Review – Outfoxed

Okay, here’s the problem with this documentary: calling Rupert Murdoch a conservative ideologue is kind of like insisting that a prostitute loved screwing you so much that she gave your money back. There are millions of people out there – particularly if recent election results are any indication – who don’t want to hear reports that the United States is doing the wrong thing by pursuing George W. Bush’s agendas at home and abroad. And the brutal truth of the matter is that the money in closed-minded conservatives’ pockets is just as green as anyone else’s. Fox News feeds the need. But it’s no greater affront to truth and justice than any other business catering to a niche market (and again, this is a really large niche). This video does a good job of making the case that Fox doesn’t supply responsible journalism. But then again, that’s not really what they’re there for. The great – and I suspect unintended – irony of the movie comes at the end when one of the media critics suggests we should all do the “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” thing, ignoring the fact that Network was a tongue-in-cheek yet eerily-accurate prediction of the precise news-as-entertainment attitude that has become Fox’s hallmark. Fair and accurate indeed. Mildly amusing