PoMo Lesson 6“Outfoxed”

Hugo Chavez “War on Democracy”

“Outfoxed” 2004.Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism• This manipulation of news to create simulacra of reality is not just

confined to war reporting. It affects politics too. The 2004 film, “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” by Robert Greenwald highlights the way this news channel deliberately misleads the public.

“Outfoxed”

• The Fox Logo “Fair and Balanced: You Decide” could not be further from the truth. In America, Fox News supports the Republican Party. As the film progresses, we see that, as a deliberate policy, it is impossible to separate news from commentary.

“Outfoxed”

• The film maintains Murdoch wants news to be all about opinion. Ex Fox News Reporters speak of a climate of fear. No report can be unbiased. Everything has to have a right wing agenda.

“Outfoxed”

• An excellent example was in the aftermath of the Iraq war. Fox presented post Saddam Iraq as a success for President Bush by focussing on some jobs being created and one school being re-opened. No mention was made of bombings, unemployment or the chaos that formed part of most people’s lives.

“Outfoxed”

• It was fascinating to watch the Fox News coverage of the last Presidential Election between Obama and Romney. The bias was undisguised. Even as the results came in, some Fox commentators refused to accept Obama had won.

Simulacra of reality

• Why does this matter? Why is it controversial?

• In a democracy, voters need to make an informed choice. It is impossible for voters to personally interview candidates and the public has to rely on unbiased news reporting to understand different policies.

Simulacra of reality

• With a biased news channel where a simulacrum is presented as reality, it is impossible for viewers to make an informed choice.

Simulacra of reality

• The United Kingdom has possibly been spared from the worst excesses of Murdoch by the phone hacking scandal. Due to this, he was unable to purchase all of B Sky B. Had he done so, he might have introduced British Fox News.

“Homer Badman” Season 6 Disc 2.

Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality can be applied to “The Simpsons”.

The role of the mass media in the construction of postmodern hyperreality can be seen in.

• “Homer Badman” Season 6 Episode 9.

• We will analyse this key episode in detail later.

Hugo Chavez and the Power of Simulacra

• Hugo Chavez became President of Venezuela. He focused on implementing socialist reforms. He helped the poor in the country by providing health care and free education. The USA saw him as a Communist threat because he put up the price of oil and their media waged a campaign against him.

• On 11 April 2002 the ‘right wing’, wealthy, business, pro USA elite tried to replace Chavez. During the coup guns were fired, and violence ensued involving both pro- and anti-Chávez supporters, the police, and the army. Twenty people were killed. The USA manipulated the media to make it look as though Chavez was the villain. The USA news replayed this simulacra of reality to convince the US public Chavez was their enemy.

• “The War on Democracy” John Pilger 2007.

Fox News

Fox news is owned by Rupert Murdoch. He is very ‘right wing’ and supports conservative, ‘right wing’ politicians. The slogan for Fox News is ‘Fair and Balanced’. This is a distortion of the truth. Rather than present news, Fox News presents opinions presented as news. In extreme cases, rather than present the news neutrally it presents a biased simulacra news events. This is dangerous and prevents the public from making up its own mind.