By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Robert Greenwald
Country: united_states
Year: 2004
Running time: 78
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418038/combined
Barbara says: “I thought this documentary was very good. It truly makes you think about news as a business and how easy it is to manipulate what people say. A perfect example is Bill O’Reilly who has a tremendously popular show and who I think is the biggest hypocrite and liar on the air today. The segment which features him is good for a laugh. 4.5 cats”
Bruce says: “Worn down and shell-shocked from the election wars, watching a film about a war on journalistic integrity is currently not my idea of a good time. I admired this film but at the same time thoughtit was too hastily conceived and produced; it might have been much better had it more meat and a slightly broader perspective.
“At one point a talking head brings up what I feel is a subject that should be expanded, that of politics infiltrating the media. We are told that it began in the Reagan administration. If I remember correctly, the Reagan boys decided that any reporter who adversely challenged Reagan during one of his press conferences would not be invited again. The threat was devastating to papers or networks who did not dare to be left out of the political loop, without a story to report. A better understanding of how the Republican Party has historically edited out dissent would have given us a better picture of why things are the way they are today.
“The film is comprised almost solely of talking heads and archival TV footage similar to Greenwald’s UNCOVERED: THE WAR ON IRAQ. Given the number of documentaries with that format, the genre could easily begin to wear thin. To Greenwald’s credit the talking heads are clearly labeled so we do not have to rack our brains to figure out who is speaking, meanwhile missing what the person is telling us.
“Greenwald has plenty of ammunition proving the Murdoch Empire and specifically Fox News are purposely feeding misinformation to their viewers, undermining democracy in the process. First, Fox has News Alerts which were initially instituted to bring urgent messages to the public. Today they have evolved into another animal; News Alerts are used to divert public attention from important issues by breaking into relevant news with the latest irrelevant information on Bennifer and Martha Stewart.
“Another effective tool to inject bias into the news is to employ the use of sound bytes, buzz words and simple spins (you pick what you want to call them) to skewer Democrats and enhance the Republicans. The Fox management sends memos each day to the news staff telling them what to emphasize or what to downplay. One example is ‘flip-flop.’ In the course of a short span almost every news reporter, interviewer or host used the words ‘flip-flop’ to describe John Kerry. Furthermore ‘flip-flop’ was spoken with a hard, degrading edge. Another memo urged news personnel to say how John Kerry looks French, making him seem like a US enemy rather than a statesman. We see many examples of that as well. Another example: reporting positively on the economy is practically always positioned as a Republican benefit, stressing how many new jobs have been created and talking about market surges. On the other hand, when the market is down it is positioned as a possible fear of Kerry being elected. Democrats are pictured as the people who raise taxes. Memos support these conjectures, too.
“Finally, a major ploy is the use of ‘some people say’ to give the impression that what is spoken is a documented fact instead
of opinion disguised as news. Over and over we hear news reporter after news reporter using those words to lend an official air to Fox propaganda. As one person put it, the news no longer comes from the newsroom; it comes from the promotion department.
“The other theme that horrified me in this documentary was the vituperious behavior of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity, two of the Fox News stars. In one segment, Bill O’Reilly had Jeremy Glick the son of a World Trade Center victim on his show. He screamed at Glick, interrupted him and said things like ‘You have a warped view of this world and this country.’ At another point where O’Reilly says ‘I’m not right-wing, I believe in global warming,’ I was sure, by his tone of voice that he meant he was in favor of global warming not just aware of it. O’Reilly cuts of everyone who challenges his point of view and frequently tells them to ‘shut up’ as evidenced by many film clips.
“OUTFOXED makes me angry but most of the material hardly comes as a surprise. Certainly it makes me glad I never watch Fox News and rarely watch TV at all. Hopefully Murdoch will never see the need to infiltrate independent film. 3.5 cats”
Georgette says: “‘The Communists have Pravda. Republicans have Fox News.’
“OUTFOXED takes a look at how Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News has been ‘running a race to the bottom’ in television news. Former Fox News employees show the memos and talking points they were given to push a conservative agenda. Reporters are told to use of phrases such as ‘Some people say’ to say anything to provoke a response, but by attributing the statement to no one, the statement needs no basis in fact.
“John DuPre, former Fox reporter, made the point that the process of journalism involves doing research, gathering facts, analyzing those facts, and arriving at a conclusion. According to DuPre, the journalists are told what to report and how to push it. He talked about going to the Reagan Library on Ronnie’s birthday a few years ago to cover the festivities. DuPre arrived to find a very quiet place, and the only visitors were one 4th grade class. DuPre called the office to say that there was no story. They told him to make up a story. A clip of the newscast was shown with a close up of DuPre talking about buses streaming in for the forthcoming party. Other than the close up (better to hide the fact that there were no buses in the background), there were a couple of shots of well behaved kids playing. I don’t even think there was a cake.
“Of course Bill O’Reilly is the star of Fox News. There is a hysterically funny bit where O’Reilly is called to task publicly for saying ‘shut up’ to a guest. He gave a half-hearted apology saying he only did that once. Well, the clips of the many instances
of him screaming at guests to shut up went on and on.
“I thought this was a powerful and effective movie and give it 4 cats, however, there is one thing that bothered me. Some of the editing was so choppy that it did a good job of proving how easy it is to manipulate the truth. I don’t remember which media expert was being interviewed, but there were no camera swipes between cuts, so, for one sentence the talking head was off to the right. Then for the next sentence, a little to the left. This could have been handled better. In another scene, the narrator makes a statement. Walter Cronkite seemingly responds to that statement. Maybe his response was to the exact statement that was made, but the way it was filmed, it raised that doubt in my mind.”