O'Reilly gloats that Fox's ratings are due to its 'fair and balanced' approach
You know how when someone says, "Now, I'm not trying to be a jerk, but ...", you can be certain that what will follow is them being a jerk. Same with Bill O'Reilly last night in his Talking Points Memo segment: He declares that he's "not gloating, just reporting" the fact that Fox News is knocking the socks off its cable competition in the ratings wars, but then of course proceeds to gloat by claiming that Fox's big draw is its "fair and balanced" approach:
So why is this happening? Well, a major reason is the health care debate. While the other network news broadcasts downplay the dissent and promote the government takeover of the health care industry, FOX News highlights the intense debate. When we cover the town hall meetings, we don't describe the protesters as loons. We don't denigrate people who disagree with President Obama. That's the big difference between FOX News and all the others.
Actually, Fox News does more than just "highlight" the intense debate: It outright foments it, particularly in spreading such bogus claims as the notion that health-care reform means "euthanasia" for senior citizens. That is, Fox has been deliberately injecting irrational fears into the debate and stirring up paranoia and anger.
Now, some liberals will say we intentionally glorify the protesters. That doesn't happen here. We've said there's no doubt some of the dissent is organized by people who dislike President Obama. That's a fact, and we've reported it.
That may be so at The Factor -- though in fact O'Reilly has openly pandered to the claim that universal health care will mean discarding the elderly, did so later in the same broadcast -- but it is certainly not true elsewhere at Fox.
Moreover, nowhere at Fox (or anywhere else, for that matter) has there been any reportage about the empowerment of right-wing radicals that's become part of the whole "tea party" scene.
"The Factor" also gives voice to both sides, something you will never get on NBC News. So, fair-minded Americans know our reporting is honest, while much of the other TV news media is simply in the tank for the president.
Now you'd think that liberal Americans would flock to hear their side propped up, but that's clearly not happening. For libs, conservatives and independents alike, there's really no choice. They have to watch us if they want to know what's going on. And they are in record numbers.
Actually, a more logical explanation is that liberals don't need to hear their side propped up the way conservatives do -- they know what's right and what's wrong in this debate. And there may indeed be more of them watching Fox News because they also know that this is the wellspring of the opposition -- the place where people are getting ginned up and angry enough to throw up anything that might stick as a roadblock to reform. It's important to know what's being thrown up next.
So yes, we do need to watch Fox to know what's going on -- but not the way O'Reilly thinks.
Fox has high ratings due to the fact that half of America is of below average intelligence. The upper half gets split between the major networks.
billo missed his accessment by
just two points:
fair and balanced.
with o'really think contrarian. not fair not balanced one sided
my anti-methane mask wore out a long time ago, this I cannot watch that channel
This is the man who wrote a book for kids advising them how to handle a bully in school.
Jeanne
asked Specter if he ever read the Koran.
for watching and reporting on Fox News so I don't have to see it. I can't even get through the videos.
I'm afraid my brain will get broken.
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Seriously, far too often I get the vibe that Fox News is run by guys who were either frat douches in college, or WANTED to get into frats but couldn't because they were too douchey even for frat houses. This kind of gloating is nothing more than a shout out to the people who are really paying attention: "We set out to make America dumber...AND IT'S WORKING! GO ahead! Try to rat us out! We'll just tell our sheep you're UnAmerican and can't be trusted! Your voice mail will be filled with death threats within 45 minutes of the O'Reilly Factor....whoops hold on, back from commercial break. 'So, America, rest easy knowing the far and balanced Fox News team makes you better people by keeping you informed over what's really important.'"
And then we're supposed to go ball up our little fists in impotent rage and go home and bite our respective pillows. Horse crap. They're irrelevant, but that means they're a beacon of light to their increasingly irrelevant audience. Just like guys who troll ebay looking for Members Only Jackets, Fox news' style of awful will always be de rigeur for a sad portion of the American electorate, only they won't call it 'de rigeur' out of fear their friends will think they speak French and fag bash 'em. I welcome Fox News, as it makes it that much easier to know who I don't have to waste any time getting to know.
All their supposed massive ratings prove is that there are a lot of simplistic dupes out there that have been so dumbed down by
Pravdathe MSM that they will believe anything. Since no one with legitimate credibility tells Bill O and the Fox Nutwork that they are great they tell themselves."We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
On a good night, Billo has 2,000,000 morons. The U.S. population is 330,000,000. Do the math O'Rally? That's .6 of 1% of the population.
The same number of morons who coincidentally show up at the town halls completely misinformed, irrational, and just plain crazy-stupid.
Regardless, you have a rather high opinion of yourself Mr. Bloward. You know that we know that you know you are a GOP corporate whore lying sack-of-shit propagandist. But, anything for Ruperts rubels, eh' Billo?
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
for putting it in perspective, that's always been my point.
The ratings may be high for what's on television at that time, but
all they've got tuning in are old, scared, angry goats. When his audience dies off, so does he. His audience is hardly representative of the population and interests of the U.S.
for venture bros and reruns of family guy
sad thing is...those 2 mil are the same nutjobs that have been showing up to the townhalls
sad, pathetic old people
if i ever become that sad and pathetic...i will shoot myself
This old goat can gloat as much as he desires, but the fact is, having 2,000,000 morons watching his show isn't something to gloat about.
Remember, Billo, self-praise is no praise.
i wonder if fox news viewers know their station is owned by a foreigner...
whoah is this true? haha Patriotism FAIL
quick wiki search .. "American, Australian-born" so i guess its no longer a foreigner, and is now an american corp since 2004...
still a good fact that i wasnt aware of though!
I wanna see his birth certificate! And not that fake one his mom gave him.
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
Where's his birth certificate?
nm.
that if there was a fight between Hannah Montana fans and Bill O fans, those little tweeners would fiercely outnumber the angry oldsters.
"America's Got Talent" with the execrable Hasselhoff gets about 3xs the viewership that O'Reilly gets on the best night.
All the other major networks who report news to the informed thinking majority have the to split the reatings share. FOX is the only network that caters to the 27 percenters, flat eathers, teabaggers, birthers, deathers, astroturfers and wingnuts. They have a corner on that market, i'm not surprised their ratings are higher than the real news networks that aren't mere propaganda arms of the Republican Party.
I'm surprised their ratings are not higher. If the old-fart bigot 27 percenters could figure out how to work the cable remote, Fox would definitely see a boost in their viewing audience of zombies.
Hell, some of them are still trying to figure out why all the stations are on channel 3?
Rush Limbaugh is what a smart person thinks a stupid bigot sounds like.
The public is slowly figuring out that the media is not where to find truth. So the biggest audience left is those who aren't looking for truth.
As all big media slides down the cliff, Fox News viewers are the last to abandon it, so the media will continue to think that emulating Fox News gets ratings, so the media will continue sliding down the cliff.
When there is no big media left but Fox News, we will have democracy.
And these viewers also get their news from print and web sources. The Fox rubes only believe what they see on Fox or hear from Rush. They're online outlets are nothing more than repeaters where they can go on and spout their insanity for all the world to see. Freerepublic never fails to crack me up. Redstate drives me nuts. If Obama sneezed in a manner they didn't like, it would be their headline fucking post the next day. What a bunch of jackasses those guys are over there lol. So self-important...
in the hopes of seeing Beck or O'Reilly have a heart attack on live television.
The other half is waiting for the pretty news presenter or the story on topless coffee shops to come along.
To tell you the truth, I really don't think viewers turn to Fox News for the news at all. Any news story, when described unemotionally is pretty boring. Fox News viewers are more about being entertained and that is what Fox News provides. Its no different than Comedy Central's John Stewert. Stewert is a hit because he is funny and entertaining.
Fox News is well known for hyping up a story to generate an emotional response and providing a little "eye candy" for its viewers in the form of blond bimbos, clean cut men, and bright lights. In fact, I bet if you polled many of those viewers they couldn't tell you anything more than simple phrases describing the health care debate.
Yes, the appeal that Stewart has is that he is funny and entertaining, but the difference between Stewart and Faux News is the content of programs (actual information one can use in Stewart's case), and the calibre of people they appeal to. Dare I say it, but those of us who watch Stewart near-religiously do so for the opportunity to laugh at the likes of Fox News' "talent" and viewership, while we pay attention to Stewart's dismantling of Fox's bullshit.
Ok, so maybe not a crowbar's difference, more like an ocean....
I've never seen change without a fire
I'm not knocking Stewart's style since I am a fan of Stewart to. I'm just saying that Stewart uses humor while at the same time being serious to keep his audience entertained just like Fox News uses anger to generate their form of entertainment. Stewart has to be funny and I expect him to be. If he wasn't funny he probably wouldn't be on Comedy Central for very long.
Fox News though, deliberatly generates angry emotional responses through their reporting whereas other news outlets do not and yet Fox News claims they are "fair and balanced". If Fox News really wanted to be honest they would call themselves the anger channel.
emotions in their viewers, be it anger, or something down below the belt, if you get my drift...
I've never seen change without a fire
I'll bet regular FOX viewers cry all the way thru O'Reilly and Hannity.
They save pennys and nickels, cans and bottles to help Fox's 'newspeople' and cheer them up after a hard day being beat up by that liberal media like C & L.
sniffle , sniffle ,
Those poor souls
every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .
... every time we heard of an accident on the Hollywood Freeway at Barham, we used to drive miles to see, since it was almost always spectacular.
That's why people watch O'Reilly. People just like to watch wrecks.
If you need funds to pay for essentials, you have a revenue problem
If you need funds to pay for frivolity, you have a spending problem
Fox viewers also must be regular attenders of the circus freak show as well. Why not hang with your own kind?
"We will find fulfillment not in the goods that we have, but in the good we can do for each other."
Robert F. Kennedy
being right or good journalism or fair and balanced or anything that actually means something.
If you put babes Jell-O wrestling on, you'll kill any news program in the ratings, but you won't have done a very good job of informing the public.
I'm so glad I have a computer and on the internets so I don't have to watch o'really and fox news. I love getting it from you in little pieces. I agree that probably most that watch o'really and fox watch all day, don't get do anything else except being glued to the box, like it's their pulpit and god, and that they eat tons of crap in front of the tube also.
... both Billo and Hannity have what used to called hyphenated titles. Billo has on Morris, Rove, Miller, Kelly, Beck, Ingraham almost daily. We all realize that these clowns are experts in just about everything. So just make up the titles as needed: Economist-Environmentalist-Politician-Financier-add more, you get the message.
Sometimes, but rarely, thsy bring on someone like Jonathan Turley and Marc Lamont Hill, and what happens? Billo lectures them.
I see more knowledgable people on MSNBC in one night than on Fox all week.
If you need funds to pay for essentials, you have a revenue problem
If you need funds to pay for frivolity, you have a spending problem
i set my tv out on the sidewalk about 4 years ago.
tried watching fox at work with co-workers that always put it on just before i go out in the field to do my thing.
fox is only a reminder that cable is not worth the price.
i came back from being out in the field and they had on Sports Bloopers.
went home where it's peaceful & quiet.
All progressives (and even not so progressive, but otherwise sane people) need to get VERY organized and systematically focus on boycotting any companies that advertise on Fox, whether Beck, O'Reilly, Van Sus, or whatever. This should be a TOP PRIORITY for all progressive bloggers, including C&L, FDL, Kos, TPM, Media Matters and whomever else wants to join in.
A well-organized boycott is cheap, easy to execute and most importantly, actually works. (As witness the recent damage done to Beck's show - Geico, Progressive, Proctor-Gamble, etal pulled out.) Anything else is pretty much whistling in the wind.
I'm serious. Well-organized and thoughtfully executed boycotts will do damage where plain-vanilla bitching simply will not.
He blew any more smoke up his own ass, he could rent himself out as a hot air balloon.
n/t
every time you throw a little mud , you lose a little ground .
This guy has been smelling his own farts way too long. He's fried his brain and has NO IDEA what reality is anymore.
God, it must suck to be him.
Bill O. doesn't get that the channel is typically a joke to liberals. I do find myself, at times when I do turn it on, struggling not to chuck my remote through the screen.
Considering some of the knowledge that Americans have on issues (like not knowing Medicare is a government system even though I have "Medicare Tax" listed as one of the things taken out of my paycheck every week), it doesn't shock me that FOX wins in ratings or that assuming that it is true even. Most people that tend to associate with policies of the right like to here things that make their preconceived beliefs right (whether they're right or not) - like the Death Panels statement because then the idea that Obama is a fascist or Nazi that's put out by Rush (ok, not a FOX host, but he will appear there if asked) or Glenn Beck.
Just keep reminding yourself one thing and repeat it to people you come across believing this crap - "Trust but verify." That was the favorite saying of their "Messiah" President (they claim Obama is ours, so he's theirs) - Ronald Reagan. They listen to Rush/Beck/Bill O./etc. and just assume they're telling the truth. They got the trust thing down, but they never like to verify. At that point, when they say they trust those people or whatever, ask them why they hate Reagan and think he was a socialist? Even if you don't wake them up, I promise the ensuing rant from them will be very entertaining as they try to make themselves appear to love their "Messiah" Reagan again.
The truth and the facts are the opposite of what the right wing nuts and REpugs say almost every time . Fair and balanced ? Right Bill-O . I gotta get a grip and calm down , I've been having over loaded circuits , so pissed off with the latest right wing nut Nazi like tactics and all of the psychos and simpletons at the town halls , pissed at the Dems for giving the enemy the obvious target and mad as hell the way the MSM lends credence and legitimacy to these " grass roots organizations " that are not grass root at all , but I have a feeling all of this will blow over and in the end this will not help the Repug and right wing scum bags but hurt them in the end . We people with brain and common sense are still the majority , the Repug's base is down to the radicals , the psychos and freaks and the dumb and gullible simpletons , the Repug party is not growing ... they are caught in a catch 22 , yes they have the MSM but they have to cater to what's left of their base to keep them on board , in turn they are repelling the rest of the country ... the normies and semi normies . Agree / disagree ?
what this freaking idiot thinks gives him credibility. I am tired of reading about billo, glenn, madilyn, rush, etc. and be expected to think that anything they have to say is relevant to anything. These people are ass-bags and do not deserve one word in print.
You're absolutely right . The left would be better off ignoring instead of promoting .
Exactly how far to the right from the center do you consider balanced?
When Bill and Laura Ingrahm agree it is balanced and because the two came to agree,. Its fair.?
When Sarah Palin makes John Boehner appear moderate, its too mucch to handle.
It's funny, I was just listening to a debate on public radio about whether or not the media tells the truth. One of the last speakers pointed out that Rupert Murdoch has turned many once-reputable newspapers into titty tabloids, and made a fortune doing so. The speaker also listed a huge stack of lies that were simply made up by newspapers about the lives of celebrities, and so on.
As he put it, sensationalism sells because it's entertaining, undemanding, and appealing to the lowest common denominator. Responsible journalism appeals to a far smaller audience.
That's why Fox has higher ratings - because it's a circus.
Bill loves to complain about the "MSM" being out of touch, and then brags about 2 million viewers. If Catie Couric (the lowest ranked of the big 3) had Bill O's ratings, SHE WOULD CUT HER THROAT ON THE AIR!!! (just for the ratings bump). If the left is so "out of touch", how did we elect a mixed-race guy with a funny name & funny ears? HE IS IN THE MINORITY, a minority that is shrinking every day.
No it's because cable providers won't let us drop faux, who pay extra to make it so, and charge extra for the competition.
Do they measure potential viewers or actual viewers?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
It's probably in Bill O'Really?'s contract that he must remind viewers that they cannot trust ANY network except the Faux News channel. The suckers who believe it are the lifeblood of that pathetic propaganda channel.
The Factor" also gives voice to both sides, something you will never get on NBC News. So, fair-minded Americans know our reporting is honest, while much of the other TV news media is simply in the tank for the president.
Look, Bill, when you have to TELL your viewers your reporting is *cough* honest, you're not doing it right.
Asshat.
Faux Noise was created just for the unintelligent, ignorant, racist liars in the Right Wing.
Why is it that Fox has been the most popular US station for at least a decade? My European friends are shocked when they see it that it's allowed to broadcast at all and that so many Americans watch it. Maybe you're right that part of the reason is that even Democrats/liberals/progressives watch it to see what the rabble-rousers are up to, but that can't be all of it. I usually think of it as more evidence that Americans are stupid, morally hopeless people, but I think it's more because Americans haven't been taught to think critically and don't realize that "THE News" (as comedian Bill Hicks used to call it) can have a bias: if it's on a program that purports to be serious, it must be true.
I also think that Americans are easily fooled by image, as in they're more likely to listen to newscasters/presenters who conform to their idea of what looks good and they think that slicker graphics means more respectable content and they will rank news programs by superficial considerations like that. And I do know ostensible liberals, all males, who watch Fox News because they like the way the bleachhead female news presenters look. I bet that's a more widespread phenomenon than we realize.
people watch FOX because it's supposedly fair and balanced, he's seriously demented. FOX is not fair and balanced as we know but that doesn't stop BillO from claiming it is. Some people watch it because it's conservative and some watch it to "know your enemy". Then there's those who watch it for the laughs as BillO, Beck and others there are a joke. This reminds me of how BillO claims that the newspapers are failing because they supposedly have a liberal agenda. He doesn't want to believe that the internet and TV have anything to do with newspapers losing circulation.
Mediabistro has this FOX ratings story too but they edited out the part of BillO's remark where he said brought up glorifying the protesters and the organized dissent. One of the people posting there busted them on it. There's lots of FOX supporters over there and only a few with enough common sense to point out BillO's lies.
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/fox_n...
Illusions of Grandeur.
What is your conceptual, continuity?
Hallucinations of Glandular.
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
"Now you'd think that liberal Americans would flock to hear their side propped up, but that's clearly not happening."
Liberal Americans don't need to hear our side of the argument "propped up", because we're not constantly barraged with facts that challenge our perception of reality.
That's more of a neocon problem.
The reality of ratings, or believing 5.4 million viewers actually is a large number, belies the fact most Americans believe these clowns are worthless pieces of crap who have found out how to sell advertising and make money, buy have no impact on political debate in this country.
Fox News is a place for people to watch and have their own opinions validated, not to learn anything that matters. Before they gloat too much over 5 or even 10 million viewers, there's 300 million of us out here who think they're batshit crazy.
They couldn't keep Bush from sinking like a lead weight, and they can't make today's Republican party look good to everyday Americans.
The fact that American Idol, also on FOX, is the highest rated show in America tells us a great deal about Bill O'Reilly watchers.
They're the same people who slow down their cars at accidents and create gapers blocks by hoping to catch a glimpse of the carnage. They're the same people who like to watch men beat one another bloody and graphic TV shows that show people getting mauled/bitten/eviscerated/eaten by sharks, grizzles and crocodiles. They're the same people who watch COPS and Dog The Bounty Hunter and get a vicarious thrill from the miseries, deprivations and dysfunctions of victims and criminals alike. They're the same people who admire and praise the NRA, neo-Nazis, the KKK and Scott Roeder as if they were all modern day heroes......and they all claim to be children of god with no awareness whatsoever of the twisted and demonic hypocrisies they reveal in themselves.
If Mr. O'Reilly finds comfort and solace in believing he is "fair and balanced" rather than being the most provocative liar, degenerate, hypocrite and misanthropic sociopath at a carnival freak show, then he is indeed worthy of his particular perversion of popularity.
being included as part of a basic cable package doesn't hurt...
and, recently installed dish satellite for my mom who lives in the country - fox is on the first tier 'family' favorites, cnn also...
you have to pay for the most expensive package (top 200) to get msnbc...
Franklin D. Roosevelt was once asked why it seemed liberals argued and bickered with each other while conservatives were unified. FDR said, "Because there are many ways of going forward but only one way of standing still."
People who have widely diverse views and are open to hearing many sides of a debate have many channels to serve them.
If however you are a narrow-minded person who only wants to hear news and talk that confirms what you already have believed for years - that America is being overrun by illegal immigrants, that taxes are too high, that the free market solves all problems and that the government is evil - then Fox News and its people like Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Glenn Beck is your only option. Ergo, because it is the one resource for this audience, it commands higher ratings.
By the way, the three people I just mentioned, along with their talk radio cohorts Rush and Laura, are people who, if they ever get sick, will never have to worry about being take care or how much it costs. The same can't be said about their audiences.
Small wonder Bill Maher said Americans are stupid.
the full one hour episode.
I now realize why his ratings are so high:
He's got a harem of super hot news/models he parades out one after another to shake their heads up and down and agree w/ him.
old male republicans like their women blonde, gorgious, and agreeable to anything....
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