Among all of Fox's popular memes, the most absurd is their claim that while Fox is "fair & balanced," other media outlets are biased. This alternate reality was front and center on this morning's Fox & Friends which is quite possible one of the most biased shows on Fox. Not for nothing has it been described as "the morning happy-talk show that Ailes uses as one of his primary vehicles to inject his venom into the media bloodstream." In keeping with their reputation as one of Fox's principal propaganda pushers, this morning's Fox & Friends was classic. Not only did Steve Doocy pimp the Fox meme about liberal media bias in its coverage of the Ferguson situation - but he utilized the commentary of a rabidly right wing, African-American media guy to support the talking points. No bias here, nosireee.....
Doocy began with this: "Exactly what happened in the events leading up to the shooting of an unarmed teenager in Ferguson, Missouri still unclear; but that hasn't stopped many in the mainstream media from taking sides and coming to conclusions." He introduced his guest Wayne Dupree as a "radio show host" which is gilding the lily because Dupree hosts a right wing internet radio show.
Doocy's theme of media bias is laughable given that Dupree is a rabidly right wing African-American who also runs an obscure, right wing blog, "NewsNinja2012" which includes diatribes against Pres. Obama, immigrants, gays, and feminists and has a "socialist watch" section. His biography, on the Tea Party Tribune, says that "he continuously praises God for the opportunity to work and interact with conservative pioneers such as Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Deneen and Tom Borelli, Steve Malzberg, Bill Post, KCarl Smith, Kevin Jackson, Dana and Chris Loesch, David Webb, Alfonso Rachel and many others in today's conservative movement." So you know that you're going to get some real fair & balanced analysis here, you betcha!
While the chyron framed the Fox message as a question, "Media Bias in Missouri, Breaking Down the Freguson Shooting Coverage," Dupree began his examination of media bias involving Ferguson. It should be noted that that Dupree has posted an article, on his website, which links to a video that features someone who allegedly witnessed the altercation between Brown and the police and who says that "Brown doubled-back toward police after running away." So no bias there, no sirree....
Doocy played video of CNN's Don Lemon showing sympathy towards the family of Michael Brown. Doocy, who is NOT a journalist, asked Dupree what he thought about "that instance of journalism." Dupree accused Lemon of "playing to the emotion...of viewers." He accused Lemon of "becoming part of the story." The chyron reinforced the propaganda: "Bias Boondoogle, Mainstream Media Jumps to Conclusions in MO."
Doocy, not a journalist, played video of the award winning MSNBC journalist Andrea Mitchell "going after Jason Riley" (from the Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal) when she said that "Al Sharpton is on a peace mission." In the Meet the Press video, Riley cited recent shootings in Chicago and how Al Sharpton (favorite punching bag for Fox News) avoided Chicago but went to St. Louis to blame whites..." Mitchell's sin was not validating Riley's claim that Sharpton hates white people, but rather, reporting, accurately, that Sharpton was there on a "peace mission." Doocy, in promoting the popular Fox meme that Sharpton is a trouble maker, asked Dupree if he believed Mitchell. Dupree accused Sharpton of going out there to register votes because "that's the only reason why poverty pimps go down to incidents like this to get more type of reaction from the crowd and emotional response." Propaganda Pimp Doocy: "You got to keep in mind, nobody knows exactly what happened and the coverage has to reflect that."
The hypocrisy here is jaw dropping. Don Lemon played to his viewers emotions and became part of the story? Scuse me but this is exactly what Sean Hannity did when he palled around with Cliven Bundy and, in so doing, played to the emotions of the radical right Fox viewership. And this wasn't Hannity's first rodeo. He was part and parcel of the Terri Shiavo Fox media circus. Don Lemon expressed some appropriate sympathy to a grieving family whose unarmed son was shot 10 times. Megyn Kelly was very sympathetic to the Little Sisters of the Poor when she said that they "on the side of the angels" in their case against the Obama administration. The effectiveness of Fox's propaganda lies in its appeal to its viewers emotions - especially a sense of victimhood. Despite its claim of being "fair & balanced," Fox News, uh, takes sides. And this Fox & Friends segment is a great example. Talk about a "bias boondoggle!"