Review of Outfoxed

Introduction

2004 has been quite a year in terms of anti-Republican film output in a desperate bid to halt George Bush being elected. At the front of the queue was Michael Moore`s Fahrenheit 9/11, which was produced solely with that aim in mind. Following this, however, have been films focussing on the media both in the US and outside of that nation. First up was Jehane Noujaim`s excellent Control Room which looked at the Iraqi War from the perspective of the Arab network Al-Jazeera. Now filmmaker Robert Greenwald takes a look at Fox News, the US News network that carries a strong Republican message.

Fox News is the brainchild of Rupert Murdoch, an Australian who has come a long way since inheriting his first newspaper in 1954. Currently Murdoch owns the following: 9 satellite TV networks, 175 newspapers, 100 cable channels, 40 book imprints, 40 TV stations and one movie studio. It is estimated that Murdoch`s audience reach is 4.7 billion people, which is roughly 75% of the world`s population. The idea behind Outfoxed is to examine the impact on society when one man controls such a large portion of the media.

Using both media analysts and former employees of Fox (some of them anonymous due to possible repercussions over their involvement), this documentary looks at how Fox News works, highlights the pro-Republican agenda and exposes the lack of truth in the Fox tagline `Fair & Balanced` by showing a total disregard for liberal opinion that does not follow the Fox News line. In order to prove this, Greenwald set up a team of monitors with the help of the MoveOn.org organisation and also created a system whereby Fox News was recorded 24 hours a day over a series of months. The monitors then watched the recording to note any obvious bias in its coverage.

It is now clear that the swathe of documentary films did nothing to dissuade the US electorate from returning George Bush to the White House, in fact he got re-elected with a larger majority. So ignoring that, does this film fulfil its stated objective?

Video

Overall good quality picture (a few of the Fox News clips are quite bad), with some clever use of the Fox News Network`s logos to reinforce points. Unfortunately also contains some bad editing, not much admittedly, but it is noticeable.

Audio

Comes with a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo soundtrack, this is a dialogue driven piece though and all dialogue is clear.

Features

Behind The Scenes featurette - a half hour look at how the film was put together with input from the Fox News monitors. Surprisingly the monitors were volunteers, all women, from a variety of backgrounds and scattered across the US. Unsurprisingly, they were all of a liberal viewpoint although their message is clear and unbiased.

Conclusion

This is quite a powerful film in its way, showing a mass of examples of just how biased the Fox Network can be; quite an irony for a network using the tagline `Fair & Balanced`. The accusation here is that all input reflects the viewpoint of its owner, who would appear to have very strong Republican beliefs. As a film intending to prove a certain view then the footage shown has to reflect that or it fails. Outfoxed most certainly scores highly in that area.

The evidence is certainly strong within this film that Fox News is blurring the line between news and commentary. This can be seen quite openly in the many clips shown of Bill O`Reilly and Sean Hannity, whose `News` shows appear to be filled with commentary and opinion under the guise of the `Fair & Balanced` tagline. O`Reilly`s interview technique also seems to be extremely heavy handed, dismissing guests or having their sound cut off if they say anything he disagrees with. One of the highlights of this film for me is the interview with Jeremy Glick, the son of a Port Authority worker killed in the 9/11 attacks. Inviting Glick on for the `crime` of signing an anti-war petition, O`Reilly argues that Glick is anti-American and is rude and condescending to his guest, constantly interrupting him. Unable to shift Glick`s stance, O`Reilly then states he hopes Glick`s mother isn`t watching and that his dead father as a fine American would be embarrassed at his son`s opinions. An unfazed Glick is then cut short and escorted not just from the studio but also from the building. This kind of behaviour would appear to be normal for the O`Reilly show, as further clips show, and is surprising to see in this country where presenter/newscasters are still very respectful of their guests and attempt to still maintain balance in their reporting. After all, guests tend to walk out on Jeremy Paxman from time to time, but I`ve never seen them told to `shut up` or be thrown out if they disagree with him.

There is also an accusation that Fox News lacks integrity and ignores obvious conflicts of interest that favour the pro-Republican stance of the network. One example provided here is of a Chief Political reporter whose wife is busy campaigning for President Bush, whilst he engages the US President in friendly pre-interview chitchat about her. Under normal circumstances the film argues that this would be deemed a conflict of interest and the reporter kept away from any story relating to the re-election campaign, citing examples from other networks where similar things have occurred.

All this said, there are two shortfalls to this film. Firstly, there is no attempt to compare the stance of the Fox News network to its rivals, whether conservative or liberal. As an outsider to the makeup of News networks in the US, it would be useful to see exactly where Fox fits in and if it really is out on it`s own in terms of the right wing bias reported here. The only mention of other networks I remember seeing is where they mention that Fox`s rivals are now starting to copy Fox, presumably to bask in the success that Fox News currently has.

The second problem is with the promotional blurb detailed on the cover of the DVD. According to this, Outfoxed `explores Murdoch`s burgeoning kingdom and the impact on society when a broad swath of the media is controlled by one man`. Well, the only thing being examined here is Fox News, which considering the amount of assets in his portfolio is a pretty small part of his overall `kingdom`. There is also nothing on the impact on society other than some poll results showing that Fox News viewers have a more distorted view on current affairs than others. Whilst confirming the filmmaker`s belief that Fox News is biased in its coverage and output, it doesn`t really fulfil the remit set.

Still, this is a very interesting film and an incisive look at how Fox News is perceived by liberals in the US. Some of the tactics used by the Fox correspondents are quite in-your-face compared to those used in this country, but maybe journalistic standards are different in the US. It is a bit perturbing though and I find it hard to argue with the films views on this network based on the evidence provided here.

The good thing about this film is not that it proves any Fox News bias but that the over-riding message is not to ignore Fox News. Despite their liberal leanings, or maybe because of them, the message from the backbone of this film (the monitors) is that people should watch Fox News if that is their choice but also to watch other news networks before deciding where the truth in any particular story lies.

The truth is out there, somewhere…