In Defense of Fox News

by Kathy

There is nothing worse than having no voice.

I admit it. I watch Fox News. I also watch Charlie Gibson and Keith Oberman; however, I think I get most of my news from “The Daily Show,” “Bill Maher,” and “The Colbert Report.”

I wrote an article in our local newspaper last week about voting. In the article I stated that my mother never, ever told anyone how she voted. She listened to a lot of points of view, never getting in arguments, most of the time finding a shred of something in a heated conversation with which to agree. She had a voice. She often exercised her right not to use it.

I never understood until last night.

My husband and made our monthly social obligation at our church bridge marathon at our Catholic Church. To be Catholic in Huntsville is to be from somewhere other than the south, unless one is from Charleston or New Orleans. Represented last night were our dear friends from Detroit, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Los Angeles; graduates of Notre Dame, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon.

As the night was ending and while people were putting away card tables and stacking chairs, I mingled. Most of these good people I found were Fox listeners and have Republican leanings. In fact, the one lady it was said who always, no matter what, votes Democratic was described as a “Yellow Dog Democrat.” I hope that is in no way any kind of slur because I had never, ever heard the term before. All of these people were chiming into a lively discussion of what positions and which candidates they support.

Except for the one Democrat who was doing most of the work (is that a metaphor or what?) while we were chatting, they all said that they felt our Nation needed change. They all said that the country needed a new direction. They all feared who/what we have become. Yet, these same people who are saying what 4/5ths of the rest of the country is saying, are all loyal Fox TV News-watching, Sean Hannidy-listening conservatives. They are not from the fundamental, Baptist, South; they are just LIVING in the fundamental, Baptist, South.

When all the chores were done and my husband and I were leaving the event, as I got in the car I immediately told my husband that only last night did I understand a lot of things. I finally understood why my mother never, ever, spoke over another person in a discussion, often sitting back and listening. I understood why I appreciate listening to both Fox and MSNBC. In fact, most nights I find, because of commercials, that I can simultaneously watch O’Reilly and Oberman.


I grew up in the segregated conservative south. I remember the prejudice southern white people had for their black brothers and I remember that we poor southern whites had more in common with our black brothers and sisters than we did with our rich white cousins who kept us all on the lowest rung of the ladder by dividing us.

I also, however, remember experiencing the prejudice of the metropolitan areas of Washington, D.C. and New York City against rural America as exhibited by the news broadcasts available from the only three sources at that time; CBS, NBC, ABC.

I understood when I moved to suburban Maryland in the 70s that there were a lot of people in glass houses throwing stones. And because the networks were “liberal,” people who had the opposing points of view of those three networks had frustration at not being heard.

Editorializing on news broadcasts didn’t start with Fox News, it started with the major networks many years ago. Just as I am certain Rupert Murdock believes he is presenting another side of every story for altruistic reasons, so I am certain that Walter, Chet, David, and Max all felt the very same way.

There is nothing worse than having no voice.

Kathy Albers reads and participates in conversations while standing, lean somewhat to the left on social issues, but has a strong stance on scientific R&D spending, and believes truly in economics that support the old axiom, “No poor man ever offered me a job/wage.” However , she also believe in safety nets and balanced budgets. She has experienced prejudice and fears the effects of the mentality of prejudice.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kathy Albers,

Just stopping by to turn notification "on."



Kathy

FOX News is an important part of the presentation of news in our country. Like every other news network it is biased and makes mistakes. But that is the beauty of the news market the more competition there is the closer we will get to the truth.

quote:

Yellow Dog Democrat:
In the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century, yellow dog Democrats were voters in the U.S. Southern states who consistently voted for Democratic candidates because of lingering resentment against Republicans from the Civil War and Reconstruction periods. The term arose from the notion that a Southerner would vote for a yellow dog before voting for a Republican.

When one hears the word news, one assumes that it will be light on bias and heavy on information. Where no news program can or ever will be without any bias, they are run by humans, Fox's record for accuracy in reporting and its use of people whose relationship with the truth is as tenuous as the atmosphere around Mercury, reveals a bias that is unconscionable, even in a world that we now accept what passes for new on FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, etc. etc. is gong to spin everything.

Overtime, I have watched the so called liberal media move inexorably into media services obsessed with the bottom line and dedicated to not rocking the boat, who refused to ask difficult questions of conservative politicians and were overjoyed to attack the so called liberal politicians. Many of them now have admitted that they fail American citizens in being cheer leaders for a war rather than reporters.

I don't think FOX is a voice for Republican's any more than any of the other mythical liberal news services are voices for liberals. They are all voices for organizations whose only goal is to make money for investors. They take what ever shortcuts they can to do that. The pound out propaganda that they feel appeals to the bias of their boards of directors. ABC, FOX, and NBC are the most egregious, but none of them are immune for speaking sensationalist tripe.

For that reason, I too watch the Daily Show, Colbert Report, and Countdown. But for real news, I search for stories on the Internet, and look for 2 sources for any story. One of them must be foreign because our own media is so deeply compromised that they simply can't be trusted.

Frank I think all people who seriously think of themselves as journalists feel (or should feel) a certain amount of guilt that "they" didn't ask the right questions before the current administration gut us into this quadmire in the Middle East.

Looking to sourses outside the US for information is a very good idea.

Kathy

quote:

Yellow Dog Democrat:

My friend who was described as the "yellow dog" is from somewhere in the Michigan/Wisconsin area. I'm not good at picking up regional accents but she certainly didn't grow up voting a Southern ticket.

One of the reasons the way we receive news has evolved is because we are an instant gratification society with a short attention span. Every piece of information has to be fed to us in sound bites and we must be constantly "entertained."

Friday night's Oberman report addressed the issues Fox and Friends had raised early Friday morning about the Clinton's not releasing their income tax statements.

If I smoked pot, I would probably find it enormously entertaining to watch Oberman and O'Reilly clicking back and forth between channels. We have new court jesters and minstrels, but I suspect the salaries of today's news clowns are a great deal higher than those who wandered the country side years ago paroding in rhyme and drama the news of that day.

A Yellow Dog Democrat. See Frank's explanation above.



A Blue Dog Democrat.



When working in the Beltway, lobbying and testifying before Congress, mainly in the early to mid-90s, I heard the term "Blue-dog Democrats" more often than Yellow dogs.

quote:

Blue Dog Democrats are a group of 48 moderate and conservative Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives.

The Blue Dogs are a coalition seeking to promote what they see as fiscally responsible budget reforms and accountability for taxpayer dollars. Many members come from conservative districts, where liberal Democrats comprise a decided minority. In 2006, Blue Dog candidates such as Heath Shuler and Brad Ellsworth were elected in conservative-leaning districts, ending years of Republican dominance in these districts.


Blue Dog Democrats.

quote:

In the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century, yellow dog Democrats were voters in the U.S. Southern states who consistently voted for Democratic candidates because of lingering resentment against Republicans from the Civil War and Reconstruction periods. The term arose from the notion that a Southerner would vote for a yellow dog before voting for a Republican.


Yellow Dog Democrats.

A great photo of a Yellow Dog Democrat!



Blue Dogs are more commonly referenced today, the primary emphasis being that Blue Dogs are more fiscally conservative (in a definable manner) than are regular, or Yellow Dog Democrats, who are as much Democrats for the sake of being Democrats, than they are because of political philosophy.

I hope that this helps, Kathy.

quote:

For that reason, I too watch the Daily Show, Colbert Report, and Countdown. But for real news, I search for stories on the Internet, and look for 2 sources for any story. One of them must be foreign because our own media is so deeply compromised that they simply can't be trusted.

Not only is this simply "Sound advice", Frank, I agree with your assessment that our American News sources have allowed themselves to have their "conclusions" compromised regarding their integrity as a result of desiring to be the "stations for ALL the news".

Good comments!

Every news program, no matter what side of the imaginary center set on, spend most of their time looking for dead blonds and other suitably sensational stories. When they find one, they take a story that would have local interest and run it 24/7 nationally. It is what I call T&A (Tits and Ass) Journalism.

I would like to say it was just FOX or ABC, but it is everybody everywhere.

When I visit Mexico, I see a lot of foreign news in English. The difference between the Pablum in the US and foreign news is amazing. We don't really get news here, we get what media services thinks will attract more viewers. It disgusts me.

quote:

suitably sensational stories.

great alliteration and I agree Frank .

Getting back to "Defense of Fox News," the Natalie Holloway story is such a story of a dead blonde. She lived her life in an area 100 miles from where Martha and I live.

Of course she wasn't more important than any of the hundreds of people who go missing each year; however, Fox keeping the story in the spotlight, got the attention of 'ahem' "foreign Dutch" news who it seems is beginning to uncover the reason for the disappearance of Natalie.

My son's sarcastic comment was that they would find the beautiful blonde women under the cascading pile of dead brown women. The blonde ones were safely concealed because no one was mounting huge searches for the brown ones.

The question is do we really need any 24 hour a day news channels? Or any 24 hour a day entertainemnt channels? Turn off the TV!

quote:

Originally posted by Senator Hatrack:

The question is do we really need any 24 hour a day news channels? Or any 24 hour a day entertainment channels? Turn off the TV!

Senator, you're about twenty years too late, I'm sorry to say.

In fact, in defense of those who work a different shift than we normally consider an eight hour day, swing, or graveyard shift, have twenty-four hour a day programming is most fair for those who would otherwise, miss seeing current events.

Most 24 hour news is simply a rehash of already shown news events, only later at night (or early morning).

quote:

Originally posted by Kathy Albers:

quote:

suitably sensational stories.

great alliteration and I agree Frank .

Getting back to "Defense of Fox News," the Natalie Holloway story is such a story of a dead blonde. She lived her life in an area 100 miles from where Martha and I live.

Of course she wasn't more important than any of the hundreds of people who go missing each year; however, Fox keeping the story in the spotlight, got the attention of 'ahem' "foreign Dutch" news who it seems is beginning to uncover the reason for the disappearance of Natalie.

My son's sarcastic comment was that they would find the beautiful blonde women under the cascading pile of dead brown women. The blonde ones were safely concealed because no one was mounting huge searches for the brown ones.

Kathy and Frank, You both have made excellent points, sad to say.

When I first heard the latest on Natalie Holloway, I was honestly dumbstruck. Who in the hell cares! I didn't care when it was first made public long ago. When she first disappeared. As you stated, Kathy, had she been of "darker" color, would there have been even one scintilla of news about her, except perhaps in her local paper?

I doubt it. Yet because she is a pretty blond, *BLAM*! She is Front Page and Front Screen news, and "Oh my gosh, how could this happen?"

Gimme a break. I'm far more concerned about how many died in Iraq on a given day, and how my Representative voted on a given issue on a given day, than I am if Brittney Spears is having another meltdown, let alone if an unknown, never will be known blond gal from who knows where went on a party trip to Aruba and disappeared.

Too damn many Americans are simply interested in "froth", which is about all you would find in their skulls if skulls were transparent, froth.

quote:

In fact, in defense of those who work a different shift than we normally consider an eight hour day, swing, or graveyard shift, have twenty-four hour a day programming is most fair for those who would otherwise, miss seeing current events.

People have been working the swing and graveyard shifts before there most newspapers and they survived. What does it matter if you see a news story as it happens or 12 hours later? Unless you are part of the story there usually isn't much you can do about it. The reason Natalie Holloway or the latest celebrity meltdown is news is because people watch the 24 hour news channels. They have to have something on air until some real news happens and that is why the froth is being served as substance.