FoxPAC: Network Again Engaging in Political Advocacy with "9-12 Project"
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, September 11, 2009 |
CONTACT Jess Levin (202) 772-8162 |
Washington, D.C. - Today, on the eighth anniversary of 9-11, one day before Glenn Beck's "9-12 Project" descends on Washington, Media Matters for America calls attention to what has become a familiar, disturbing pattern on the purportedly "fair and balanced" news network.
Fox News now routinely engages in political advocacy against the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress, and Beck's promotion of a September 12 march on Washington is the latest example. Network executives have made little effort to hide Fox News' agenda, with one referring to the network as the "voice of opposition."
"There is little difference between being the 'voice of opposition' and just being the opposition," said Eric Burns, president of Media Matters. "Since the president's election, Fox News has become nothing more than the 24/7 media wing of the Republican Party. No political party in American history has had such an enormous megaphone."
BACKGROUND:
Since President Obama's inauguration, Fox News network executives have made their intentions clear. In clips aired on the March 23 broadcast of NPR's Media Circus, vice president for programming Bill Shine referred to the network as the "voice of opposition." And chief executive officer Roger Ailes reportedly said of the new administration: "I see this as the Alamo," adding, "If I just had somebody who was willing to sit on the other side of the camera until the last shot is fired, we'd be fine."
On air, the network's agenda is even clearer. Fox News personalities and hosts have promoted and encouraged viewers to "join" tea party protests and town hall meetings. They have implored viewers to call Congress and the White House to protest Democratic policies. And they have declared "Victory!" when Democratic legislation has been stalled.
Most recently, Beck and Fox News have repeatedly promoted Beck's "9-12 Project," which, in addition to encouraging local events, is organizing a September 12 march on Washington, which Fox News will broadcast live.
- Beck's 9-12 Project "a place" for people looking to take back their country. Beck started the 9-12 Project, which describes itself as "a place for you and other like-minded Americans looking for direction in taking back the control of our country." Beck's FoxNews.com website, under a section titled, "TAKE ACTION: GET INVOLVED!" states of the 9-12 Project: "Check out Beck's new Web site for updates on the stories and people who prove that your values and principles are still very much alive."
- 9-12 Project organizes events across country. The conservative project frequently organizes events around the country. For instance, members of the 9-12 Project have helped organize tea parties, and Beck's 9-12 website is working with others for a "March on Washington," among other local events, on September 12. Beck will participate in a 9-12 "March on Washington" by broadcasting live from 1 to 3 p.m. ET on Fox News.
- Beck: "9-12 Projects and rallies happening all over." In recent months, Beck has frequently touted the effectiveness of his 9-12 Project in organizing followers. On August 12, for instance, Beck described the 9-12 Project as giving "ourselves an outlet of voice to connect, because you needed to community organize. ... Well, you have already done it. There are 9-12 Projects and rallies happening all over. The biggest one seems to be in Washington, D.C., on September 12."
- Beck: "We started that. Millions all involved across the country and the 9-12 project and other organizations like it." On August 27, Beck said of the 9-12 Project:
BECK: Now, the second part of this. A few months ago, I told you, you got to know you're not alone. You've got to know. You got to unite. Talk to people. Make sure you know you're not alone, through the 9-12 Project. We started that. Millions all involved across the country and the 9-12 Project and other organizations like it. I knew we needed to connect with one another.
- Beck: "On 9-12, I hope to see you in Washington. I will make sure you're seen all over the country." On August 28, Beck described the 9-12 march on Washington as something "worth standing up for" and told viewers, "I hope to see you in Washington. I will make sure you're seen all over the country."
- Beck: Will we find people "to stand for our country?" Discussing his participation in the 9-12 march, Beck asked viewers: "Will we find another 50 men or women willing to stand for our country and the republic? On the Fox News Channel, you can find out all of the details at the 912Project.com."
- 9-12 march website: Beck "really helping our numbers grow!" A post on the 9-12 march website 912dc.org states, "The recent coverage by Glenn Beck is really helping our numbers grow!" The website frequently mentions Beck's promotion of the march and excerpted a September 8 USA Today article which reported that the march has been "[e]ncouraged by conservative commentators such as Fox's Glenn Beck."
For more examples of the network's political advocacy, please see Media Matters' comprehensive report:
"Voice of the opposition": Fox News openly advocates against Democratic Congress, White House
###
RSS Feeds
We all know what you're trying to infer.
(Right Wing, Dumb white guys with weapons)
Besides, what is your point if the guy carrying the gun in that instance was black?
They guy in Texas that shot the illegal alien drug dealers who broke into his neighbors house. I bet that neighborhood is off the list of the criminals knowing the victims have better guns and are a better shot.
If carrying guns in the open was so effective in preventing crime, then wouldn't there be like NO crime in the state of AZ?
What about the rancher in AZ who has the illegal alien problem who went to court?? These people were breaking the law and he had to defend his actions?
They are not citizens of the united states why are they getting privileges afforded only to US citizens, but a lawyer want to make a name for them selves by taking up precious time in the legal system with frivolous suits
If you shoot someone dead, I don't think the police should investigate, period. I don't think we should have lawyers or courts.
As someone who is trained with small arms I love these folks who think that they are omnipotent. They overlook the fact that the 'bad guy' is beginning this confrontation and knows that there's going to be trouble. Unless these 'good guys' are walking around with their hands on their pistol grips, ready to draw and shoot at the slightest indication, the bad guy will have the drop on them every time.
I just hope that these 'good guys' have enough sense not to try and draw on someone who already has a gun pointed at them.
You probably feel police overstep their bounds when use their weapon. Well if I was a cop today I would feel that it is kill or be killed.
The criminals now a days don't care and you can't make them care. It seems like the more you try to rehabilitate them the worst they become.
We don't need social justice we need plain justice for the victims.
Anyone who carries a firearm in service to a community or a country must follow the law or rules of engagement. Anyone who doesn't isn't a police officer or a soldier but a vigilante.
We're a society and a nation of laws. You're advocating anarchy.
There are far, far fewer murders in the UK. A person is about 69 times more likely to be murdered in Philadelphia than Brussels, and it just gets absurd if you look at America's most violent city, Washington, DC.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/153988.stm
If my family was being carjacked I would love to be able to protect them, not just watch as they drive away
I'm curious because of the choice of your words. You'd "love to be able to protect them."
Some are always dreaming of situations in which they can show their courage and "manliness". Anyone who's been in an actual situation will tell you that it is a sobering and deadly serious experience. Having a gun pointed at you or pointing a gun at another human being is a life changing event.
And actually pulling that trigger means that from that moment on, you're never the same again. It will stay with you forever.
I'm guessing that you're answer is no.
Not quite, just dumb guys. All the most ignorant hunters I've ever had the displeasure of sharing a hunting lease with have been ignorant right wingers. I just love dealing with accidental fire discharges, ammo cooking off because a moron left the box too close to the fire, drinking in the blinds while hunting, yeah, I've pretty much seen it all...
Which of course is exactly the thing the right-wing accuses liberals of doing all the time!
Now that's projection personified!
They have allowed Murdoch to have a near complete monopoly, that no other business mogul has EVER achieved in the US.
Then they allow his interests, like FOX, to regurgitate hate speech on a daily basis.
Free speech is something to treasure and take pride in, but Rupert's go over the line, they incite folks with fear and hate to violence.
The definition of hate speech from Wikipedia:
Hate speech is a term for speech that attacks or disparages a person or group of people based on their social or ethnic group[1], such as race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or lack there of, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, language ability, ideology, social class, occupation, appearance (height, weight, skin color, etc.), mental capacity, and any other distinction that might be considered by some as a liability.
The term covers written as well as oral communication and some forms of behaviors in a public setting .
It is also sometimes called antilocution and is the first point on Allport's scale which measures prejudice in a society.
The "town hall" meetings were a perfect example, of Rupert Murdoch's poisoning of America.
If America does nothing to reign in this hateful rhetoric, believe me, "free speech" will not have any meaning.
The press was a vehicle that we used to rely on for checks and balances, to keep the politicians honest, now the press, aka Rupert Murdoch, OWN the politicians.
This WILL destroy democracy.
Richard Branson is correct:
THIS WEEK
The problem is that politicians are scared of Murdoch. They believe that he can win them an election or lose them an election.
========================
Earlier this week, I stated -- admittedly from a slightly biased position -- that I felt that Rupert Murdoch and his empire posed a potential threat to democracy.
On reflection, I still believe it. Rupert Murdoch already controls a large chunk of the media; he controls a large chunk of television and he now wants to have massive influence over ITV.
Any media mogul who seeks the kind of power that Murdoch seeks in the UK should, I believe, be stopped.
Big oil companies and big press barons
But let's just take Murdoch as one example.
In the US, he owns Fox Television. During the Gore/Bush presidential election battle, a lot of people felt that it was Fox which actually won the election for Bush.
In Britain, we have something approaching consensus politics. We have, for example, Blair and Cameron agreeing about the horrendous threat of global warming.
Over the Atlantic, you have a Bush administration that does not believe that global warming exists -- supported, by the way, by big oil companies and big press barons.
What I fear is that some of the worst aspects of America could be imported into Britain, particularly if we have one press baron that controls the bulk of British media.
=====================================
It's not for me to beat Murdoch
This evening, a taxi driver said to me: "If you can't beat Murdoch, nobody can. What chance do us guys in the street have?"
The truth is that it's not for me to beat Murdoch; it's for the politicians.
The problem is that politicians are scared of Murdoch. They believe that he can win them an election or lose them an election, and so what we need is consensus here too.
We need the leaders of the three parties to get together and to decide that, for the sake of democracy, a line should be drawn in the sand.
We already seen the effects of the right wing propaganda, Nothing but division and violence. In Texas some people are already organizing and wanting Texas to secede from the union, rallying and saying they are ready for bloodshed. I do not see how the conservatives claim patriotism when this is clearly very unpatriotic.
The questions they ask might make you feel uncomfortable but who cares those are the questions that need answering.
If you are so far to the right that they seem center, you need to realign your thinking. CNN is closest to the middle, with MSNBC skewing to either side depending on the time of the day.
Then you are delusional. They engage in a steady stream of misinformation.
When the cult of hero-worship surrounding Bush began to fade, MSNBC put its corporate finger in the wind and decided on a different strategy. So now they are a "liberal" station interested more in the Daily Show demographic than the Lawrence Welk fans watching Fox. It's business. The "liberal" talk on MSNBC is well within establishment parameters. Welcome as it is as an antidote to the increasingly bizarre Fox News, nonetheless there is nothing aired on MSNBC that upsets the status quo in any meaningful way. Anyone who thinks there is anything remotely 'left-wing' about General Electric (or Obama for that matter) needs to get their head examined. If they put their corporate finger in the air and decide there's more money in airing right-wing stuff again, they'll do it. Simple as that.
It's just the common tater tots like O'Reilly and Beck and Barnes and Krauthammer and Liasson and Williams (Juan) that are incredibly and incessantly offensive.
Over genrealized statement; republican talking point; republican talking point; whiny question that makes you sound like a child.
Why are you here?
Oh yes, we control everything. Good grief you people are so full of crap.
You're delusional. You claim that liberals control the media. they work in the media, that's for sure. But media content is controlled by the owners of media who are corporate America.
Here's how you joined the bandwagon, too!
The problem with your little link and that idiotic tea bagging group gathering...
Is that its message does not take into account that all this economic disaster started 28 years ago... and grew with steroids under Junior!
From my vantage point... it looks as if this entire waste of time is just another way for right-wing racists to gather together and blame the black man in the White House, instead of looking at the whole historical picture!
Show me that I'm wrong and I'll happily recant what I have said here, but I get the feeling that this is one of the big motivations for this exploitative(ly) named 9/12 Project!
You'd have to say "And we don't want any ignorant racists in our group," sorta like Truman in 1948, who declared to the assembled Catholics in his major speech to that group that he wanted to win without one Communist vote. Catholics, it seems, were much more anti-Communist than the average American that year.
The 9/12 project claims to want to unite us again, like we were on 9/12/2001.
The problem lies in the fact that those pushing this event are the same group who called us cowards and traitors for opposition to the war. The same group that said to shut up until we win an election.
Well, we won the election. Now these cretins are calling us all socialists, communists and fascists.
But we're supposed to forget all of that, admit that only conservatives understand the problems we face, convince the president to resign and get back in line by tomorrow behind the same people who divided us for the last 6 years. And be united with them once again.
Not this time pal.
The media tends to focus on opposition, or at least opposition they support if they are one-sided. During Bush I saw all sorts of large protests reported on the news, anti-war, impeach bush, no coal, from various places including Boston, New York, and of course the Capitol building, from ABC news and Fox News alike. I remember my CBS affiliate covering a dozen person protest at a funeral! Now we see protests from near the end of Bush against the bail outs to protests against healthcare on the news. That is just how they operate. Protests, by definition, protest against something. Fox isn't committing anything that much bigger than what other networks have done., if bigger at all.
If you remember not even one protest from Bush I ask you, what were you watching or reading?
So we went about our business. Some of us, knowing the difference between right and wrong, just sat on our hands.
Like a Virus it spread. The talk morphed as it locked onto its audience's fears and prejudices, the "Us versus Them", "Government is Evil", Godliness is next to Holiness, Damn those Unbelievers", on and on. Then along comes the Party, hungry for control, sees the road back to power. The kindling is there, ready to ignite, Ahhh...While the rest of us went on with our lives, too busy, you know, just skating along, mainstream, just want to get along without too much hassle. Yes, we had issues with events of the day, but we were lazy, easily bored...no longer activists if ever we were! Ah, complaisancy.
How many just like me have taken several years now, waking up to look around saying "OMG, this is not good"!
The Rightous Mob has gotten ahead of us. I know I'm late into the fray, but I'm here now. There has to be an end to this insanity that has a chokehold on our country!
Which of course is exactly the thing the right-wing accuses liberals of doing all the time!
Now that's projection personified!
I suppose if a "liberal" opposes these 9-12 tea parties, they will be branded by conservative opponents as weak, and were the cause for 9-11. How many speeches are going to be given about patriotism and health care, and how many references to September 11th are going to be made?
Then ask yourself a question: "What does September 11th have to do with the current debate?"
Nothing, but the right is using it to solidify their base and claim ownership to a tragedy.