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 ...
Fire John Gibson, Greta and ED.
There used to be a show that presented news stories that were ignored by Old Media. It was a weekend show and I haven't seen it in many months.
I'd like to see them bring something like that back.
I'd also like to see more documentaries, again focusing on either stories ignored by OM or even better, presenting facts omitted by OM in widely reported news stories which change the entire complexion of the stories.
Thank You for that Mr. Ailes.
He's 6'4" tall, should he lower his chair?
Gibson is one of the best. Keep Gibson. Replace O'Reilly with Tony Snow. Snow is jsut such a decent sort, and always enjoyable. Gibson is SHARP. Neil Cavuto is also SHARP. Greta would be fine for interviews, but I detest the topics on her show. Not interested at all. Colmes makes me ill, or perhaps it's the blindingly stupid things he says, I cannot decide which. Hannity is far too sure of himself. My favorite of all is Britt Hume. Completely professional.
Get rid of Bill O'Reilly.
Get rid of "fog of war" boy, Geraldo.
Bring back Tony Snow and Dennis Miller.
Give Hume a raise.
Yes, because his chair is a foot higher and he's a big man, his head is almost two feet higher than his guests.
Juliet Huddy Naked.....Nuff said
Amen!!
Well I guess thats a difference of opinion.
IMO Gibson sounds like he's drunk half the time, he repeats himself, he asks idiotic questions which are plain to see and the answers to his questions have already been in the news...he is responsible for me smacking my forehead everytime I watch him.
Some of my favorite questions he asks (like the one the other day): "Do you think we will catch Osama"?
I mean, seriously.....what does he think we are doing over there? His POV he bases his questions on seems to come from the lies of the left. He said last night stocks were down when they were up....
Gibson is a liability. So is Greta Van Tabloid.
He does that intentionally.
Having just come back from Europe and being at the mercy of Sky News, believe me there is no best material.
FOX has deteriorated in the past 2 years. Their format mirrors the other news stations in subject matter. It is as if every news company mimics each others' Top 10 Stories of the Day...and must repeat them 24/7/12.
OVERALL: FOX is as inane as everyone selse:
(1) endless self-promos and teases about what's "comin' up next"; always spoken like the speaker was just "speaking his lines" on a stage. Imagine a radio music show where every song played was just a different version of "The TOP 10 Songs of the Day". That is FOX. They play different versions of the same "TOP 10 Songs" of the day.
(2) over-playing to the behind-the-scenes studio personnel. On air staff seems to spend a lot of time and effort reacting to these people, while ignoring the 1,000s who may be watching the show on their own TVs. The 100 back-stage and administrative-review people are frequently the real "audience".
(3) face-time staff seem to be more concerned with showing "poise" and "good looks", than in presenting and setting any TV-news behavior standard. It seems that, as long as you are self-promoting (yourself and/or the Network), you are doing the correct TV-News job.
(4) jumping-bean news reporting. No one can stick to a single topic for more than a few minutes. Why not?
INDIVIDUAL SHOWS: part of the problem is that each hour-long segmnent seems to carry with it the requirement to mimic "The TOP 10" stories that the last host just showed.
...FOX&FRIENDS--a sick comedy show where jokes, entertainment, slapstick and war coverage all melt together in a mess. Using serious news stories as props for entertainment and "Comedy Central" is a big dis-service to veiwers expecting a News program.
...SHEP SMITH--a total buffoon and carnival barker. HE is the show--and he makes sure no one forgets it. Brings in small snippets of news into a 60-second segment that could be used to fill most of his hour if he decided to actually report on the stories behind the snippets. No time for that tho--Sheppard is just their to Carnival Bark like a self-centered idiot.
...NEIL CAVUTO--more self-centered gunk usually bringing in stories that he can relate to himself--his eating habits, physical appearance, etc. It's all about him. I thought he was a Ecomonics guru, but he's not. He gathers together friends and tries to turn a 30-second discussion into a loud-mouth over-talking disfunctional family get-together. Another show that could take a few serious topics and stick with them for 10 minutes, instead of jumping bean-ing.
...JOHN GIBSON--more bad bean-jumping. more self-promotion. Even worse, the man can't read a teleprompter without stammering and committing some of the worst audio atrocities. Audio atrocities like over-pronouncing every word with a hard "C", a hard "P", a hard "B", a hard "K", a hard "G". Basic audio courtesy toward a listener is to be aware of this, and tone the broadcast to a user-friendly tone level. Instead, he over-empasizes the hard consonant sound.
...BRITT HUME--stuck in his own format mud, no matter what the topics may be. Every show must also fit in the "TOP 10 Story" list and every show must include face-time for Carnival Barker Smith. He could do 40 minutes with just his panel reviewing news topics, but that would take away from Britt's own face-time.
...O'REILLY--the only one who seems to have the freedom to choose his news items outside "The TOP 10 Story" list. Self-centered, sex-obsessed. Diarrhea of the mouth comes easy to him.
...HANNITY/COLMES--more lame goats overspeaking over the guests. Not news--more self-promotion by the hosts.
...WEEKEND SHOWS--all seem to be Test-Runs for a gig on a Prime Time spot. Shows seem to be designed for the approval and review of the behind-the-scenes and Adminstrative FOX staff, and not for the viewers.
When FOX was hot, they were on the ball when it came to showing "news", particlarly live, breaking stories. Now that FOX has got the top ratings, they are happy to become like everyone else. I guess they know that they have a "captive audience" that will keep their ratings high no matter what the viewers may think. It's all about whomever is included in the ratings survey.
Chris Wallace has got to go, bring back Tony Snow. The weekend Fox & Friends just don't get it done, I switch to ESPN.
She's preggers so we'll be rid of her for awhile in the Spring.
The 2PM - 3PM slot with the most under-rated Fox personality, Martha MacCallum, is excellent. She was good on CNBC Business Channel and had an evening show with a former CIA guy that was also good. Her interviews are good and she doesn't let people (Liberals) get away with wrong answers. She could replace Greta too.
1. I do like some of the saturday morn business shows, specifically: Forbes on Fox (just to hear cranky old Jim Michaels rip up other's investment ideas) and Cashin' In (because I have gotten some profitable investment ideas from Wayne Rogers and Jonathan what's-his-name).
2. Can't stand to watch O'Reilly anymore (unless a great guest is on) or H&C (too predictable and silly).
3. The amount of news stories on Fox news is pitiful. After 15-20 minutes (on a good day) they start recycling the same 4 or 5 stories over and over and over....I actually find myself switching to CNN jut to get some broader and deeper coverage.
4. COMMERCIALS! TOO MANY, TOO LONG, TOO FREQUENT! They drive me NUTS! They can't have 2 minutes of programming without jumping into 3 minutes of commercials. The greed factor is overcoming any continuity in the programming.
5. Britt Hume is tops (hardly ever miss it), especially the last 20 minutes with his panel.
6. Personally, I think that Fox should give Krautheimer his own in-depth analysis show - he really puts out a perspective that is missing elsewhere.
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