Fox “News” defenders, who rarely have facts on their side, have been having a field day with the exclusive Gawker Fox Mole Joe Muto. And, it must be admitted, there was great disappointment on the part of those of us (up to and including myself) who want to see Fox “News” taken down a peg or two by its own hubris, lies, and demonstrably false propaganda. Alas, there was to be no schadenfreude in Mudville, mighty Muto had struck out. Gawker wound up wasting $5,000 on reports of where Bill O’Reilly evacuates and other dreary minutia. Newly minted blogger Andrew Kirell, who, just like Muto, worked at Fox “News” until last week, published his Fox swan song in an article titled Why I Never Became Mediaite’s Fox News Mole. While Kirell quite rightly mocks Muto’s non-scoops on Gawker, he also reveals the real reason why so many people want to see Fox “News” fail:
As a Fox employee, I too was unhappy with the network’s seemingly incessant coverage of non-stories like Common’s connection to the President, or the so-called “War on Christmas,” or the Ground Zero Mosque. But every network airs its share of bogus controversies. Perhaps it’s a symptom of the 24-hour news cycle? I don’t know. But it was never a reason for me to want to do something as stupid as what Muto did. As an at-will employee, if I ever felt truly disgruntled…I could just, well, leave.
And leave he did, to Mediaite, which always seems to find a way to gloss over the worst of the Fox “News” mendacity (with the notable exception of Tommy Christopher). However, it looks more like his training at Fox “News” will come in handy after all. Let’s parse: That first sentence sounds like he’s pointing the finger at Fox, but the rest of the paragraph is the usual false equivalency the Fox audience has come to expect.
NewsHounds welcomes communication with any and all Fox “News” whistleblowers. Leave an envelope in the usual location. No electronic trail.
Has Fox News really dulled his edge this much?
I am curious to see if he plans on writing a book on his experiences at Fox, but I wonder if he signed some form of legal documents saying upon accepting employment that he would never reveal any information and would be sued if he did so. Since it would be difficult for a private citizen to go against a machine that Iâm sure already has a building full of lawyers on the payroll waiting for something to do. Roger Ailes must be intelligent enough to know the possibility of a former employee doing so, since you would think it would have been done so by now.