The Washington Post:
“Misinformation is dangerous when it metastasizes,” Rabin-Havt says. “Fox is going to lie with impunity. Rush Limbaugh is going to lie. The problem is when a story jumps from Fox News to CNN or the New York Times or The Washington Post. Our job is the head these things off at the pass.”
Rabin-Havt is the Vice President of Media Matters. The CEO, David Brock, was a conservative before he was a liberal.
Media Matters is the watch dog group that loves to hate Fox News. .
Fighting Fox is what Media Matters does, relentlessly and obsessively. In the six years since its founding, the watchdog group has evolved from an all-purpose scourge of the conservative media into Fox News Channel’s veritable shadow and constant irritant. From well before sunrise to long after it each day, teams of young researchers sift through video clips and transcripts of programs hosted by Fox stars such as Glenn Beckand Bill O’Reilly to find dubious facts, logical contradictions and poisonous – at least to Media Matters’ liberal sensibilities – rhetoric.
Brock further explains:
The dogged pursuit of Fox, says Media Matters’ founder David Brock, reflects not just the cable network’s popularity among conservatives but its power to set, and perhaps distort, the political agenda. Brock and his staff say they regard Fox as something more than just the televised equivalent of talk radio; they describe it as a de facto political operation, with a leading role in disseminating conservative messages, supporting conservative candidates and mobilizing voters.
“I don’t consider it a media institution,” Brock says. “It’s a political institution that [Fox News Chief Executive Roger] Ailes created after Obama came into office. . . . We’re here to counter their lies and misinformation.”
Underneath is all is a clash of the Titans–a stomp off, as it were, between Australian-born Rupert Murdoch, age 79 and Hungarian-born George Soros, age 80. Both are billionaires many times over. Murdoch owns the parent company of Fox News, News Corp. Soros owns the Open Society Institute, that has funded many of the organizations that Fox’s personalities like to attack, including Media Matters. Murdoch, an arch conservative, has used his wealth to create a media empire. Soros, an avowed liberal, has used his wealth to fight totalitarian regimes.
Fox News has been merciless in its attack on Soros. Glenn Beck has led the charge against Soros, having a dancing puppet that looks something like a witch doctor as Soros. He has painted Soros as a Nazi collaborator as a teenager and accused Soros of subverting American democracy. He dedicated 3 days of his show painting Soros as an evil monster amassing his minions to overcome America. Apparently Soros gets to Murdoch.
In October, Soros donated $1 million to Media Matters, saying that he hoped his money would be used to combat Fox’s “incendiary rhetoric” and ” to more widely publicize the challenge Fox News poses to civil and informed discourse in our democracy.”
In recent weeks, Media Matters has gone from simply publicizing what it deems to be Fox’s misinformation to actively campaigning against the network. The organization has posted a Web page with an online petition that asks Fox’s advertisers to “Drop Fox,” that is, stop sponsoring the network.
Media Matters has been demonized by Fox News and vice versa. Steve Doocy was quoted as “dismissing Media Matters as “a blog nobody reads.” O’Reilly, a frequent Media Matters target, has called the organization “a vile propaganda outfit.”
Fox News should thanks Media Matters. Media Matters makes Fox News fair and balanced. A watchdog is never a bad thing. It keeps everyone honest.
Full article at the Washington Post.
Ahh, Media Matters. One rung on the ladder below the “Dungeons and Dragons” crowd.
Slowpoke, I hope Media Matters annoys you a great deal. One step lower…huh….I call it the empire fights back. I think you meant to say Faux News.
fox news and talk radio, the last bastions of free speech in america. how the left hates them so. I HOPE HE FAILS
Who do you hope fails, e?
If you listen to Faux News, and that is all, you will walk away being very misinformed. Unfortunately, too many people use that station as their one and only, then brag about it. Why not just pin on a sign saying ‘I don’t know what I am talking about.’
Informed people gather their information from a multitude of sources.
@SlowpokeRodriguez
HEY! Dungeons and Dragons is cool! The D&D players at least LEAVE the fantasy world every once in a while…….
Media Matters… just another George Soros funded operation. Does anyone actually take anything they have to say seriously?
Absolutely. The empire fights back. So tell us, who is worse–Soros or Murdoch?
Soros. He actually invests in subverting societies to match his agenda. Murdoch has nowhere near the money or influence, does not have fascist ideals, and is only interested in a buck.
Hey, above the belt.. I loved playing D&D in school and as an adult.. You might’ve had ‘cool’ things in high school like football games and prom but I was a Mage of the 17th Circle with a speciality in Magic Missles….
Anyways, I do find it amusing that Media Matters is being compared to the Empire..who were the bad guys in Star Wars and the rebels (TEA partiers maybe?) are the FoxNews crowd and they show the Galactic Senate the error of their ways and bring back peace and love to the universe.
If I may with another Star Wars reference. Padame (played here by Sarah Palin) saying: So this is how liberty dies; with thunderous applause? [with the Senate turning over control to the Emperor]
Sounds a lot like Ms. Pelosi’s congress, don’t it?
mm is a malicious outfit, carefully monitoring every word of talk radio to try and topple a master in a gotcha moment. but rush and his comrades march from strength to strength, their audience is larger than ever
Yes, they are different. Murdoch is trying to control a democracy. Soros only took down totalitarian communist governments. I personalize what Murdoch a lot more.
Well, you got one thing right about saying “the empire fights back” here. Soros IS Palpatine!
Actually, someone snick in the line “George Soros is actually the Emporer Palpatine” in his Wikipedia entry a few weeks back. It has been cleaned up since then, but it was funny while it lasted.
🙄
Soros, he makes BILLIONS from other peoples misery and he actually enjoys it. It’s ‘a game’ to him, in his own words…
@Moon-howler
My mom ONLY watches Fox news. As a result, she is a nervous wreck about things that don’t exist. Then she repeats what she hears.
Pinko, you just made my point for me.
Hello, could it be that Murdoch fits your politics better than Soros?
So tell us, how does he make billions off of other people’s misery?
And by the way, Media Matters isn’t Soros. I always like to hear another side, especially if there is another side to Faux News. It doesn’t take a great deal of sophistication or even careful listening skills to see what they are doing, especially in the morning.
I have no problem with someone like Shep. Its those who pretend to be news that gripe me and the reason I give a green light to Media Matters. Glenn Beck is also danger because of his skewing and distortion.
I don’t fear MM. Let’s them eat cake.
Pinko, it’s amusing to see people ask receiptionists in waiting rooms to “tune it to FoxNews”. It almost never happens as they (the doctors offices or whatever) tend to keep the TVs off news but I give those people a nod and a wink to convey that they ain’t alone.
That reminds me. Forgot to DVR Beck for tonight. I need my daily instructions from the mothership.
You can tune your dvr from your computer. @marin
It doesn’t amuse or amaze me to know that people do that in reception areas. One thing that Fox News does good other than keep Shep Smith is to keep a stock indicator of the big three in the bottom right hand corner. If I am out somewhere without iPad, I would opt for Faux all the time just for that feature. It doesn’t mean I am going to let them abduct my mind though.
They do what appeals to people and then they brain wash them. Not a novel idea…but they do it well.
I think the T & A touch is probably the most basic and the most obvious. Andrea Mitchell, Candy Crowley or Megyn Kelly and Martha T & A? Visual psychology is no secret.
The T&A angle only bothers me on Foxnews.com because some of it really should be on either TMZ or Askmen.com. On the topic of the personalities being used I understand the angle but don’t have an issue with it as a tv news anchor needs to be somewhat attractive – it’s not a reflection of main street America.
I was joking about the Beck thing as it seems that anyone that’s a conservative can’t watch Fox and make up their own minds. I differ in opinion with Fox, Beck, et al many times. I just have to to look for logic in reporting and don’t see it very often on the other news networks.
MH, do the numbers (ratings) of Fox give you pause? From a non-political view do the numbers that Fox can push out versus CNN or the other networks give you concern or confidence in journalism as a whole?
Hello??? Why else do you think I watch Fox? 😈
The stocks. I know, you just read the articles.
Cato, just for you. 😉
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/politics/201012/megyn-kelly-fox-news
I don’t know, Moon. I tend to get a bit suspicious of someone who always calls the other guy a deliberate liar. Disagree on the issues with the other guy, o.k. But call him a liar all the time? Sounds to me a bit like the standard targeting tactics of the old Comintern propaganda network. Now, if Media Matters can be shown to be casting a much broader ideological “gotcha” net than just going after Fox News, their standing might improve in the eyes of many.
No one has called anyone a liar. All good propaganda begins with a smiggin of truth or even more. Then the twisting and skewing begins. More than lying, I would say that Faux editorializes and puts its own spin on things. But, Wolverine, if you have drunk the kool aid, nothing I say about the situation will matter.
WOW! That GQ Megyn Kelly thing! Wooo-HOO! Got any Patti Ann Browne? She’s my hottie!
Uhhh, the same thing happens on kids TV these days. Why does Daddy watch Imagination Movers? Nina! You betcha! Choo-Choo Soul? Yes, Please! That ginger on Fresh Beat Band? Yes, Please!
Moon, pretty hard to drink the kool-aid when you don’t even have a TV set. But, let me ask a question here. When Media Matters tells you something, do you personally double check their sources to see if THEY are providing you with the real scoop? Or do you just buy into whatever is said by an organization which is unabashedly conducting a vendetta against Fox? Can the latter not also be classified as “drinking the kool-aid”?
If you ask me, this entire country on all sides of the political spectrum has turned into a kool-aid factory.
Oh, and I do beg to differ on a particular point. In the very first paragraph of the WaPo article posted on this thread, Rabin-Havt is quoted as saying that both Fox and Limbaugh are “going to lie.” If that isn’t calling someone a liar, I don’t know what is. Wonder if Rabin-Havt has a personal shopper or uses the internet when he needs a new halo.
I pretty much check out most national sources. On the other hand, I often catch the Faux News crap as it is being said. I find that the TD is a good neutral source. I rarely use media matters as a first source.
And Wolverine, I thought you were saying I was calling someone a liar. Does Rabin-Havt ALWAYS call people liars? He can probably back up what he is saying considering he is discussing Limbaugh.
I have never seen media matters on TV–only on the internet.
As for Fox lying, its difficult to say that a TV station ‘lies.’ Are lies and distortions pushed on Fox News? Absolutely. My problem is, there is no attempt to correct untruths when you email the station. You are ignored.
The halo comment is just strange. No one said that he was being offered up for sainthood. He is one of the persons speaking for media matters. His is but another perspective.
Do you really not have a TV?
Absolutely no TV, Moon. At a certain point about six years ago, we both decided that the genre had become so full of useless crap that it was stealing time out our lives which could be used to focus on more productive things. The TV went down into the basement storage to collect dust. When the deal came up about getting one of those black boxes so that the TV would still work, we nixed the idea. We soon arrived at the point of not mssing it at all. The only TV we see these days comes through internet news videos of contemporary interest — many of which are provided on Moonhowlings.
Not a bad deal, really. I had not even touched a computer since retirement. Having matriculated professionally through the era when computers were cranky critters (Started off with a WANG — Are they still around?), I had a love-hate relationship with those machines. Exit the TV. Enter the computer. Kind of fun now. Instead of yelling fruitlessly at the talking heads on the TV, I get to rant at bloggers who may actually see my rants. We turn on the motel TV sometimes when traveling, but then I just sit there pushing the remote button like it was a video game. Honest to God , I cannot stand any of it — even the talking heads who may have similar conservative views. It just goes on and on ad nauseum. My personal opinion is that FOX and MSNBC, inter alia, vastly overdo the talking head thing. Regardless of ideology or political persuasion, it is like we have developed some kind of special class of egomaniacs, too many of whom have never been in office or in government but are still so ready to tell us all about it.
BTW, good move by Obama on that tax issue compromise. Nicely handled too, I think.
Wolverine, I am amazed. I thought you were kidding. I apologize for accusing you of drinking Faux News Kool Aide. I don’t know how you stand not to have TV. I could do without the talking heads but not some of the other shows.
i don’t have a tv, either. with moonhowlings, drudgereport, and rushlimbaugh.com, what else do you need?
As long as we are part of your life, what can I say?