FOX News has abducted my mother

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I hear about someone who only watches Fox News, it reminds me of the study that showed they knew less "news" than people who watched no news at all.

http://www.businessinsider.com/study-watching-fox-news-makes-you-less-informed-than-watching-no-news-at-all-2012-5

So true. It's an opinion channel with mostly wrong information. It's crazy.

[Anonymous]

Regarding the OP...I have heard several people in my life have the same frustration. I have a good friend who has awesome parents - they are strict Catholic but she is close with them, and I've always loved going to their house and enjoying the lively conversations and respectful debates. But now her dad has become a Fox Parrot, and she said the same as the OP. That he's not even INFORMED anymore. Whereas they used to be able to talk together and at least see each other's viewpoints if they don't agree, her dad (who is now retired and has a ton of time on his hands) has become angry and irrational, so she won't bother. It makes her sad because they used to learn from each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My best friend (who my mother adores), was actually educated at an Ivy. Then went on to Columbia for a graduate degree in journalism. While she was there, we became great friends with someone who I consider to be a wickedly funny, thoughtful writer and observer of the world. He self identifies as a conservative liberal.

He took a job writing for FOX after graduation. We couldn't make sense of it, until he told us that he wanted to spend a year writing for an entertainment circus. He didn't believe anything he wrote for air, and said he approached it as if he was writing for the Onion. He was shocked that he was never challenged, but celebrated.

We told him he sold his soul to the devil.

I told my mom a sanitized version of this very real situation, and she didn't speak to me for three weeks.

My question is how do they do it? It has to be a multi-pronged approach across shows, etc. It is like a license to print $. If one could harness that for good, we may be on to something.

[Anonymous]

OMG, laughing. Fox took my dad about 15 years ago. It's been a struggle. At least he didn't seem to be still listening to Rush Limbaugh last time I visited. ITA with the OP!

Where's the support group meeting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah for someone preaching the need to consider multiple viewpoints and the value of open mindedness, you sound like both a hypocrite and an a--hole.

Hey mom, get off DCUM. Fox is on.

Wanna bet that I'm smarter than you? We should have a contest.

It is not a contest. It is not about who is smarter. The issue is engaging in thoughtful, deliberate dialogue about important matters. Fox robs its viewers of this critical thinking capability. So instead, they say things like, "Hey, wanna bet I am smarter? Want a contest?"

Can't even think of an appropriate smartness contest. Well that was over much more quickly than I expected! Feels good to win.

PS - if you think you're getting "thoughtful, deliberate dialogue" from any comparable liberal (MSNBC) or centrist (CNN) mass media source you are kidding yourself. God forbid you think you're getting that from Democracy Now. The issue with most libs is they don't like the viewpoints on Fox, which is fine, but just say so and stop dressing it up it BS due process explanations. If you want to point to CSPAN or NPR or something, OK, sure, that's somewhat better (though still wildly imbalanced) but in no way comparable to Fox. It's like saying chicken is better than beef because coq au vin is preferable to beef jerky.

You seem to have thought about it, so let me ask you this. If Fox is the "beef jerky" of conservative news, why are some conservatives living on a diet of beef jerky? And is that a good thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shaking my head, as I get off the phone with my mom. She spouts ridiculous things she learns from FOX. She keeps it on all day, has it has her landing page on her computer, and buys books from all the pundits. In my opinion, she has literally lost her mind to them.

She is a Republican. Cool by that. But can't she at least be a smart one? Be a consumer of media sources beyond FOX? Read a fucking article that might offer another viewpoint?

No, she is completely brain washed. Won't consider anything that counters what she hears, and if I offer another viewpoint, I am dismissed as a crazy liberal advocating nonsense from my "Ivory Tower."

I went to a state school, William and Mary.

I need to find a way to navigate conversations with her, as she turns everything into something political, and the politics are just wrong. (Education taking center stage right now. My mother doesn't have a clue, but considers herself an expert on how we are screwing up our children.)

Deep breaths and changing the conversation aren't cutting it.

on the upside she and her demographic will be dead soon enough.

republicans marching to the graveyard - literally

That is a horrible thing to say about someone's mother.

[Anonymous]

LOL one of my ILs is also kidnapped by Fox, and rather extreme right wing websites, frequently shares on FB articles about how the POTUS or FLOTUS were 'caught' in some 'crime' or some dumb, fake or grossly exaggerated "news" story about a Muslim who doesn't want bacon sold at their local store or something like that. So stupid. Just the dumbest stories evvvvver, or it's the very old overtired story about how POTUS is really a foreigner and Muslim (sometimes muslin..) and shouldn't be able to be Pres anyway.
OTOH there are many 'news' shows and channels, not just Fox, that give me pause with their reporting being so obvoiusly slanted one way or another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL!
I want to school for media production and landed my first job at a right wing talk radio station and worked directly with one of the bigger nutjobs out there. My friends made fun of me for going to the dark side, and I was intimidated walking in there. But when I did, I realized I was surrounded by hippie, pot smoking, multicultural 20something instead of just the old white men I was expecting. Still friends with many of them today and we joke about how we sold our souls for those jobs.

It was just a job. We were producing **entertainment**, and looking for the next hot button issue. When we came across a great idea for a story that fit the station's views it was golden...I didn't have to agree with the position taken; I just had to know that it would generate some buzz.

That's not surprising at all and not confined to the political arena. ESPN is the biggest perpetrator of fabricating issues and pushing stories until they're news. ESPN reporters who run stories about what ESPN experts say and unnamed "sources" saying that something might happen is run as a lead. FFS- Skip Bayless gave Lebron James a C+ grade for his performance in the Finals so far. I know he's a professional Troll but seriously, what games is he even watching?!?

So Fox "News" has plugged into the fears of old, white Americans. nbd. If you look around you'll see they're doing nothing different from any other media outlet. They're just more successful than others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
on the upside she and her demographic will be dead soon enough.

republicans marching to the graveyard

Fox has my BIL, too, so there's another generation to replace them.

Remember William F. Buckley's show? I didn't agree with his conclusions, but he bothered to get some actual information beforehand.

[Anonymous]

Oh, the wisdom of the ages. Some day you, too will wise up.

[Anonymous]

Fox-a-non member here. They've taken my in laws. And when my DH is with them, he can't control his urges too. Randomly they all start spewing hate about welfare, methadone clinics and people having babies out of wedlock.

It's too much for me. Whatever happened to people not discussing politics at the dinner table?

--signed libertarian who does vote republican mostly.

[Anonymous]

Every time someone uses Obama's middle name (Barrack Hussein Obama) I want to scream and jab my eyeballs out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every time someone uses Obama's middle name (Barrack Hussein Obama) I want to scream and jab my eyeballs out.

Ypu have a very low and extreme threshold for frustration. You might want to consider therapy.

[Anonymous]

I have had a complete turnaround...from liberal Democrat to Republican.

Honestly, I find the conservative point of view refreshing.

I say this as someone who interned on the Hill for a well known Democrat and worked on many Democratic Senate and Presidential campaigns.

You are not "stupid" if you watch Fox or listen to Rush or read the Blaze.

This is always what liberals claim...and I used to shout this too.

I say - give the conservative viewpoint a chance.

I am a highly educated person and I now respect the conservative viewpoint.

I am sick to death of the PC liberal nonsense. Bleck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding the OP...I have heard several people in my life have the same frustration. I have a good friend who has awesome parents - ythey are strict Catholic but she is close with them, and I've always loved going to their house and enjoying the lively conversations and respectful debates. But now her dad has become a Fox Parrot, and she said the same as the OP. That he's not even INFORMED anymore. Whereas they used to be able to talk together and at least see each other's viewpoints if they don't agree, her dad (who is now retired and has a ton of time on his hands) has become angry and irrational, so she won't bother. It makes her sad because they used to learn from each other.

. WTF?