Don't Be Evil - Restoring the Public Trust in Business, Politics and the Media

Don't Be Evil - restoring the public trust in business, politics and the media


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Outfoxed - 7/17/2004 03:53:00 PM

Following the approach of Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 9/11, a new "political documentary" will be released tomorrow.

Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism examines how corporate-owned media are abusing the public trust and corrupting democracy by failing to provide insightful and balanced news:

Outfoxed examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know.

The left-leaning MoveOn.org co-sponsored production of the documentary which reportedly cost just $300,000. MoveOn is distributing DVDs of the 70-minute film for thousands of "houseparties" across America tomorrow.

MoveOn has also filed a complaint against Fox News with the FTC, alleging deceptive advertising in Fox's use of the "fair and balanced" slogan. The complaint asserts that the FTC's three tests of deceptive advertising are met: (1) Fox made the claim; (2) the claim is blatantly false as evidenced by memos directing news staff to slant their coverage; and (3) consumers were harmed, evidenced by studies showing that Fox News viewers hold more incorrect beliefs than viewers of other news sources (such as that Iraq had WMD and was supplying them to al Qaeda).

Fox has been accused of having an "extraordinary right-wing tilt" for years. The dispute was made famous when Fox sued Al Franken for trademark infringement over his book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. The book satirized Fox's catchphrase.

The Outfoxed film is likely to be controversial due to its frontal assault on the Bush administration and media bias in this election year. The Washington Post writes that Greenwald "makes no effort at fairness or balance himself," and "indulged in some misleading editing," though he did "score points with a handful of memos from a top Fox executive that appear to suggest tilting the news."

More reviews available from Reuters UK and Canada's Globe and Mail. Precious little on mainstream American networks, though.

The producer, Robert Greenwald, has taken significant risks by using extensive unreleased footage from Fox without their permission. Greenwald previously produced Uncovered - The Truth About the Iraq War.

Outfoxed is available now for $10 at Amazon or Yahoo Stores.

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