Hannity admits FOX NEWS became activists and helped to defeat the Immigration bill
By John Amato Saturday Sep 15, 2007 7:02pm
Sean Hannity got a little carried away and had a moment of honesty on H&C the other night with Laura Ingraham. He was all pumped up and admitted that FOX News helped defeat the immigration bill.
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Hannity: I think we learned something and you touched on this in the book as it relates to as for example when people get angry, like on the immigration bill. The fix was in. Everybody agreed to it. They didn't expect a push back. Talk radio got involved, FOX NEWS, the new media all of a sudden people got informed. They started dialing---instilled fear in their politicians and it changed.
I thought FOX News was supposed to be a "news" channel and report events---not act as a wingnut activist organization, instill fear in politicians and try to defeat legislation.Howard Kurtz agrees with Sean and thinks GOP network activism is A-OK. I'd like to know why he feels FOX---which bills itself as the "fair and balanced" network should be considered a news organization with this type of behavior? After all, that's our major complaint. Thanks Sean for clearing this up for us.
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don't they have to get their license renewed?
Instilled fear. That just says it all.
if fox news is going to act this way, then it's time to force them to give free and equal time to the oppostion or face strong fines or de-certification as a news channel.
[Deleted. Read the commenting policy. If you don't like the way things are run here, feel free to start your own blog-Sitemonitor]
I think the "fair and ballenced" trademark is now subject to being labled false advertising.
dreg @ 4:
like all idiots, you don't know the difference in a hole in the ground and your ass.
tv news station---webb blog
please express your view on fox news....we don't want anymore stinking ignorance here.
dreg @ 4:
You're kidding, right? Fox's motto is "Fair and Balanced".
MadMoll @ 1:
dadams @ 3:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only if they broadcast over the air, which is considered to be a public trust. Any organization using cable or satellite delivery systems are beyond the pale of most legislation written for TV and radio. FOX knows what they're doing, and have carefully chosen a medium where 'fair and balanced' can be a slogan without any true meaning.
I fucking hate Laura Ingraham...because she's a mouthpiece for the reich wing...plus I hate her voice...whiny....whiny...whine.
BUT. And it's a big but. I would consider her a MILF well worthy of my attention...should she ask!
dreg @ 4:
ROTF ... yeah, and your point is it DOESN'T suck...????
[Deleted. This thread is not about you-Sitemonitor]
dreg, C&L doesn't claim to be a news outlet. Fox noise claims to be a news outlet. Instead, it is a propaganda outlet for neocons and the WH.
No doubt Faux will get a free pass from the FCC on this one. After all, hannity didn't tell the truth, and therefore did not upset the WH - unlike MoveOn's true statements regarding bush's new BFF, general david betrayus.
SadButTrue @ 8:
it would take some work, but we can email to advertizers to boycott, though i think we will be facing a strong opposing wind.
Next week, they'll just deny, deny, deny and call Media Matters and the other "left-wing" blogs liars for distilling these comments. The advent of video tape and recording devices is both a bane and boom for schizo FOX employees.
Juan Williams is a Neocon.
FOX should be shut down for propagandizing for Republicans and calling Republicans they don't like "Democrats".
dreg @ 11:
you can keep beating your head against the wall, the rest of us know,
IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
Ron,
[Deleted off topic-Sitemonitor]
dreg @ 4:
Idiot.
We all know how incensed liberals were when CBS News used 'fake, but accurate' documents about George Bush's Texas Air National Guard requirements and tried to influence the outcome of a national election.
Yes, as I recall, the outcry was deafening. A MSM news organization with a possible political agenda. Shocking.
web geek,
Sorry dude, I guess what I said just isn't popular. But I think I have a good point nonetheless. [No, you don't-Sitemonitor]
A FOX affiliate in Florida was involved in a legal case in 2003 where they argued successfully that being a "news" program did not oblige them to tell the truth. I love promoting the piece on this from Project Censored: Court Ruled That Media Can Lie
And I also like pimping my own piece, which covers different aspects of the overall media bias story: What Happened to the American Media?
Faux claims they are “Fair and Balanced”. It’s part of their name. It’s what they call themselves. They fail to deliver over and over and over and over. And that is in just the first few minutes of almost every program.
C+L don’t claim to be fair and balanced (even though they are as fair as it gets). C+L are a liberal progressive blog but the biggest difference is that Crooks and Liars do not lie. They tell the truth whereas FOX News stand out because of their lies.
I always find it incredibly offensive and distasteful when I hear Hannity use the word "freedom". Then I feel the need to purge my stomach. He must have been beaten up a LOT when he was a child and now feels a need to have the government assume the role of his nanny.
Captain Kangaroo,
[Deleted. Off topic concern trolling-Sitemonitor]
dreg @ 21:
I'm not going to argue anything with someone that can't see the difference between a privately owned blog on the internet and a "news" channel on TV that owes it's existence to the FCC.
dreg @ 18:
Uh, no dreg. There's the 28%ers that believe everything Fox says, and hold it up as truth. And some of these folks are very powerful with a lot of money to donate.
dreg @ 18:
Right wing blogs get attacked all the time because they lie and are hateful and are hypocrites not because they are biased. Jeez.
dreg @ 25:
Dreg, they claim to be “Fair and Balanced”. That is a flat out lie!
Web_geek
"I’m not going to argue anything with someone that can’t see the difference between a privately owned blog on the internet and a “news” channel on TV that owes it’s existence to the FCC."
[Deleted. Off topic]
It is one thing to reasrch and post a blog on discrepancies of a supposed news outlet and another to be a supposed news outlet that outright lies about everything. Ii has nothing to do with bias.
Ron,
You're getting off topic that's all. [Well, it takes an off topic poster to recognize another-Sitemonitor]
[Off topic]
dreg @ 32:
Oh for crying out loud! dreg, your name suits you. I'm going for a glass of wine. dreg has given me a headache in my eye.
So fox got one thing right. I hate 99% of the reporting if you can say reporting but on the the immigration bill I think it was a bad bill. all the other media was so P.C. it was sick......
dreg @ 30:
Fox says it is “Fair and Balanced” yet it tries to influence elections and people’s thinking. We all know that but there are 28%ers who do not think that. They think that Faux is “Fair and Balanced” only because Faux claims to be such. If Fox News said it was the mouthpiece for the gay sex loving, transvestite, bathroom trolling, anti abortion, one wife for a lifetime, two wives (at different times) for a lifetime, three wives (at different times) for a lifetime, Neocon, let’s find a new war, big deficit spending, whore mongering, congressional male intern chasing, disaster milking, cowardly, lying, cheating, Christian right wing Bush administration and Republican there would be no problem but you can rest assure that they would be called out for their lies and hate.
dreg @ 32:
This is about catching them admitting that they are biased When they say over and oave that they are “Fair and Balanced”. That is the deal. That is the reason for this topic. Alright we get it. Do you?
There are a large percentage of Fox viewers who watch Fox news only. Fox calls it news. That is where the problem begins. I have the impression that many of those viewers take information from Fox as truth rather than propaganda or outright lies. What worries me is that it essentially promotes hate and fear in order to draw ratings and those viewers give the impression that they need the hate and fear. Why is that? Are they that bored with their lives that it somehow encourages them and makes their lives more interesting? What keeps these people from gathering content from several sources so that they can develop an honest opinion rather than believing a source that has no interest in anything other than keeping their ratings up by selling hate and fear?
I do know that MSM is all pretty much the same, but Fox is by far the worst at abusing trust in journalism. So part of me agrees with dreg, but Fox News does not report news and should be required to be reclassified as something other than a news organization. It wouldn't hurt their ratings particularly since their viewers don't seem to care as long as they get their daily dose of hate and fear.
Never watch FOX, don't plan on watching FOX, but if they played any small part in defeating the last two versions of the Senate's immigration reform legislation, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, HALLELUJAH!
damontsar @ 35:
We're not talking about REPORTING...UGH, we're talking about INFLUENCING!
Not just FOX though. You can't get a microphone on CNN unless you are anti-immigration.
dreg @ 33:
I said “Right wing blogs get attacked all the time because they lie and are hateful and are hypocrites NOT BECAUSE they are biased”. Being biased is NOT the problem for blogs. Lying is the problem as I stated. I agree with you on this. You seem to have missed a very important word… “NOT”. Back to the topic. "Fair and Balanced".
Sean Hannity is an IDIOT.
He's after THE BIG BUCKS and the BIG RATINGS.
I think everybody at "FIXED NOISE" is mentally derranged. They all accuse the Democrats of their own worst crimes against journalism, and lying to the American People.
"I think they should be kicked out of the country." John McCain (talking about Move On, regarding their "BETRAY-US" print ad.
"we won...um the debate shifted..."
We?
I want to thank you all for backing me. The fact is, I try to use a common sense approach to my posts. Apparently dreg doesn't have any of it.
Ron @ 46:
Dreg just has a different view and the chance to exchange ideas with people is a great one. This is why I like blogs. If we can get our point of view across to others who feel differently, that is a good thing. I've had people from the right point out things about Democrats that I didn't like but were not necessarily wrong. It's an opportunity! Make the best of it.
"Fear and Balanced"
do you regular commenters see how one tiny troll can hijack an entire thead even with an attentive site monitor?
why keep falling for the master baiters?
they, we know are cretins. don't fight dumb with dumber.
I'm shocked! Hannity admits to a slight bias, may have tilted his spews coverage a little bit. And I thought he was so fair.
Ever notice how all these guys fawn over Laura? Not only is he a mental midget, he's got the emotional maturity of a 13 year old boy. What an asswipe.
I hope this is on theme. Its hard to tell with all the deletes, must be a full moon.
Why would any Democrat go on the Repug Faux Nutwerk?
They are the semi-official Repug propaganda outlet. Any non-Repug gets his mike cut off, shouted over, or even threatened by Faux Security. Idiots, thugs, goons and liars are the only on air employees of Faux. Boycott Faux.
Jenny'O @ 49:
Why should we compromise with parasites? Or let even one slide by?
Delusional, self-serving, socially and economically conservative parasites should be stomped on at every given opportunity to show that they are NOT the default. They are NOT the equivalent of those with real evidence to support their claims. They are NOT worthy of respect. They are intellectual zits to be popped and the wounds they leave behind to be sterilized.
If you give in to them, they gain power over you, If you ignore them completely, they ALSO gain power over you, because if they're here that means you have to be somewhere else to ignore them. The only way to take away their power is to confront and challenge them on every front. If you can't hate the status they represent enough to want to confront or change them, why do you even visit a site designed to promote the opposition to them?
Captain Kangaroo @ 36:
He's not gonna get it; and he's not concerned about learning anything. He's concerned about being right.
"Hannity Country"? Calling it that is enough to discourage immigration.
Well, that certainly does poke a hole in 'fair and balanced', doesn't it?
OTOH, much of my radio dial's last 20 years have been spent on KPFA in Berkeley. They certainly consider themselves a news station (and I agree) and they certainly have a bias and are trying to move the gov't in their (and my, usually) direction. I guess the major difference is that they don't pretend to be 'fair and balanced', while FOX insists on wearing a fig-leaf.
So, let FOX keep their license. it's the cost of living in a free(-ish) society.
So tell us, please, what there was about that bill that you thought was really good for the United States.
How is it a good thing for any country to embrace a labor system that breaks the rule of law in that country? Liberals better start getting a clue abut illegal entry, or it will surely be the ruination of the U. S.
Sean Hannity - Media Putz of The Week:
http://mediaputz.com/07/09/putz0913.html
Also, I think C & L is incorrect in saying that Fox is promoting a "wingnut" view with this issue. A majority of Americans across the board oppose illegal entry, want the 30 million illegals who are in the country deported, and want the border secured to prevent further illegal entry.
Fox uses 1920's eugenics movement talking points about immigration and their advertisers are like "It's okay Sean's a racist, 9/11 changed everything"
seth @ 54:
Hannity Country? What country is that? Bolivia? North Korea?
HANNITY SUCKS!
FOX is a dishonest operation but they have an agenda that goes beyond Bush since Bush was for the immigration bill.
[Deleted. Hard for you to understand the concept of 'on topic?' Sitemonitor]
What's sad about this post is that this site doesn't know that Hannity was wrong: Fox pretty much ignored immigration during the heat of the debate. Search for fox here.
kaT @ 58:
You are missing the whole point! It is not up to a "Fair and Balanced" news organization to scare people into calling their representatives, or to set the political agenda, it's up to them to REPORT the news.
If that is all they did, YOU wouldn't have to REPORT what a majority of the people want.
I hate Sean Hannity. He is a moron.
Falafel Bill has been complaining lately that the Daily Kos and MoveOn, two organizations he hates, instill fear in the Democratic presidential nominees. Isn't that what Hannity says Fox has done to politicians, instill fear in them? Ergo, Falafel Bill must hate Fox Noise!
If Satan himself were to form a news channel, it couldn't possibly be as evil as Fox News.
Sean & Laura combining Freedom Fascism. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Sort of like Gasoline and human babys go together.................
"I thought FOX News was supposed to be a “news” channel and report events..."
Looks like you thought wrong.
The problem with the immigration battle was not Fox but those who want reform fought it on the wrong grounds. We need these immigrants. If the question was "How much do we need them and how much are we willing to pay (in food shortages and higher prices for example) to get rid of them?" rather than "Should we giver amnesty to those criminals?" which is what we allowed the fight to be about there would have ben rational reform. For further discussion see
randomabsurdities.wordpress.com
Why are you leftards upset with Fox? The OIL lobby is buying them just like the rest of the media. Pretty soon it will be just the news they want us to hear and nothing more.
Sean Hannity is just a big pooper!
And I dont et what his "freedom" thing is all about? What exactly are we "free" to do in Hannity's little world?
...oh yeah, free to make money.
So happy to hear that FuxNoise was instrumental in the defeat of the immigration bill, which also means they were instrumental in having millions of Hispanics and Latinos turn against the Repugs. Nice going, Fux! Keep up the good work. I can't wait for the FCC hearings after January 20, 2009. I wonder how many bricks Murdoch and Hannity are going to shit. Does anyone else think that Fux is getting a little too overconfident in their power? Seems to me that they are starting to realize that hitching their wagon to Bush and the Republicans is turning into a disaster and they can't find a way to loosen themselves from it while it all crashes and burns. Can't wait for the fatalities.
kaT @ 56:
I love it how all the people against illegal immigration chat about 'rule of law'. Where's the fucking rule of law when George W. Bush takes a shit on FISA so he can nose his way into your affairs? Where's the rule of law when American citizens are denied habeas corpus? Where's the rule of law when Paris can get a get out of jail free card after 23 days? Or Lohan after a day? Scooter didn't have to serve any time at all because he sucked vice presidential dick better than Craig would have gotten in that bathroom I'm sure.
There is no rule of law. The Law used to apply to everyone. Now it only applies to the poor. To those not lucky enough to be a hall of fame quarterback or a tired looking hotel heiress or a traitorous partisan for the ruling oligarchy. Tell you what Chief Powhatan, why don't you go complain to all the Native Americans we murdered bringing 'civilization' to this land about illegal immigration. I'm willing to bet you aren't one of them. I'm also willing to bet you're not someone who would go into a field and pick strawberries for $1 a day either.
The point of this article is that a Fox News spokesman came out and said that his 'news' channel tried to directly influence public opinion based on their own agenda. This is nothing new of course, Murdock himself did the same thing at the world Economic conference. It doesn't matter whether or not you agree with their results. The problem is that a news organization is supposed to report the news not make it themselves and not try to sway people to their own ideological bent with lies, fabrication and outright propaganda. The purpose of a news organization is to educate the people on current events so that they can make up their own damned minds how they feel about it.
If a news organization was
Faux noise has always been proven to be a show of terribly ignornant toadstools, that habitually Whore themselves for the lunatic, radical wing-nuts.
Shammity's a sock puppet
After it unraveled.
Now I hate FOX...
but
IT . WAS . A . BAD . BILL !!!!!!
I'm glad they defeated the immigration bill.
It was a bad bill to begin with. Just designed to help corporate America get rich at the expense of the poor by allowing them to exploit more illegal aliens.
Good riddance to a bad bill.
That's one of the few good things Fox News and talk radio have done.
Mug @ 73:
Not many freedom's in Shemp Hannity's crypto fascist world.
You'd be...
Free to make money, free to own as many guns as you want, free to drink and smoke and eat as much as you want, free to buy as much as you want, free to consume, consume, consume. That's it really.
But...
Freedom of speech, freedom to bad mouth the neocon government, freedom of expression, freedom FROM religion and freedom of religion -- not so much.
You know, I expect that people and organizations will have biases. I think it's reasonable to expect that the individuals that make up organizations will have opinions, and that if there are enough of them, that opinion will change the way the organization functions. I've worked for two newspapers now, and seen the process of selecting news first hand. And yes, it is selected. I've had a hell of a time trying to talk editors into carrying some of the news I thought was relevant, and I was the only one voting for it. In the end, though, it came down to the Editor-in-Chief and what he or she thought the board would let them get away with.
That would be what blogs are so good for. They carry the news the blog owner thinks is important, irrespective of ad sales and considerations of offense, making them inherently different from news outlets. Blogs are a single or small group owned venture that does not have to owe its existence to any other group. And, once more, they are the opinions of the blog owner. But then, so's the news.
The point is not that Fox should have no bias, the point is that they pretend not to have any, which is deeply dishonest. I don't know if people are getting the message that it is mentally healthy to suppose that everyone talking to you has an agenda and is attempting to persuade you (especially on TV news programs), but I fear this is not so. Because of this, what Hannity has admitted to is both considerably more honest than he has previously been and a big ole red flag that there has been not just a fiction in terms of what is being reported, but a fiction in terms of how it is being presented.
Damn, where did the skepticism go? Doubt everything you can, people.
Correct me if my observation is wrong, but the majority of you blowhards on this forum seem to think there is some sort of moral high ground to be won by whining about Fox News? By stigmatizing people and institutions that are unapologetically patriotic, be it President Bush, Fox News, or every day American citizens proud of their country, you have erected a series of straw men to vent your visceral hatred for America on. This delusional blathering and the shameless rhetoric employed seems to be the locus fueling our enemies, Islamists, Marxists, and the morally perverse. Virtue and power by mere anti-Americanism, all the more appealing too since, unlike real virtue, it requires no sacrifice or effort...only outrage at every slight hint that America should revitalize it's vision of American democratic assertiveness in a dangerous contemporary world.
kaT @ 58:
30 million? Where did you get THAT number, FoxNews?
Guido, OBGYN, Lover @ 16:
Just like a typical liberal, if you dont like someones oppinion, you try to silence them. Have you ever heard of "Freedom of Speech" i works for eveyone. Even those you disagree with.
so by your line of reasoning we should also shut down PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, NPR for spreading left wing propaganda
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