Now, the Rude Pundit ain't no fancy big city news editor for an allegedly "major" network news outlet. But he's pretty fuckin' sure that at any random second of any random day of any random time, but especially now, there's probably more important news going on somewhere in the entire goddamned world that's just a smidge more important than the lead singer of a has-been yuppie blues band being arrested on weapons charges. Not at Fox, though. It's big damn story with pictures at the top of their web page, along with surefire crowd pleasers of the freak variety: abused former conjoined twins and a coma woman waking up for a couple of days. It's not news; it's Ripley's Believe It Or Not. (Now, if the coma woman had beaten the twins during her three un-comatose days, then we'd have a story.)
Sure, all three news net websites covered the horrible fire in New York City because, well, it's a horrible fire, and local news though it may be, who can resist making everyone think of burned children? (Although Fox goes for the most exploitative headline, with "Help Me, Help Me.")
By the way, here, at the exact same time, is the top of MSNBC's home page:
The point here ain't that Fox "news" sucks and MSNBC's great or some such shit. It's how much contempt Fox has for the news, for its reporting and gathering, even beyond the pandering of other news outlets. Fox is not dangerous just because it's a mouthpiece for the right wing and it parrots the conservative line. It's dangerous because it seems to believe that people don't actually have a right to know, that it's responsibility is to keep its viewers ignorant and make sure the status quo is maintained and extended.
Perhaps more later.
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