Outfoxed

Book excerpt: The director of 2004’s smash hit documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism teams with journalist Alexandra Kitty in an even more detailed and updated examination of how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News, have been running a “race to the bottom” in television news. They examine media consolidation by focusing on the Fox News Channel: How did Fox gain prominence? How did the Fox News Channel gain audiences and influence public debate? How does Fox report reality? Is the network merely interpreting events or is it pushing propaganda? Who are the main players and how do they treat their friends and enemies? Why should readers care about how Fox takes liberties with its facts? Each chapter blends interviews from Greenwald’s documentary, transcripts from Fox programs, and other research pertaining to Fox News not only to illustrate the Fox “mentality,” but also to show the factual, ethical and structural problems with the news channel. Interviews and transcripts are analyzed to give readers a strong sense of what Fox is actually telling its audiences.