CNN Prove Outright Fox News Lies In Newspaper Advert
This is all a bit of a storm in a tea-cup, but it is also a clear example of how little you can trust the US mainstream media. A procession of mostly right-wingers walked across the country, protesting against all things Obama, and in particular at his stimulus package, taxation plans and healthcare reforms. The 'Taxpayer March On Washington' - organised by the FreedomWorks, the National Taxpayers Union, The Heartland Institute, Americans for Tax Reform, Tea Party Patriots, ResistNet and others - drew a substantial crowd in the capital, up to 75,000 by some accounts, but Fox News are saying that the liberal CNN network did not bother to cover it, due to their bias. They even went to the trouble of taking out a full-colour full page advert in the Washington Post stating that CNN did not bother to cover the event in Washington, or the other protests held in other US cities, and CNN have hit straight back. They have provided plenty of video evidence which clearly points to the contrary, and which begs the question, are Fox News really that stupid? Or do they just think that Washington Post readers are?
MORE PEOPLE ATTEND U2 CONCERTS!
Some media outlets are saying that this march was the largest conservative protest ever held in Washington, which sort of gives the impression that this is a marginalised group. Conservatives and some Liberals may disagree with that assumption, but when you consider the millions who took to the streets in the various capital cities around the world, to protest against the Iraqi Invasion, 75k in DC seems like a drop in the human ocean as compared to those protests, and the many other political protests which I could list off. Not to mention sporting events, music concerts and other large-scale gatherings. In fact I reckon I've had more people at parties in my house!
A VICTORY FOR FOX?
But besides this terribly low turnout for such a publicised event, Fox News are clearly calling it some form of victory. Their new star, Glen Beck, played a major part in the march, and as far as they are concerned, this was their march. Maybe they thought that CNN also felt that way, and therefore stayed away from it, because they have wrongly accused the liberal network of not bothering to cover this national protest. CNN have hit back with plenty of TV footage that clearly shows the outright mistruth's of the Fox News advert. Check the video below for that video evidence, and also for a typical US mainstream rant from CNN anchor, Rich Sanchez.
THE WASHINGTON POST ADVERT, AND WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT FOX NEWS
If this was shoddy investigative techniques which lead to Fox News concluding that CNN did not cover the event, then it is the worst modern-day example of investigative journalism that I have ever come across, but this is not likely. They probably believed that they could somehow get away with this lie, or that it would be uncovered, and would then bring more attention to their conservative anti-Obama causes, and to their news station too. I just don't get that kind of mentality though, because even to their own viewers this would show them as being deceitful whilst lacking the most basic of credibility. Maybe that's ok for Fox viewers? I really don't know because I don't live in the US and wouldn't really be able to get a hold onto which way this would be perceived by the network's fans, but if this is the case, then the US mainstream media is even further down the gutter than I could have possibly imagined.
UPSETTING THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE
They would be found out, and it would make national news, that much is for sure. It was probably just a Fox publicity stunt, and therefore actually achieved it's intentions, but in it's wake it will leave an added touch mistrust towards the media. And maybe that's the aim of these right-wing hardliners. Whilst Obama is in power, they will do whatever is necessary to upset the country as a whole. Disgusting! Can you imagine even the likes of Sky News - the most Fox-esque of the UK's mainstream media outlets, and also owned by Rupert Murdoch - taking out such an advert against BBC news, with such an outright lie which was bound to be found out? Not a chance, because they would suffer some form of drop in viewers. It seems the same rules just do not exist in the US.
