>But, anyway, sure he's a circus, but he's not the same kind of circus. That
>matters, I think, hence the question.
>
>Catheirne
I think it would be impossible to gather how it's rec'd by asking this gang. We're receiving it like a car wreck: you just can't stop watching it or you turn away in horror. I like to observe the way the news gets spun. O'Reilly and the rest on Faux news are like really bad entertainers who foreground their next moves. It's like the WWF in that sense. For instance, someone here recently forwarded a link to a document revealing that Shrub doesn't really think there's a direct connection between 9.11 and Iraq. If you watch Faux news, and O'Reilly in particular, this was the drum they've been banging for quite some time.
Anyway, I know of one person who watches it because it's "no spin"--the father of a friend. He really takes that seriously. O'Reilly bills himself as someone who doesn't side with any political position. And, occasionally, he'll reveal something interesting along those lines. Not too long ago, fr'instance, I believe O'Reilly defended a more typical liberal position on gays. This is just enough to make him believable in the context of the USofA's narrow political culture.
On a couple of non-political lists I belong to people will mention they watched something on CNN and quickly follow that up with something like, "I don't usually watch CNN, I'm not a Lib'rul...." Faux news, then, is positioned against the Lib'rul teevee news.
I don't think that it's read as no spin in the sense that it's objective. I think it's read as no spin in the sense that there is no pretense of objectivity. O'Reilly has a position on a topic. Unlike Connie Chung, he doesn't pretend to be a neutral mediator between competing sides. He markets himself as someone who asks tough, aggressive questions. I think it's read as the underdogs against the whoever's in charge. And whoever's in charge is aligned with the Lib'ruls, even when they're not.
I was watching him with David Corn one night and Alterman the other night. (They're from the Nation mag.) I don't know whether it comes natural to him or he's taken lessons, but O'R uses pretty intimidating body language in addition to the verbal tactics of interrupting, filibustering, etc.
As for whether people see it as tabloid or serious news, I don't think they see it as either. It's like the editorial and opposite editorial pages in a U.S. newspaper in the style of the World Wrestling Federation. It's all a big show and it only looks like they're jumping on each other and getting hurt, but they really are big and strong and they really could hurt one another if they weren't so busy concentrating, trying to remember what their next move is.
kelley
Drove by Hulk Hogan the other day and he flexed his arms. Good Grief he's huge!
P.S. Not up on much in terms of southern lit but I'd recommend anything by Dorothy Allison and, for laughs, The Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love and The Sweet Potato Queens Big Ass Cookbook. Michael from BAD told me about SPQ)