"Outfoxed" for MIT2412

Disclaimer: This is for my course and is in no way affiliated with any of the topics of my blog... Be back for regular posts soon!

Photo Source

"Outfoxed" was definitely a great eye-opening documentary for critiquing the media that we are exposed to, especially when a huge media conglomerate was placed under the spotlight. Fox News, more often referred to as "Faux News" when criticized for their media practices, was analyzed microscopically to discuss its tendency towards propaganda.

Fox News plays a large role in informing their audience of political leaders/candidates especially during election time. However the biggest criticism of Fox News is that it portrays news and information that makes them look like the "mouthpiece of the Republican Party" (Charlie Reina, ex-Fox News employee). Despite journalists having their own personal opinions, as employees of a news media giant, information must be portrayed in an un-biased fashion so as to not create a form of propaganda.

In addition to political news, other news that are covered by Fox News is also criticized for having their facts manipulated to create a kind of feeling, like fear, for example, so that their viewers keep going back to Fox News for more. It is almost cult-like, in my opinion. Take, for example, when the events of 9/11 took place... The same footage was replayed over and over again to instill a kind of fear in their viewers so that they kept tuning into the hegemonic Fox News Channel for more supposed information on world events.

It was sensationalism in journalism where the views of the channel were automatically displayed for the world to see, for the world to listen to, for the world to slowly be conditioned to the views of Fox News, whatever they believed in (or more specifically, what they wanted their audience to believe).

The producers of this documentary did a good job in providing an alternative view for which we, the audience, can now tune into the news in a different way; we are more aware of specific agendas and can readily critique information displayed for us.