John Haggerty over at Salon decided to watch three hours per day of Fox News for one month. I applaud him as I really don’t think I could handle such an endeavor. My friends know that I only watch Fox News to get my blood flowing. Let’s say, for instance, I’m supposed to meet friends on a Saturday evening for dinner and drinks. But I’ve spent the entire day successfully being lazy and don’t feel like getting ready. I turn my television to Fox News, watch for a few minutes while feeling my blood pressure and heart rate rise and I’m ready to go all night!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Roger Ailes is a brilliant man. He saw a need for a conservative television channel and capitalized on it. What the supposed news channel has become, however, lacks any resemblance whatsoever to actual news. Fox doesn’t report the news. This is a fact numerous studies have shown over the years. Instead, Fox reports on right wing talking points. It’s how they have massive viewership. They preach to the choir.
Mr. Haggerty begins:
I watched Fox News for approximately three hours every day, while at the same time strictly abstaining from any other sources of information about current events. The reason I engaged in this self-induced Fox News torture was that it had become clear that the right-wing media in general, and Fox News in particular, were constructing an alternate reality than the one I live in. Fox is, of course, a great driver of public opinion.
Mr. Haggerty has hit the nail on the head. I discussed previously here about the alternate reality in which conservatives live. It is not a reality based on truth. Rather, it is a reality based on fear and propaganda. You see, conservatives disagree with what they fail to comprehend. It scares them. They don’t understand it, so they disagree with it and refuse to accept it. They don’t understand how two men can love each other as a man and a woman do so they fear it.
A good friend’s grandmother didn’t understand microwaves. She didn’t understand how a little box could cook food so rapidly so she refused to use it. Conservatives are the same; they don’t understand something so they refuse to accept it.
Evolution is a scientific fact. Conservatives disagree. How can you possibly know how old something is? Carbon dating, which is based in scientific fact. You think the earth is only 6000 years old because of a book. That’s faith, not science. Many scientists have deeply held religious beliefs and yet they are able to separate the two. They are able to believe in their chosen religion but at the same time also accept as fact scientific theory. They don’t dismiss it because they don’t understand it. That is the ultimate problem with Fox News. Instead of attempting to educate their viewers so they are capable of understanding and accepting that which the rest of us know to be fact, Fox is exacerbating the problem by placating to the lowest common denominator.
Be sure to check out Mr. Haggerty’s entire article here. It really is an enlightening piece, truly showing how little news Fox actually broadcasts. It shows the exaggeration and misdirection Fox utilizes to not only give its viewers what they want but also take it further. Fox News goes above and beyond its duties. It takes what viewers want to hear and exaggerates even further, providing outrage and utterly false information to its viewers in an effort to further their outrage. Why would they do such a thing? Money. Plain and simple. Fox News makes more in profit each year than MSNBC, CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS, combined. Fox placates to the lowest common denominator with no regard to the impact on our society for the simple purpose of increasing profit. It makes me sick.
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