Sunday, July 10, 2005
Fox News is shite
Yesterday I criticised CNN's coverage of the London bombings but, where CNN was merely inept, the Murdoch-owned Fox News was positively callous.
I wonder how most British subscribers to Murdoch's BSkyB, The Times or The Sun would react if they knew what Fox News has said?
Thanks to Jonathan Calder for drawing my attention to the glee expressed by two Fox presenters. It turns out that these are not the only examples.
Yesterday's Guardian carried this report, which is worth quoting in full:
Rupert Murdoch's Fox News channel was under fire yesterday for comments by some of its leading journalists in response to the London bombs.You can read the original Fox quotes in full at Media Matters for America. You can read more about Fox's callous behaviour at the American Chronicle and at Counterbias.
Speaking about the reaction of the financial markets, Brit Hume, the channel's Washington managing editor, said: "Just on a personal basis ... I saw the futures this morning, which were really in the tank, I thought 'hmm, time to buy'."
The host of a Fox News programme, Brian Kilmeade, said the attacks had the effect of putting terrorism back on the top of the G8's agenda, in place of global warming and African aid. "I think that works to our advantage, in the western world's advantage, for people to experience something like this together, just 500 miles from where the attacks have happened."
Another Fox News host, John Gibson, said before the blasts that the International Olympic Committee "missed a golden opportunity" by not awarding the 2012 games to France. "If they had picked France instead of London to hold the Olympics, it would have been the one time we could look forward to where we didn't worry about terrorism. They'd blow up Paris, and who cares?" He added: "This is why I thought the Brits should let the French have the Olympics - let somebody else be worried about guys with backpack bombs for a while."
Media Matters for America, a watchdog and frequent critic of Fox, criticised the comments on its website. "I think it's absolutely sickening three Fox anchors had such callous reactions to the bombings that took dozens of lives," said the Jamison Foser, of the group.
The Fox News media relations office had not responded by the time the Guardian went to press yesterday.
Sadly, no other British media apart from the Guardian appear to have covered this story yet. It's a safe bet that Sky News, The Times and The Sun won't.
PS: Fox News's absurd vitriol gets worse. See this - amongst other things, the BBC is described as operating as "as a foreign registered agent of Hezbollah and some of the other jihadist groups." We can laugh but, unfortunately, there are millions of dupes in the USA who take this nonsense seriously.
# posted by Simon Titley @ 8:26 pm 
