Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Why I don't care for Fox News....

Let me start by saying that I had a little revelation today. I realized that in the process of venting my anger I was lumping ALL conservatives together into one big ugly ball. It was after I got into a discussion on my Facebook wall (my wall is sooo rowdy some days) I realized that I was defeating my whole purpose which is really to try and defeat the evil politicians who've basically screwed all of us democrats, republicans and everyone in between.  I let the heat of the moment take over and although most of the conservatives I come in contact with leave little to be desired... not all of them are as bad as I painted them in my last post. 


I was proved wrong by a fellow Facebook'er and conservative. Now granted this person who I'll call "A" isn't as bad as some of the conservatives I come in contact with. What made me stop and apologize for my hateful attitude was the fact that "A" actually asked a question that deserved an honest answer. 


His question was: "Why is Fox (news) so unpopular?" He didn't get nasty back, although I could tell he was aggravated with me and as harsh as I was, he was justified. That's really not who I am. Emotions, personality, and things like that rarely come across in type and very often they come across the wrong way. 


I've never actually had anyone ask me WHY I don't care for Fox News, they just get pissed because I don't and begin vehemently defending the network (usually with insults) not really giving a damn why some of us don't like them. There were a few other things that A said in response to my post that made me realize that maybe, just maybe, some of us who don't agree might be coming across to them the way some of them are coming across to us. Now, if everyone realized this...maybe we could actually accomplish something.  I'm going to give it my best shot. 


The main reason why I don't care for Fox news is Glenn Beck.  In my opinion, Mr. Beck has made his living from enciting violence, fear, and hate in his viewers. He peppers his statements with just enough truth to be believable and many of his viewers never fact check. Let me give you a few examples. I'll start with more recent statements:  I refer to a non-biased website called Politifact.com to check my facts. They don't take sides, they just check the facts. 


1. On February 4, 2011 Mr. Beck after several days of basically terrorizing his viewers regarding the Egypt crisis, he stated that  The Muslim Brotherhood has "openly stated they want to declare war on Israel." 


Mr. Becks statements were completely FALSE. As someone who has influence over a large number of people, and is supposed to be reporting news events accurately, it's his RESPONSIBILITY to check the facts. Click here for the truth.


2. During his June 28, 2010 radio programming where he promoted his upcoming rally, Mr. Beck claimed:

"The government is trying to now close the Lincoln Memorial for any kind of large gatherings." 

What better way to get people worked up then to make them think the government is restricting them from gathering peacefully and especially gathering peacefully at national sites. Click here for the truth

3. Hate the president, but if you're going to make others hate him at least get your facts straight and stop using misleading statements. The following statement is only true if you eliminate the LAST THIRD of FDR's presidency. Beck didn't tell his viewers that. 

Franklin Roosevelt never allocated more than 12 percent of GDP to federal spending, while the percentage for Barack Obama is not projected to drop below 22.8 percent.


Click here for the truth
Of the 21 statements I looked at that were made by Glenn Beck this is how he averaged as far as truth goes:

Totally True Statements:   2
Mostly True Statements:   1
Half True Statements:       4
Barely True Statements:   4
Totally False Statements: 6
Absolute Bullshit:              4

NINETEEN of TWENTY ONE STATEMENTS Contained half-truths, barely the truth, or flat out lies. How is this credible? And if you have evidence that this is the case, WHY would you continue listening to this guy?  When I try to discuss this with my conservative friends they insist the data is flawed.  So I have come to the conclusion, based on their refusal to accept anything but a glowing report about Mr. Beck that they are just happy with being lied too and would rather base their opinions on distorted or false facts. THUS the reason why I feel like they are sheeple. 

If you'd like to see more about Glenn Becks track record please visit the Politifact website. Again, this is an UNBIASED website. You can even see the lies Obama told. 


SO that's the NUMBER ONE reason why I dislike Fox News. One bad apple can spoil a bunch. If they allow someone to lie on one show, what's to say they aren't doing it on all of them?

The second reason...Let's switch over to Sean Hannity, another Fox favorite. Of the 54 stories or statements by Mr. Hannity:


Totally True Statements:   6
Mostly True Statements:   6
Half True Statements:        8
Totally False Statements:  8
Absolute Bullshit:                4
Totally made up:                 1


So Sean told the truth or ALMOST the truth 12 times out of the 54 stories listed which were all pretty significant. 

And so as not to bore anyone here is the link to fact check Bill OReilly

These are people who lead their most popular programs. They are telling LITTLE or NO truth or distorting facts to keep people in fear and or hating the opposing party which EVERYONE knows is Democrats. Because an organization is rated "most watched' doesn't mean they are "most honest".

There are some who will fight to the death about these figures and I'm sure we can find similar results with other news organizations, but right now our focus is Fox News. If their two main news programs are barely telling the truth, how can anyone with common sense believe them to be a reliable source for the "truth"?  If you read this and STILL believe they are the best, well, what can I say?  All the power to you but at least understand WHY others have no respect for them. 

I haven't included the statements from former employees who were told to flat out spin the stories and in some cases change them altogether. I'll do that on another day. But with this item behind us, now you know why I detest Fox News and do not believe them to be credible. They use the faith people have in them to make them fear and hate. I have no use for any organization that does that. 

If you're reading this and you have VERIFIABLE, CREDIBLE evidence that anything I've posted here is false, please send me the resources and I'll stand corrected. 

My question to those who swear by this media outlet is this: IF these things are true, do you keep watching and believing? And if so, Why? 




3 comments:

-Heidi said...

This is so funny! About once per week my bio dad sends me some political crap that I don't agree with, but I usually just delete it. Last night he sent me a Glenn Beck video... I had never listened to him before.

I sent this message back:

Wow! This guy is ridiculous!

Love, Heidi

LOL!

MeShell said...

Good for you Geidi! The guy is a wack job. But then again, I;ve not found ANYTHING redeeming about Fox News. I have PAGES and PAGES of stuff they do EVERY DAY that is just unreal. The sad part is SO MANY PEOPLE fall for it!

El Gaucho said...

A very good summation of some of what's wrong with Fox News. Whenever I watch it I get angry every minute or two with a blatant falsehood or piece of obvious propaganda. Id strongly recommend watching OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism.