Robert Greenwald's "Outfoxed" denounces the "foxification" of American news

Posted by Bertrand Pecquerie on July 16, 2004 at 3:33 PM

In the current American debate about "liberal media" and "liberal bias" in the media, this is a good counterpoint. "Outfoxed" is a documentary about how news is produced at the most successful network in the US, Fox Television. According to the Washington Post, Robert Greenwald - the producer - got the idea for the film after hearing other journalists talk about the "Foxification" of the business, a trend he defines as other news outlets becoming more conservative, sensational and dumbed down. He also had conversations with MoveOn President Wes Boyd, and former Clinton White House official John Podesta of the American Progress think tank, both of which helped finance his Iraq film. Getting insiders and ex-staffers to cooperate, says Greenwald, was "brutally hard." "Outfoxed" accuses Fox of blurring the line between news coverage and the high-decibel opinions of its commentators and hosts, especially Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity (who each night counts the days "until George W. Bush is reelected")."

"Outfoxed" focuses on daily editorial notes to the Fox News staff from Senior Vice President for News John Moody, who wrote in March about the 9/11 commission hearings: "This is not 'what did he know and when did he know it' stuff. Do not turn this into Watergate."

In an April memo on Iraq coverage, Moody wrote: "Do not fall into the easy trap of mourning the loss of US lives and asking out loud why are we there?" Two days earlier, during U.S. military operations in Fallujah, Moody said: "It won't be long before some people start to decry the use of 'excessive force.' We won't be among that group."

In an interview with The Post, Moody rejects "the implication that I'm controlling the news coverage," saying of his 1,200 employees: "People are free to call me or message me and say, 'I think you're off base.' Sometimes I take the advice, sometimes I don't."

Sources: Washington Post and a positive article in the New York Times.

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