j1m

Geez Fox...WTF? - Hutch Carpenter

Hutch, the media coverage of this is as ass backwards as the Wesley Clark stuff. Originally as FOX aired these distorted faces the faces were on DOGS' bodies (with the caption attack dog). It was clearly satire, but the pictures like the one above are what's being shown everwhere not the pictures as they were shown on Fox News. (Edit: I know I got this wrong, see below, but I didn't want to delete the comment) - Robert Seidman

Thanks Robert. The dog body is obvious satire. Did the digital alteration come across as obvious satire too? - Hutch Carpenter

i think tvnewser.com (somewhere much further down then these pictures) has the pictures of how it originally aired or at least links to it. - Robert Seidman

Ah, Fox News must need some new advertisers, or wants to up rates. Hey, let's generate some controversy and start a partisan shout-fest so we can all gather round and scream 'fight, fight, fight, fight'. Here's hoping more American's start tuning this crap out. - AJ Kohn

actually I found it and watched the video...I got it wrong at least a little link here: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvn... - Robert Seidman

Why am I not surprised? - Summer

Thanks Robert. Nope - they just gave the altered head shots. Shoddy piece o' shit broadcasting there. - Hutch Carpenter

Hutch did you watch the video? Link above -- it's typical FOX, and the scary thing is -- it works. FNC gets good ratings for cable news and Murdoch definitely seems to embrace creating controversy. Sure, most of the viewers are older than Rupert, but that's true for all news, broadcast and cable. - Robert Seidman

Ah... MediaMatters is far from un-biased in this. Their purpose is to attack conservative media and create scandle. - Robert Hafer via fftogo

Yeah - I did watch it. The altered headshots are shown by themselves, with the dog bodies at the end of the piece. Has Olbermann weighed in on this? Special comment-worthy. - Hutch Carpenter

i only follow the ratings. :-) I find O'Reilly and Olbermann to be the same thing -- extremists on opposite extremes. But "moderate" doesn't generate any ratings. I'd bet KO will get to this on Monday though if he's on this week. - Robert Seidman

@Robert Hafer - I don't like gratuitous hit pieces on conservatives either. But this thing by Fox is blatant. Watch the piece for yourself (via Robert Seidman's link). - Hutch Carpenter

I'm not really sure where the defense of this comes from -- can you guys actually not see the above image at all? If blind people are reading my feed in braille, I'm flattered. - j1m

j1m, I already admitted I got it wrong. I'm not defending it, I put up the link to the full video. - Robert Seidman

I agree that one hit piece in the NYT doesn't justify one on FOX. It's just that smear tactics are MediaMatters purpose. It mean their "reporting" will be one sided. - Robert Hafer via fftogo

Sorry, I misunderstood you. - j1m

Watching it now, but I can definitely see how it's defensible. First of all, this isn't a straight news show. Everyone who always attacks Fox gets this wrong constantly. Fox runs two types of spots - straight news and editorial. This was an editorial show, their morning show, in fact. Playing opposite this? The View. Tell me that's balanced journalism. Tell me Rosie on that show never crossed the line for the other side. Most importantly, though, if you've ever seen this show, it's done in the vein. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

... of all morning shows, which is silly fluff non-news. For everyone here that has an editorial platform (i.e. your blog), you're telling me that if you had supportive fan who knew photoshop, you wouldn't run a slightly altered picture of someone who attacks you constantly if they sent it to you? - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

I wish there was a good, unbiased, reliable organiaztion that tracked journalistict accuracy and bias. When I worked as a scientist, I noticed that all science news in major media had serious flaws. Maybe it's not just science. - Robert Hafer via fftogo

J1m, I probably should just have deleted my first comment, but I'm not into revisionist history! Rizzn, balanced journalism is often as big of a myth as Internet privacy. I'm sure The View is not intended as journalism, not sure about FOX's morning programming. - Robert Seidman

@Mark: Nope. Oh, I might laugh at times (it's human nature - I'm thinking some photos of Ross Perot), but I prefer debate, logic, argument. This just seems very 6th grade. Be ferocious with facts and logic, not a 'hey, you're ugly'. LCD is not my style. - AJ Kohn

There are a couple monitors I've come across from educational institutions I trust. The names don't immediately spring to mind, but I've got them bookmarked somewhere.fr - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

Mark - it's not even satire of political opinion. It's just "uglifying" people with whom you disagree. Sure, question their motives because of suspected grudges. But don't alter their appearances to make them look like bad guys from Lord of the Rings. That's where Fox crossed the line. It's pretty weird, really. - Hutch Carpenter

this is both juvenile and funny imo. funny due to the sheer audacity, but it shouldn't be surprising coming from this particular network. the juvenile part should be self-explanatory. it's a matter of getting the message out there regardless of being right or wrong. once the seed is planted among the many who look to fox as the sole or main source of news, it's more than enough to solidify their views and promote even more disdain towards the opposing side. - Cee Bee

Its called if you cannot make up the news invent it, seem to be the FOX News slogan that they follow - Fred Grott

I know people love to jump on the OMIGOSH FOX SUX bandwagon but this kind of nonsense has happened before on both sides of the fence. Don't forget Adnan Hajj. - Akiva Moskovitz

Whats most amazing about this is that fox thinks they can pass this bullshit through to the photoshop generation without our noticing. - Anthony

Akiva - it's that kind of moral relativism that is undermining our culture. ;-) - Hutch Carpenter

when you think your above everyone else its very easy to attempt al the bullshit - Fred Grott

Hutch, I'd argue that our culture lies in the people with the wisdom to not pay much attention to either side. The people who are so quick to pick a side (especially when there are only two lousy sides to pick from) have already been undermined. - Robert Seidman

Sorry - to all those that think this crosses the line, but Rosie O'Donnell making up facts on the other side of the TV dial about one of the most horrific tragedies to befall our nation in an effort to besmirch ourselves*doesn't cross the line* - I think ABC has made the much more grievous offense. On a show like Fox and Friends that never pretends to be serious making a joke isn't a big deal IMO. It's just like The Daily Show or Conan O'Brien doing the same thing... which they do. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

Additionally, the fact is clear that everyone here trashing Fox News clearly doesn't watch the channel. It's ok if you don't watch FNC. It's not the network for everyone (their skew towards sensationalism is what bothers me, not any supposed political bias). But if you haven't even watched a full hour or two of the network, you'll never understand their programming style. If you can't grasp that, you'll never understand what it is you want to criticize. In short, you'll sound horribly uninformed. - Mark "Rizzn" Hopkins

Hutch, I personally am undermining our culture. Give credit where credit's due, yo. - Akiva Moskovitz