Showing posts with label misinformation award. Show all posts
Showing posts with label misinformation award. Show all posts

Friday, December 16, 2011

Fox & Friends: Fox News' Top Misinformer Of 2011


From Media Matters

Fox News' Fox & Friends made considerable contributions to the field of conservative of misinformation throughout 2011. The efforts of co-hosts Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson, and Brian Kilmeade -- as well as their rotating cast of fill-in hosts and Curvy Couch guests -- have made Fox & Friends the top misinformer on Fox News in 2011.

Fox & Friends Hyped Anti-Obama Conspiracy Theories

trumpbirthcertificate
Doocy: "He Could End It Simply -- Just Show [The Birth Certificate] To Us." During an interview with Donald Trump on the April 18 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy responded to Trump's claim that President Obama "has not given a birth certificate" by saying, "He could end it simply -- just show it to us, and it'd be over." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 4/18/11, via Media Matters]
Doocy: Birth Certificate Produced By Obama's Campaign "Is Not The Exact Birth Certificate."After airing Trump's birther claims from an appearance on ABC's The View, Doocy stated during the March 24 edition of Fox & Friends that the Obama "campaign did produce -- before the election -- something called a certificate of live birth, which is not the exact birth certificate, but something that the state says indicates that he was born there." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/24/11, via Media Matters]
Trump Told Unquestioning Fox & Friends Hosts, "I'm Starting To Wonder ... Whether Or Not [Obama] Was Born In This Country." On March 28, Fox & Friends hosted Trump, who stated, "I'm starting to wonder myself whether or not he was born in this country." [Fox News, Fox & Friends,3/28/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about Obama's birth certificate, SEE HERE.
Fox & Friends Found Fact In Ayers' "Joke" About Ghostwriting Obama's Book. During the March 29 broadcast of Fox & Friends, the co-hosts aired a segment in which they showed Bill Ayers making a sarcastic remark regarding the conspiracy theory that he ghostwrote Obama's 1995 book, Dreams from My Father. After airing a clip of Ayers' sarcastic comment, co-host Gretchen Carlson asked, "Was it a joke, or was he being serious?" [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/29/11, via Media Matters]
Fox & Friends Hosted Jack Cashill To Promote Book, Push Ghostwriter Theory. The co-hosts then used Ayers' remark to launch an interview with WorldNetDaily columnist and noted conspiracy theorist Jack Cashill. During the segment, Cashill pushed his theory that Obama's first book, Dreams from My Father, was written by Ayers. Carlson not only promoted Cashill's conspiracy-laden book, but also encouraged his theory, speculating, "Let's say Bill Ayers did write that book." Doocy later asked Cashill, "Why aren't the mainstream media touching this with a 10-foot pole?" [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/29/11, via Media Matters]
Fox Hosted Controversial Pastor To Suggest Obama Is Secretly Muslim. On April 26, Fox & Friends hosted Texas pastor Robert Jeffress to attack Obama over an Easter proclamation. During the segment, Jeffress claimed that there could be "something deep within the president himself that will not allow him to issue these public proclamations about Christianity, when he on Easter will issue a proclamation about Earth Day, or he will recognize Muslim holidays." [Fox News, Fox & Friends,4/26/11, via Media Matters, via Media Matters]
For more of the debunked attacks on Obama's lack of an Easter proclamation, SEE HERE.

Fox & Friends' War On Unions

WIchyron4
Carlson: "Some Would Say That It's The Unions That Have Crippled The U.S. Economy And Led To The United States' Debt." On the December 2 edition of Fox & Friends, Carlson said that "some would say that it's the unions that have crippled the U.S. economy and led to the United States' debt." She then asked guest and Republican strategist Tony Sayegh, "How do you feel about that?" [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 12/2/11, via Media Matters]
Fox's Johnson Claimed Democrats Boycotting Anti-Union Bills Are "Morally And Horribly Reprehensible." On the February 24 Fox & Friends, Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson Jr. reacted to news of Democrats boycotting bills that would strip unions of collective bargaining rights by calling them "morally and horribly reprehensible." From Fox & Friends:
JOHNSON: Under the Constitution, federal and in most states, the speech or debate clause, you can't hold people to account in a criminal way or even an administrative way for what they do or fail to do as elected officials. That being said, this is morally and horribly reprehensible. The world is laughing at the United States, that these Democratic legislators would say, "Oh, we're over here at the hotel, ordering hamburgers, this is so cute, we're not going to come over here." This is incredible, isn't it? [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/24/11, viaMedia Matters]
Doocy Called Infrastructure Spending, Stimulus "A Union Bailout For Teachers And First Responders." On the September 7 edition of Fox & Friends, the co-hosts discussed details of the president's proposed jobs plan ahead of his speech. Responding to part of the proposal, Doocy referred to infrastructure spending as "a union bailout for teachers and first responders." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/7/11, via Media Matters]
Kilmeade: NLRB's Labor Case Against Boeing "Seems Anti-American." On the June 21 edition ofFox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade interviewed Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) about the National Labor Review Board's (NLRB) case against Boeing for deciding to build a plant in the "right to work" state of South Carolina. After a clip was played showing Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) saying that "Boeing is not above the law" and should not receive "preferred treatment," Kilmeade said: "Above the law? If Boeing wants to expand and go to South Carolina for whatever reason, it doesn't -- it seems anti-American to think they can't." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/21/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about NLRB's case against Boeing, SEE HERE.
Kilmeade: WI Pro-Union Protesters Got "Restless And, Dare I Say, Violent."  On the March 3 edition of Fox & Friends, Kilmeade introduced a segment on a Republican Wisconsin lawmaker, Sen. Glenn Grothman, being heckled by a chanting crowd of protesters by baselessly claiming the protesters were "getting restless and, dare I say, violent." Doocy claimed, "If you put yourself in [Grothman's] shoes ... it's absolutely scary." Doocy later said, "When you look at that and all the incivility there, you realize that to these people, elections have no consequence, mean nothing." During the segment, the on-screen graphics repeatedly referred to the "angry" protesters as "violent" or "attack[ing]" Grothman.
WIchyron1
WIchyron2
WIchyron3
[Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/3/11, via Media Matters]
Fox's Carlson Asked If TSA's Collective Bargaining Rights Will "Put Our Security At Risk." On February 7, Carlson stated that the "nation's 50,000 airport screeners will also have collective bargaining rights." She then asked, "But will this put our security at risk?" Carlson then hosted Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) to discuss his proposal to block collective bargaining for TSA workers and asked him, "Why do you believe that allowing collective bargaining with TSA employees threatens our national security?" [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/7/11, via Media Matters]

Economic Misinformation

foxfriendsstimulus
Fox & Friends Promoted Myth That Lower Taxes Generate Higher Revenue. During the November 22 broadcast of Fox & Friends, Fox Business host Stuart Varney claimed lower tax rates lead to more revenue. From the broadcast:
KILMEADE: So, let's talk about the downgrade. I'm only kidding. Let's do this. How about this: The New York Times postulates that maybe this is going to work out good because in 2013, the Bush tax cuts go away, and the 1.2 trillion in cuts, it'll get us on the negative term when it comes to the deficit, and that a lot of people don't really care that much about defense, and they're willing to take these cuts and this increase in taxes.
VARNEY: If you think that the way to tackle our debt problem is to raise taxes and cut the military, OK, I suppose this is a good thing. If you think that that will have a good outcome for our debt and our economy, yeah, OK, The Times has a point. I think the exact opposite. The way to fix the debt problem is not with higher taxes and cutting the military, it's to grow the economy. How do you grow the economy? In my opinion, tax reform. Lower rates, fewer deductions, more revenue to the Treasury. Better economy. [Fox News, Fox & Friends,11/22/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about taxation and revenue, SEE HERE.
Bolling Promoted Misleading Claim That "43 Percent Of American Households" Do Not "Pay A Dime In Tax." On the August 9 edition of Fox & Friends, guest co-host Eric Bolling, in a discussion with guest and author Rick Ferri, claimed: "I didn't want the money being spent. I didn't want 43 percent of American households not to pay a dime in tax." From the broadcast:
BOLLING: But get this, our next guest says he's taking credit for the downgrade himself. Why? Rick Ferri is a financial advisor and author of the book The Power of Passive Investing. He's with us from San Antonio to explain. OK sir -- your fault? The credit downgrade is your fault?
FERRI: It is my fault, and it is your fault, and it is all the viewers' fault, and it is the voters' fault. We're the one who put these people in power. But besides that, we're the ones who got the benefit from it. We're the ones who spent the $15 trillion. It went to us. It didn't just disappear. It went to us. We spent it, and we did nothing about it. It is our fault that this is occurring.
BOLLING: Hey wait a minute, mister. I didn't spend that money. I had no part in spending it. It's not my fault --
FERRI: Oh, yes, you did.
BOLLING: I didn't want the money being spent. I didn't want 43 percent of American households not to pay a dime in tax. How are you blaming me?  [Fox News, Fox & Friends,8/9/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about the share of taxes lower-income U.S. households pay, SEE HERE.
Fox & Friends Repeatedly Portrayed President Obama's Economic Policies As "Class Warfare."Fox & Friends repeatedly attacked Obama by claiming he is "inciting class warfare" by supporting higher taxes for the wealthy. Fox & Friends co-hosts and guests further attached the "class warfare" label to Obama's American Jobs Act, Obama's deficit reduction plan, and his re-election efforts. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/19/11, via Media Matters; Fox & Friends, 9/13/11, via Media Matters]
Fox & Friends Promoted The Myth That The Stimulus Failed. Fox & Friends co-hosts and guests have repeatedly claimed that the stimulus plan failed to improve the economy or create jobs; Varney claimed an updated forecast by the Office of Management and Budget "is an admission that the first stimulus program didn't work," and Carlson claimed it has not "work[ed] for the economy." [Fox News,Fox & Friends, 8/4/11, via Media Matters; Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/2/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about the stimulus' effect on the economy and employment, SEE HERE.
Carlson And Doocy Trivialized The Potential Economic Effects Of A Government Shutdown During Credit Limit Debate. On the March 2 edition of Fox & Friends, Carlson noted services that might have been affected by a government shutdown and said that "the public needs to be let in on a little secret: We can survive when the government shuts down for a short period of time. We can survive." Later in the broadcast, Doocy suggested that a shutdown could make Americans realize "they don't really need that gigantic a mechanism" of government. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/2/11, viaMedia Matters]
For more on the possible effects of a government shutdown, SEE HERE.

Health Care Misinformation

Doocy Promoted Claim That Obama Administration Was Issuing Waivers "As Little Favors To Friends Of The Democrats." On the January 27 edition of Fox & Friends, Doocy said:
DOOCY: There are a number of provisions of the health care bill obligating employers to cover their employees -- otherwise somebody's going to wind up getting fined. Unless you apply to the government and you get a health care waiver. Well, that's kind of embarrassing.
The Republicans that say this administration's handing out these waivers as little favors to friends of the Democrats and stuff like that. Well, we've just discovered that apparently the number of waivers has skyrocketed in the last month. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/27/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about health care waivers, SEE HERE.
Johnson Exploited Story Of Canadian Infant On Life Support To Claim His Case "Could Happen Here ... With The Bureaucratic Bumbling Of Obamacare." On the February 23 edition of Fox & Friends, Doocy reported on a story about a 1-year-old Canadian infant who was in a permanent coma and at the center of a debate over whether his life should be sustained in order to allow him to die at home. Doocy asked Johnson, "Is government-run health care in Canada taking away parents' rights?" Johnson responded, "Yes, and unfortunately we could have it here." Johnson later also agreed with Doocy's statements that "Canada's got that government-mandated health care" and "that could happen in the United States." Johnson later claimed, "It's a sad but true lesson to what could happen here in this country with the bureaucratic bumbling of Obamacare." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/23/11, viaMedia Matters]
Fox & Friends Exclusively Hosted Health Care Reform Opponents Following FL Court Ruling.Following federal Judge Roger Vinson's ruling that the individual mandate makes health care reform unconstitutional, Fox & Friends hosted an unbroken string of health care opponents to comment on the decision, including former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, who "filed the original lawsuit on behalf of 13 states." Fox & Friends hosted numerous other opponents of the health care law, including Republican Florida Governor Rick Scott. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/1/11, via Media Matters]
Doocy Promoted Claim That "Billions Of Dollars" Were "Hidden" In The Health Care Bill. On the March 9 edition of Fox & Friends, Doocy promoted Rep. Michele Bachmann's claim that "billions of dollars" were "hidden" in the health care reform law. From Fox & Friends:
DOOCY: Meanwhile, ever wonder where all your tax money is going? Well, the federal government certainly can't tell us, there's so much. First, there was a report finding massive amounts of government overlap. Then Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann found billions of dollars hidden in the health care bill. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/9/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about Bachmann's claim, SEE HERE.

Education Misinformation

Doocy Claimed Teachers Fighting Budget Cuts Are "Demanding A Bailout." On the June 7 edition of Fox & Friends, Doocy reported on teachers fighting against proposed cuts to education in Texas by claiming that "the teachers are demanding a bailout of their own. Of course." Later in the program, Kilmeade claimed the teachers "want lawmakers to bail out the education budget with a rainy day fund." During Kilmeade's segment, the following on-screen text aired:
troublewithschools
[Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/7/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about Texas teachers supposedly asking for a "bailout," SEE HERE.
Juliet Huddy: "Are Teachers Unions Ruining Your Kids' Education?" On the August 25 edition ofFox & Friends, guest host Juliet Huddy teased an upcoming segment by asking, "Are teachers' unions ruining your kids' education? Our next guest says yes." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/25/11, via Media Matters]

Environment And Climate Misinformation

Carlson Complained Animated Character SpongeBob SquarePants "Blamed Man For Global Warming" But "Did Not Tell Kids That That Is A Disputed Fact." On August 3, Fox & Friends aired clips from a SpongeBob video in which the titular character discussed climate change. Carlson later said:
CARLSON: The Department of Education using SpongeBob SquarePants now to teach kids about global warming. The government agency showed kids this cartoon and handed out books that blamed man for global warming, but they did not tell kids that that is actually a disputed fact. Oops.
During the same broadcast, Doocy claimed, "Clearly, Nickelodeon is pushing a global warming agenda."
Fox & Friends also aired the following on-screen text:
sponge
[Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/3/11, via Media Matters]
For more on Fox & Friends attacking SpongeBob for "pushing a global warming agenda," SEE HERE.
Doocy Mocked Gore In Front Of Dancing Polar Bear. During the January 27 broadcast of Fox & Friends, the hosts mocked climate change by having a man in a polar bear costume appear on the sidewalk behind Doocy, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and lei. Laughing, Doocy remarked, "Somewhere, Al Gore's got to be giggling right now." In response, Kilmeade added, "At least there's one polar bear left." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/27/11, via Media Matters]
For more on Fox & Friends using winter weather to attack climate change, SEE HERE.
Doocy Claimed That "Increase[d] Offshore Oil Production" Will Lower Gas Prices. During the April 27 broadcast of Fox & Friends, Doocy said, "How about increasing offshore oil production, and then the prices [of gas] will go down." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 4/27/11, via Media Matters]
For more on the false claim that more drilling will lead to lower gas prices, SEE HERE.
Kilmeade Questioned Climate Change Because There Is "A Lot Of Corruption Surrounding" The Science. During the August 29 broadcast of Fox & Friends, Kilmeade, while interviewing GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, challenged Huntsman's claim that climate change has an "established body of science." Kilmeade claimed that climate science "has a lot of corruption surrounding it, which has a lot of eyebrows up." [Fox News Channel, Fox & Friends, 8/29/11, via Media Matters]
For more on the contrived "corruption" surrounding climate science, SEE HERE and SEE HERE.
Kilmeade Claimed Incandescent Light Bulbs Are "Like Contraband Now." During the July 11 broadcast of Fox & Friends, Doocy claimed:
DOOCY: Congress passed that kooky law that said incandescent bulbs like this gotta go away. Gotta use those pigtail things that are made in China, that have mercury in them, instead of the bulbs made by American workers. 
Kilmeade then claimed that the light bulb efficiency standards referenced by Doocy and scheduled to take effect in 2012 would result in consumers treating incandescent light bulbs "like contraband now." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 7/11/11, via Media Matters]
For more on the false claims regarding light bulb efficiency standards, SEE HERE.

Immigration Misinformation

Fox & Friends Hosted Hate Group Head To Push "Anchor Baby" Myth. On the March 30 edition ofFox & Friends, Carlson introduced an interview with FAIR President Dan Stein by discussing reports of alleged birth tourism in which Carlson said, "Pregnant women from foreign countries [are] paying thousands of dollars to give birth in the U.S." Carlson then stated, "So we wondered, how common is this practice?" Stein claimed it's a "routine occurrence" and blamed "[t]he current -- and we believe wrong -- interpretation of our 14th Amendment" for "defeating the operation of U.S. immigration and entry controls." [Media Matters, 3/30/11]
For more about anti-immigrant hate group FAIR, SEE HERE.
Fox & Friends Distorted Obama's Record On Border Security. Following Obama's comment that Republicans "will never be satisfied" by efforts to secure the border, Fox & Friends' Doocy asked if Obama can "keep us safe without securing the border" while Carlson complained that "days after a massacre on the Mexican border, President Obama made fun ... of the fence." [Media Matters, 5/11/11]
For the truth about Obama's record on border security, SEE HERE.
Fox's Johnson Suggested America "Begin To Discuss" A Second Class Of Citizenship For Children Of Illegal Immigrants. On the January 6 edition of Fox & Friends, Johnson, discussing the 14th Amendment, promoted an effort to make "two classes of citizenship. Meaning that if your parents are illegal in this country, then you would not be conferred the same type of citizenship that others [are]." Johnson further said, "This is something that I think we need to begin to discuss in this country." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/6/11, via Media Matters]
Kilmeade Claimed Alabama Is "Fed Up With Its Illegal Immigration Problem" Because "The Illegals Are Destroying" Their Economy. In a June 10 segment discussing a controversial Alabama immigration law,  Kilmeade stated: "[T]his is a state that is fed up with its illegal immigration problem and is desperate to change it. They don't hate people or -- but the illegals are destroying their economy." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 6/10/11, via Media Matters]
For information on critics' concerns about the Alabama immigration law, SEE HERE.

National Security And Foreign Policy Misinformation

hiroshimaapologyff
Fox & Friends Claimed That Obama "Would Have Apologized To Japan" For Hiroshima Bombing. During an October 13 discussion of the a WikiLeaks cable regarding a September 2009 visit by Obama to Japan, Doocy claimed that "[w]e would have apologized to Japan" for the bombing of Hiroshima and that "apparently the United States is not waiting for Japan to apologize for us for bombing us at Pearl Harbor or the Bataan death march." At the end of the segment, Doocy acknowledged that the White House said there was never a plan for the president to apologize to Hiroshima. On October 14, Fox & Friends issued a "clarification" to its October 13 segment, with Doocy saying: "We want to be very clear. There was never a plan for President Obama to apologize to Japan." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 10/13/11, via Media Matters; Fox & Friends, 10/14/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about Obama's "apology" to Japan, SEE HERE.
Doocy Claimed Obama Was The "First President" To "Suggest" 1967 Israeli Borders. Following Obama's call to create an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 Israeli borders "with mutually agreed swaps," Doocy claimed that Obama was "the first American president to do just that, to suggest that." From Fox & Friends:
DOOCY: Now, here's why a lot of critics of the president say you've got to be kidding us. That essentially, what he's saying is for Israel and Palestine to determine their borders based on what things were like back in 1967 -- that's what the Palestinians have been asking for all along. He is the first American president to do just that, to suggest that. We've got some graphics to show you what it would mean. First of all, this shows you what Israel looks like right now. OK? Well, under the Obama plan, which he is suggesting that they implement, as you could see right there, it would go back to the 1967 days where they would be combined, but the problem is if you combine, and Charles Krauthammer talks a little bit about this in one of his columns today, if you were to combine Gaza with the West Bank and the president talked about it being contiguous, you would probably have to split Israel in two. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/20/11 via Media Matters]
In fact, Obama's comments about pre-1967 borders are in line with President Bush's. For more, SEE HERE.
Doocy Suggested Bin Laden Might Not Have Been Killed Because Photos Of The Body Were Not Released. On the May 2 edition of Fox & Friends, during a "Radio Rumble" segment debating whether the Obama administration should release photos of Osama bin Laden's body, Doocy stated that people who deny that bin Laden was killed won't "believe DNA" because "that's just numbers on a piece of paper." From Fox & Friends:
ELLEN RATNER (radio host): I think the liberals have transparency. I think the DNA evidence is pretty clear. I think, you know, you don't even hear --
CHUCK BOOMS (radio host): What DNA evidence?
RATNER: You do not even hear --
DOOCY: Yeah, but they're not going to believe DNA -- that's just numbers on a piece of paper, Ellen.
[Fox News, Fox & Friends, 5/3/11, via Media Matters]

LGBT Attacks

Bolling Hosted Larry Schweikart To Attack LGBT History Bill. On the July 8 edition of Fox & Friends, guest co-host Eric Bolling hosted Larry Schweikart to attack a California law that would require schools to teach about the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans throughout history. During the segment, Schweikart compared the gay community to the "association for polygamists." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 7/8/11, via Media Matters]
Kilmeade: "Should Public School Teachers Be Ordered To Tell Their Students Why It's OK To Be Gay?" On the April 19 edition of Fox & Friends, Kilmeade teased an upcoming segment about the California bill by saying, "Should public school teachers be ordered to tell their students why it's OK to be gay?" [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 4/19/11, via Media Matters]
Doocy Responded To CA Bill By Urging Parents To "Homeschool." On the April 19 edition of Fox & Friends, the co-hosts discussed the California LGBT history bill with Fox News contributor Tucker Carlson. While talking about the provisions of the bill, Doocy said parents should "homeschool" to avoid allowing their children to learn about the contributions of LGBT Americans. [Fox News, Fox & Friends,4/19/11, via Media Matters]
Fox & Friends Jokes Chaz Bono's Knee Is "The One Part Of [Him] That Hasn't Been Operated On." On the September 27 edition of Fox & Friends, the co-hosts reacted to transgender Dancing With The Stars contestant Chaz Bono's reported knee pain by joking it's "the one part of [him] that hasn't been operated on." From Fox & Friends:
CARLSON: Chaz Bono dropped to last place -- uh oh -- with a score of 17 points.
KILMEADE: Well, it turns out that a knee injury is giving Chaz trouble. With more on that, Steve, can you tell us more?
DOOCY:  Uh, no, I can't. Thank you very much for that update.
CARLSON: Let's talk about the Senate instead, why don't we. That might take too long to explain to Steve, Brian, and the rest of the world. Anyway, the Senate has approved--
KILMEADE: The one part of Chaz that hasn't been operated on.
CARLSON:  Yeah, OK. Like I said, let's leave it there.
DOOCY: So far. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/27/11, via Equality Matters]

Attacks On Muslims

Fox's Morris Used Fox & Friends Appearance to Promote Anti-Muslim Petition. On the August 31 edition of Fox & Friends, at the end of a discussion about the impact a vice presidential candidate could have on the GOP primary, Fox News contributor Dick Morris claimed that "the group that is pushing for the 9-11 mosque, two blocks from the Trade Center site, is now asking for federal funds." Morris mentioned a petition that would have prevented Park51 from using those funds "to help lower Manhattan recover" and provided a link to the petition on his website, asking viewers to "please click on it and sign up." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/31/11, via Media Matters]
Fox & Friends Promoted Peter King's Anti-Muslim Hearings. Fox & Friends hosts and guests aggressively promoted Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) hearings on "the extent of the radicalization of American Muslims." On March 7, Doocy claimed that "Peter King has a good point. If people are being radicalized in mosques in the United States, why not find out about it?" Later on the March 7 show, Carlson said, "I don't really understand why there would be backlash [to the hearings]." [Media Matters,3/8/11]
Johnson: "Most Scholars Have Claimed" Islam And Democracy "Are Not Compatible." On the February 7 edition of Fox & Friends, Johnson said that "most scholars have claimed" that Islam and democracy are "not compatible." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/7/11, via Media Matters]

Monday, December 21, 2009

Glenn Beck: Media Matters' 2009 Misinformer of the Year

From Media Matters Research

Glenn Beck's well of ridiculous was deep and poisonous before he launched his Fox News show, but the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States -- and the permissive cheerleading of his Fox News honchos -- uncorked the former Morning Zoo shock jock's unique brand of vitriol, stage theatrics, and hyperbolic fright, making him an easy choice for Media Matters' 2009 Misinformer of the Year.

When he wasn't calling the president a racist, portraying progressive leaders as vampires who can only be stopped by "driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers," or pushing the legitimacy of seceding from the country, Beck obsessively compared Democrats in Washington to Nazis and fascists and "the early days of Adolf Hitler." He wondered, "Is this where we're headed," while showing images of Hitler, Stalin, and Lenin; decoded the secret language of Marxists; and compared the government to "heroin pushers" who were "using smiley-faced fascism to grow the nanny state."

Like his predecessor, Beck spat on scruples, frequently announcing his goal to get administration officials fired. He increasingly acted not as a media figure, but as the head of a political movement, while helping to bring fringe conspiracies of a one-world government into the national discourse.

And he all too frequently helped to set the mainstream media's agenda.

Glenn Beck's disturbing use of race and race-baiting

Appearing on Fox & Friends in June to discuss a White House "beer summit" between President Obama, a white Massachusetts police officer, and a black Harvard professor who had been arrested entering his own home, Beck uttered perhaps his most infamous words to date, calling the president a "racist" with "a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture." The statement drew widespread derision and condemnation, and Fox News immediately sought to distance itself from the statement. But Beck's divisive commentary was likely no surprise to his followers, coming as it did at the end of a week-long deluge of race-baiting that included the claim that Obama "has real issues with race," and Beck's incessant talk of Obama's policies as a form of minority reparations. Just one month earlier, Beck had agreed that Obama was elected because of race and not policies, and in May he called then Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor a "racist."

In the controversy that followed Beck's inflammatory charge that the president is racist, his Fox News show began to hemorrhage advertisers, and Beck began to beg his viewers to "call a friend and tell them to watch the show this week." By September, Beck, who had become "tired of the race thing" and who claimed he doesn't "think the race thing works anymore," apparently decided it was time to move on. He later would blame politicians for charges of racism and call "false cries of racism" "dangerous." Beck then sat down for an interview with CBS' Katie Couric where he would express regret for the way he phrased the claim that Obama is a racist, but then emphasized that the issue of Obama's racism is a "serious question."

In the months since Beck called Obama a "racist" with a "deep-seated hatred of white people," at least 80 advertisers have reportedly dropped their ads from his Fox News show, yet he has faced no apparent repercussions from Fox News. Then again, Rupert Murdoch apparently agrees with Beck that Obama is a racist. (Or maybe not.)

Beck's red scare tactics

Beck introduced himself to Fox News viewers in 2009 by announcing that he was "tired of the politics of left and right," which leads its participants to do insane things, like accusing political opponents of "trying to turn us into communist Russia." Setting aside for the sake of brevity Beck's long history of calling progressive figures communists and Marxists, he almost immediately put lie to his professed aversion. Yes, taking to the airwaves the following week on his radio show, Beck concluded, "I do believe that Barack Obama is a socialist" who "has Marxist tendencies." Beck explained:

BECK: He may be a full-fledged Marxist. He has surrounded himself by Marxists his whole life."

Alas, the remainder of 2009 would see Beck unleash a tirade against Obama's "full-fledged" Marxism, blaming "fearless leader, Comrade Obama" for overseeing the "destruction of the West"; citing Obama administration policies and promising to show how "they line up with some of the goings-on in history's worst socialist, fascist countries"; calling Obama's economic recovery package "truly stepping beyond socialism" and "starting to look at fascism"; declaring that Obama is "so clearly" a socialist, citing his work as a community organizer as clear proof of such; claiming that Obama is "a Marxist who is "setting up a class system"; and comparing health care reform to socialism.

Beck's red scare was not limited to Obama himself. During a May 28 discussion with Bill O'Reilly, Beck proclaimed of Obama, "His friends and nominees and everything -- they're all Marxist." And over the course of 2009, Beck's McCarthy-esque list of known communists proved to be long and distinguished, including the Democratic and Republican parties, former White House communications director Anita Dunn, SEIU president Andy Stern, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, FCC official Mark Lloyd, proponents of maintaining free market principals in Internet competition, Sonia Sotomayor, and media reform activists at Free Press.

By way of example, Beck spent most of his hour-long Fox show one October evening discussing video of then-White House communications director Anita Dunn, who had cited Mao Zedong as one of two political philosophers -- the other being Mother Theresa -- she cites to illustrate the advice that "you don't have to follow other people's choices and paths" or "let external definition define how good you are internally." Ignoring the numerous political figures on the right -- including those who routinely appear on Fox News and Glenn Beck's very show -- who have cited Mao's teachings in the past, Beck distorted the video, claiming she "worships" "her hero" Mao.

By October 30, Beck -- who began the year decrying those who would denigrate the national debate by calling political opponents socialists -- had redrawn the battle lines:

BECK: I have said to you before, and we laid the case out last night. These are revolutionaries. You must decide, America, and your friends must decide. There's no sidelines here. You're either on the side of the revolutionaries for Marxism and a new Venezuela here in America, or the revolutionaries of 1776.

Beck's Law: If Obama did it, always say that Hitler did it, too

On June 30, Wal-Mart joined the Center for American Progress and SEIU in announcing support for health care reform efforts. The next day on his Fox News show, Beck made one of the countless Nazi and Hitler comparisons he made this year:

BECK: This is what happened in the 1940s. Look, this is what happened in Europe in the 1930s. It's what happened in Italy. It's what happened in the national socialist country of Germany in the 1930s under Hitler. These companies get into bed and think, "Well, we're going to be fine. We'll just take a little bit of this."

Then, they're trapped. These are bullies that are pushing these companies. And these companies are naive, at best, that they think they can get into bed with the devil, and then be able to control it.

In his uninterrupted efforts to attack and smear progressives, Beck would repeatedly prove the accuracy of Godwin's Law. Beck called Obama's proposal to expand the foreign service, AmeriCorps, and the Peace Corps "what Hitler did with the SS" and compared the closing of car dealerships to what happened under the Nazis, warning, "Gang, at some point, they're going to come for you." Incidentally, this would not be Beck's only reference to Martin Niemoller's lectures. Responding to Anita Dunn's criticism of Fox News' overt partisanship, Beck compared the channel to Jews during the Holocaust, with other media outlets representing the silent bystanders.

Beck's embrace of violent, anti-government rhetoric

Beck's adoration of theatrics reached a fevered pitch in April. After claiming, "I think it would be just faster if they just shot me in the head," Beck created a classic cable news moment when, in criticizing the president's policies, he pretended to pour gasoline on an average American, stating, "President Obama, why don't you just set us on fire? For the love of Pete, what are you doing?" Beck would go on to use violent imagery throughout the year, distorting the face and voice of a "concerned parent" who attacked Dunn for her Mao reference as if he were a mafia informant, purporting to boil a frog to illustrate that "we've been tossed quickly into boiling water," and invoking civil rights marchers having fire hoses turned on them to spur opposition to health care reform.

Rhetorically as well, Beck spent 2009 at the forefront of the emerging right-wing culture of paranoia, his persecution complex manifesting itself in claims that "they are going to silence voices like mine" and suggestions that "you" would "have to shoot me in the forehead before I will let you into my house to tell me how to raise my children; you will have to shoot me in the forehead before you take away my gun; you will have to shoot me in the forehead before I acquiesce and be silent." This especially unhinged rallying cry continued:

BECK: [T]hey cannot move on these things, because they are building a machine that will crush the entrepreneurial sprit and the freedom that our founding fathers designed. This machine, whatever it is they are building, will crush it. Do not let them build another piece. So while I turn away, I want to make sure that I have at least 10 million eyes watching -- watching every single move they're making.

[...]

We know why they're doing what they're doing. Now you need to do what you do, and as long as that is peaceful, we will save our country.

Beck alternately suggested that former White House adviser Van Jones or ACORN would kill him and that SEIU would break his legs. He stated that he "fear[s]" that he'll be silenced by a "thug-ocracy" that includes ACORN, SEIU, and Obama. Beck compared the Obama administration to the bat-wielding Al Capone from The Untouchables, claiming, "You take these guys on, and they will bash your brains out"; suggested that the administration was out to destroy him; argued that the Obama administration would use bombings of a Canadian pipeline to justify taking over oil companies; and suggested that government wants "more problems" so "they can use the iron fist and crush people."

Beck claimed the 2008 election was a coup conducted "through the guise of an election" and warned that "the country may not survive Barack Obama"; he hosted a guest who claimed the "only chance we have as a country right now is" for Osama bin Laden to "detonate a major weapon" in the United States. Beck charged the Obama administration with "putting a gun to America's head" through its approach to legislating, attacked White House advisers Cass Sunstein and John Holdren by stating that they "will be responsible for many, many deaths," and said the White House and progressives are "taking you to a place to be slaughtered."

Against the backdrop of this hyperbolic fright, Beck discussed poisoning Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, encouraged his followers to "hold a meeting" with politicians "in front of their house," and encouraged people to attend a November rally in Washington to "see the whites of their eyes," warning, "There is coming a point to where the people will have exhausted all of their options; when that happens, look out."

Beck was simultaneously calling on his followers to eschew violence, since "one lunatic like Timothy McVeigh could ruin everything," and claiming, "It's not time to pick up guns" or "blow anything up," all while warning, "Somebody's going to do something stupid, and it will change the republic overnight."

Beck uses Fox News show as tool for organizing conservatives

On March 13, Beck used his Fox News show to tearfully announce his 9-12 Project, weeping as he declared, "I just love my country, and I fear for it," then stiffening his spine to add, "They don't surround us; we surround them." Within days, Beck was denying interest in running for office, telling Fox News' Patti Ann Browne that "we would run out of missiles. Seriously, that would be the most overused phrase in my administration, 'What do you mean, we're out of missiles?' "

As Media Matters demonstrated, the anti-government tea party protest movement operated as a de facto subsidiary of Fox News, and no one better illustrates the interconnected nature of Fox News and the tea parties than Glenn Beck. On April 6, with an image of his 9-12 Project flag waving behind him, Beck let his followers know where they could "celebrate with Fox News" at "FNC Tax Day Tea Parties." Three days later, Beck announced that he would be participating in a tea party fundraiser prior to speaking at a tea party event and used his Fox News show to tie the tea party protests to Thomas Paine. Then, his persecution complex in overdrive, Beck declared that "[t]here are forces at play that are doing everything they can to make this -- tax day at San Antonio, the Alamo -- about me," informing his followers that he would not be giving the keynote address at the San Antornio Fox News Tax Day Tea Party, as had been originally planned. Beck would eventually marry his anti-government paranoia to his tea party advocacy, claiming that a Department of Homeland Security report on right-wing extremism was somehow directed at tea partiers.

Beck's political activity continued in August as he began aggressively promoting "the biggest 9-12 tea party yet, on Capitol Hill." Beck's involvement with the 9-12 protest movement led CNN's Howard Kurtz to ask whether Beck is "a talk show host" or "a leader of a movement." Underscoring Beck's role leading the 9-12/tea party movement, Fox News footage of the rally included signs paying homage to one of Beck's numerous conspiracy theories, that of Obama's nefarious "civilian national security force." Beck would go on to dubiously claim that the protest was the "largest march on Washington ever," a claim he based on "overseas" reporting; he would subsequently cite a university he could not recall to claim that 1.7 million attended his protest. To cap it all off, Beck laughably argued that President Obama should have given his Nobel Peace Prize to "the Tea Party goers and the 9-12 project."

In the aftermath of his successful rally, Beck looked to more traditional ways to use his perch to engage in political activity. As the special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District drew to a close, Beck, along with several of his Fox News colleagues, aggressively campaigned for independent conservative candidate Doug Hoffman, on the grounds that GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava was too moderate, and thus did not pass their ideological purity test. He also offered to host a fundraiser for GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann, and encouraged his followers to "leave" the Republican Party as "the best way to get Republicans to change."

Having used his radio and Fox News shows to cultivate a legion of followers, Beck now seems poised to push the movement forward, promising a new "multi-level" plan for his 9-12 project that involves more conventions, meetings with conservative "minds," and a rally at the Lincoln Memorial. Becks' laudable goal: nothing less than to "save our country." And it seems the GOP and the tea partiers have finally answered Beck's call.

Beck's wild conspiracy charts

Regular viewers of the Glenn Beck show this year were treated to a litany of charts and graphs, purportedly laying out a myriad of suspicious connections among things with names like ACORN, SEIU, the Tides Foundation, and two brothers named Rathke. Oh, and occasionally fictional characters. These charts were frequently depicted as trees, and often represented by encircled words with lines showing how each circle is connected. Occasionally they involved defacing the U.S. flag.

Beck's conspiracy theories made room for Sotomayor and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, Che Guevara, Mumia Abu-Jamal, OnStar, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and "almost everything."

When Beck famously spelled "OLIGARH" to illustrate the type of political system the grandest of conspiracies was constructing, he simply claimed a day later that his misspelling proved "you can't spell 'oligarch' without the czars." When he used a game of Connect 4 to illustrate one of his many conspiracy theories, he accidentally won before he could use the game piece representing Obama, but pressed on anyway, only able to make his grand point after cheating at a child's game in which he was playing against himself.

In Beck's conspiratorial world, union officials make decisions on whether to send additional troops to Afghanistan, community organizers are deliberately undermining the financial system, ACORN is designing "government-run health care," and the whole cast of conspirators is establishing a "maximum wage" to redistribute wealth and fixing elections in New York and Minnesota. Oh, and New Orleans' response to Hurricane Katrina was an effort to hide ACORN corruption.

The irony, of course, is that for each of the illusory connections Beck draws between his political enemies, there exists an actual connection between Beck and some of the more controversial actors in the world of right-wing activism.

He's not saying there are FEMA concentration camps ...

One of the methods to Beck's madness is the attempted debunking -- a clever little trick whereby Beck professes his desire to prove false a wild conspiracy theory, but finds himself unable to, thereby lending it credibility without actually endorsing its veracity. A fine illustration of this technique can be found in Beck's efforts to "debunk" rumors of the Obama administration's FEMA concentration camps. On March 4, Beck appeared on Fox & Friends and declared, "We are a country that is headed towards socialism, totalitarianism beyond your wildest imagination." He subsequently stated that he "wanted to debunk" the theory that FEMA was building camps, but added: "I can't debunk them." His non-debunking continued:

BECK: It is -- it is our government. If you trust our government, it's fine. If you have any kind of fear that we might be headed towards a totalitarian state, look out, buckle up. There is something going on in our country that is -- ain't good.

On his Fox News program later that day, Beck claimed, "I don't believe in the FEMA prison," and later stated, "If these things exist, that's bad, and we will cover it. If they don't exist, it's irresponsible to not debunk this story." One month later, Beck hosted James Meigs, Popular Mechanics' editor-in-chief, to debunk the stories. To recap, Beck had first warned of "a country that is headed towards socialism, totalitarianism beyond your wildest imagination," then had brought up the rumors of FEMA concentration camps that he "wanted to debunk" but could not. Later that day he professed, "I don't believe in the FEMA prisons," but again suggested he could not debunk them. It was a month before he got around to definitively debunking them.

Beck rejoices after America loses bid to host 2016 Olympics

On September 28, White House officials announced that President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama would travel to Copenhagen in order to help the Chicago Olympic Committee present its bid to host the 2016 Olympics. One day later, Beck took to the airwaves, leading the charge in attacking Chicago as a city unfit to host the Olympics. In addition to asking "[w]hose agenda" Obama was "really pushing," Beck complained that the Second City was too violent for the Olympics and said that Chicago was less favorably suited to hold the Olympics than Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, and Tokyo because of the city's history of organized crime:

BECK: Rio de Janeiro is one of the three other cities competing against Chicago for the 2016 games. Madrid and Tokyo are the other two. It's a tough choice, what should we do? What should we do?

Well, in the America that I grew up in, we would use logic. The way the IOC normally does it is do select the city which presents the superior plan. OK, that makes sense. All right, does the best job in organizing. Oh, Chicago is good at community organizing, and organized labor, and organized mafia. Oops. Did I say that out loud?

When the IOC subsequently awarded the games to Rio de Janeiro, Beck giddily begged his followers, "Please let me break this news to you. Oh, it's so sweet." As his sidekick Stu began to make the news, Beck implored his followers to "savor" the moment, claiming, "We can always hope" that Obama is the first head of state to fail to secure an Olympics bid. Beck subsequently claimed to have "no problem" with Chicago hosting the Olympics.

Beck's slavery fetish

During a February appearance on Fox & Friends, Beck said of the economic stimulus plan, "It is slavery." Beck's enslavement to that metaphor nearly rivaled his obsession with Marxists, Leninists, and 1930s Germany for his most ridiculous rhetorical flourish.

According to Beck, slavery was coming at the hands of government, ACORN, SEIU, student loans, the census, Dale and Wade Rathke, politicians, progressives, federal assistance, and debt. And, as one would expect, only the 9-12 protesters could defend freedom from the onslaught of slavery.

Beck leads the charge in misinforming on the news of the day

The Sotomayor nomination

In a May 1 statement on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter, Obama stated that he considered the "quality of empathy" one of the qualifications he would seek in a nominee. The morning of May 26, Obama announced Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee, and Beck immediately combined the right's willful ignorance of the long list of conservatives citing empathy as a desired quality in a judge with his own brand of racial invective:

BECK: They're just like, "Hey, Hispanic chick lady! You're empathetic?" She says yep. They say, "You're in!" That's the way it really works.

During the confirmation process, Beck would argue that Hitler's empathy led to genocide and allege that Sotomayor is "a Marxist" and evidence of a "hostile takeover" of the country.

Health care reform falsehoods

In a February 9 Bloomberg commentary, long-time health care misinformer and former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey launched the falsehood that a provision in the economic recovery act would allow the federal government to take over health care and "dictate treatments." The following day, McCaughey appeared on Beck's Fox News show to repeat her false claim, and by Feburary 11, Beck had fully adopted the falsehood as his own:

BECK: So this is -- really, this is the beginning -- I mean, this is the way it happens in every society. I mean, you know, the extreme example is what happened in Germany, when -- they actually had a chart on how many potatoes you could, you know, make, how many hours you could work, how many fields you could till, et cetera, et cetera. And if you couldn't do very much, well, then, you didn't get, you know, the primo health care.

That's just the way it works when everybody has to share for the common good. Sometimes for the common good, you just have to say, "Hey, Grandpa, you've had a good life. Sucks to be you." That's not compassion.

Indeed, throughout the 2009 health care reform debate, Beck has repeatedly tied reform efforts to Nazi efforts to kill the elderly and newborns, taken ownership of Sarah Palin's egregiously false death panels smear, and adopted the distortion that the uninsured would face time in jail under reform proposals. When a nonbinding task force in November recommended that women aged 40 to 49 years not get routine mammogram screenings, Beck was driving the conservative demagoguery machine, adopting the tired death panels smear to claim that these guidelines -- that are binding on no single entity or human -- were yet further proof that death panels existed.

Suffice it to say that the moment Fox News issued Glenn Beck its imprimatur to spread conservative misinformation, the national public discourse was destined to be slightly off-kilter, and the national media's self-proclaimed rodeo clown took viewers and listeners on one wild ride through distortions and falsehoods.