 "Great information!" | 2009-10-23 |
| - Reviewed By JKM |
Fox is a terrible news network. The employees are exploited and threatened and bad and even fake news is glorified. The other news networks aren't any better at all, but Murdock has gone about single-handedly destroying objective news.
The DVD ends up with a liberal bent which I do not agree with at all, but the main documentary is free of a political viewpoint and just offers information that just cripples FNN.
This is another reason why my family and I no longer watch TV at all. |
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| "Makes you question all of the television media." | 2009-09-10 |
| - Reviewed By Corky |
I stopped watching Fox along time ago because the bias on the channel was so blatant and one sided. I would turn it back every now and then to see what O'Rilley was complaining about I completely went cold turkey when I saw O'Reilly go after a guy that had his dad killed in the 9/11 attack and he kicked him off of the show for stating his opinion. This was one of the stories in this DVD. I found out afterwards from this DVD that O'Rilley was slandering this guy by making things up about him. They also would invite people on their shows just to verbally attack them and try to make them look stupid. This DVD talks to people that had worked for Fox News early on to show how they pushed the reporters to spin things a certain way and repeat things over and over i/e John Kerry as a flip flopper when he was running against Bush for Presidency. It also has an interview with Walter Cronkite which he stated the sad state of affairs in media with Fox at the helm.
I was completely disgusted after I watched this documentary that this can go on in America. Fox news is not a news organization it is basically a propaganda machine for the extreme right wing. The thing that made me more sad was when all of the other news channels fell inline with Fox which made me untrusting of all American media outlets. That is on this DVD too.
I normally watch BBC news and Reuters now since I trust them way more than CNN, MSNBC, CBS or ABC news.
Watch this and it will make question all news that's being fed to you. |
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 "Interesting" | 2009-08-17 |
| - Reviewed By Jos Pols |
Nutshell review - This is really quite an interesting documentary which highlights (a) how extensive the Murdoch media/news empire is, and (b) the right-wing slant this media empire promotes. Of course, everyone has an agenda and one must think carefully about the agenda of not only the subject of the documentary but also the makers of it. It is quite well produced, explores the topic well but the real message, imo, is not about Fox per se but rather about the need for objective news reporting free of any political agenda or vested party influence (idealistic perhaps but nonetheless desirable).
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| "Valuable, But Take It With a Grain of Salt" | 2009-05-09 |
| - Reviewed By Jay Young from Austin, TX USA |
"Outfoxed" is at its best when carefully demonstrating how Fox News does indeed create a distorted picture of things. For example, the film demonstrates, through archival footage, how Fox encourages punditry. For instance, they point out that the liberal guests that come on regularly (Dick Morris, Susan Estrich) usually agree with Hannity and O'Reilly's main points. Further, the now-defunct Hannity & Colmes was flawed, as Hannity has this all-American appearance, and is always aggressive, whereas Colmes looked squirrely, and tended to back down easily. In addition, internal memos and interviews with former employees give strong evidence that Fox seeks to create a climate of fear- fear of terrorism, of immigrants, of religious minorities, etc.
What weakened "Outfoxed" for me was that it didn't focus just on Fox News- it has an agenda of its own beside that. For example, almost all of the media experts interviewed were from the left media organization FAIR. They made valuable points, but it would have given the movie more credibility if other organizations were represented. Finally, toward the end, Bernie Sanders and others being interviewed appear to press for the Fairness Doctrine, which I think would create far more problems than it would solve.
Overall, this is a good movie to rent as a corrective to the "Fair and Balanced" network. |
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| "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid" | 2009-04-16 |
| - Reviewed By Todd W. Hemphill from St Petersburg, FL |
I re-watched this fine documentary a few days ago and now, in the middle of the Fox-hyped Tea Parties, the real danger of what this network is doing has started to sink in.
They are, naturally, still up to their old tricks. Recently they did a segment about Harry Reid's plan to build a railroad directly from Disneyland to the "Door steps of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch brothel" in Neveda. Needless to say, no such plan exists and the notion that the Senate Majority Leader would suddenly decide that it would be a good idea to build a train from an amusment park to a brothel is utterly inane. But that didn't stop Fox News from reporting it.
The sad part is that regular Fox viewers didn't even raise a fuss. Apparently they are no longer interested in the news having even a slight toehold on reality. I'm guessing their reaction fell somewhere along the lines of, "Well, that sure sounds like something the Democrats would do!"
I suppose this sort of thing became inevitable when, during the Reagan years, the ban was lifted on limits to media ownership and the fairness doctrine was abolished. (Congress reinstated the doctrine but Reagan vetoed it) It was only a matter of time before someone aired a network under the guise of journalism that promoted a hardline doctrine and the interest of their own politcal party.
For now, the damage is limited to the few millions that have never asked themselves why it is that a news organization would even have to advertise that they are "Fair and Balanced". These viewers get virtually all of thier news from Fox and like minded media hacks like Rush Limbaugh. They are a minority and pose little threat.
Where the real danger lies is in just where this could lead if there was an extended collapse of the economy. Few people realize that, in Germany, Hitler labored in relative obscurity for almost 7 years and made little progress with the masses. In the election of 1928 the Nazis garnered a scant 3% of the popular vote. But when the depression hit, and people became angry and frightened, the Nazi lies began to resonant with the common people.
This film shows how Fox is poised to take advantage of just such a collapse. They are there, backed by nervous corporate interests, ready to tell a frightened population just what they want to hear. They are ready to tell us that we must be better Christians, that we must come down hard on gays and immigrants, that we must solve our problems by going backward, not forward. They are ready to tell us that any government that is not manned by their party of choice is a danger to us.
Watch this film and arm yourself with the truth about this network. It is easy enough now to laugh at the "Harry Reid wants to build a train from Disneyland to a brothel" stories. But this is dangerous business when hard times hit. We wouldn't be the first democracy to be undermined by propaganda cloaked as journalism.
The ultimate irony here is that the people behind Fox News and their loyal following view themselves as the "True Americans" while they support a brand of journalism that has ability to undermine the very foundations of the most fundamental American ideals.
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| "A look into propaganda in a Democratic country. " | 2009-01-18 |
| - Reviewed By tonyster |
Very informative, insightful movie. Proves everything you have heard... that "Fair and Balanced" is the most ironic tagline in the history of media. Highly recommened.
Have not seen "Fox Attacks! Edition"... but I'm sure it is up to the standards of the original movie.
I also recommened this in its book form and "Fair and Balanced My A$$." |
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