Heather Mallick wrote a commentary in the Toronto Sun "Fox News North is a Rancid Idea". In it she slams Quebecor's project of starting a Canadian right wing 24 hour news channel, and in the article she mentions the one time she was invited to appear on Fox News.Bill O'Reilly has a popular US TV show where he often invites liberal guests and then "crushes" them in a debate. I don't think I have ever seen any liberal hold their own against Bill O'Reilly (maybe Richard Dawkins was close even though Bill called him a fascist). Conservatives love to watch the dismemberment, but to me it illustrates why we do not need a news channel like that in Canada. The tactics Bill uses include making up facts and statistics (otherwise sometimes called "lying"), and famously cutting off the microphone of the interviewee. Basically the interviewee has no chance. But Bill continues to attract new liberal guests, who naively hope to convince Bill he is wrong and present an alternative point of view to the rabid Fox viewers.
Here is a small part of Heather's interview.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbX-2X7_h-M
My blog on O'Reilly-Dawkins debate on teaching evolution:
On the one hand, the argument for why we need a Fox North (a Canadian version of Fox News), is based on freedom of speech. In other words, to have freedom of speech, we must have an outlet for right wing views. That's because the mainstream media like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and CTV, are both allegedly biased and show only the left wing point of view.
I don't think we need Fox News in Canada, because Canadian mainstream media is not propaganda. And it is not right that Fox News is demanding special status where it must be included in popular packages on cable TV. Third, that Fox News is in the business of propaganda, not presenting news, and they get caught lying so often to support their right wing point of view, that independent fact checkers are suffering from shell shock. And finally, Fox News has an agenda that is not good for the country, an agenda of promoting racism, hatred, anger, anti-science, war and violence.
In the post 9/11 atmosphere in the USA, Fox News has done remarkably well, but the USA as a country is worse off for it, in my opinion anyway.
Yesterday, the face in front of the Fox News North push, Kory Teneycke, resigned. Kory has a bombastic style that would be well suited to Fox News South. Maybe it is a sign that this type of over the top hate propaganda is not welcome in Canada, I can only hope. Because if we do ever get a Fox News North, freedom of speech wins, but freedom of truth and decency loses. It's really too bad that we even have to make such a decision.
Globe and Mail article: "10 things you need to know about Fox News North" by John Doyle
Here is a "Canadian" conservative blog, a taste of what a "Canadian" Fox News could be like. Actually, you can Google Barack the Barbarian, and take a look at some of the pages from the comic book if you are interested.
http://thecanadiansentinel.blogspot.com/2009/04/not-another-obama-superhero-comic-book.html
I'm inclined to agree with John Doyle: 'Bring it on.'
ReplyDeleteI have enough faith in Canadians that, although many will tune in (at least once or twice) for the laughs that the right-wing-nuts do provide, most of us would tire of the venom fairly quickly.
Hopefully, many of our more progressive 'conservatives' will get the message that our feckless leader, Stephen Harper, is intent on dragging our Canadian political debate to the disgusting level of American right-wingers.
That is the key question. Whether to have faith in Canadians, or whether to fear the power of right wing propaganda. It was a question asked in Germany in the thirties. The spell of the right wing propaganda was very strong.
ReplyDeleteOur present financial and economic mess notwithstanding, I find it difficult to draw parallels between the Germany of the late 1920s and early 1930s with the current situation in Canada.
ReplyDeleteGermany, as you recall, underwent a serious economic collapse (with hyperinflation running at unconceivable rates) and political turmoil with almost continual street violence between the 'right' and the 'left.'
Things have not come to that in North America. Some may say, 'Not yet,' but I sure hope not.