Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)

In Robert Greenwald's documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism we come away with one very important message. The media is controlled by corporations. This is what defines the media, and it's because of this that we have Rupert Murdoch taking over the Fox News Channel and turning it into the Conservative machine that spews out right wing bias on a daily basis. Outfoxed takes an in depth look at Fox News and brings to light what makes it tick and the tricks it pulls behind closed doors to become the most bias news station on television.Now, back in 2004 when this came out I could see how Outfoxed would be horribly shocking. It does a great job at pulling back the curtain on Fox News and it reveals some really disturbing things about them. From the way they focus on stories that look good for Conservatives while avoiding others that won't push their agenda, to the tricks they employ to make them seem "fair and balanced" the ridiculous slogan of the network. However, it is 2012 now. Eight years have gone by and Fox News is still like it was when this film came out, but more of us know that now. Fox News is just one big joke today, a news organization that can't be taken seriously, or at least shouldn't be taken seriously. For this reason, watching Outfoxed was just taking in a lot of information I already knew or could have already gathered from my knowledge of what a moronic news organization Fox News is.That being said, Outfoxed is very important, albeit a little redundant. It doesn't hold back on the punches it pulls at Fox, never backing down on its relentless fight to detail Fox's conservative bias. It's got a lot of great information, presents a lot of well spoken individuals to talk about the issues here, and, despite it looking like something that was edited on Windows Movie Maker, it's a pretty well made film. Mainstream media is just such a joke these days that the inspiration to remove bias from the media that the film tries to instill in its viewers is fairly futile. It's unfortunate that that is the case, but the chance of having an unbias media today just seems too fargone to do anything about it. Outfoxed does all that it can, but it may all be for nought.

Finally it's been made. Actually it was made several years ago, but thank God it was. For those who expect more from "news" stations, who believe that all of them, whether they be MSNBC or CNN or yes, Fox News, can and should do so much more to offer viewers unbiased news coverage and balanced commentary, this film is sure to incite some anger. The film makes one main point: it's not that Fox isn't good at being nonpartisan; it simply doesn't want to try. If it did its ratings would plummet and the film explains just why.The documentary is about as low budget as they come. No great special effects or artistic twists, but it succeeds at expressing its point in a concise manner and by using plenty of information from former Fox employees and excerpts of newscasts.If you believe Fox News is the only true fair and balanced news network, you'll probably turn the film off after a matter of minutes. That's what happened when I showed the film to my very conservative father. But otherwise, you'll probably find the film to be both bold and informative, one that confirms what many have long expected to be true.

This movie is certainly not what you would call a well constructed Documentary film. It is very clear in it's motives and I guess succeeds in keeping the viewer entertained throughout the entire Movie. I wouldn't go so far as comparing it to Michael Moore's way of commenting through film, but it tends to take that direction at times.That being said, it is still, unfortunately, a Movie Americans should watch and take to heart. Because at the core of it all it's not about politics, the movie makers are (hopefully) not trying to berate Fox News for being Right Wing. What is important about this movie and what should be important to every American, left, right, center, black, white, Hispanic, is that this is the way Journalism is nowadays in the States. And that this kind of Journalism SHOULD NOT BE SUPPORTED. It doesn't matter if it's CNN or NBC or FOX. You DO NOT! invite Guests onto your show and then cut off their Microphones when they voice an opinion that is different to your own. You DO NOT! deny your studio guests the right to speak. You DO NOT! DO NOT! DO NOT! put your Opinion in front of the facts. Never ever ever ever... That is not Journalism, and deserves to be removed from the Air for all eternity. It is unprofessional, insensitive Manipulation of FACT! And let's face it, it's an Outrage. It makes me as a viewer feel like an idiot, because I am being pushed very unsubtly into an opinion which may not even be mine. And that should NEVER be the case on any Newsprogramm anywhere.The Problem with a film like this is that it raises too much emotion to be really taken seriously. The Left will cheer it to high heavens, even though it is neither a good film, nor an unbiased representation of facts. And the Right will see it as "Left-wing Propaganda Rubbish" and not see behind the facade through to the real issue at hand. If everyone would watch this movie, take a second to think about what they feel, and then take out of it the message that rings true to them, this movie will have had the effect a journalistic piece should have, even though I doubt that is the effect it was aiming at.I have been a supporter of our President for the entirety of his term, I share a lot of the views Fox News is trying to convey, heck sometimes I even share the same Opinion that O'Reilly does, and do think some of his guests should just shut up. But I wanna decide whether or not I switch of the news. But a journalist should have his pride, a journalist should show some class. It is NOT the Job of a News Corporation to make this decision for you.

Robert Greenwald, who directed the scathing documentary Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War (2003) in which he demonstrated beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Bush administration repeatedly lied to the American people as it manipulated the Press and the Congress to get them to support its invasion of Iraq, now takes dead aim at one of Bush's most staunch supporters, media mogul Rupert Murdoch.Using the same technique that worked so well in "Uncovered," Greenwald plays clips from Murdoch's Fox News to show that Fox News is anything but "fair and balanced." From the clips of Bill O'Reilly verbally abusing his "guests" and telling them to "shut up" to Brit Hume mouthing the Republican Party line in the guise of objective journalism to slanted stories directed from above (that would be from Mr. Murdoch himself in some cases, like some worshipful filler about Ronald Reagan or some non-news from Bush's standard stump speech) to the daily email directives telling the staff at Fox News how to slant today's selected stories--from the glitz and the directive music and the flags in the background to the character assassinations of Republican opponents, to the "feel good" misinformation about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Greenwald shows that Fox News stands for propaganda, spoon fed to the American masses.Interspersed with the clips are sound bites from ex-Fox employees (some of them with their voices and faces disguised or hidden for fear of reprisals from Fox) and media experts and even some progressive politicians. From the employees we get a glimpse of the stifling Fox News "culture" that subtly but unmistakably requires everyone on staff to slant the news as directed or find work some place else. What emerges is a portrait of a media empire that is dead set on destroying journalism as we know it. And that's the way Murdoch wants it. He wants to control events through the power of the media, to stifle contrary opinion and to keep the masses in couch potato ignorance.Thus there is a specter haunting the American democracy, and that specter is media control by anti-democratic corporations. It is not just arch-conservative Rupert Murdoch and his vast media empire, it is CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, etc. that are becoming more and directed from above, and more and more divorced from actual reportage in favor of the kind of spin and slant that pleases the corporate heads. Even National Public Radio is coming under greater and greater corporate influence and control.What's to be done? We must elect public officials that will prevent the consolidation of media. If we don't, those who own the media will soon own the government. The airwaves belong to everyone. No one should have a monopoly on their use. Traditionally the media has served as "the Fourth Estate," a watchdog on government. More and more it has abdicated that responsibility because its purse strings are controlled by its corporate sponsors. In the case of Murdoch, more and more media is falling under the control of a single ideology. Can a fascist state be far behind? I am not panicking yet. The Democrats saw what can happen when the other side controls most of the media (almost all of it, actually), and fiscal conservatives are learning that social conservatives may not be their best allies, especially faith-based evangelicals whose first order of business is a return to ignorance and superstition on the way to establishing a theocracy in the United States like something out of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." As the mass mind becomes more and more dumbed down and indoctrinated into mindless consumerism while being massaged by a dictatorial media, greater and greater grows the threat to democracy.The real test will come after Bush is out of office. The next administration must take steps to break up ClearChannel, etc., and prevent the further consolidation of Murdoch's empire. The airwaves must be a public utility because to control media in the modern society is ultimately to control elections.This documentary is a clarion call to wake up and smell the newsprint because if Murdoch has his way there will only be the comic page and Murdoch-slanted news stories, editorials and canned opinion.(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)