Yesterday I had the chance to view a fantastically funny comedy. Maybe you have you seen it. Its called OutFoxed. It really is quite funny. Let me tell you about some of the funniest parts.

One of the filmmakers favorite tricks was to compile a collection of clips and use it to show that Fox News is bias in some regard. The problem with these collections was that all the clips always came from the talks shows and not the actual segments were news was being reported. Thus, to prove that Fox News is bias, they used the opinions of pundits and talk show hosts. I suppose the filmmakers are unable to separate fact from opinion and apparently this is the fault of Fox News. I know from my perspective I don’t watch Fox News because I can’t stand all the talks shows and pundits. Its a bunch of jackasses who think they know what they are talking about but actually don’t. But nevertheless i dont find the news segements to be overtly biased anymore then say CNN or MSNBC.

Fox News has the tag line ‘Fair and Balanced’. When you compile these clips together and overlook the fact that its just people’s opinion it creates the perception that Fox News is anything but fair and balanced. I imagine liberals all over the country becoming incensed over this blatant contradiction and scream ‘but how can you be in favor of Fair and Balanced when you seemingly support the conservative platform’. So what you have is some bold arrogant news organization intentionally biasing their news to the right side while the left side is screaming bloody murder over how they don’t play fair. Meanwhile Fox News continues their programing completely ignoring the whining of these liberals. With this understanding, when you bring in those collection of clips it really feels like Fox News is specifically try to get the liberal’s goat. And without hesitation the liberals all fall for it screaming bloody murder again and again in the movie. Its freaking hilarious. Oh by the way, someone should let the liberals know they can turn the channel.

Apparently Fox News has themes for each day that come from the corporate office. OutFox criticize these themes for being blatantly pro conservative. However, the DVD includes a making of OutFoxed. In the making of OutFoxed we come to find out that in order to manage the massive amount of footage they are recording, the director has the viewers looking out for 7 or 8 themes he is interested in. Some examples he gives are ‘Pro-Bush Anti-Kerry’ and ‘Happy Iraq’. It seems that the filmmaker is guilty of the same crime.

But on a more general level I’m sure all news organization have these kind of filters. They may not be as explicit as Fox News and OutFoxed but news organization must decide how to spend their publication resources. And it just so happens that most news organization consists primarily of left leaning folks and so inevitably they are going to favor left leaning stories. This may or may not be intentional but it brings about a subtle left leaning feel in main stream media. In this way, Fox News is simply more honest about their reporting then other news organizations. Wow, what a shocker, the conservative is more honest then the liberal.

At one point in the film goes statistical. Apparently some questions regarding the war Iraq were asked of viewers of Fox News and NPR-PBS. The questions were asked in October 2003.

1. Has the US found WMD in Iraq?

2. Does the World Opinion Favor the US Invasions of Iraq?

3. Has the US Found Links Between Iraq and al-Qaeda?

I shit you not when I say the expert characterized the question in these terms: “you are looking at questions of basic true false kind of factual nature” later he says this “These are simple questions with simple answers”. While question 1 (overlooking the whole WMD were moved to Syria) and 2 are may be argued as matters of fact, you sure as hell can’t make that argument for 3. If anything you would be forced to concede that Iraq had links with al-Qaeda if you are dealing in raw fact. Well the statistics show, unsurprisingly, that Fox News viewers are more likely to say yes to these questions then NPR-PBS viewer.

The explanation OutFoxed gives for this difference speak volumes about liberal attitudes towards those that do not share their opinion. OutFoxed argues that the viewers of Fox News are brainwashed. Apparently, Fox News has complete and total control over their viewers minds and can tell them anything they want. Underlying this explanation is the misunderstanding that correlation equals cause and effect. Correlation only shows a relationship between people who give a yes answer and people who watch Fox News. It does not show that Fox News has formed these opinions in the minds of their viewers. I would be more inclined to believe that these viewer already had these views and watch Fox News because their content is more consistent with their beliefs. Just like NPR-PBS viewers find their views to be shared by the programing on these networks. This statiscal analysis just a fancy way to say something obvious: Liberals enjoy NPR-PBS and conservatives watch Fox News.

The argument continues, as OutFoxed claims that Fox News is bad because it brain washes people. Apparently there is only one true perspective and anyone that believe otherwise is being controlled by some outside force. So much for multiculturalism. Their can be no possible way a normal person can have views other then liberal views. They must, in fact, be brain washed by some vast right wing conspiracy. Seriously, how do liberals expect to capture the vote of moderates with this kind of attitude. Given the 2004 election the answer is they don’t. MUAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHA.

I don’t want to spoil any more of the humor of this movie. I think it might become one of the Greatest American Comedies of all time and I highly recommend you check it out.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 29th, 2005 at 10:10 am and is filed under Movies, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.