# Faux News, come on down! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 24, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865 "2009-06-24T19:37:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/21 "2009-06-24T22:00:47Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Is there any evidence that CNN or MSNBC also regularly fucks up party designations when Democrats do something naughty? Why would they ? They aren’t especially pro-Democrat. They aren’t the Republican version of Pravda like Fox News is, but that’s not the same as being pro-Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/22 "2009-06-24T23:02:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Since the story identifies “other media outlets” including the AP and noted right-wing apologists CNN as making the same sort of misidentification of Republican sleazes as Democrats > [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > I must have missed that. Cite/quote? [Cite](http://mediamatters.org/research/200610130010) (the link to the MediaMatters article is right below the photo in the OP’s link) and quote: \*"As first reported by journalist Joshua Micah Marshall, an October 4 Associated Press article reportedly identified Foley as “former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, D-Florida.” Marshall reported that, as of about an hour after his post, the version of the AP article he had cited had been changed to correctly note that Foley is a Republican. The AP, according to a correction notice on the website of the Denver CBS affiliate, issued a formal correction three hours after the story first appeared. Many sites, however, have not published the AP’s correction notice with their revised articles that now identify Foley as a Republican. An October 6 [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) article incorrectly identified Crane as a Democrat. According to Marshall, the [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) article originally stated that a reference to “similar scandals in the 1980s” in Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-TX) letter supporting House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) “referr[ed] to Democratic Reps. Gerry Studds of Massachusetts and Dan Crane of Illinois, both of whom were censured after having sexual relationships with 17-year-old pages.”\* Another thought - I’d bet large segments of the viewing public have no idea what the letters (D) or (R) are supposed to signify after a politician’s name on a chyron (never mind what a chyron is), and of those who know the significance, many never picked up on the wrong letter (unless one would argue that they’d make a subliminal connection - :eek:). Just another tempest in a toilet bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/23 "2009-06-24T23:13:07Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Another thought - I’d bet large segments of the viewing public have no idea what the letters (D) or (R) are supposed to signify after a politician’s name on a chyron (never mind what a chyron is), and of those who know the significance, many never picked up on the wrong letter (unless one would argue that they’d make a subliminal connection - :eek:). > > Just another tempest in a toilet bowl. Anything to base your theories on, or just wishful thinking while you were teasing them out of your rectum? Do you have any reason at all to guess that people wouldn’t know what R and D stand for, when it comes after the name of a politician? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/24 "2009-06-24T23:27:56Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > For all I know, they have. Not that this would prove the event actually happened. > > I ask only because this is just so silly, if intentional. Even granting the premise that Fox News sits around plotting how to actively paint Democrats as evil–not that far-fetched, I recognize–it is hard to envision some intern sitting in the meeting room and saying, “I know! Whenever a politician commits adultery, we’ll say he’s a Democrat on the chyron!” And the rest of the execs were like, “Brilliant! This tactic is sure to work! Promote that intern!” > > Is the idea that they do it because it is insignificant and they won’t catch much heat for it? Or is the idea that whoever types the chyron is just super-biased and assumes any misbehaving politician is a Democrat? I just don’t get it. No, it’s not because they sit around plotting how to actively paint Democrats as evil. It’s because they are sanitizing bad news about Republicans. The Dems are just convenient scapegoats; the important thing is to always remove the taint of error from the rolls of the faithful. ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/25 "2009-06-25T01:00:17Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > \*the Bad Guy Usual Suspects, not the liberals; I just don’t like typing their names in, just in case they make vanity searches Kinda like not mentioning Sauron or Voldemort? I think I saw a t-shirt once that said “Republicans for Voldemort.” ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/26 "2009-06-25T01:34:51Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > Kinda like not mentioning Sauron or Voldemort? I think I saw a t-shirt once that said “Republicans for Voldemort.” Oh yeah! My husband has the t-shirt, I have the tote bag, and we both have bumper stickers stuck on our computers (my home computer and his laptop). ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/27 "2009-06-25T01:59:51Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > I don’t know why you expect the technical staff to be more informed/intelligent than the hosts. I would EVERYONE to be more informed/intelligent than Fox’s hosts. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/28 "2009-06-25T02:01:27Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > Oh yeah! My husband has the t-shirt, I have the tote bag, and we both have bumper stickers stuck on our computers (my home computer and his laptop). I hope you bought them from the guy who draws the webcomic _goats_, because it’s his joke. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/29 "2009-06-25T02:55:04Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Another thought - I’d bet large segments of the viewing public have no idea what the letters (D) or (R) are supposed to signify after a politician’s name on a chyron (never mind what a chyron is), and of those who know the significance, many never picked up on the wrong letter (unless one would argue that they’d make a subliminal connection - :eek:). > > Just another tempest in a toilet bowl. I’m currently reading Malcolm Gladwell’s _The Tipping Point_. In chapter two, on page 74, he references a study by Brian Mullen in the _Journal of Personality and Social Psychology_ called [“Newscasters facial expressions and voting behavior of viewers: Can a smile elect a president?”](http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=main.doiLanding&uid=1986-29501-001). The gist of the article was that Peter Jennings personal preference for Reagan was shown through his more positive facial expression when reporting about him compared to Mondale. And something as mundane as that had a measurable impact on voting patterns. They called voters in Cleveland and found those who watched ABC voted 75% for Reagan versus 61.9% for NBC and CBS viewers. ABC objected to this report, but the data showed that the rest of the ABC news programming was actually biased _against_ Reagan, that pro-Reagan voters would not be automatically attracted to ABC (unlike current Fox viewers). It’s a fascinating story, and shows that very subtle aspects of television programs have more impact than you might imagine. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/30 "2009-06-25T02:59:40Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I hope you bought them from the guy who draws the webcomic _goats_, because it’s his joke. It’s been years, but yeah, I’m pretty sure we did. The shirt and bag anyway. My son sent me the bumper stickers. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/31 "2009-06-25T03:37:35Z")
I already posted this link in another thread, but I think that Jon Stewart just picked up some new material. [http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/24/746384/-UPDATED-(x2)-Fox-NewsMark-Sanford-Is-A-Republican](http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/24/746384/-UPDATED-(x2)-Fox-NewsMark-Sanford-Is-A-Republican) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/32 "2009-06-25T03:59:07Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > I would EVERYONE to be more informed/intelligent than Fox’s hosts. I have things growing in my refrigerator that are more informed/intelligent than Fox’s hosts. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/33 "2009-06-25T04:59:08Z")
Easy to see O’Reilly as a moldy slice of cantaloupe, but maybe Hannity is a fun guy. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/34 "2009-06-25T07:14:27Z")
I understand his SO’s pet name for him is “Truffles”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/35 "2009-06-25T13:23:59Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > I have things growing in my refrigerator that are more informed/intelligent than Fox’s hosts. In fairness, most people don’t keep their children in the fridge, so you’re a bit of an outlier. 😉 By the way… what the fuck’s a _chyron_? Sounds like something you’d find in a dungeon in _Eye of the Beholder_. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/36 "2009-06-25T13:32:20Z")
You know, Fox News doesn’t discriminate: it has even identified [John McCain](http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/johnmccain/ig/John-McCain-Pictures/FOX-Labels-McCain-A-Democrat.-1Zx.htm) as a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/37 "2009-06-25T13:47:41Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > By the way… what the fuck’s a _chyron_? Sounds like something you’d find in a dungeon in _Eye of the Beholder_. > [@Wiki](#): > > Chyron Corporation is a Melville, New York–based company that develops and manufactures on-screen graphics solutions for the broadcast industry. The company was founded in 1966 by the late Joseph Scheuer and Eugene Leonard. The company’s original name was Digitronics. They produced the first electronic scoreboard(?) for the former Roosevelt Raceway harness track in Garden City, New York. .. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/38 "2009-06-25T14:45:04Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > By the way… what the fuck’s a _chyron_? Sounds like something you’d find in a dungeon in _Eye of the Beholder_. tdn gave the wikianswer. It’s like Kleenex vs. tissue. I’ve worked in television post-production doing graphics, and have never used an actual Chyron brand character generator and tended to silently fume at idiot producers telling me to “put it up on the Chyron” thinking “it’s a Dubner you jackass!”. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/39 "2009-06-25T15:12:21Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Natural mistake. They assumed that since he had an afair with a woman that he was a democrat. 😛 This one took me waaay too long. Well-played, sir! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865/40 "2009-06-25T15:29:32Z")
For the record, I used that joke first in the Mark Sanford thread. I want a credit, dammit! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/faux-news-come-on-down/500865.md?page=3)