29 Oct 2015

2016 Elections on Fox News

Today I was looking into the website of Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox News, 'The O'Reilly Factor'.
By doing some research on the host's origins I found out why the show got this specific title. After being named 'The O'Reilly Report' originally, it was renamed to today's caption really quick, because O'Reilly's colleagues were so intrigued by Bill's awesome communication skills as a so-called journalist.
This specific factor is also advertised on the show's webpage:

"The O'Reilly Factor" uncovers news items from the established wisdom and goes against the grain of the more traditional interview style programs.
(http://www.foxnews.com/shows/the-oreilly-factor.html#talking)

O'Reilly's innovative and not so traditional way of interviewing people is particularly visible in his steady interruptions of interview partners using the polite wording "Shut up!". To me, this is in no sense a sign of radical but rather a form of greatly unprofessional and biased journalism. Thanks to YouTube and other social media networks, this topic is already covered to a huge extent and can be, among others, enjoyed in the documentary "Outfoxed".



But it's not only O'Reilly's inability to have a decent discussion with his invited guests which makes him one of a kind. His agenda is even more right-wing, conservative, and in favour of the Republicans than any other program on Fox News. While I didn't find any positive coverage on president Barack Obama, the Republicans were always put in the best light. 

The coverage of the recent campaign for the 2016 presidential elections also speaks for itself. The Republican debate this week was illustrated as a huge success on Fox News. Not only as a success for the party's presidential aims but also as a win against the evil liberal media landscape. In fact, the moderators were hardly criticised by O'Reilly and his colleagues because of their tough and challenging way of asking their questions: "The CNBC moderators tried to bait the GOP candidates. You can get away with that kind of stuff once in a while, but not if you make it the dominant theme of the evening."

Did O'Reilly really just say that? The guy who usually treats his opponents, if even existent, like lower-class people and cuts them off if they get too much into his way? The full evaluation can be seen here.
On 'welt.de', a German newspaper's website instead, the debate is described rather differently as being inefficient, not focused on economic topics and lacking in content. 

The coverage of the Democrats is, as you can image, rather less enthusiastic. In his newest masterpiece of "fair and balanced" journalism, O'Reilly explains how the Democratic Party is moving far left caused by Obama's political legacy. He not only suddenly praises the old Democratic leaders as being "traditional"  but he also accuses Obama's government of "violating federal immigration law". Furthermore, O'Reilly criticises the president's involvement in human rights groups such as Black Lives Matter which he calls "radical anti-police groups". To reduce a human rights movement to an anarchist group which solely fights against authorities like the police, is by far the simplest thing to do which probably just illustrates the right wing's fear of a finally uprising minority. Again, Fox News' attitude towards African Americans is questionable. Especially, in respect to the increasing number of coloured citizens being killed or assaulted by white policemen...


Additionally, his opinion on  the Democrats' nominee Bernie Sanders, is unambiguous and by far not neutral at all (amusingly Bill O'Reilly himself  is registered independent ). "Americans aren't gonna vote for a Socialist", O'Reilly claimed confidently on The View last week. He went on by warning the viewers of a Socialist regime which he said is present in the country of Venezuela. As we know, the American government has had its problems with the Venezuelan regime over the past decades, constantly criticising former president Hugo Chavez regarding his Socialist ideas. The struggle with the nation which tried to free themselves from corruption and American economic serfdom reached its peak in 2002 when Conservatives tried to overthrow the Chavez government, American officials being aware of and content with the coup. 
Bill O'Reilly, who STILL uses this example, therefore, represents a typical ancient conservative American attitude, neglecting Venezuelan independence and misrepresenting a nation's political system.
Click here for the full video.

Fox News showed again this week all its power in misrepresenting facts and demonizing the political left by using propaganda and outdated examples. Sadly, we are all aware of the influence Bill O'Reilly has on the American population. Still, I will end with a rather optimistic quote from a YouTube-user commenting on one of Fox News' reports with the following:
-          
Fox News Viewers are like that kid in your elementary school class that had some pretty crazy learning disability. No one ever took that kid serious when he talked because it either was gibberish or made no logical sense. Fox News and their viewers are like that kid. And like that kid, we should look out for that kid and treat him kindly but not take what he says too serious.” 

23 Oct 2015

The Beginnings and Fox News on Amsterdam

The idea for this blog came up with a simple video being screened during a journalism class.
I mean, I knew Fox News before through various stays in the United States, but never really thought about their so-called 'accurate reporting'.
When I saw a show of Bill O'Reilly about Amsterdam and all its dangers, drugs and 'anarchy', first I could not believe my eyes. Realizing that the whole show was neither a joke nor an April fool hoax, I felt my belief in journalism collapsing.



Although being already a few years old, the video still illustrates Fox News' attitude towards other countries, socialism, and liberalism. By trying to persuade the audience of the inadequacy of a Democrat or simply liberal government (the video emerged right after Barack Obama entered political stage), Fox News certainly symbolises their "fair and balanced" journalism. By the way, the slogan is trademarked, so I guess we're dealing with the one and only source of truth...

The Fox News Group really seems to have a massive problem with Holland. In a further video from supposedly 2006, the Netherlands are criticised by their lack of religious ambition and, how dare they, the legality of gay marriage. 



To (finally) finish this, I'd like to submit some of my personal photos from Amsterdam. Yes, I've been there a lot of times and experienced the state of anarchy myself. Enjoy!


    






Horrible, right?