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FOX BULLY IS A CRYBABY ON CANADA (Here's the liberal reponse to Bill O'Reilly)
The Toronto Star ^ | February 01, 2005 | ANTONIA ZERBISIAS

Posted on 02/01/2005 12:42:41 PM PST by UpHereEh

Fox News star Bill O'Reilly is a big fat baby.

Friday night, he wah-wah-wahed on his top-rated cable news show about last week's edition of CBC's the fifth estate.

The U.S. is at war, the Iraqis were voting, social security reform is a huge issue and this guy devotes precious TV time to denouncing Canada, Canadians and CBC, repeating the same tired and untrue lines about how Fox had been "banned" here.

"The Canadian government gives these people $1 billion of Canadian tax money, and the Canadian government is at fault here for allowing this kind of stuff to go on," he railed.

Titled "Sticks and Stones," the hour-long fifth estate report focused on the highly polarized political discourse in the U.S., devoting about 10 minutes to the loudest mouth of them all, O'Reilly.

O'Reilly, who can dish it out but can't take it, complained to his viewers that it was "dishonest" and "a vicious attack."

This from the guy who invented vicious and dishonest attack TV? Mediamatters.org and other watchdog groups have meticulously documented his distortions and deceptions.

CBC had a Friday night follow-up on The National by Neil MacDonald, who laughed off O'Reilly's contention that the public broadcaster was running scared now that Fox News is available in Canada.

Cross-border TV catfight!

But why is O'Reilly so defensive?

It's no secret that many media organizations in the U.S. offer up partisan hackery for cheap fun and easy profit — and the fifth estate merely travelled the same groove laid down last year by filmmaker Robert Greenwald in his documentary Outfoxed.

Which is why CBC's magazine show ran tape of O'Reilly shouting "shut up" no less than eight times at program guests and at liberal broadcaster Al Franken.

But it can't be the first time that O'Reilly has heard Franken say that he "lies constantly," is a "big sanctimonious hypocritical jerk," and is "pathological."

Ever since Fox landed on the cable dial here late last year — Roger's free digital preview ends in mid-March — I have been mesmerized by how often O'Reilly accuses guests of not supporting the troops or being anti-American, making up factoids to suit his view of the world

For example, he once cited the "Paris Business Review," an economic journal that doesn't exist, to bolster his case that the right wing-led boycott of French goods over its anti-Iraq war stance had cost France billions — even though the value of American imports from there increased in 2002-2003.

So anybody with half a brain and a finger on the pulse of some real journalism knows that O'Reilly's nightly, and laughably named, "no spin zone" is a wash.

As the fifth estate's Bob McKeown put it, "often what Bill O'Reilly has in mind is not debate but diatribe."

(For the record, Fox and O'Reilly refused to participate in the fifth estate documentary because they claim they're not conservative, but "mainstream." Well, maybe. From the Ku Klux Klan's perspective.)

Among the untruths allowed to stand on Fox on Friday night:

*Fox is seen "in about seven million or eight million homes" in Canada, said O'Reilly.

Not true. Not even close.

There are 7.2 million homes total in Canada with basic cable. Rogers boasts about 675,000 digital households. Many cable and satellite services don't even carry Fox.

*CBC "has enjoyed something like a monopoly on news coverage and commentary up until now, and true diversity is now arriving in broadcasting."

This from Carl Hodge, billed as a professor of "political sciene" (sic) at B.C.'s Okanagan University College. Hasn't he noticed that CTV, Global and Chum have all been doing TV news for some time now?

But do you think O'Reilly cares? He's all about selling mail order pet meds and second mortgages, according to the ads that I've seen.

Fact is, although Fox has more viewers than CNN, advertisers prefer the latter because they reach a better class of customer. Seems the thinking people are not watching Fox, except for a laugh — or because they're paid to.

It's a dirty job, let me tell you. PRESS GANG: Look, I am as happy as the next person to see singing and dancing Iraqis getting to vote but when the cable news nets can devote hours of coverage to the elections and never once see a downside?

Come on. For an alternative view, check out Juan Cole's Informed Comment www.juancole.com.

POST SCRIPTS: All hell seems to have broken loose up in Don Mills where the National Post is published. Publisher Les Pyette, who took over in December, has been stomping on toes all over the newsroom.

He got off on the wrong foot by hiring sportswriter Scott Taylor to pen a freelance column. That after Taylor and the Winnipeg Free Press parted ways over allegations of plagiarism.

Last year, the Post packed off three writers and one editor for copying from others and/or making things up.

Now word is that editor-in-chief Matthew Fraser has come to the end of his rope and will move to a strategic planning type job at the CanWest Global mother ship.

This would explain why the paper's newly reconfigured Toronto section plopped on doorsteps without fanfare last Saturday. It is said to have been Fraser's baby — and Pyette did not want to give it any promotion.

Watch for more changes this month.

Other editors are expected to go.

One last thing: Last week, I started asking questions about Post sportswriters having to do their reports off TV screens in Toronto but having their stories billed as originating from the cities where games were played. When Pyette heard I was nosing around, he ordered the writers to drop the phony "placelines'' he had instituted in the first place.

No wonder Posties are concerned about their credibility.


TOPICS: Canada; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: foxnewscanada
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To: bubman
Many cable and satellite services don't even carry Fox.

Because until very recently it was ILLEGAL for them to carry Fox News.

21 posted on 02/01/2005 1:02:50 PM PST by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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To: AZ_Cowboy

It was well known, and now almost totally forgotten that that KKK was an activist wing of the democrat party.


22 posted on 02/01/2005 1:04:00 PM PST by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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To: mitchbert

It may be a very fine semantic point, but if it is illegal to carry a channel, it is safe to say that channel has been banned.


23 posted on 02/01/2005 1:04:52 PM PST by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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To: bubman

All lies from the Star. Shaw, StarChoice and Cogceco in addition to Rogers have picked up the FNC, with more companies adding it monthly. Also, exactly what Bill said regarding the amount of FNC viewers was "I guess were on in about 7 or 8 million homes" which is true. All those companies viewer added together is exactly that amount. Bill did his homework on that one.


24 posted on 02/01/2005 1:05:12 PM PST by UpHereEh
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To: bubman

The cable and sattelite services in Canada do not own the news channels. If they don't carry it, it's probably because they don't see an audience for it. Personally, I couldn't care less if I ever get to watch FNC - I don't watch CNN or MSNBC, or NewsWorld (CBC's news channel) or CTVNews, anyway, not because I hate biased news coverage but because I get all my (important) news on the internet.


25 posted on 02/01/2005 1:06:19 PM PST by -YYZ-
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To: negril

He doesn't claim to be a conservative and is very entertaining.


26 posted on 02/01/2005 1:07:52 PM PST by Borges
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To: mitchbert

I don't know about that. Fox News put in numerous applications to the CRTC that were all denied, I would call that banned.


27 posted on 02/01/2005 1:07:54 PM PST by UpHereEh
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To: UpHereEh

You knew this was going to happen.
WHY O'Reilly gives a rat's behind about Canada is beyond my comprehension.

His best move at this point would be to totally ignore the place - - just like the rest of America does.


28 posted on 02/01/2005 1:08:35 PM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: UpHereEh

Translation.....the liberal media monopoly in the socialist country of Canada is now also dead.


[*CBC "has enjoyed something like a monopoly on news coverage and commentary up until now, and true diversity is now arriving in broadcasting." ]


29 posted on 02/01/2005 1:11:30 PM PST by JarheadFromFlorida (TIME MAGAZINE PRACTICING THEIR OWN BRAND OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION)
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To: ThermoNuclearWarrior
I don't agree with everything he says but I do agree with a lot of the things he says and I am glad he's in the position that he is.

I agree with you. BOR is a traditionalist and independent. I look forward to watching him every weekday.

30 posted on 02/01/2005 1:14:08 PM PST by marvlus (t)
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To: negril
BOR called Ann Coulter a reactionary the other day on his radio show
31 posted on 02/01/2005 1:14:52 PM PST by RaginRak
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To: AZ_Cowboy
DAVID BROCK WAS COMMITTED TO MENTAL WARD
32 posted on 02/01/2005 1:17:07 PM PST by Anti-Bubba182
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To: UpHereEh

"(For the record, Fox and O'Reilly refused to participate in the fifth estate documentary because they claim they're not conservative, but "mainstream." Well, maybe. From the Ku Klux Klan's perspective.)"


That says enough about what way-out wackos the Toronto Star are, or are just so loose with facts that they wrekclessly throw around comparisons of conservatives to any ole racist group that last crossed the single cerebral synapse.

The KKK is and always has been a DEMOCRAT group, not Republican and certainly not neocon like Fox News.


33 posted on 02/01/2005 1:30:45 PM PST by JFK_Lib
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To: negril

I agree and O'Reilly is the prototypical blowhard. He
patronizingly and condescendingly refers to his audience
as "the folks" ,i.e., the poor dumb slobs that depend on
his courageous and relentless presentation to them of the
truth. Look at his phony e-mails: One says "You're a no
good right-wing extremist." And the next one he reads
says, "You're a no good left-wing extremist." Then Bill
smirks and assumes the contrived posture of the no-spin
moderate in the middle whose only interest is bringing
the truth to us stupid and helpless "folks." I've viewed
him less and less as time passes.


34 posted on 02/01/2005 1:32:22 PM PST by T.L.Sink (stopew)
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To: JFK_Lib

I'm going to go with both door #1 and door #2, they are both "way-out wackos" and "loose with facts".


35 posted on 02/01/2005 1:33:47 PM PST by UpHereEh
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To: UpHereEh
Fact is, although Fox has more viewers than CNN, advertisers prefer the latter because they reach a better class of customer.

It is bad enough that the author pulled this out of his ass and wrote it down. It just sick that he needed to preceed his BS with "Fact is,"

36 posted on 02/01/2005 1:39:45 PM PST by Jeff Gordon (Recall Barbara Boxer)
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To: marvlus

Candada sucks anyway who cares?
With all those dumb ass coins when I walk anywhere I sounds like the person standing in front of the grocery store ringing the bell for salvation army donations.


37 posted on 02/01/2005 1:45:14 PM PST by erik22lax
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To: mitchbert

Not Approved = banned. QED.


38 posted on 02/01/2005 1:52:39 PM PST by doc30 (Democrats are to morals what and Etch-A-Sketch is to Art.)
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To: erik22lax

#1. Fox will now be available on Rogers Digital cable, finally, and it is or was running on free previews for the month of January. Which means one will have to pay for Fox News Channel extra or get a bundle of channels that includes Fox, which is fair because MSNBC and BBC World News is also available on the same terms, unless the bundles have changed.

Though of course the very reason it took so long to get Fox's licence cleared is no doubt fear of the competition, look what Fox is doing to CNN et al.

#2. Neil McDonald ought to worry - that guy is so biased in his reporting which I always knew but I couldn't believe it when I witnessed it without doubt and could prove it - remember when the Iraqi government banned al Jazeera in Baghdad, I think this was maybe the 2nd time they did it, maybe summer of 2003.

It was headline news and I was channel surfing - every single news outlet except CBC stated the fact that the reasons the Iraqi government was banning Al Jazeera (never mind the employees that were proven to be on Saddam's payroll during the war) was it was inciting violence against Iraqis AND Al Jazeera was showing up to film attacks and reporting on them almost before they happened - hint hint.

Old Neil baby never mentions the reason why the Iraqi government was banning Al Jazeera, just went into some diatribe about how ironic that the Americans came to bring freedom and freedom of speech was being denied, blah blah blah.

So I blasted them in an email which I am sure was ignored.


39 posted on 02/01/2005 1:59:17 PM PST by littlelilac
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To: UpHereEh

Hmmm, why don't we let the free market decide who is right? We all believe in freedom, right? So what is the Canadian media establishment so scared of? (Answer: someone might have a different opinion than they).


40 posted on 02/01/2005 2:02:48 PM PST by Owl558 (Please excuse my poor spelling)
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