Well it does, because this is a well-known and cynical trick in “reporting”.
If someone points a camera in your face and says “What did you think of the president holding a gay pride flag?” it’s a strong suggestion that such an event happened.
So you take the discomfort at being asked an uncomfortable question (because the answer is not immediately apparent) in front of potentially millions, combined with the malleability of human memory, and you’ll get enough people giving their opinion of the event to edit into a montage.
You don’t normally even need coercion.
And opinions like “offensive” and “ridiculous” will be based on memories of past speeches, which they are using to fill in a false memory.
I’m sure a sizeable proportion of those who gave opinions about the SotU would have immediately afterwards asked a friend “Hey has there been a SotU speech?”
Note that Mr Phillips does not work for Fox News, and there isn’t an excuse for not knowing that. That information is literally the first four words of the linked story and the part of the story that Quartz quoted.
As we’re fighting ignorance, obviously I used the wrong word here.
I meant the interviewer doesn’t need to *lead *or *pressure *the interviewee in this kind of situation (beyond the initial suggestive question).
That’s not quite what they’re doing though. They’re not using adolescents being dumb to prove adolescents are dumb, they air adolescents being dumb the better to segue into “see ? Liberals are dumb !”.
After? … for the worst regime ever. The worst. And we, have you had that kimchee? Horrible, horrible stuff. And we … oh, I’m just getting word about the ratings: this is the most watched SOTU of ever. Ever! Bigger than the Superbowl! Anyway, we’re gonna, where was I? Two scoops, but not kimchee …
Jaysus fucking christ! How do people watch that shithole “news” station? Is it going downhill rapidly or has it always been this nutty? How long before they hire Alex Jones? I don’t see much difference at this point.
They’ve been a pure propaganda outlet for quite a while (forever?), but they’re probably more ridiculous now because they have to defend more ridiculous things with Trump as president.
Yesterday, Nancy Pelosi gave an eight-hour speech on the House floor regarding DACA. She told stories of these “Dreamers”. At one point, she told a story about her grandson. At his birthday party, he made a wish and blew out the candles on his birthday cake. His grandma asked what he had wished for. He said, “I wish my skin were brown.”
I saw all of this on Fox and Friends this morning, so I certainly don’t have any fuller context about what the little tyke actually said or the point that Pelosi was making with the anecdote.
What I do know is that the hosts of F&F proceeded to make fun of the kid. The “Breaking News” banner read “Pelosi grandson wishes he was [sic] Hispanic”. The three assholes berated the kid for not being proud of who he actually is.
My father in law was the one watching F&F. I said, “So, they’re resorting to picking on little kids now?” He disagreed. “Oh no,” said dear F in Law. “They’re making fun of that bitch Pelosi.” There was more to our conversation, but it doesn’t really matter.
So, in answer to the question, “Is Fox News really that bad?” add that they pick on little kids. Criticize Pelosi to the moon and back, if that’s your thing. But, even though the Congresswoman herself brought the grandson into the conversation, picking on the kid is beyond the pale. If the assholes on Fox and Friends were really my friends, I’d take a hard look at who I choose to hang out with.
On my phone’s news app, there’s a section called “Trending” which (I assume) is driven by what links people are clicking. It always has 2 or 3 different news sources (I have no idea how they’re chosen); they can come from a myriad of sources, including the Wall Street Journal, or HuffPost, or NBC News, or Fox News.
If it’s from Fox, it always falls into one of these categories:
Some Daily Enquirer/news of the weird story (sitter microwaves baby)
A story embarrassing to somebody on Fox News’ enemies list, like CNN or Megyn Kelly
A random violent crime, with a mugshot of the criminal. And guess what … the criminal is ALWAYS black or Hispanic.
