Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism

The media are the nerve centre of a society; if they do not function properly, democracy is in danger. So begins OUTFOXED, a documentary that scrutinises the American news network Fox News. Fox is owned by media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, who has given Fox News a distinctly right-wing character. Fox’s slogan “Fair & balanced” is a lie, one of the many interviewed media experts contends, because the network does not distinguish between news and comment. Many former Fox staff members also expose the corporate culture at this company. The board, for example, distributes internal memos instructing editors to broadcast only the beginning of Kerry's speech, “because he will start about Iraq again.” “206 days to go before Bush is re-elected!” a newsreader counts every day. Opponents of the war in Iraq are silenced – “Shut up” is a Fox buzz word, as is the suggestive “Some people say...” As highlighted before in Michael Moore's documentary FAHRENHEIT 9/11, it was a Fox contributor and cousin of George W. Bush who, after the contentious election results in Florida in 2000, was the first to declare Bush the winner. ABC and CBS indiscriminately followed suit.