Posted on 12/17/2004 10:36:54 AM PST by Phsstpok
We know that Fox, among others, has people who regularly scan FreeRepublic for items of interest. I want to take advantage of that to try to get some ideas in front of Roger Ailes and crew.
I'm going to lay out my ideas below, but I have a feeling that not only will others have their own equally good, or better, ideas, but that there will also be folks who think my ideas are way off base. So be it. That's the idea behind posting this here, so that there can be open discussion of what is of interest to folks "like us," Freepers, pajamahadeen, et al. Maybe some bits and pieces of a discussion like this will actually get to the powers that be at Fox and have some impact. FR tends to give one delusion of grandeur anyway, so why not?
So, here goes...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I can't stand Fox and Friends. They are all vapid and inane. I didn't like Steve Doocy when he did weather on Channel 4 in DC and I still don't like him. And the ones on the weekend are even worse.
If FoxNews could work a deal to do local weather and traffic in the mornings, I would consider dumping NBC if they got rid of the stupidity. ED is ok but all the guys on Fox and Friends must have been at the back of the line when God was giving out brains.
Most of the other shows like Hannity, etc. are just too much hollering and yelling. It gets to be too much. Even the Saturday morning business shows have too much hollering and yelling.
But, I have to say, on election night, I was watching Fox. I was out of town and thank God the hotel cable carried Fox for I surely would have lost my mind.
What I would like to see on Fox: more news, less fluff. I like your idea of more in-depth news stories and the hour-length week in review on Sunday night.
I also think Fox and Friends is too cutsy, too much like the other morning news shows. I don't have a lot of time in the morning, and I want news. Give it to me straight, without the giggles.
How about an NPR-style news show (i.e. like All Things Considered or Morning Edition) with Fox even-handed politics? Lots of great news stories, some of them minor but still interesting, but not the indulgence in tabloid stuff ala Peterson. (An hour total over the 6-12 months would have been plenty for me.)
Actually, I would like to see a conservative-styled NPR show on the radio; if one could broadcast such a show on Fox and on the radio simultaneously, so we could listen in the car and then upon arriving home, during normal commuting hours, that would be awesome.
News, news, more news. Arts news, education news, cultural news stories about the Middle East and Asia. Teach us, educate us.
And have her lose the top :-)
I have been boycotting Fox and Friends, 7 days a week for about two months. Brian Kilmeade is the only one I like.
I'd also like to know who the hairdresser is for the women on Fox. At least the gals on MSNBC have nice looking hair.
Yes, she would need a co-host. Of course.
LOL - you stole my suggestion!
Ha! You gotta be kidding! They are so far behind the 8 ball on the Vince Foster murder its not even funny. Nobody and I mean nobody can defend the suicide in the park fantasy and yet they still hide under the bed on this issue. Until we have a fair hearing on this issue, they have no credibility with me or others who want the truth to prevail.
Dear Fox:
I suggest you make a bold proposal to CBS. Make them an offer to do their news. They are soon to be anchorless, have lost credibility, ratings are down, and generally need to do a major makeover to get back in the news (noose to Rather) game. A contract news agreement with Fox will instantly solve their evening news problem and will save them money at the same time.
1¢: The latest Fox commercials featuring Bill O'Reilly have him recommending that viewers watch "The Factor", not "The O'Reilly Factor". I take this to mean that Fox wants to remove the O'Reilly brand from the show and will at some time in the future feel comfortable with sliding another anchor into that time slot in a show called "The Factor". (Just a guess.)
1¢: Every now and then, Greta will engage in a question-and-answer session with a guest. She's a good questioner (as a good attorney ought to be). She takes a methodical approach to eliciting information. Her worst flaws (aside from her choices of stories to cover): (1) she regularly swallows the last syllables of words, especially names, and (2) she occasionally goes on little "I mean" jags, repeating the expression two, three and even four times within 30 seconds. She needs a voice coach.
Some kind of warning signal when Eleanor Clift or Susan Estrih is about to appear. Ditto, Geraldine Ferraro and Geraldo.
I had no problem immediately coming up with my #1 suggestion. Get rid of Greta VanBoring and her hideous gossip show during the 10:00 slot in the prime time lineup. Move here to weekends, or weekdays when the soap opera crowd watches TV. I despise all the tabloid garbage on that show. I always switch over to Scarborough.
I think that he used 'gooberbambostically' at least one time so far.
Bring back Tony Snow
Dump Dari Alexander, Greta, Geraldo
Put Rita Crosby only on important (i.e., non-celebrity) stories
Dump the lip gloss
11:am (PST) female host is lousy interviewer
The Best? Brit Hume, Tony Snow, John Gibson
1) Give O'Reilly a program manager who makes all production decisions, O'Reilly isn't up to it. For one, NEVER invite Al Sharpton on the show again. Giving criminals air time gives them respectability and hurts the seriousness of the show.
Can Colmes and make it the Ingraham and Hannity show. Laura is entertaining and can make the show more interesting and less predictible. They can discuss issues of the day and not just the same old same old politics. I'm getting sick of listening to politicians.
Excellent point - enough with the Scott Peterson stories and the like. For crying out loud!
And stop with the breaking news for car chases. Please. Save the breaking news for things that are really breaking news.
Very good review. More and more, Fox News bores me. Part of that is that folks like O'Reilly and Hannity got into ruts that have become all too predictable and tiresome. They are almost parodies of themselves now the way Harry Morgan as Col. Sherman Potter became on M*A*S*H.
Brit Hume's show is the best thing on FNC. I, too, wish they would de-emphasize the tabloid stuff and the never ending parade of defense attornies and political hacks.
The Fox News lineup suffers primarily from a lack of, well, news. Unless there is something breaking, we are left with mostly screaming faces normally spouting about things they don't really understand that well.
My suggestions:
* A Nightline-style hourly topic show in prime time. Some studio stuff can be on it but stop changing the subject every ten minutes.
* More international news. They have access to all the Sky News stuff. Why not an hour of some of their best material?
* More babes. Sure, some are probably airheads and maybe even liberal airheads but bad newscasting is at least easier to take if it comes out of a pretty face. Maybe replace Hannity and Colmes with, say, Coulter and Estrich for a refresh of the familiar format. Babes allow you to pack more hard news into an evening without the drop in ratings.
* Political insiders. Why not have Fred and Mort host a show where they ask tough questions of the political insiders, rather than simply spout their own opinions? Krauthammer could be great at this too.
* Mark Steyn. Can't get enough of his writing. Even if he did a Dennis Miller-style commentary tucked into another show, it would soon become a good excuse to heat up the TiVo.
In short, less screaming, less tabloids, more hard news and more babes and more Steyn. More diversity in focus and topic matter. It's a 24/7 network guys...there's no reason to be taking the weekends off like it often seems.
Really? I enjoy that show.
I don't watch FOX News when these guys are on...
Bill O'Reilly
John Gibson
Shephard Smith
Sean Hannity (and Alan Colmes)
I do watch when these (ahem) guys are on...
Laurie Dhue
Heather Nauert
Linda Vester (I'm not sure why, but what the heck...)
I LOVE HANNITY-
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