Fox News and the situation in Iraq

[MegaSilver]

Today in my communications class, one of the students said something to the effect of, "Would Bush's approval ratings be this high if Fox News was reporting what's really going on over in Iraq?"

After class, one of my friends remarked that Fox News, like other cable news channels, was really sketchy and shouldn't even be classified as "news."

I've gotta wonder if these people have ever really watched Fox News--or read any paper, for that matter.

[narby]

Fox doesn't report what's going on in Iraq.

Nobody is.

What's going on is the country is rebuilding, the people have a future, and they know it. The mood is upbeat.

But, like there are a few murders every night in many big cities in the US, there are a small handful of terrorist incidents, often carried out by the 50,000 hard criminals Saddam let loose. That's not news. That's to be expected.

So what Fox, and the other media are reporting is not the "truth" about Iraq.

"News" can be definied as "man bites dog", as opposed to non-news "dog bites man". The unusual and quite new thing in Iraq is its rapid improvement. The improvement is "man bites dog", because it should have been assumed that terrorisim and death ("dog bites man") would continue.

[FReepaholic]

Right after the 2000 election, some Democrat or reporter or someone made a statement lamenting the fact that Fox news "allowed the Republicans to get their message out".

I wish I could find that quote...

[steve50]

How much does the DNC pay you?


Why ya wanna know? You making a counter offer for the RNC?

[Arrowhead1952]

Here is part of an email I got from my friend's nephew in Iraq.

I’ve been able to catch the news more often now and unfortunately I feel they focus too much on the negative things happening here. Everyday, there are so many positive strides being made with enough inspirational Iraqi stories to write a book. Whether overcoming an illness, meeting up with a long lost family member, starting a new business, or enjoying life without the fear of Saddam’s regime, I can’t help but walk away feeling uplifted by most of the Iraqis I interact with everyday.

Based on what I see in the news, I feel that Iraqis in general get portrayed as barbaric when nothing could be further than the truth. They’re as human as anyone I know in the U.S., and most of them are simple people who just want to make enough money to raise a family. Everyday, there are thousands and thousands of Iraqis who wake up and volunteer to help in the rebuilding process. When you meet them, you sense the optimism they have, and see the hope in their eyes. It actually motivates you to work hard so that they aren’t let down by the U.S. because they believe they can turn their country around. Anyway, that’s just my take on it.

Maybe I’m foolishly optimistic because I know some soldiers, especially the ones who deal with criminals and Baath party members, would disagree.

Apparently, the meida is not reporting what is Going Well with our troops.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[MegaSilver]

Well, if this is a High School class, I'd just beat the crap out of him after school. That's what we did to all the losers.

Unfortunately, I'm in college. I have to act a little more mature than that.

And I would have objected, except that there are 100+ people in the class, the professor had already said, "Two more comments before I have to dismiss you," and there was another person behind him.

[1Old Pro]

except that there are 100+ people in the class...

IMPOSSIBLE! The teachers unions swear that if there are more than 15 in a class nobody can learn a thing.

[MegaSilver]

Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. Any objective viewer can see Fox has been worthless since Bush took office. I turned Fox on and threw the remote away under klintoon, it's useless unless you want to hear nothing but pro Bush propaganda now.

You know, I love it when people use the words "always," "never," "nothing," and "all" because all it takes is one example to refute.

In response to your comment, I will simply state that the other night on The O'Reilly Factor, Bill remarked that Bush needs to come forward with an explanation as to the situation with WMDs in Iraq.

[MegaSilver]

IMPOSSIBLE! The teachers unions swear that if there are more than 15 in a class nobody can learn a thing.

And you don't think the story I told serves to illustrate that? :)

[steve50]

And a couple nights before that he must have read some non flattering comments about himself on the web and went on one of his anti free speech rants. His perceived self importance has driven that loon over the edge.

[EO1TopDawg]

"it's useless unless you want to hear nothing but pro Bush propaganda now."

It's not propaganda, it's fair and balanced reporting. Anyway, I like President George W. Bush. I hope he gets re-elected with Powell as VP

[EO1TopDawg]

"CNN lied about Iraq"

Hey, that is a great point!

[EO1TopDawg]

"How much does the DNC pay you?"
My thoughts exactly.

[sticker]

"It's not propaganda, it's fair and balanced reporting. Anyway, I like President George W. Bush. I hope he gets re-elected with Powell as VP"

Wrong, Condi is more the man for the job

[MegaSilver]

It's not propaganda, it's fair and balanced reporting. Anyway, I like President George W. Bush. I hope he gets re-elected with Powell as VP

It IS propaganda. All news is propaganda, and should be taken as such. It's just that Fox News is a little easier for my conservative eyes to behold than other news programs.

[EO1TopDawg]

I wish you didn't see all news as propaganda. I may be an idealist at times, but I think that FOX news makes an honest effort to report events truthfully and accurately. I know that some of their employees come from other networks and have bad habits they need to break, but that is to be expected. Take Sean Hannity for example, he supports Bush, but not BLINDLY. He is always willing to point out the President's mistakes. Same goes for Rush.

[MegaSilver]

it is now the ultimate in insults to tell someone they are a Foxnews watcher

I'd like to see an example of a falsety on Fox News. All the criticisms I've heard are very vague and sketchy.

[boxerblues]

All the criticisms I've heard are very vague and sketchy.

That is not what matters to those on the left. The best they have is throwing insults