If our media and body politic are infected with a cancer it’s time to isolate it so it can’t further harm our democracy and, by extension, the democracies of the world
Here in the UK, Fox News pulled off air, because so much false stuff was being broadcast as “news” that they were breaking UK Ofcom (think FCC) rules. They pulled out before they were pushed.
You nailed this. Murdoch has had a toxic impact on politics and news in his native Australia, in Great Britain, and in the United States. I really think the cable outlets should just refuse to carry Fox "News" here, and he charges them through the nose to do it. Canada alone has had the good sense to refuse to carry Fox News.
By Murdock's own admission FOX is not a news organization. So why in the heck do they still have a Whitehouse press pass? Maybe the first thing we do is STOP enabling organizations like FOX. Or is it we are already too afraid of upsetting Murdock?
Thank you Thom again for documenting the danger and harm of the cesspool that is Faux “news”. We have come to a reckoning in our country where allowing RT, NRA slush funds and certain right -leaning advertisers to corrupt our airwaves with outright lies has moved beyond “freedom of speech “. There is something inherently wrong with defending the 1st amendment to this extent of allowing harm, malfeasance and dishonesty. Too much damage to people and institutions has occurred from Faux (the pig trough of networks) and their ilk like Newsmax, OAN, etc. Why is it so hard to report facts? The problem with these networks is that the right wing networks know their audience and all their grievances: black and brown people get too many handouts, immigrants are out of control, workers unions are communist, the death penalty needs to kill off the inmates on death row, protesters (not right wingers obviously) need to be dealt with, LGBTQ people are groomers, shall I go on? And it’s all the Democrats fault according to the deplorables. Right wing audiences love the way tRump attacks others and feel he “gets” whatever their grievances are. So for profit and keeping the right wingers engaged is a deliberate calculation and knowing decision to use propaganda and outright lies for their benefit.
Murdochs propensity to destroy anyone that doesn’t agree with him should be enough to get him driven out of this country.
Its quite apparent that this twisted up , greedy
character should be banished to a tiny island where perhaps he’d be at the mercy of a stray hurricane.
It could be devastating to Mr Murdoch .
But then, Mr Murdoch has been devastating to our lives and our Country.
How many times have we asked the question “ How did this all happen?” A lot of people thought it was Trump but people like Murdoch made the soil fertile for any toxic plant .
Money is the root of all evil . And when it s elevated and weaponized against the bulk of society it strangles hope , health and any quality of life from everyone but the wealthiest.
This poison has spread like wildfire throughout the Republican party and their followers.
It has turned all of them into mean spirited, devious and corrupt people who care nothing for anyones well being except their own .
Money runs the show and Rupert Murdoch primed these people to be at their worst .
And it worked .
Fox News and Murdoch ought to be removed.
They are responsible for the damage done and its been massive .
You're absolutely right! What I didn't see in this article was the influence Murdoch has had on all the mainstream news median do to his monetary success. It's the only driving in the news anymore. I'm fed up with CSNBC and CNN talking up how weak and ineffective Joe Biden has been and how he's too old to run again instead of touting all he has accomplished. Shame on them. They create almost as much drama as FOX.
Well, Biden should not have chose Garland to be attorney general if he is not going to prosecute about 206 GOP traitors and seditionists. That cost the Democrats the house and ultimately the supreme Court. We need a real left wing liberal with a backbone, not a Reagan Democrat as president. I would still have to vote for Biden over Trump because I favor democracy and socialism over dictatorship and capitalism.
Not very much anti dictatorship ever comes out of biden's mouth. He needs to be educating the right wingers what their future will be under a dictatorship without him having to be told to do it.
The messenger should be shot. We usually believe that the messenger is not the enemy or that they are doing a service by conveying a message, and therefore, deserve protection in order to preserve the valuable communication function they provide. Fox appears to be the exception to the rule. They are the enemy. The Trojan horse was nothing compared to Fox. However, if we fail to understand how they were able to find our vulnerability and to exploit our weaknesses, we will only be placing temporary obstacles in their path, which they can eventually overcome.
Murdoch made his first fortune with scandal sheets and rumormongering about notable people in Australia. He leveraged his money to muscle his way into similar media in this country, buying up relatively credible media until he could start his foray into TV. This is just one more example of the corruption of everything because of the relaxation of regulation and oversight, the green light by the Supreme Court for bribery, and the distortion of capitalism along with the free market fundamentalist mythology. Still, the other part of the equation must be remembered.
The other half of the equation in Australia, Great Britain, and the US is the willingness of people to spend time and money on frivolous and meaningless nonsense and their affinity for right-wing drivel and conservatism of the reactionary and extreme religious brands. A sizable percentage of people in these advanced countries and economies have little interest in discriminating between ludicrous superstition and conspiratorial foolishness or in a serious examination of the more troubling or consequential matters that truly matter in life and in politics. Many harbor unconscious or latent and irrational fears of various things which they are loathe to think about or face with an eye toward resolution. Uncertainty is their greatest fear of all.
All that, in a word, is ignorance. We have an ignorance problem of phenomenal magnitude. Education was supposed to be the remedy. School was supposed to provide education. It’s too bad that no one is willing to acknowledge that our schools have failed chronically, monumentally, and nearly universally, at least with respect to a large minority of the population. The facts and evidence have been screaming for attention and continually escape out into the realm. But they are ignored and minimized. They are swept under one of the biggest rugs in all of history. That is the nature and the definition of ignorance.
"We have an ignorance problem of phenomenal magnitude."
But let's not leave cnbc and msnbc out of the discussion. Cnbc parades an assortment of right wing anti democratic hedge fund managers every day, while mild mannered msnbc reporters tell you that the Brynovich decision by Supreme Court was no big deal - when in actuality it overruled the concept that voting rights are fundamental rights. The more I "study" supposedly left wing media, tge more I see it as the lighter, more pleasant and nuanced version of what you get on fox.
We should study actual countries to understand what their democratic features are. Much American media will bash Ukraine, for example, but Newsweek shows a counter-argument. Hey, if you really want to study Ukraine and its history at the college level you have only one choice (called "Yale") as no such college course exists anywhere else in America!
Oh hell's bells, my friend is convinced Trump is the antichrist, now I need to talk to her about Rupert.
The thing I've noticed is there is no remorse for lying to the public. The FOX personalities are just that, vile personalities with little conscience about what they do. They seem to only care about what it has done to THEIR peace of mind, not what their actions do to this nation and the world. I also suspect they have suffered enough ridicule when in public that they can't go out much these days. Good! I wouldn't disrupt their meal or shopping, but I totally understand why others do.
Tucker Carlson-Trinity College grad, Maria Bartiromo-NYU grad, and Sean Hannity attended NYU, these are educated people that let Trump make them look like fools, and then they took over where he left off. I hope Dominion's lawyers are just getting started.
Rupert is 91 and equally bad Lachlan is supposed to take over, but according to a recent book (The Successor) The Guardian talked about that might not happen: “In a plausible scenario,” Manning writes, “after Rupert has passed and his shares are dispersed among the four adult children, the three on the other side of Lachlan could choose to manifest control over all of the Murdoch businesses, and to do it in a way that enhances democracies around the world rather than undermining them."“In this scenario, the role of Fox News has become so controversial inside the family that control of the trust is no longer just about profit and loss at the Murdoch properties. In one view that has currency among at least some of the Murdoch children, it is in the long-term interests for democracies around the world for there to be four shareholders in the family trust who are active owners in the business.”-Paddy Manning, Australian reporter & author
It's good to see articles like this. My question is where are the democrats on this? More of the same lackluster "not much will change" approach? Has the issue of the broadcast license fox has - and the fees referenced by UnFox my box - even been mentioned by dems?
Dems just sit there and allow themselves to be painted as pedophiles and horror movie creatures.
They sat and watched trumpi become the first "media created" president in a Facebook- manipulated election, while they took in vast $ from Silicon Valley and refused to do anything about section 230 or any other aspect of the completely unregulated survelillance capitalism that prevails out of Silicon Valley.
Let's get real - this media mess is not isolated and doesn't exist in a tv silo. It's all over the web every day and it infects the comment boards and communities almost everywhere online.
I am just sick of hearing garbage like this which emulates from (originally well-intentioned) organizations like eff. This is such bold garbage ..., that "everyone who speaks online relies on section 230, a 1996 law that promotes free speech online."
This story contradicts the real story - which is that Section 230(c)(2) is supposed to be an integral part of the safe harbor for removing or blocking third-party content, ie.... the entire principle of non-liability for third party content was supposed to be in the context of a "tech" company doing content moderation! None of this was intended to apply to tech companies that make recommendations about content or which promote certain content above others.
Who believes this? Siloed Americans who have no access even to the free bbc viewer online, and who have no idea about data protection and privacy laws in other developed countries.
Lefty media like greewald, taibbi and mate are scoundrels who profit from the "lefty version" of Fox News which empowers both Silicon Valley and Russia ..... "russiagate" .... really? So very sad that even Richard Wolff and Chris hedges have recently contributed to this by promoting and publicizing these people who have lied about the mueller report and senate intelligence report on Russian interference.
Democrats lose because they fail at organizing and media strategy, but it appears it's purposeful due to their corrupt donors. The biggest media strategy of both parties seems to be to deceive the public about Silicon Valley, section 230 and surveillance capitalism. This can't be covered up or denied by democrats any longer.
Here in the UK, Fox News pulled off air, because so much false stuff was being broadcast as “news” that they were breaking UK Ofcom (think FCC) rules. They pulled out before they were pushed.
Of course, for the same reasons, Fox should be pulled off the air here, too, but I'm not holding my breath; free speech, you know.
We mapped the harm Murdoch has caused in England, Hungary, Australia and America with this map. https://thedemlabs.org/2023/03/04/murdoch-news-corp-fox-news-is-a-cancer-on-democracy/
As Kevin Rudd, former Australian prime minister said - Rupert Murdoch's media empire is a "cancer on democracy."
You nailed this. Murdoch has had a toxic impact on politics and news in his native Australia, in Great Britain, and in the United States. I really think the cable outlets should just refuse to carry Fox "News" here, and he charges them through the nose to do it. Canada alone has had the good sense to refuse to carry Fox News.
By Murdock's own admission FOX is not a news organization. So why in the heck do they still have a Whitehouse press pass? Maybe the first thing we do is STOP enabling organizations like FOX. Or is it we are already too afraid of upsetting Murdock?
Exactly! How does a propaganda machine get away with being called a "news" organization? I'm sure there's some financial benefit to the tag.
Time to reintroduce and pass the "Fairness Doctrine."
Thank you Thom again for documenting the danger and harm of the cesspool that is Faux “news”. We have come to a reckoning in our country where allowing RT, NRA slush funds and certain right -leaning advertisers to corrupt our airwaves with outright lies has moved beyond “freedom of speech “. There is something inherently wrong with defending the 1st amendment to this extent of allowing harm, malfeasance and dishonesty. Too much damage to people and institutions has occurred from Faux (the pig trough of networks) and their ilk like Newsmax, OAN, etc. Why is it so hard to report facts? The problem with these networks is that the right wing networks know their audience and all their grievances: black and brown people get too many handouts, immigrants are out of control, workers unions are communist, the death penalty needs to kill off the inmates on death row, protesters (not right wingers obviously) need to be dealt with, LGBTQ people are groomers, shall I go on? And it’s all the Democrats fault according to the deplorables. Right wing audiences love the way tRump attacks others and feel he “gets” whatever their grievances are. So for profit and keeping the right wingers engaged is a deliberate calculation and knowing decision to use propaganda and outright lies for their benefit.
Follow the money to the Fox employees, directors and investors who get richer by Fox spreading election lies. https://thedemlabs.org/2023/03/08/rupert-murdoch-fox-news-profits-from-election-lies/
Murdochs propensity to destroy anyone that doesn’t agree with him should be enough to get him driven out of this country.
Its quite apparent that this twisted up , greedy
character should be banished to a tiny island where perhaps he’d be at the mercy of a stray hurricane.
It could be devastating to Mr Murdoch .
But then, Mr Murdoch has been devastating to our lives and our Country.
How many times have we asked the question “ How did this all happen?” A lot of people thought it was Trump but people like Murdoch made the soil fertile for any toxic plant .
Money is the root of all evil . And when it s elevated and weaponized against the bulk of society it strangles hope , health and any quality of life from everyone but the wealthiest.
This poison has spread like wildfire throughout the Republican party and their followers.
It has turned all of them into mean spirited, devious and corrupt people who care nothing for anyones well being except their own .
Money runs the show and Rupert Murdoch primed these people to be at their worst .
And it worked .
Fox News and Murdoch ought to be removed.
They are responsible for the damage done and its been massive .
It's time to use anti-trust laws to break up Fox News, Disney/Capital Cities and all the consolidated media oligopolies.
You're absolutely right! What I didn't see in this article was the influence Murdoch has had on all the mainstream news median do to his monetary success. It's the only driving in the news anymore. I'm fed up with CSNBC and CNN talking up how weak and ineffective Joe Biden has been and how he's too old to run again instead of touting all he has accomplished. Shame on them. They create almost as much drama as FOX.
Well, Biden should not have chose Garland to be attorney general if he is not going to prosecute about 206 GOP traitors and seditionists. That cost the Democrats the house and ultimately the supreme Court. We need a real left wing liberal with a backbone, not a Reagan Democrat as president. I would still have to vote for Biden over Trump because I favor democracy and socialism over dictatorship and capitalism.
Not very much anti dictatorship ever comes out of biden's mouth. He needs to be educating the right wingers what their future will be under a dictatorship without him having to be told to do it.
The messenger should be shot. We usually believe that the messenger is not the enemy or that they are doing a service by conveying a message, and therefore, deserve protection in order to preserve the valuable communication function they provide. Fox appears to be the exception to the rule. They are the enemy. The Trojan horse was nothing compared to Fox. However, if we fail to understand how they were able to find our vulnerability and to exploit our weaknesses, we will only be placing temporary obstacles in their path, which they can eventually overcome.
Murdoch made his first fortune with scandal sheets and rumormongering about notable people in Australia. He leveraged his money to muscle his way into similar media in this country, buying up relatively credible media until he could start his foray into TV. This is just one more example of the corruption of everything because of the relaxation of regulation and oversight, the green light by the Supreme Court for bribery, and the distortion of capitalism along with the free market fundamentalist mythology. Still, the other part of the equation must be remembered.
The other half of the equation in Australia, Great Britain, and the US is the willingness of people to spend time and money on frivolous and meaningless nonsense and their affinity for right-wing drivel and conservatism of the reactionary and extreme religious brands. A sizable percentage of people in these advanced countries and economies have little interest in discriminating between ludicrous superstition and conspiratorial foolishness or in a serious examination of the more troubling or consequential matters that truly matter in life and in politics. Many harbor unconscious or latent and irrational fears of various things which they are loathe to think about or face with an eye toward resolution. Uncertainty is their greatest fear of all.
All that, in a word, is ignorance. We have an ignorance problem of phenomenal magnitude. Education was supposed to be the remedy. School was supposed to provide education. It’s too bad that no one is willing to acknowledge that our schools have failed chronically, monumentally, and nearly universally, at least with respect to a large minority of the population. The facts and evidence have been screaming for attention and continually escape out into the realm. But they are ignored and minimized. They are swept under one of the biggest rugs in all of history. That is the nature and the definition of ignorance.
"We have an ignorance problem of phenomenal magnitude."
But let's not leave cnbc and msnbc out of the discussion. Cnbc parades an assortment of right wing anti democratic hedge fund managers every day, while mild mannered msnbc reporters tell you that the Brynovich decision by Supreme Court was no big deal - when in actuality it overruled the concept that voting rights are fundamental rights. The more I "study" supposedly left wing media, tge more I see it as the lighter, more pleasant and nuanced version of what you get on fox.
“Democracy's global decline hits "possible turning point," report finds“
https://www.axios.com/2023/03/09/freedom-house-global-democracy-rankings
We should study actual countries to understand what their democratic features are. Much American media will bash Ukraine, for example, but Newsweek shows a counter-argument. Hey, if you really want to study Ukraine and its history at the college level you have only one choice (called "Yale") as no such college course exists anywhere else in America!
https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-democracy-separating-fact-fiction-russia-1690505
Oh hell's bells, my friend is convinced Trump is the antichrist, now I need to talk to her about Rupert.
The thing I've noticed is there is no remorse for lying to the public. The FOX personalities are just that, vile personalities with little conscience about what they do. They seem to only care about what it has done to THEIR peace of mind, not what their actions do to this nation and the world. I also suspect they have suffered enough ridicule when in public that they can't go out much these days. Good! I wouldn't disrupt their meal or shopping, but I totally understand why others do.
Tucker Carlson-Trinity College grad, Maria Bartiromo-NYU grad, and Sean Hannity attended NYU, these are educated people that let Trump make them look like fools, and then they took over where he left off. I hope Dominion's lawyers are just getting started.
Rupert is 91 and equally bad Lachlan is supposed to take over, but according to a recent book (The Successor) The Guardian talked about that might not happen: “In a plausible scenario,” Manning writes, “after Rupert has passed and his shares are dispersed among the four adult children, the three on the other side of Lachlan could choose to manifest control over all of the Murdoch businesses, and to do it in a way that enhances democracies around the world rather than undermining them."“In this scenario, the role of Fox News has become so controversial inside the family that control of the trust is no longer just about profit and loss at the Murdoch properties. In one view that has currency among at least some of the Murdoch children, it is in the long-term interests for democracies around the world for there to be four shareholders in the family trust who are active owners in the business.”-Paddy Manning, Australian reporter & author
It's good to see articles like this. My question is where are the democrats on this? More of the same lackluster "not much will change" approach? Has the issue of the broadcast license fox has - and the fees referenced by UnFox my box - even been mentioned by dems?
Dems just sit there and allow themselves to be painted as pedophiles and horror movie creatures.
They sat and watched trumpi become the first "media created" president in a Facebook- manipulated election, while they took in vast $ from Silicon Valley and refused to do anything about section 230 or any other aspect of the completely unregulated survelillance capitalism that prevails out of Silicon Valley.
Let's get real - this media mess is not isolated and doesn't exist in a tv silo. It's all over the web every day and it infects the comment boards and communities almost everywhere online.
I am just sick of hearing garbage like this which emulates from (originally well-intentioned) organizations like eff. This is such bold garbage ..., that "everyone who speaks online relies on section 230, a 1996 law that promotes free speech online."
This story contradicts the real story - which is that Section 230(c)(2) is supposed to be an integral part of the safe harbor for removing or blocking third-party content, ie.... the entire principle of non-liability for third party content was supposed to be in the context of a "tech" company doing content moderation! None of this was intended to apply to tech companies that make recommendations about content or which promote certain content above others.
Eff filed a brief in the recent Supreme Court case on 230. To be honest, I dislike eff more than fox for putting out this garbage: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/02/section-230-trial-heres-what-you-need-know
Who believes this? Siloed Americans who have no access even to the free bbc viewer online, and who have no idea about data protection and privacy laws in other developed countries.
Lefty media like greewald, taibbi and mate are scoundrels who profit from the "lefty version" of Fox News which empowers both Silicon Valley and Russia ..... "russiagate" .... really? So very sad that even Richard Wolff and Chris hedges have recently contributed to this by promoting and publicizing these people who have lied about the mueller report and senate intelligence report on Russian interference.
Democrats lose because they fail at organizing and media strategy, but it appears it's purposeful due to their corrupt donors. The biggest media strategy of both parties seems to be to deceive the public about Silicon Valley, section 230 and surveillance capitalism. This can't be covered up or denied by democrats any longer.