This is a hilarious video from “The Onion” that shows how a modern news story is put together…..
If you can call it news….
It’s satire but, like all good satire, has a lot of truth in it….
NSFW due to language….
Hat Tip to my friend Kirk for sending this to me!
Filed under Journalism, Media, Television
You would think it would be impossible to be surprised by this guy’s ignorance, gall and paranoia by now, but this is kind of stunning….
From PoliticsUSA
According to Limbaugh, the heat wave is all part of giant government conspiracy to make people think that it is hotter than what it is in order to get them to believe that climate change is real. Limbaugh thinks this kind of heat wave happens every year, but it doesn’t. According to the National Weather Service 1,000 heat records have been broken across the United States in the past month.
MORE: Rush Limbaugh: The Heat Wave Sweeping America Is A Government Conspiracy.
Filed under Media
I don’t want to get my hopes up, but if this continues to spread from the UK to the US, this just might be the beginning of the end for Fox News.
This story is definitely worth watching. It’s lead to resignations at the highest levels of the Murdoch properties such as the “Wall Street Journal” and the closure of their flagship UK newspaper. It’s also claimed the head of Scotland Yard and the London Police, as well as a top aid to the PM.
If they have hacked phone records of prominent US citizens, politicians, journalist and 9/11 Victims in the USA, as has been alleged, this just might bring down Murdoch and his entire empire-including Fox News.
From RawStory.com:
A former producer with Fox News claimed in a lengthy essay gaining new traction this week that the conservative television station has a “Brain Room” in its New York headquarters which enables employees to view private telephone records with ease.
Though published years ago, the allegations have returned to relevance in the wake of the phone hacking scandals that have rocked News Corporation to its very core, threatening to topple one of the world’s largest and most powerful media conglomerates.
According to former Fox News executive Dan Cooper, whose gripes with his former employer run quite deep, Fox News chief Roger Ailes allegedly had him design the so-called “Brain Room” to facilitate counter-intelligence efforts and other “black ops.”
In a lengthy 2008 diatribe said to have doubled as a book pitch, Cooper claimed his own phone records had been hacked by Fox News employees, who he says used them to pinpoint him as a source used by David Brock, who founded liberal watchdog group Media Matters.
“Ailes knew I had given Brock the interview,” he wrote. “Certainly Brock didn’t tell him. Of course. Fox News had gotten Brock’s telephone records from the phone company, and my phone number was on the list. Deep in the bowels of 1211 Avenue of the Americas, News Corporation’s New York headquarters, was what Roger called the Brain Room. Most people thought it was simply the research department of Fox News. But unlike virtually everybody else, because I had to design and build the Brain Room, I knew it also housed a counterintelligence and black ops office. So accessing phone records was easy pie.”
That wasn’t the last time word of Ailes’s “Brain Room” surfaced: in a recent piece for Rolling Stone, journalist Tim Dickenson discusses Cooper’s allegations too, focusing on the man Ailes allegedly picked to run the secretive office.
“Befitting his siege mentality, Ailes also housed his newsroom in a bunker,” Dickenson wrote. “Reporters and producers at Fox News work in a vast, windowless expanse below street level, a gloomy space lined with video-editing suites along one wall and an endless cube farm along the other. In a separate facility on the same subterranean floor, Ailes created an in-house research unit – known at Fox News as the ‘brain room’ – that requires special security clearance to gain access. ‘The brain room is where Willie Horton comes from,’ says Cooper, who helped design its specs. ‘It’s where the evil resides.’
“If that sounds paranoid, consider the man Ailes brought in to run the brain room: Scott Ehrlich, a top lieutenant from his political- consulting firm. Ehrlich – referred to by some as ‘Baby Rush’ – had taken over the lead on Big Tobacco’s campaign to crush health care reform when Ailes signed on with CNBC.”
While none of these claims have been substantiated, they seem increasingly plausible given the widening coverup of Murdoch’s British hacking scandals, which have grown from the desk of just one allegedly “rogue” journalist to topple some of Murdoch’s top deputies, including the former publisher of The Wall Street Journal and the chief of News International, which oversees News Corp.’s British newspapers.
Cooper’s phone records as well would not be the first time Fox News or U.S. News Corp. employees have been accused of hacking. According to The New York Times, a New Jersey company called Floorgraphics accused News Corp. in 2009 of hacking into their password-protected computer systems to obtain proprietary information, then allegedly spreading “false, misleading and malicious information” about the firm, causing them to lose important contracts.
News Corp.’s response to the scandal was to buy Floorgraphics outright, after offering a $29.5 million settlement.
Cases like Floorgraphics’ are hardly unique: in recent years, the Times noted, News Corp. has paid over $655 million in settlements and hush money to keep allegations of anti-competitive and illegal behavior under the rug.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice have launched their own investigations into whether News Corp. participated in the hacking of 9/11 victims or U.S. officials.
via Former Fox News producer claimed network’s ‘Brain Room’ led to phone hacking | The Raw Story.
Another good article, in addition to my earlier post, about the Media manipulation of this sad little story…
From Howard Kurtz via The Daily Beast:
What television news was guilty of was massive overkill. There was absolutely no reason for the TV business to turn the death of 2-year-old Caylee into a national soap opera—that is, short of milking the story for ratings. (Newspapers and magazines have largely stayed off this bandwagon.)
Sadly, many children are killed by parents in the United States each year, and most barely merit a short story in the local paper. If they’re African-American, they are barely on the radar. Casey Anthony is white, middle-class and attractive—the trifecta for producers and bookers.
Such trials are the spawn of O.J., whose murder case dominated the media in the mid-1990s. But Simpson was a world-famous athlete. Chandra Levy at least worked for a member of Congress. Since then, television news has tried to fill the void by taking unknown victims and defendants—Laci Peterson, Natalee Holloway—and turning them into cause celebres so that viewers would develop a rooting interest in the players and the subplots.
I find it sickening, which is why I’ve largely avoided writing or talking about the Anthony case until now. Like many of those who even casually followed the story, I thought she was probably guilty. But I never understood why I should care about this murder above so many others. Let’s be honest with ourselves: this is the exploitation of tragedy until it becomes entertainment. And that’s why the situation is even worse than the indictment by Anthony’s lawyer would suggest.
July 05, 2011 07:05pm
Filed under Media
James Wolcott, at the “Vanity Fair” website pretty much sums up my thoughts on this….
Great article about the collective nervous breakdown and media hysteria this case seems to be generating…
Don’t get me wrong, the murder of any child is tragic. It’s the media firestorm and manipulation I find, frankly, disgusting.
I really haven’t paid much attention to this….mainly because I came across Nancy Grace’s coverage on TV in a hotel room when I was traveling. During the 5 minutes or so I could tolerate watching her false anger and over-acting, I decided I just didn’t care to know about anything she was trying so hard to exploit for her own ratings.
It’s a tough title to win and the competition is intense, but Nancy Grace has to hold the title as the World’s Most Annoying Uptight White Woman. And when she covers these things, she still manages to somehow make it all about her….
Anyway…
People need to remember a few things:
But then “reasonable” is not a word anyone could apply to any aspect of this tragic mess….
I’ll let James Wolcott take it from here….
I don’t claim powers of clairvoyance or psychic reading, but the other day I was channel-hopping and paused at one of the cable channels doing a live feed from the Casey Anthony trial. I hadn’t followed the case, had only a dim awareness of the apparently endless discussion of duct tape, stench from the car, and Casey Anthony’s visit to a tattoo place that had taken place within the endless cable palaver during the trial coverage, but after a few minutes of watching I vaguely thought, I dunno, I could see her getting off.
So when the not-guilty verdicts came down within the last hour on the charges of murder and manslaughter (she was found guilty on the charges of lying to investigators), I seemed to be one of the few whose world didn’t flip sideways–I wasn’t that surprised and if anything pleased that the jury made up its own collective mind in defiance of the lynch-mob clamor on the cable channels.
It can’t be said that the know-nothing know-it-alls on Fox News and Nancy Grace’s Sweeney Todd cooking school accepted the jury’s verdict with modesty and maturity. After expressing shock and taking turns to tell us how “stunned” they were, they accused the jury of suffering from Stockholm Syndrome (staring at Casey Anthony’s face somehow melting their reason and resolve), appearing to resent that fact that the defendant might be freed soon (since she might be granted time-served on the lesser charges, having already served years behind bars), and acting peevish that they didn’t get their way, having already convicted Casey Anthony on the airwaves for years now and treating the trial as an audiovisual demonstration of what to them was self-evident.
“Appearing to resent” and “peevish” are too mild, actually–many of the instant commentators on cable were visibly, audibly angry at the AUDACITY these acquittals. (Once exception: Judge Andrew Napolitano on Fox News, who was calm and sensible.)
It may have annoyed Nancy Grace (everything annoys Nancy Grace), but defense attorney Casey Anthony slamdunked it afterwards when he told the press that this verdict was a rebuke to the demonization of his client and the ugly, unprofessional spectacle of lawyers going on TV to talk about a case about which they clearly didn’t know as much as they thought they did.
What little I saw of the coverage was disgusting and sob-sister, this endless fetishizing of “little Caylee,” as if these well-dressed, high-paid lawyers and media mouths had adopted her as their own little angel, and minutes after the verdict came down there was Judge Jeanine Pirro wailing, Where is the justice for this little girl? (“Justice for Caylee” was the sidebar subhead on Grace’s Headline News coverage, as if it were a personal crusade.)
Look, I don’t know if Casey Anthony is guilty or not, but neither does Nancy Grace or any of the performing seals brought in as expert commentators to bark and clap their fins, and maybe if they acknowledged they lack of godly omniscience they might be a little less “shocked” and “stunned” the next time around.
Barring exorcism, I don’t expect Nancy Grace to change, she being the only person whose nose seems tilted into a permanent sneer.
Postscript: Thanks, Florida, FOR WASTING OUR TIME YET AGAIN.
via The Casey Anthony Verdict | James Wolcott’s Blog | Vanity Fair.
Filed under Entertainment, Media, Television, Uncategorized
I think she was confused and referring to herself….
I can’t believe people still put this awful woman on television and the so-called Christians run and buy her books….
Ann Coulter is just a petty, self-centered, opportunistic media whore who’ll say anything to get attention and make money. I don’t know why anyone but Fox News has her on television.
She’s kind of like Sarah Palin if Sarah only had one black dress and a better vocabulary……
From the Huffington Post:
Ann Coulter has some harsh words for the late Princess Diana.
The conservative commentator raised some eyebrows in a new interview with “The Insider” co-host Kevin Frazier.
“I find it a little baffling when Americans get so gaga-eyed over a princess. In particular Lady Di, who was just this anorexic, bulimic narcissist,” Coulter said.
Coulter, who was promoting her new book “Demonic: How The Liberal Mob Is Endangering America”, has professed contempt for Diana and the Royal Family before.
In April, Coulter appeared on “The O’Reilly Factor” to call the late princess a “nitwit hussy” and said of the Royal Wedding: “It’s totally embarrassing Americans cared about that.”
She also said she was specifically going to be on a plane to France so she wouldn’t have to watch William and Kate’s nuptials.
Coulter did admit on her “Fox News” appearance that she looked up Kate Middleton and said, “She seems like a lovely woman, I feel sorry for the life she’s signed on to.”
Princess Diana was known not just for her royal title, but for being the “People’s Princess.” It was her philanthropy working to raise AIDS awareness and working towards a ban on landmines that won her the respect and admiration of many.
via Ann Coulter Calls Princess Diana ‘Anorexic, Bulimic Narcissist’ (VIDEO).
Filed under Entertainment, Media, Politics
Good news from the Media world…
Maybe Fox News’ audience is dying off faster than anticipated…or people are finally getting wise.
And Jon Stewart has been at the top of his game this year…
Another good trend for next year’s elections if it holds….
From Rawstory.com:
Comedy Central and “The Daily Show” both surged in the May Nielsen ratings, posting their best numbers yet. “The Daily Show” dominated its time slot across all of television, cable and broadcast, and boasted a very impressive 19 percent increase in viewership in May alone.
Meanwhile, according to Mediabistro’s TV Newser, Fox News suffered an overall decline in viewers in the highly sought-after 25-to-54-year old demographic for May, with total ratings down 10 percent. Bill O’Reilly’s viewership dropped 9 percent, Sean Hannity’s 6 percent, with Greta Van Susteren and Glenn Beck suffering the steepest losses with Van Susteren’s “On the Record” losing 12 percent of its audience and Glenn Beck sliding a whopping 17 percent.
Some of the fall-off in Beck’s numbers may be attributable to the fact that his show is going off the air, but it has been a consistent loser in the ratings for several months. The drop in public interest is echoed in ratings for radio shows hosted by Beck and Rush Limbaugh, which have each lost a third of their listenership in the last year, according to the radio polling group Arbitron.
The new Nielsen numbers show that “The Daily Show” averaged 2.3 million viewers, beating every program on Fox except Bill O’Reilly’s average of 2.8 million. “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” beat all other cable and broadcast programming in a number of categories, including having the most affluent viewers and the most active web-sties.
via Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show ratings soar, Fox News slumps in May numbers | The Raw Story.
Filed under Elections, Media, Politics, Television
Hopefully people are finally getting tired of these evil clowns….
Or their elderly audience is passing on…
From Political Wire:
“Right-wing talk radio may have worn out its welcome, at least for now,” reports Crain’s New York Business.
A new Arbitron report shows Rush Limbaugh’s ratings down 33% from a year ago and Sean Hannitty down 28% over the same time period. Meanwhile, more centrist personalities — Don Imus in the morning and John Batchelor at night — were both up from a year earlier.
Filed under Journalism, Media
But they still push her out there and give her a platform to share her stupidity….
From Michael Calderone in New York Magazine:
Fox News still dominates the cable news ratings, but chairman Roger Ailes wants something more: to help elect the next president.
That’s the takeaway from Gabriel Sherman’s New York magazine cover story hitting newsstands Monday. Sherman, who’s currently writing a book on Fox News for Random House, looks at how Ailes — who built up a stable of possible presidential contenders after the 2008 election, including Sarah Palin — isn’t so pleased with their chances at beating President Barack Obama in 2012.
Ailes doesn’t speak on the record in the article, but several Republicans close to the Fox News chief describe his concerns going into an election year.
“He thinks things are going in a bad direction,” another Republican close to Ailes told [Sherman]. “Roger is worried about the future of the country. He thinks the election of Obama is a disaster. He thinks Palin is an idiot. He thinks she’s stupid. He helped boost her up. People like Sarah Palin haven’t elevated the conservative movement.”
Ailes, a television titan, has schooled past presidential candidates on how to handle the media. Before helping Rupert Murdoch launch Fox News in 1996, Ailes worked as a strategist for Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush (whom he still talks to regularly).
via Fox News Chief Roger Ailes Thinks Sarah Palin Is ‘Stupid’: New York Magazine.
Interesting that Media company CEO’s take 4 of the top 10 slots…
Kind of tells you why we can’t trust the mainstream media….
Does the phrase “bought and paid for” jump out to you like it does me?
This is why “hard” news is being replaced by entertainment programming….
WASHINGTON — Compensation received by chief executives of the biggest US companies surged 11 percent over the past 12 months — to $9.3 million on average, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Citing a study conducted for the newspaper by management consultancy Hay Group, The Journal said the increase was largely due to decisions by company boards to reward CEOs for strong profit and share-price growth with bigger bonuses and stock grants.
The survey covered the 350 biggest companies that filed their statement between May 1, 2010, and April 30, 2011.
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman topped the list after receiving compensation valued at $84.3 million, more than double his 2009 pay, the report said.
Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of Oracle, took second place, according to The Journal.
Long ranked among the highest-paid chiefs, he received compensation valued at $68.6 million for the year ended last May 31.
CBS CEO Leslie Moonves landed the number three spot with compensation valued at $53.9 million.
Overall, the CEOs of media companies claimed four of the top 10 spots, the paper noted.
Filed under Journalism, Media, Uncategorized
Lost in the 21st Century 