Working for Fox
10/19/09 09:54 AM Filed in: Work
A few years ago I was employed as a writer working on several Fox Network TV shows. Even then, while the paycheck was nice, I had some qualms about working for an organization whose news division was so... well, idiotic. And dangerous. Now Newsweek's Jacob Weisberg has a few thoughts.
Update: Jason Linkins on Huff Post. Some galling video, too.
- That Rupert Murdoch may tilt the news rightward more for commercial than ideological reasons is beside the point. What matters is the way that Fox's model has invaded the bloodstream of the American media. By showing that ideologically distorted news can drive ratings, Ailes has provoked his rivals at CNN and MSNBC to develop a variety of populist and ideological takes on the news. In this way, Fox hasn't just corrupted its own coverage. Its example has made all of cable news unpleasant and unreliable.
- And weepy Glenn Beck has begun to exhibit a Strangelovean concern about government invading our bloodstream by vaccinating people for swine flu. With this misinformation campaign, Fox stands to become the first network to actively try to kill its viewers.
Update: Jason Linkins on Huff Post. Some galling video, too.