Customer Reviews

Fair and Balanced, My Ass!: An Unbridled Look at the Bizarre Reality of Fox News

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I read this book at a furious pace. It is laugh-out-loud funny, and laughing out loud while reading is not something I typically do. But what I enjoyed most was the clever and logical arguments that the authors used to systematically take down the notion of the "fair and balanced" network. Some of the language is certainly crude, but for anyone not offended by such humor, I highly recommend this very smart book.

Legitimate criticism has been expressed toward the American media for years. Spiro Agnew--remember him?--made a deal out of what he alleged were "liberal biases" of the media and the "right wing" has run with that ever since (even though Agnew long since laughed that his earlier accusations were made up!)

Since Rupert Murdoch purchased half the media in this country, they've began to resemble Tass or Pravda, extremely ideological channels spewing what turns out to be bad propaganda. That I think is a major threat to what purports to be a democracy. Anyway, the worst example of this phenomenon is the network which is the subject of this hilarious text.

One of the leading cable "news" networks, according to a poll or two, is Fox (or Faux) News. One of Fox's lead spokescreatures, bill o'lielly, was the subject of the first book by the authors of this gem, that one called "Sweet Jesus, I Hate Bill O'Rielly." That text really broke me up so I couldn't wait for another expose of what claims to be "news." They didn't let me down.

After an overall comment of the network, the authors first dug into their old nemesis o'lielly. Then they break into others, including one of the poorest excuses for anything in history, Sean Hannity. Their description of John Gibson, roughly when God asked if he wanted skin pigment, Gibson thought He meant a brain and said, "I don't need any."

I'm afraid to give too much away, but they also cover the "B team," including the illiterate Bo Dietl whose language wouldn't have passed a "Mickey Mouse Club" screen test. Then there's our old friend Ann Coulter.

The book is loaded with direct quotes. So the authors aren't, unfortunately, making anything up (except for a few places where they admit doing so. And that's something Fox News seldom if ever admits, though they do it so frequently.)

Robert Greenwald did a fine film entitled "Outfoxed," available from [...], which I've recommended to many. He and Alexandria Kitty released a fine book of the same title, a great supplement to the film. But those were pretty serious compared to the witty comments and observations of Amman and Breuer.

Oh, the issues of sexuality--hetero and homo--covered in the book stimulate many a thought and loads of chuckles. (It's always funny on how those who claim to be such prudes are often the most sexually obsessed among us. I won't say more, but that may encourage you to read the book.)

Yeah, this does have a little of "preaching to the choir" about it. The language, while funny, would be particularly offensive--or would be an excuse of those who defend the Faux network to dislike the book. And the authors' metaphors are the best and funniest.

It's true, it is a "laugh out loud" book, even on a Washington DC Metro train where I may have been surrounded by Fox junkies!

Get it, read it, and learn what Faux is really about. I'm proud to be a native of the same state in which the books authors reside!

Apparently my first review didn't make it through the filter (not really sure why, but it seems more common nowadays).

I'll keep it brief this time: This book is often hilarious, but everyone knows how Fox works, and no one of reasonable intelligence or honesty believes they are unbiased. So this book is more or less shooting fish in a barrel. The much more dangerous conservative propaganda comes from the so-called "left-wing media," where it is taken seriously (the book "F.U.B.A.R." laid this all out beautifully).

This book is best when going after the individual quirks of the personalities on Fox News. It also shows that, under the buffoonery and red-white-and-blue obviousness, Fox can be insidious about its agenda, too: as in its homophobic reaction to the movie "Brokeback Mountain."

In "SJIHBO," the authors had Bill's stunning ego to play off of. They don't have that here, and there's nothing exactly groundbreaking to be found.

But the writers are talented and the book is at times riotously funny. By exposing the absurdity that is Fox News, the authors slightly relieve the sting of our current realities.

This book is riotously funny and at the same time dead-on in its skewering of the Faux News Channel. It should be required reading for college journalism classes --- they might actually learn something!
I dare any Fox Noise Channel fan to read this book (at their own pace) and not laugh at the absurd antics of its star performers: O'Reilly, Hannity, the albino...lol

Even though I don't agree with all the personal beliefs of the authors toward social issues such as homosexuality, I think this book is an excellent review of the propaganda machine that is called Fox News. The authors show us clearly the countless examples of Fox anchors and hosts spewing their poison onto the American people. Fox is a biased and hate-filled network that is aiming at brain-washing the American people, and it has partially succeeded. It is now the American people's job to fight for justice and fairness, and stand in the way of anyone who tries to spread hate and fear like Fox does.

While not as snarky as their last book (or their web site), this book is actually better. As a slightly snarky history of FOXNoise, this work covers all the bases of the crazyness that is FOXNews and the NewsCorp parent company.

As irreverant as the cover blurb says it is, the use of documented quotes to show the obvious bias and agenda of FOXNoise makes this book a must read for anyone who wants the other side of the right-wing spin machine.

By far, the funniest book I've read in years! The biting satire is so giggle until your ribs hurt, tears rolling down the cheeks, clever that its hard to turn the pages!
A refreshingly snarky take on a serious topic.

Written as a response to the supposed "Fair and Balanced" nature of Fox News, this book offers a humorous look at the strange and unusual galaxy known as Fox News. As many already know, Fox News likes to promote itself as an unbiased news network that presents all sides fairly. But as anyone can see with minimal effort, the various programs on Fox News are anything but fair and balanced. They feature guests who are partial to the Republican position on the issues; openly state their preferences for conservative positions; and corner guests who try to express an opposing opinion by refusing to let them state their positions clearly. The world of Fox News is a world tainted by bias, even though the network swears the opposite is true.

Authors Amann and Breuer have been hot on the Fox News trail for some time and they have contributed to other publicans about Fox News and its interesting personalities. In this book, they take direct aim at everyone on Fox News, from Sean Hannity to Geraldo Rivera to John Gibson. Each of these individuals is responsible for contributing to the Fox News culture, and each is examined in this book. The authors talk about the techniques used by Fox News to get the answers they want and to make certain guests look foolish. They talk about the constant use of religion and other taboo subjects to get the attention of viewers and how many of these methods demonstrate the hypocrisy so common on this network.

This book is at its best in Part 2 when it offers its take on the different people who host the programs on Fox News and some of their more outrageous opinions. This part of the book examines the television anchorsds and some of the sillier statements they have made over the years, letting the reader hear the actual words spoken by these guys as they press forward with their respective agendas. The inclusion of quotes and interviews between Fox News personnel and their guests are quite revealing, and they demonstrate not only the bias on Fox News but also the weirdness, the arrogance, and the offensive nature of all things Fox.

Authors Amann and Breuer are quite funny men, and they include humor throughout the book. Some of their humor hits a little below the belt and might be considered over the top by some readers. I found it entertaining, but I also got a little tired of it from time to time. What I don't like is the book's tendency to add a lengthy humorous introductions and endings to so many of the books sentences. It makes the book seem too cluttered after a while. It would have been better if the humor had been a little more limited, because the overall message of this book is a serious one even if it is drowning in sarcastic humor.

Fox News is an interesting phenomenon and this book offers a humorous look inside the popular news network with all its various biases and agenda- driven strategies. I will still watch Fox News periodically when I'm in the mood for a good laugh, but not when I want to hear some serious news. This book offers some funny anecdotes to the Fox News method and its interesting personalities, complete with quotations and explanations of the more ridiculous incidents that have taken place on Fox over the years and the more extreme positions held by the men who call the shots as hosts. It's a fun book that exposes the irrational world of Fox News and how it uses specific techniques to give its viewers what they want, rather than providing objective, unbiased news.

This book is very humorous and well written. It gives the truth about the unfair and unbalanced channel "Faux News".

I am appalled at Fox Noise's activities in spreading rumors and lies, practising hypocrisy, having "pundits" whose behavior and statements are rude, unamerican, and unchristian (they claim to be Christians but don't observe the basic precepts of their religion).

I find it hilarious that right wingers always find fault with anything critcal of Repubs, as if they have a monopoly on truth and honesty. That facts are never facts if a left winger puiblishes them. Charlotte's review reminds of an ole saying, "Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving there is no need to do, almost everyone gets busy on the proof"
Whether it be left or right wing. LOL Rupubs have a pompus attitude about everything. They'd throw you a short rope if drowning a Dem would throw a long rope with a life saver on it.