How is it that FoxNews can present falsities as news?

[Earth_First]

I am all about a free press in this country, but I am also about journalistic integrity first and foremost.

When news first broke about the White House shooter, even then it was being reported by the networks; no clear association to the Occupy movement was speculated.

However, Fox decides to throw it out there, a day after authorities reported their investigation that no ties to the Occupy movement were substantiated.

This honestly makes my blood boil.

How this network can just fabricate opinion/speculation and present it as honest journalism is beyond comprehension, and in my opinion begins to present questions of how this is even LEGAL.

[Scuba]

1. Because..

http://www.ceasespin.org/ceasespin_blog/ceasespin_blogger_files/fox_news_gets_okay_to_misinform_public.html


..snip..

Appellate Court Rules Media Can Legally Lie.
By Mike Gaddy. Published Feb. 28, 2003
On February 14, a Florida Appeals court ruled there is absolutely nothing illegal about lying, concealing or distorting information by a major press organization. The court reversed the $425,000 jury verdict in favor of journalist Jane Akre who charged she was pressured by Fox Television management and lawyers to air what she knew and documented to be false information. The ruling basically declares it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately lie or distort the news on a television broadcast.

On August 18, 2000, a six-person jury was unanimous in its conclusion that Akre was indeed fired for threatening to report the station's pressure to broadcast what jurors decided was "a false, distorted, or slanted" story about the widespread use of growth hormone in dairy cows.
...

The attorneys for Fox, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, argued the First Amendment gives broadcasters the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on the public airwaves.

In its six-page written decision, the Court of Appeals held that the Federal Communications Commission position against news distortion is only a "policy," not a promulgated law, rule, or regulation. Fox aired a report after the ruling saying it was "totally vindicated" by the verdict.

..end..

[Earth_First]

3. Thank you... n/t

[glowing]

2. They were sued at one point for lying.. In court they argued they

were an entertainment cable channel... Which means that they can lie because they are not actually news. I'm not sure why anyone didn't follow up and sue them for using Fox News as a moniker if they are not actually a news agency with the same types of regulations that News agencies should be held accountable for. Its false advertising to be called News.. or there should be a disclaimer that they must state that they are not an actual news agency, but an entertainment cable channel that can lie to its viewers.

[Earth_First]

4. So they are an 'enterrtainment' cable channel...

Wow.just.wow.

[SoutherDem]

8. Yes, Entertainment!

Two years ago (I think), you may remember several of the FOX News personalities e.g. Hannity boasted it was cold in January so climate change was false. Then in the summer it was hot and they didn't make claims it was real. When questioned their answer was they were an entertainment company. They as most right-wingers do want their cake and eat it too. They want to be thought of as a legitimate news source until they are called for out right lying then they hide behind being an entertainment company. Mean while if other news companies say something they don't like they want to hold their feet to the fire.

[AsahinaKimi]

5. That whole thing is so confusing...

SO if they claim they are not really news, and can't be sued for a lie, then why is it they continue to say they are a "news" Network. The whole damn thing should be brought back to court, and this time, they should be forced to call them Fox Entertainment or call it Fox NUUZ, or...


Maybe Fox Propaganda works best. As for Fox and Friends.. Who are the "friends"? The stupid idiots on the couch? They aren't friends, they are propaganda spinners..who are spinning everything out of place for their own agenda. If these so called "friends" came to my door, I would probably call the Police.

[treestar]

11. They're admitting up front that anyone who takes

them seriously is an idiot.

Getting that documented and out there would be really helpful to countering them. If you take them seriously, you are their dupe, and they admit it.

[hobbit709]

6. Your first mistake is assuming Fox is an actual NEWS organization.

[madrchsod]

7. because it is legal for them to say what ever they want.

it is legal for any news organization to say what ever they want.

but.....

they still can be charged with libel and slander.

[FarLeftFist]

9. Same reason tabloids can.

[Nay]

10. On the other hand, it is ILLEGAL for an investigative reporter to get a

job at a workplace in order to report on that workplace's abuses -- even if the abuses that are reported are true and documented. THAT little court judgment came, I believe, from the undercover reporters who investigated a Food Lion for bleaching the mold off its old meat and repackaging it for sale as fresh. IIRC, the reporters were guilty of "misrepresenting their employment."

Figure that one out!!

[hughee99]

12. Yes, just like that teabagger who tried to blow up times square

with a half-assed car bomb. I remember people were really pissed about the press speculating about that as well.

[NoGOPZone]

13. Because their audience wants falsities, not news nt.