to hand out juicy options for more than three million non-voting preferred shares at $9.89 each to senior executives. News Corps execs have been laying strong hints that someone besides Murdoch should now chair News Corps and the UK's BSkyB. Murdoch says he refuses to go: "I will be carried out." Or more likely scraped off, like a fungus.

"Almost all of the bureaucrats at the information ministry have done very nicely for themselves since the war. The government minders who spent their days reporting to the intelligence services on foreign reporters or doing their best to obstruct their work have gone on to well-paid jobs - for the same foreign news organisations they once hounded. The second-in-command at the information ministry, who spent his days reading the reports the minders wrote about visiting foreign journalists, has been employed by Fox News. Other former servants of the security service have found jobs in the police where, it is widely believed, they are indulging in the same brutal practices they employed before the war; the only change being that they feel freer to extort bribes."

Award-winning journalist John Pilger writes about Murdoch's "remarkable relationship with the rulers of the world's most populous nation, China. In 1993, in a speech lauding the 'communications revolution', Murdoch said that advances in media technology posed 'an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere'. The Chinese Government responded by banning individuals from owning a satellite dish, thus depriving Murdoch's Hong Kong-based Star TV of its biggest market. Not one to make such a mistake twice, Murdoch set out to appease and court the regime. He started by 'removing' BBC World Service Television from his Asian satellite. The Beijing regime had objected to the BBC's reporting of the Tiananmen Square and Mao Tsetung. 'The BBC was driving them nuts,' said Murdoch. 'It's not worth it. [The Chinese government] is scared to death of what happened in Tiananmen Square. The truth is - and we Americans don't like to admit it - that authoritarian countries can work.'"

AP reports: "Fox News dropped its lawsuit against Al Franken on Monday, three days after a federal judge refused to block the liberal humorist from using the Fox slogan 'Fair and Balanced' on the cover of his book. The lawsuit had sought unspecified damages from Franken and Penguin Group, publisher of 'Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.''... Floyd Abrams, who represented Franken and Penguin in the case, said the withdrawal of the suit was 'welcome, if overdue... Fox's lack of grace in ending its suit is of the same nature as its name-calling and silly efforts to deal with criticism of it in the first place,' Abrams said." Way to go, Al!

"A federal judge on Friday slammed Fox News' trademark infringement lawsuit against humorist Al Franken and his publisher Penguin Group and refused to stop the sale of the satirist's new book that pokes fun at Fox and host Bill O'Reilly. Fox charged that Franken had violated its trademarked phrase 'fair and balanced' by including it on the cover of his book entitled 'Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them.' Fox is owned by News Corp and Penguin is a unit of Pearson. The book went on sale on Thursday. 'There are hard cases and there are easy cases. This is an easy case,' said U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, who added that the motion for an injunction was 'wholly without merit.' He said it is highly unlikely that consumers would be misled to think that Fox is sponsoring the book. He also said the trademark is weak."

Check out Comedy Central host Jon Stewart's take on the Fox News lawsuit against Al Franken, new EPA Administrator nominee Gov. Mike Leavitt, the Resident's environmental speech in Arizona and the 'Healthy Forests Initiative'. Great stuff - you have to see this clip from Bush's speech!

"Humorist Al Franken fought back against Fox News Network on Tuesday over a lawsuit it filed claiming he infringed on its 'fair and balanced' trademark by using the phrase on the cover of his upcoming book. 'From everything I know about law regarding satire, I'm not worried,' liberal satirist Franken said in a statement issued by publishers Penguin Group. Franken questioned the way he was described by the network, part of the News Corp group, in the 17-page suit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday and made public on Monday. 'As far as the personal attacks go, when I read 'intoxicated or deranged' and 'shrill and unstable' in their complaint, I thought for a moment I was a Fox commentator. 'And by the way, a few months ago, I trademarked the word 'funny.' So when Fox calls me 'unfunny,' they're violating my trademark. I am seriously considering a countersuit,' he said. " You GO, Al!

Faux News Channel has sued liberal humorist Al Franken and the Penguin Group to stop them from using the phrase "fair and balanced" in the title of Franken's upcoming book. The trademark infringement lawsuit seeks a court order forcing Penguin to rename the book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right." This attack on the First Amendment has inspired a movement of bloggers to rename their sites as "Fair and Balanced" too. Democrats.com has joined the fun - check out our new logo. Hey Roger Ailes, Sue Us Too!

US News reports, "Just before the Iraq war began, [Rand Beers] quit as one of the government's top counterterrorism officials. He's now joined John Kerry's presidential campaign and went public this Monday in a Washington Post page-one profile, in which he branded the White House's Iraq policy an 'ill-conceived and poorly executed strategy.' That, apparently, was too much for Fox News Channel anchor Brit Hume, who on air accused Beers of having falsely testified under oath about Colombian terrorists training at al Qaeda's Afghan camps, reports our David E. Kaplan. Now Hume is the one being attacked by former Fox analyst Larry Johnson, who served with Beers at the State Department and insists Beers acted with the best intelligence then available. 'You impugned Rand's integrity on your show by suggesting that he lied and had to correct his lie,' Johnson wrote Hume in an E-mail titled 'Reprehensible.' He added, 'Have you no shame?'" Keep reading - the vitriol just gets more vitriolic...

UK Guardian reports: "The Murdoch-owned Fox News Channel, whose determinedly patriotic stance during the Iraq conflict brought it critical notoriety but commercial success, is under investigation by television regulators in Britain for alleged bias. The independent television commission is investigating nine complaints by viewers of the channel, broadcast on Sky Digital satellite, also controlled by Rupert Murdoch. If the network is found to have breached the ITC's 'due impartiality' rules, it could be forced out."

Mike Tomasky writes that Rupert Murdoch's success is based on his "keen insight into liberalism's greatest psychological vulnerability--that liberals, above almost any other virtue, want to be seen as fair-minded and reasonable. He exploits that condition daily, but he's never exploited it quite like he did in the summer of 1993. The FCC cross-ownership rules still existed, and Murdoch still owned New York's WNYW (a FOX affiliate), so he needed a waiver to buy the Post. And to get the waiver, he needed backing from Democrats and liberal institutions. He needed Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), who chaired the relevant committee at the time. He needed Mario Cuomo, then New York's Democratic governor, to help behind the scenes and to speak publicly about the importance of diverse viewpoints. And he needed major concessions from the paper's unions. This was March. Phone lines were worked furiously; one thing led to another, and by July, Murdoch had the players right where he wanted them."

Bush's occupation of Iraq is only 2 days old, yet it's already a complete joke. Using $62 million of YOUR money, Bush will persuade Iraqis that "their country is being liberated, not occupied" by broadcasting FOX's "Special Report with Brit Hume" onto every Iraqi TV. Excuse us, but if the ONLY programs we could get on our TV came from FOX, we'd think WE were being occupied. But wait - with Rupert Murdoch buying DirecTV as another step towards "total spectrum dominance," we may soon find FOX is the only station on OUR TV's too. Help!!!

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) recently got the Fasxist News treatment, but he's not taking it lying down. "I do not support the war, but I revere the troops, and I am drafting legislation that will show, in a tangible way, the country's appreciation for their sacrifice. The program will provide generous higher education and health care benefits, for the troops after their discharge, their spouses and children. For those who wish to go into business, it will provide the necessary resources... Demonizing dissenters has become the favorite tactic of the most vociferous supporters of the war in Iraq. At the same time, they are stifling debate, manipulating public opinion, distorting the facts about the loss of lives, betraying our troops, and defiling the Constitution. Those who oppose the war will continue to be vilified by some for their principled beliefs. I will continue speaking out for peace and on behalf of my constituents in name of the U.S. Constitution. I will not be intimidated."

"Rupert Murdoch's chief tactic for undermining his competition (all networks besides FOX) has been a three-part scheme. First, he launched the network as a funky, liberal alternative to mainstream programming and thereby hooked a big share of viewers. Second, he started billing the news/commentary section of FOX as the ultimate in 'unbiased' (We Report, You Decide). Third, he pushed FOX news/commentary further and further to the right until it is now just a short step away from allowing the KKK to have its own news hour (the next step from O'Reilly's hour). Meanwhile, the mainstream networks lean to the right, but are not yet 'frothing at the mouth.' But, by comparison, Murdoch can claim that the contrast between his KKK-ish leanings and the mainstreamers is due to their 'liberal bias,' not to the huge gap between 'mildly rightwing' and way, way off in right field. "

AFP reports, "Many European television stations broadcast images of four men and a woman that Iraq said were American prisoners of war, despite criticism from US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Editorial staff questioned by AFP defended their decision to air the pictures, saying that earlier footage showing Iraqi soldiers captured by US forces had not been criticised... Britain's Sky News -- the 24-hour news station owned by Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch -- was the first to show the Iraqi television pictures of the visibly afraid soldiers... Earlier US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the pictures, initially communicated around the world by the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera station, were obviously part of Iraqi propaganda. 'It's something that the United States does not do. Needless to say, television networks that carry such pictures, I would say are doing something that's unfortunate,' Rumsfeld told CNN."

"What a guy! You have got to admit that Rupert Murdoch is one canny press tycoon because he has an unerring ability to choose editors across the world who think just like him. How else can we explain the extraordinary unity of thought in his newspaper empire about the need to make war on Iraq? After an exhaustive survey of the highest-selling and most influential papers across the world owned by Murdoch's News Corporation, it is clear that all are singing from the same hymn sheet. Some are bellicose baritone soloists who relish the fight. Some prefer a less strident, if more subtle, role in the chorus. But none, whether fortissimo or pianissimo, has dared to croon the anti-war tune."

Accepting a defense rejected by three other Florida state judges on at least six separate motions, a Florida appeals court has reversed the $425,000 jury verdict in favor of journalist Jane Akre who charged she was pressured by Fox Television management and lawyers to air what she knew and documented to be false information. In a six-page written decision released February 14, the court essentially ruled the journalist never stated a valid whistle-blower claim because, they ruled, it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately lie or distort the news on a television broadcast. In the lawsuit filed in 1998, Akre claimed she was wrongfully terminated for threatening to blow the whistle to the FCC over a deceptive story on Bovine Growth Hormone in milk.

Fox News is wretched, but they understand one key thing: "Good politics is about good writing." New York Magazine's Michael Wolff argues "[Republicans] were saved from themselves by Fox News... the new psychic heart of the Republican Party... All but an exceptional few politicians suck at making, or understanding, media.... [P]rofessional Republicans... are usually no more capable than the Democrats... of creating a compelling and credible story line. But then there's Roger Ailes." Consultants and Democratic media experts should ponder Wolff's observations that Fox's ever-increasingly popularity has more to do with HOW it says what it says than the conservatism of what it says. Fox has created "a more compelling and subversive story line... the outsider, tough-talking, Cassandra thing." Democrats are right on the issues, but we need to learn to WRITE THE BETTER STORY - that's what TV viewers tune in for!

Writes Peter Hart for FAIR: "There's a valuable lesson here for Factor watchers: When O'Reilly is most certain, you should be most skeptical. On another show (2/26/01), O'Reilly explained to Florida state senator Kendrick Meek that, thanks to Gov. Jeb Bush's 'One Florida' program, 37 percent of students at Florida universities were black: 'Thirty-seven percent. That's much higher than the population, the black population, of Florida. Bush is doing a good job for you guys and you're vilifying him.' When Meek challenged those numbers, O'Reilly insisted they were 'dead on.' Dead wrong is more like it: Total minority enrollment for the freshman class entering in 2000 was 37 percent (Florida Times-Union, 8/30/00)-- black enrollment was about 18 percent." Read more examples of how O'Reilly has played fast and loose with statistics. "No-Spin Zone?" A viewer switching on O'Reilly's show should instantly think, "Know Spin Zone!"

When Bob Fertik challenged the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v. Gore on The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly exploded: "I believe in the Supreme Court, OK, Mr. Fertik? You don't like it here take a bus down to Mexico." In a mock interview, the Hamster applies "O'Reilly Logic" to a series of recent decisions. "O'Reilly, July 1, 2002: But this court (9th circuit) is anti-American. I don't care what they do. I don't care what they say about hiding behind the Constitution. Hamster: You don't like the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals? You don't like the court system, or the legal system? Well, I have news for you. No one is making you stay in this country, so go take a plane to France." Right on, Hamster!

Poor Bill O'Reilly - Bob Fertik whupped him so bad on his 9-25-02 show that he just can't "get over it." O'Reilly accused Fertik of "deception" at the end of the 9-25 show, and at the start of the 9-26 show he said Fertik "misstated a CBS poll on Iraq, intentionally." Hey Bill, if you think we're lying, don't beat around the Bush, just come out and say it! But we've cited the CBS poll data, so you know you're wrong. Hey Bill - we challenge you to a REAL debate in front of a live audience - mano a mano - anytime, anywhere. Call FOX at 888-369-4762, e-mail Oreilly@foxnews.com, and sign our petition at http://democrats.com/fox

C. Arnie writes, "Apparently, Faux News President Roger Ailes isn't their only whiny, thin-skinned, right wing exec that engages in e-mail flame wars with FOX detractors. This writer E-mailed the Vice President of Fox programming, Kevin Magee, to ask him why he was boohooing to TV Guide Online about James Carville, Paul Begala, CNN and Crossfire. I also criticized FOX for using the bogus military expert Joseph Cafasso. As a result, a ridiculous series of arrogant explanations from Magee ensued. In the final analysis, the Vice President of FOX News Programming apparently didn't feel a need to justify the use of the bogus expert, or to inform viewers that FOX had erred because to quote him viewers didn't know he existed! THIS is fair and balanced news?"

"As reported in The New York Times, Rupert Murdoch's very own FOX ['We Distort, You Abide'] News had hired a certain Joseph Cafasso as a 'military expert'. Cafasso had claimed oodles of military experience and training, including the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Special Forces, and, as David Brock tells us is par for the course with right-wing outfits like FOX, nobody bothered to fact-check this 'expert'. For over four months, FOX News had taken this colonel to their bosom, cherishing him as fondly as they did James 'I Hate Clinton' Traficant, their favorite Democrat, before his indictments. But then, someone discovered that 'Colonel' Cafasso's only military service consisted of forty-four days in boot camp in the 1970s, and suddenly Joe Cafasso wasn't FOX's buddy anymore. In fact, not only is Mr. Cafasso no longer employed by FOX News, he has now, in true Stalinist fashion, been 'liquidated' from the FOX News website." (Tamara Baker, American Politics Journal)

The Financial Times reports, "Rupert Murdoch is to be barred from expanding into free-to-air television stations in Britain under a shake-up of media laws to be announced within weeks. Downing Street is putting the finishing touches to the communications bill, which is to be published after this week's local elections. Currently, media organisations such as Mr Murdoch's News Corporation that control more than 20 per cent of the national newspaper market are prevented from buying more than 20 per cent of ITV, Channel 5 or a national or local radio service." If England can keep Murdoch's rightwing poison off the public airwaves, why can't the US?

According to NY Times, a Fox News Channel consultant who claimed to be a "military expert" with an extensive military background has been exposed as a fraud. Joseph Cafasso was hired by Fox News in the fall of 2001 after he claimed to be a retired lieutenant colonel in the Special Forces, said he had served in Vietnam, claimed a Silver Star for bravery and was part of an unsuccessful secret mission to rescue hostages in Iran in 1980. But military records show Cafasso was discharged as a PRIVATE after spending just 44 DAYS at boot camp in Fort Dix, NJ. Fox News has chosen not to respond to the story, but it has confirmed the accuracy of the Times' account. Hey Roger, no WONDER you won't debate Democrats.com - Fox News isn't only biased, it's just plain bogus. Let's all e-mail roger.ailes@foxnews.com with a simple subject line "Fox is a Fraud!" - that should keep his Blackberry buzzing!

Poor Roger Ailes! After reading numerous reports that people had received nasty replies from the Fox News president, this writer took him to task in an email giving him a dose of his own medicine, "What is a man of your supposed status doing e-mailing insults back and forth with disgruntled non-viewers of faux news?" I asked, and this was his response: "If these websites showed you 100% of the hate mail I got, and 100% of my responses, I would be very comfortable. You are being fed selected takes by this website. The people should see what I say in context and with the tone of the letter written to me as well as my response. There is nothing in my contract or nature that says I have to take abuse. If people are polite to me, I'm polite. If not, I react in kind. Thanks for writing. Roger Ailes" So there you have it! Poor Roger is merely a victim of lots of hate mail and abuse that is not covered in his contract! (Excuse me while I grab my friggin violin!)

"On April 16 2002, Democrats.com challenged FOX News President Roger Ailes to an Oxford-style debate: 'Resolved: FOX News is Pure Unadulterated Rightwing Propaganda.' We thought for sure Roger Ailes would be willing to defend his 'Fair and Balanced' news in a fair and open debate. But we were wrong!
From: 'Ailes, Roger'
To: 'Bob Fertik'
Subject: RE: Let's Have an Oxford-Style Debate!
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 14:26:25 -0400
Nice try for publicity! No.

Roger thinks this a just a publicity stunt. But we're serious! FOX News broadcasts over the publicly-owned airwaves, which are only licensed to private companies that promise to serve the public interest. We, the undersigned, believe FOX News is not serving the public interest, because it broadcasts pure unadulterated rightwing propaganda. We, the undersigned, challenge Roger Ailes to prove otherwise in an open public debate with Democrats.com." Sign the petition!

"I got into the letter exchange with old Roger Ailes after Linda sent me a copy of her exchanges with him. What an ***. He never answers any questions put to him, just comes back with what he apparently considers profound statements. Linda suggested that I post them to the group since apparently some others are having the battle of words with old Roger, too. By the time he responded to me the 2nd time he had come to the conclusion that I was attracted to AND was obsessed with him! ROTFLMAO! I don't even know what the stupid jerk looks like. I just joined in the ruckus for the fun of it!" So writes Maggie in BuzzFlash - enjoy a great laugh!

A number of Democrats have e-mailed FOX propaganda minister Roger Ailes urging him to follow CNN's lead in including aggressive progressives like James Carville and Paul Begala on FOX's political shows. Ailes appears to have personally replied to several such e-mails, which are posted on Buzzflash. "Some moron left wing newsletter must be advising a bunch of pathetic losers who sit home a[nd] play with themselves on computers to write to me to tell me to be more fair and balanced." He whined that Crossfire was "set up to have the left win every night by beating up the old man and the kid twit. Clever but it will fail." Sorry, Roger, FOX will fail - because Americans want to hear from REAL Democrats, not the lame backbenchers YOU set up to lose.

Ray Richmond, co-founder of Hollywoodpulse.com, a website that publishes made-up "news" articles parodying celebrities, has inadvertently proven the folks at Fox are clueless, lazy, and irresponsible. Richmond was incredulous when Fox contacted him for an interview about the Paula Poundstone child abuse case. After all, the site's articles are so obviously satirical, Richmond figured they couldn't possibly be serious! But they were – serious enough to broadcast the interview with Richmond as if his article was factual. "Clearly, the research staff at Fox News hadn't bothered to actually read the material on our Web site. Not a single sentence. If they had, they would have seen mock stories headlined, "Poundstone: 'I'm a Drunk Driver, Not a Child Molester!'" and "Poundstone Granted 'Supervised' Child Abuse." Hardly the kind of credible journalism one might associate with expert opinion." Maybe so, but who ever said Fox - home of Bill O'Reilly - ever practiced credible journalism?

"Welcome to The Bill O'Reilly Sucks.Com Web Site, This Site is here to expose Mr. O'Reilly as the right-wing spin doctor that he truly is. We at O'Reilly-sucks.com will also expose Fox News for their right-wing propaganda...O'Reilly has been a journalist for decades. He knows the impression he gives when he uses the term 'working class.' He knows that most people understand the long-time meaning of 'working class.' O'Reilly is deliberately downgrading his past to make himself seem a more suitable spokesman for 'the little guy'. In reality O'Reilly is 'spinning' like a top. Hosts like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Tony Snow and Brit Hume dominate Fox and give its 'news' a clear right-wing bias. The ideological slant is no problem - only that they lack the candor and courage to own up to it."

Want a good laugh or--more appropriately--a good cry? Check out the latest hysterical diatribe by Fox News "writer" Steven Milloy. In it you will learn that Bill Moyer"s PBS special "Trade Secrets" is just the first sneak salvo in a new wave of attacks by "anti-chemical activists." You will learn that chemical industry workers, contrary to a long history of unexplained cancers, are "healthier than the average population." Oh yes--be sure to check out Milloy's past efforts (listed at site) which include: "DDT Ban is Genocidal," "FDA's Mercurial Fish Story" (i.e., mercury isn't bad for you!), and ""Getting the Lead Hysteria Out." I bet Milloy is Bush's favorite bedtime reading!

FOX is slanted so far to the right that it is parallel to the ground. It may be the greediest outfit ever to blight the airwaves. In 1997, when journalistic team Jane Akre and Steve Wilson refused to "rewrite" an investigative report on the dangers and deceits associated with Monsanto's bovine growth hormone, they were fired and blackballed - and they are still unemployed. According to Akre and Wilson, at their firing station manager David Boylan told them: "We paid $3 billion for these television stations. We will decide what the news is. The news is what we tell you it is." Undaunted by a court's pronouncement on their lack of ethics, one month after Akres and Wilson won their case against the station, FOX station manager Roger Ailes, a former Bush campaign strategist, hired John Ellis, the Shrub's first cousin, to man the Florida election return desk.

In preparation for the anti-FOX rally on April 6, we will publish occasional examples of outrageous Republican bias from the folks at FOX. Here's a commentary from FOX anchor Tony Snow, written shortly before the last election. "Early returns suggest that the Gore crusade isn't working. By appealing to the baser sides of human nature - fear and hatred and cupidity - Gore unwittingly is making voters feel dirty. He has become a victim of the smugness that has enveloped his party over the years - the certain belief that he and his colleagues are smarter, nobler and holier than Republicans, and that they are justified in using any and all conceivable means to stamp out the opposition... If Gore wins, he will have managed not only to cover up his most attractive personality traits, he also will have built a coalition on the two characteristics least congenial to successful government - fear and loathing."