> Carrol Cox wrote:
>
>> The only reason I can see for
>> paying attention to Fox news is egotism or vanity in exulting over how
>> much smarter or more decent the viewer is than the news caster.
>
>
> Not at all. There are some very smart people around Fox. Rupert Murdoch
> is a genius. Roger Ailes isn't in Murdoch's class, but he's obviously
> very talented. Brit Hume seems a lot smarter than any CNN or BIg 3
> anchor. O'Reilly is very good at what he does - compare him to the
> retreads on MSNBC. Fox is very well done, much more compelling and fun
> than CNN. Its politics are noxious, but that's another reason to watch
> it - don't you want to know and understand what a large chunk of the US
> pop is being told, and which is apparently believes? Don't you take your
> political opponents seriously? Don't you get any pleasure out of politics?
Doug,
I think you make several valid points, but Carrol makes a better argument about strategy. We can't defeat Fox News and the right wing by constantly complaining about them. The best method to take them on is to build an alternative which includes our own smart people doing stuff like O'Reilly is doing.
Several months ago--while on vacation in California--I realized that I was tired of following the right wing and worrying about their words and actions. It's important to keep tabs on what they are doing, but if most of your media activism is oriented around their media, then you are basically a knee jerk reactionary. They set the agenda even for your opposition to them.
What radicals and progreessives should be doing is working together more to build our own media. We also should let go, perhaps a teeny bit, of our media stars such as Amy Goodman. It's important that we support the work of Goodman and DN, for example, but we also need to support the up and coming media stars and projects.
By the way, Doug, remember that most of the U.S. population doesn't watch Fox News or listen to right wing radio. The right wing media doesn't have the overwhelming power that we ascribe to it. Just look at the recent polls which indicate widespread opposition to the war, despite Fox News' best efforts to distract us with a missing white girl in Aruba. People are able to read between the lines and find better sources of information. I'm of the opinion lately that Fox News and the right wing media are due for a big slide in ratings as more and more people tire of the lies and propaganda.
Chuck