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Saturday 16 August 2008

Bush's mouthpiece and 12 yrs old Ossetian girl

FOX news, the main mouthpiece of Bush administration rudely cut off a 12 yrs old Ossetian girl Amanda (and her aunt) for simply telling their side of the story which is different from what FOX propaganda machine wants the audience to hear...

11 comments:

Mediapitek said...

Observing all the fuss BBC/CNN and co are making recently I've lost all point of my past 5 years work! :( I've been training Armenian journalists and telling them to be objective like BBC and the Western media. That sounds like a joke today :(

Ani said...

The only remarkable thing about this interview is how MUCH time Fox gave them. This station has from the beginning been simply a propaganda outlet for the Bush administration; along with everything else the Bushies have ruined the airwaves--not that they didn't have willing partners and dupes.

Unfortunately, CNN, which used to be much better, has gone far downhill by trying to compete with Fox rather than doing its job. I've pretty much given up watching any television news and tried reading various Internet reports instead. Here is my exception, as profiled in tomorrow's NewYork Times:

http://tinyurl.com/5njn4c
"Is Jon Stewart the most trusted man in America?"

When Americans were asked in a 2007 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press to name the journalist they most admired, Mr. Stewart, the fake news anchor, came in at No. 4, tied with the real news anchors Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw of NBC, Dan Rather of CBS and Anderson Cooper of CNN. And a study this year from the center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism concluded that “ ‘The Daily Show’ is clearly impacting American dialogue” and “getting people to think critically about the public square.”
….
Most important, at a time when Fox, MSNBC and CNN routinely mix news and entertainment, larding their 24-hour schedules with bloviation fests and marathon coverage of sexual predators and dead celebrities, it’s been “The Daily Show” that has tenaciously tracked big, “super depressing” issues like the cherry-picking of prewar intelligence, the politicization of the Department of Justice and the efforts of the Bush White House to augment its executive power.

For that matter, the Comedy Central program — which is not above using silly sight gags and sophomoric sex jokes to get a laugh — has earned a devoted following that regards the broadcast as both the smartest, funniest show on television and a provocative and substantive source of news. “The Daily Show” resonates not only because it is wickedly funny but also because its keen sense of the absurd is perfectly attuned to an era in which cognitive dissonance has become a national epidemic.

Anonymous said...

ani with all due respect Jon Stewart is probably the most boring man alive from my perspective. Looking funny doesn't mean that what one says is also funny. If he came up fourth in any serious contest then oh boy these Americans are hopelessly ill. Anyway, that is just me. I never find American humor funny. Irritating is what it is. Having said this though, Bill Mayer is talented. But he is also too strong for an innocent American mind.

But the fox thing is actually a positive sign not negative. They let her speak didn't they? That is just not something you can expect from FOX. Usually, the only reason they invite democrats or people they don't like is to show how stupid they are. So this was indeed quite unexpected.

Anonymous said...

"There are gray areas in war," and "I just can't imagine," make for great journalism, doesn't it?

Despicable.

Anonymous said...

Unzipped is usually a blog I can look to for truth and accuracy. However, I am losing faith with you and your fairness with your overall Georgian treatment and specifically the terrible title you gave this sstory. Fox gave more than enough time and listened to the guests blatant propaganda. The host twice gave warnings about time limits. he even said "30 seconds left, say enything you want." What more can you ask for than 330 seconds of free time to propagandize your issue.
Shame on you Unzipped! You should have higher standards.

Unknown said...

FOX is mouthpiece of Murdock not GW Bush. Thats a big difference. While Murdock clearly is on neo-cons side he is primarily a businessman and not stupid as Bush. The Bush era is gone and I wont be surprised if Fox starts to tone down its zeal against democrats.

Anonymous said...

I've seen this so often: Blog X //...is usually a blog I can look to for truth and accuracy. However, I am losing faith with you and your fairness // usually posted by anonymous trolls or people whose name you've never seen before, when there is an issue discussed that puts the US or its allies in a bad light.

Here the women were obviously cut short every time they tried to articulate what they really wanted to share, and just because the so-called journalist says: "You have thirty seconds left," doesn't mean that his voice really reached the two women in time. They seemed to be waiting for a cue that came too late, and one can see by themselves how the interview ends.

Armen Filadelfiatsi said...

I totally agree with Parisan: The girl and her aunt were cut-off: The anchor clearly did not let them say what they wanted to say; nevertheless, they did get their point in. Frankly, that a Ossetian perspective was expressed on Fox, rather than a Georgian one, is amazing to me. The only thing that I can think as an explanation, considering the pigs that Fox broadcasters are, is that one of them has an Ossetian girlfriend.

Fox=Pigs.

Ani said...

Or Armen, perhaps Fox broadcaster_wanted_ an Ossetian girlfriend ;) Very bad taste, I know, I just can't stand Fox, though...

Anonymous said...

I'm not a fan of Fox news by any standards, but it is very strange that the nobody is asking questions about what that girl and her aunty said. The girl was suspiciously well trained though.

1) Both claim 2000 civilians dead, while HRW and several other independent sources report 44 including military and civilians.
In other words it's a lie.

2) Starting aug. 1st the conflict was escalated, S.O. side started shooting at Georgians daily, obviously there was return fire too. For last 17 years situation was very volatile.
And now we have to believe that in that place, 12 year old was in a cafe at midnight!?.
Especially that S.O. became a heaven for all sorts of criminals.

As far as I understand from reading independent Russian sources after 9pm everything is closed in Tskhinvali.

Simple logic would tell you the same, in a war zone people don't hang out till midnight on the streets, especially 12 year old girls and their aunts, cafes and restaurants aren't open that late for obvious reasons.

IMHO it's a Russian propaganda and rather clumsy at that. That'd explain why those two repeated word by word official Russian version of the conflict.

They forgot to thank uncle Putin and the older Russian government for arming and financing S.O. separatists for 18 years though.

Ani said...

Anon., some good points there. It could be that that's why they went to Fox with the story--I'm not sure if they were given airtime elsewhere. Other news outlets are more inclined (or at least used to be) to fact-check a story before broadcasting. I think that the "12-year-old girl" angle was Fox's reason for putting them on, not out of any desire for the Ossetian point of view to get aired. Anyway, I hope that her story is indeed checked by someone, and I also hope that she didn't lose any relatives.