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Outfoxed - Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism (2004)

Linda Vester , Steve Doocy  |  Unrated |  DVD
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (398 customer reviews)

Price: $10.85 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
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Product Details

  • Actors: Linda Vester, Steve Doocy, Alan Colmes, Peter Jennings, Eric Alterman
  • Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
  • Region: All Regions
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: Unrated
  • Studio: The Disinformation Company
  • DVD Release Date: July 13, 2004
  • Run Time: 110 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (398 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0002HDXTQ
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,413 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • Learn more about "Outfoxed - Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" on IMDb

Special Features

  • Making-of featurette (30 mins.)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism uses the inflammatory tactics of the Fox News Channel to demonstrate the conservative bias that's handed down by Fox's owner, media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The documentary gathers interviews from media watchdogs and former Fox employees (including a former anchor, Jon Du Pre, who describes his flailing efforts to create a celebration for Reagan's birthday when the one he was sent to cover never materialized), but their overwhelming condemnation of Fox's skewed news practices isn't half as effective as footage taken directly from Fox itself--an appalling montage of pundit Bill O'Reilly telling guests to shut up; repeated efforts to paint Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry as weak and waffling, while President Bush is captured in respectful, reverent images; and management memos dictating language, subject matter, and point of view. Outfoxed is unlikely to persuade Fox News fans to change their views, but it may spur outraged liberals to take action. --Bret Fetzer

Product Description

"Fair and balanced"??? How about anything BUT?!?! For the first time ever, this documentary reveals the secrets of Former Fox news producers, reporters, bookers and writers who expose what it's like to work for Fox News. These former Fox employees talk about how they were forced to push a "right-wing" point of view or risk their jobs. Some have even chosen to remain anonymous in order to protect their current livelihoods. As one employee said "There's no sense of integrity as far as having a line that can't be crossed."

"Outfoxed" examines how media empires, led by Rupert Murdoch's Fox News, have been running a "race to the bottom" in television news. This film provides an in-depth look at Fox News and the dangers of ever-enlarging corporations taking control of the public's right to know.

"Outfoxed" first examines media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the Australian company, News Corp., tracing how the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) helped Murdoch break the rules to establish a fourth network in the United States. The film explores Murdoch's burgeoning kingdom and the impact on society when a broad swath of media is controlled by one person.

Media experts, including Jeff Cohen (FAIR), Bob McChesney and Chellie Pingree, provide context and guidance for the story of Fox News and its effect on society.

The team behind "Outfoxed" created a system to monitor Fox News 24 hours a day for months to discover exactly how its shows worked. A team of volunteers around the country scrutinized every hour of Fox News programming, noting examples of bias in its coverage. The result is an intense examination of Fox News and the lie inherent in its favorite motto: "Fair and Balanced."


Customer Reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
864 of 936 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars FoXNews Lies Again July 20, 2004
Format:DVD
David Cole

Iinnocuously enough. On Monday, June 21, a producer from Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor called to ask me to appear as a guest that evening to comment on a front-page story in the New York Times claiming that the Bush Administration had overstated the value of intelligence gained at Guant?namo and the dangers posed by the men detained there. I'm generally not a fan of shout-television, and I had declined several prior invitations to appear on O'Reilly's show, but this time I said yes. Little did I know it would not only be my first time, but also my last.

I sat in the Washington studio as the taping of the show began in New York with a rant from Bill O'Reilly. He claimed that "the Factor" had established the link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, and then played a clip from Thomas Kean, head of the Senate's 9/11 Commission, in which Kean said, "There is no evidence that we can find whatsoever that Iraq or Saddam Hussein participated in any way in attacks on the United States, in other words, on 9/11. What we do say, however, is there were contacts between Iraq and Saddam Hussein. Iraq, Saddam--excuse me. Al Qaeda."

I was impressed. O'Reilly, who had announced his show as the "No Spin Zone," was actually playing a balanced soundbite, one that accurately reported the commission's findings both that there was no evidence linking Saddam and 9/11, and that there was some evidence of contacts (if no "collaborative relationship") between Saddam and Al Qaeda. Maybe all those nasty things Al Franken had said about O'Reilly weren't true after all.

But suddenly O'Reilly interrupted, plainly angry, and said, "We can't use that.... We need to redo the whole thing." Three minutes of silence later, the show began again, with O'Reilly re-recording the introduction verbatim. Except this time, when he got to the part about Kean, he played no tape, and simply paraphrased Kean as confirming that "definitely there was a connection between Saddam and Al Qaeda." The part about no link to 9/11 was left on the cutting-room floor.

Now it was my turn. O'Reilly introduced the segment by complaining that we are at war and need to be united, but that newspapers like the New York Times are running biased stories, dividing the country and aiding the enemy. "The spin must stop--our lives depend on it," O'Reilly gravely intoned. He then characterized the Times story that day as claiming that the Guant?namo detainees were "innocent people" and "harmless." He said the paper's article "questions holding the detainees at Guant?namo."

I noted that the Times had said nothing of the sort. And I pointed out that the article relied on a CIA study finding that the detainees seemed to be low-level and had provided little valuable intelligence.

That didn't convince O'Reilly, however, who again criticized the Times for misleading its readers by terming the detainees innocent and not dangerous. I replied that he was misleading his own viewers, by exaggerating what the Times had said. "No, I'm not," he retorted. So far, the usual fare on newstalk television.

But then I decided to go one step further: "It seems to me like the pot calling the kettle black, Bill, because I just sat here five minutes ago as you re-recorded the introduction to this show to take out a statement from the head of the 9/11 commission stating that there was no evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and 9/11."

Apparently O'Reilly does not like being called "the pot." He exploded, repeatedly called me an "S.O.B." and assured me that he would cut my accusation from the interview when the show aired. He also said I would "never ever" be on his show again. At this point, I wasn't sure whether to take that as a threat or a promise.

Sure enough, when The O'Reilly Factor aired later that night, both Thomas Kean's statement about 9/11 and my charge about O'Reilly deleting it were missing. All that was left was Bill O'Reilly, fuming at the liberal media's lack of objectivity and balance, and ruing the divisive effect "spin" has on our national unity.
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59 of 64 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars The television is mightier than the sword July 30, 2004
Format:DVD
First, an admission. The Fox News phenomenon is rather new to me. I haven't watched TV news in years, preferring to sift through the newspaper or the best I could find online from sources like Reuters and Associated Press. For me, the reason, outside of the annoying increase in commercials, was the endless parade of, "woe is me because the government ain't taking care of me" stories. Outside of headlines of the day, practically every "focus" story on the major networks had a definite left-wing bent. I couldn't stand the overriding feeling that I constantly was being told how I should think, or more accurately, that I shouldn't think at all. So I tuned out - and missed Fox's rise to fame or, I suppose I should say, notoriety.

How surprised was I to skim through the channels and discover this upstart news channel that wasn't, well, boring! Flashy graphics, hot news babes and, best of all, people who weren't afraid to mix it up with their guests. No more pandering and slobbering on the mic (Larry King) to get a guest. If you started mouthing off, getting off track, or just being an idiot in general, they would flat-out tell you to shut up (O'Reilly). Sure, there was a definite right-wing slant, you'd have to be a moron not to realize that. Some are so far right they may have fallen off (Hannity). I didn't care. I was hooked! Then, slowly, after a couple of months of viewing, I started realizing something.

Those on the right never, ever, lose.

This was already in the back of my mind, but it never became clearer than at Fox's recent coverage of the Democratic Convention. Here sits Hannity with a stack of prepared talking points and reference notes while the supposed liberal, Colmes, has a post-it note or two containing some hastily scrawled handwriting. Colmes mutters something about not being ashamed to be a liberal. Hannity then proceeds to eviscerate not only Colmes, but three democratic pundits simultaneously. Sorry folks, but even at their own convention, the dems just couldn't compete.

There's a reason why, and it's why you should watch Outfoxed.

Outfoxed goes much deeper into the psyche of Fox News than just the flashy graphics and the right-wing agenda. Among the movie's claims, interviews appear to be legitimate or objective, while the graphics and headers on the bottom third of the screen often contain opinionated headlines. Off the cuff remarks are encouraged and any promoting the republican agenda or discrediting the democrats will get you the "atta boy" after the segment ends. Many internal memos obtained, while not necessarily incriminating, do reveal a definite agenda reporters needed to use on stories or when talking to guests.

Even more interesting is Fox's use of the term, "Some people say..." While other journalists may say this in order to advance a storyline without revealing the source of the information. Fox uses the term liberally, (pardon the pun), so their reporters can insert political opinion instead of remaining objective. Of course you can gather which side of the political spectrum these opinions fall. As one writer explains, it's not necessary that Fox wins an argument. They simply need to muddy the argument to keep the viewer in a state of confusion. This way the viewer is unable to make a decision one way or the other which, to Fox, is as good as a victory.

Most interesting, however, are the numerous times that people with a liberal agenda are simply outmatched. Again, there's a reason for this. After 25 weeks of study of the guests appearing on Special Report (Brit Hume) in 2003, 83% of the guests were republicans. On top of this, the liberals appearing repeatedly on the channel are usually "faux liberals" that often agree with the conservative side after some debate. Real liberals are rarely seen, intelligent liberals are rarely invited, and the ones who did put up a good argument are usually not invited to return. Fair and balanced?

Finally, numerous ex-Fox employees testify of the almost crushing conditions they experienced while working there. In one hilarious segment, ex anchor Jon du Pre relates how he was suspended because he was unable to find anyone outside of a few people and a class of fourth graders celebrating Ronald Reagan's 80th birthday at his presidential library.

Other reviewers have complained this movie is as much a propaganda piece as the news channel they're attacking. Frankly, they're right. Repeatedly, conservative media outlets like Fox and Clear Channel are railed against in this movie. Strange how no complaints were made against Viacom and Infinity (owners of MTV and Howard Stern.) The testimonies of so-called anonymous employees contain little credibility in my view. And, once you consider the backers and financiers of this film, the timing of this release during an important election is certainly no coincidence. As one writer correctly states, the reason why our propaganda system is vastly superior to the old Soviet-style propaganda machine, is we don't realize we are constantly being manipulated.

If you get past the spin to the left, you get to the main reason why I recommend this movie. This movie made me see that media concentration is a worse problem than even I originally realized (and I consider myself a cynic and skeptic by nature.) I certainly don't want my news filtered by Murdoch any more than I want it filtered by Soros. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you are on, the FCC's relaxation of limits on media ownership severely limits the information you receive, not to mention the quality of the information, so that you may form an objective opinion. How can you do this when independent publications keep getting silenced?

Ok, I gotta run, Laurie Dhue's on. Hope the review helped.
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60 of 66 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars The News about the News July 27, 2004
Format:DVD
Even though I'm an ardent hater of Fox News Channel, Outfoxed could have been much better for several reasons. First, there were obvious examples of Fox's conservative bias that the program missed (the way the studio audiences for Linda Vester's Day Side always deride liberals and applaud conservatives, the way every email comment put up before the commercial breaks on The Big Story with John Gibson always slam liberals and the way Hannity and Colmes always opens with Newt Gingrich, William Bennett or Ann Coulter, when they never have guests on like, say, Noam Chomsky or Michael Moore).

Second, by having only liberal critics of Fox News Channel interviewed for the documentary, the documentary unwittingly gives credence to the conservative dictum that the mainstream media has a liberal bias (I put mainstream in quotes because more people watch Fox News Channel now than CNN or MSNBC combined -- therefore who is the real media elite now?). For instance, if director Robert Greenwald could have secured interviews with conservatives like William F. Buckley, Pat Buchanan, Matt Drudge or even William Kristol (who, because he is on the FNC payroll probably couldn't be asked), their views might have given this film more depth.

Third, a consideration of how other news outlets operates is necessary to show just how different Fox News Channel is from CNN, MSNBC, PBS or the Network News on ABC, CBS or NBC. If, as certain people suggest, CNN is the Clinton News Network, how is their practicing of journalism any different from Fox's? The documentary makes too many assumptions about what constitutes objective journalism. It ends up sounding like liberal journalism (I mean, this documentary is funded by moveon.org). Does this mean that they want a model of news reporting that is simply the political opposite of Fox News, yet similar in tactical and practical approach (which this film is actually critical of)?

Fourth, the film's supposed smoking gun evidence of Fox's Right Wing Conspiracy is interesting but hardly compelling. Memos from Fox News Executives are hardly earthshattering. But the interview the with the reporter hired to cover an underwhelming response to Ronald Reagan's birthday was very relevatory. He was suspended because he couldn't make a flashier story out of circumstances that really presented no interesting news story. The satellite-feed exchange between Carl Cameron (whose wife was campaigning for George W. Bush) and George W. Bush is also damning. Can you say conflict of interest? I knew you could. Also, the claim that Fox News basically won the election for Bush in 2000 is an interesting claim--though not nearly as cool as the one's devised by conspiracy theorists.

Where the film succeeds is in its criticism of the channel's use of the phrase fair and balanced and in its assertion of being news. Now to be fair (ha-ha), if Fox would just admit to being a conservative news outlet, I would have no problem with them at all. Conservatives need a place to get the news they want to hear in a place where they feel comfortable. I understand that. But when they say fair and balanced yet 85 percent of the guests on Special Report with Brit Hume (that number is presumably higher on Neil Cavuto's shows) are Republicans, that seems pretty far from fair or balanced. (Also, the fact that FNC is, currently, airing very little of the Democratic National Convention gives credence to this film's claims.) The film does a good job of showing that the network has a strong roster of notable conservatives but a lackluster roster of liberals (who the hell is David Corn for instance). In this sense, Fox News Channel is only balanced if the conceit of a liberal media bias is seriously considered (i.e. FNC balances out fairness in coverage ideologically amongst the news outlets). On its own, though, it is hardly fair and balanced. As far as considering its network a news channel, Outfoxed also excels, but does not go far enough. Even though I don't trust FNC as a resource for getting news (I would rather watch MSNBC as far as TV is concerned), it is incredibly entertaining (watching CNN is unbearable: Aaron Brown is about as boring as watching a painting of a vase). Like conservative radio, FNC is chock-full of bullying personalities who spin opinions as news in a confrontational manner. No wonder people watch this stuff. It's fun, but it's hardly a way to get news.

Though the film is filled with plenty cannon-fodder for any Fox News-hater worth his/her mettle, I just wish it was more rigorous in its examination of why Fox News Channel is so successful (in terms beyond those that are purely ideological). Where it is successful is in its pessimism regarding the consequences of FNC's success on the world of news coverage in the West.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars good information video no how FOX news is a puppit of the Republican...
good information video no how FOX news is a puppit of the Republican party. Facts not required. Journialism not required.
Published 1 month ago by James Kennelly
5.0 out of 5 stars The truth, like it or not.
It's amazing that we don't know that what we're watching on the "news", on some stations, is distorted so that we take on the opinion being given. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Julie Kidd
4.0 out of 5 stars As I suspected
If you like Fox this is a hatchet job. If you don't you will find this film very comforting. Somewhere the truth is in the midle
Published 2 months ago by Charles R. Belden
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative movie
This movie sure explains why people are so influenced my fox news. It's a shame this station can call itself news. It should be called entertainment. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Donna
3.0 out of 5 stars "Out Foxed"
I was worn down by the time the DVD was completed. This documentary seems to have tried to do too much causing me to lose interest and have trouble connecting all of the movements... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Edgar L. Smith
3.0 out of 5 stars Fun....
Vester's piece is allot of fun, but terribly biased. The humor in this is that the topic she is covering is equally biased.
Published 5 months ago by imagemakker
4.0 out of 5 stars All About Faux News, or Fox Noise, or Whatever You Call It
Note when this was made (2004). Not surprisingly, it painted a pretty gloomy picture of getting any kind of "Fair & Balanced" reporting out of Fox News. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Barbara Frederick
5.0 out of 5 stars Great film!
I loved this documentary! Goes deep and is eye opening. Reliable sources show the greed and selfishness of this media giant.
Published 18 months ago by Chad
5.0 out of 5 stars Should be mandatory viewing for all Americans !
Congratulations to director Robert Greenwald for exposing the truth about FoxNews. Yes, Murdoch is a marketing genius that has enabled him to brainwash millions of intelligent... Read more
Published 19 months ago by KD
2.0 out of 5 stars Amazon writer is humorous
I think it's funny and a little like the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it, for the "professional" Amazon reviewer to say that Fox is biased, especially when he himself has... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Sam G.
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