Alerts

BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Jeffrey Joseph

How long can FOX go without blatantly lying about the footage it displays on TV?  It seems going a little over a week would have been pushing it.  Not long after Sean Hannity had to accept the sting of Jon Stewart calling him out for inflating the attendance of a health-care protest by using footage from a few months ago, another FOX broadcaster was caught with footage not quite what he claimed it to be.

FOX attempted to cover a Palin book signing in Michigan, and Gregg Jarrett, a member of FOX's alleged straight-news team, describes the video played as "just coming into us" when it pretty clearly had nothing to do with a book signing and everything to do with a campaign appearance from last year.  Once again, FOX had been caught telling lies on TV.

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BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Jeffrey Joseph

Few people would wonder why Lou Dobbs ended up off of CNN's nightly lineup, but who would have thought his post-CNN interviews would make him appear reasonable?  It would take someone asking questions so outrageous and unreasonable that the furiously conservative beliefs espoused by Dobbs would come across as sensible.  Fortunately for Dobbs, FOX News has no paucity of such extreme characters, and this time, Bill O'Reilly, the BuzzFlash Media Putz of the Week, took the lead to help make Dobbs look better.

In an interview shortly after Dobbs departed from CNN, Bill O'Reilly had an early opportunity to inquire about Dobbs's reasons for leaving CNN, including bits where O'Reilly clearly tries to bait Dobbs into complaining about the "liberal management" at CNN that O'Reilly felt ran Dobbs away.  Dobbs, however, managed to evade those traps and actually spoke well of Joe Klein and other members of CNN management.  Dobbs even goes so far as to partly blame himself for their ratings decline since he was a part of the lineup, a distant cry from the sensationalist interview O'Reilly had hoped to have.  By the end, O'Reilly could hold back no more and decided to make the interview less about politics and more about theology.

O'Reilly:  Final question.  Barack Obama--is he the Devil?

Technorati Tags: Alerts Lou Dobbs Bill O'Reilly FOX News Obama Devil

BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Jeffrey Joseph

It appears one of FOX's primary commentators, occasionally confused for a news man on a "News" channel, has committed to calling his radio show Conservative Victory for 2010 Radio.  His radio work may be separate from his TV appearances, but Sean Hannity's politics remain the same throughout, so is it only a matter of time before Murdoch finally admits the conservative bias in FOX News?

Probably not anytime soon.  Murdoch feigns ignorance to any of the obvious attempts to further a conservative agenda on his network.  In fact, he seems not to have any idea about anyone over there.  For one, he refers to Sean Hannity as "an academic."  Indeed, Sean Hannity does have an academic record that includes two different colleges.  By Murdoch's logic, then, Sarah Palin qualifies as some kind of super academic given that she attended four different colleges in her lifetime.  Palin, however, at least graduated from one of them.  Hannity, heretofore,  has yet to earn a degree from either of the institutions he attended.

Technorati Tags: Alerts FOX News Rupert Murdoch Sean Hannity Glenn Beck

BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Jeffrey Joseph

Glenn Beck's tirades about tenuous connections have already faced a fair share of ridicule, but his boss, Rupert Murdoch, must get a little nervous every time Beck decries someone as a communist bane to the U.S.  As The New York Times pointed out in great detail, Murdoch has more than a couple of ties to Chinese communists, ties that appear to permeate most aspects of his life.

Technorati Tags: Alerts Rupert Murdoch communism China Glenn Beck

BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Jeffrey Joseph

Cynicism often prevails as a weapon against ignorance, but even that may not be enough to undo the effects of Fox News.  The power of Fox’s pen, or Glenn Beck's and Sean Hannity's voices, may simply have a delayed effect over that particular sword, at least according to the findings of a European study.

Michael Bruter of the London School of Economics and Political Science did a study over two years where he sent out intentionally biased news, some very pro Europe, some very opposed to European camaraderie, out to 1,200 citizens from a range of six European countries.  Europeans, as it turns out, claim an even greater suspicion of media bias than Americans generally do.  Once Bruter ceased sending the newsletters out and asked people to fill out a survey measuring their attitudes toward their European identities, the same kind of survey he sent out before the newsletters, he recorded no significant change.  Conscious of the bias presented to them, people appeared ready to combat it.

Technorati Tags: Alerts media bias Fox News delayed effect

BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Jeffrey Joseph

In another victory for journalistic integrity and reason, Fox News lost yet another couple of viewers thanks to a simple dialogue between a thoughtful reader, her daughter, and her formerly Fox-viewing parents.  When Fox News ignores a speech from the president as the other major media outlets cover it live, people start to get suspicious, and soon afterward, they change the channel.

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BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

COLUMBUS - Today, the Ohio Democratic Party sent the following letter to former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, inviting her to campaign for John Kasich during her upcoming book tour stop in Columbus on November 20:

November 12, 2009

The Honorable Sarah Palin
123 Tea Party Lane
Anywhere, IA

Dear Governor Palin:

The Ohio Democratic Party cordially invites you to campaign for Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Lehman Brothers Managing Director John Kasich during your upcoming trip to Ohio.

Based on your recent success of promoting an ultra right-wing candidate in the special Congressional election in New York, we believe your engagement in the Ohio gubernatorial race would be invaluable.

You have a lot in common with John Kasich, and we believe you would enjoy his company. For instance, you are both darlings of FOX News.

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BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

WASHINGTON, DC (November 10, 2009) – Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) released the following statement committing herself to vote against health care reform that erodes a woman's right to choose. As a co-chair of the Congressional Women's Caucus and member of the Pro-Choice Caucus, Rep. Schakowsky has fought to expand women's rights and improve health care for all women. Rep. Schakowsky has added her name to letters that are being sent to the President and the Speaker, plainly establishing her position.

"In the critical fight to reform our health care system and expand access, we cannot marginalize women by forcing them to pay more for their care or limiting their access to a legal medical procedure. If left as is the health care reform bill would be the largest repeal of anti-choice laws in nearly four decades. It is not a continuation of current law as the proponents claim.

"The pro-choice caucus worked night and day to find an acceptable compromise that all parties could support including prohibiting one penny of federal dollars for abortions. I will continue to work with the Senate and the Conference Committee to make the bill acceptable, but cannot and will not support health care reform that blatantly discriminates against women."

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BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

On the same day Cigna posted a 92 percent increase in 3rd quarter profits, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) released the following statement condemning Cigna for its opposition to health care reform.

"Cigna opposes urgently needed health care reform, and today we know why. Millions of Americans are struggling to provide health care for their families, while Cigna today reported its third quarter profits had soared, nearly doubling. For Cigna, maintaining the status is a good thing – for America, it would be a disaster."

"Our health care reform bill helps the families and businesses that need affordable health care and want to stop price-gouging by insurers."

The Affordable Health Care for America Act, H.R. 3962, includes a number of provisions to prevent price-gouging and ensure premiums are reasonable. It requires publicly-disclosed justification of all premium increases before they go into effect and includes provisions, authored by Rep. Schakowsky, that require rate review of premiums so that excessive increases are denied.

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BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

From the office of Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) on her amendnent to the PATRIOT Act, originally passed in 2001.

Continuing its consideration of the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R. 3845), the House Judiciary Committee yesterday passed on a voice vote an amendment offered by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) to further rein in abuses of the 2001 PATRIOT Act and restore constitutional checks and balances.

H.R. 3845 reauthorizes, until December 31, 2013, two sections of the 2001 PATRIOT Act, but adds important modifications designed to balance the government's need to conduct valuable national security investigations and the protection of Americans' privacy interests.  It also allows the controversial so-called "Lone Wolf" provision, which the Justice Department testified has never been used, to sunset at the end of this year.

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