Marine working for Al Jazeera

[truckboy]

I read a USA Today article from last week or the weekend about Josh Rushing, the Marine Media Liason from the documentary film "Control Room"

Seems he's going to work for Al Jazeera. They are starting a new Washington based channel. He hopes to broaden Americans' understanding of Arabs and vice versa.

This guy was a total party line guy in the movie. He bought and repeated Rumsfeld's message completely. He was in stark contrast to the other main characters, all Arabs. I heard him on NPR later sounding disenchanted and a bit betrayed.

Some are seriously questioning his loyalty but he maintains "once a Marine, Always a Marine" He says it really bothered him that Al Jazeera would show dead US troops, until he realized he didn't care anywhere near as much when he saw dead Iraqis or insurgents on US channels. That bothered him more and opened his eyes to his own bias. He also said after 9/11 his thinking was that we needed to understand the other side, that his military training taught him to look at things the way the enemy does.

One of my favorite parts of the article was where Bill O'Reilly called Al Jazeera a propagandist media outlet, like Fox isn't.

Any one else see "Control Room"? What was your opinion? What about this guy going to work for Al Jazeera, turncoat or patriot?

[kernel crash]

"One of my favorite parts of the article was where Bill O'Reilly called Al Jazeera a propagandist media outlet, like Fox isn't."

Are you seriously trying to compare Al Jazeera to Fox? If you are, then you really haven't been paying attention. What is it with Fox with you guys? Are you so paranoid that maybe people might get another opinion that doesn't support your own personel view of the world?

[Slider]

You said it perfectly. Fox offers opinions, nothing more. I prefer news, and form my own opinions. I don't need anyone to do my thinking for me.

Slider

[kernel crash]

"Fox offers opinions, nothing more. "

My opinion is that I don't agree with that statement.

[Slider]

You are certainly welcome to your opinion. It needs no further qualification or justification. New stories, on the other hand, require lots more.

Fox, from my limited viewing, doesn't seem to follow many of the usual standards of journalism, so anything it airs has to be taken with a grain of salt. Unless you can prove to me that your information has merit and is offered in a context that lets me asses it independently of the editorial spin, I'm not interested.

Don't misunderstand, there's bias everywhere. But properly presented news lets the readr/viewer account for it. At least Drudge, for example, let's us know when he's passing on rumor. Fox doesn't even bother. It is one big op-ed page written by either morons or scam artisits. Mostly the latter, but there are plenty of the former too.

Slider

[catbbq]

I am not sure I see it. Sure, the opinion shows, like OReilly, are opinion. I have never heard anyone refer to that as news. But doesn't every news channel have opinion shows? Fox has Bill. AirAmerica has Al. Hopefully no one is listening to either to get their news.

As an experiment, I went to the cnn.com and foxnews.com websites to see what is going on in the world. Both had as headlines the story about the senate approving the prisoner treatment limits. I read both articles. The only real difference I noticed is that CNN talked about a possible veto by the president.

I have to wonder how much of the bias that is perceived is based on the reader's beliefs.

[kernel crash]

"I have to wonder how much of the bias that is perceived is based on the reader's beliefs."

BINGO!!! We have a clear winner here. That might be the most intellegent thing anybody said on this forum in a long time.

[Mr_Cheeze]

I have often been one to defend Fox, but there is a lot of truth in what Slider is saying. How much of the programming on FOX is straight news, as opposed to opinion based, talking head type shows. Here is a typical day at FNC.

FOX & Friends First
6:00am
(cc)

FOX & Friends
7:00am
(cc)

FOX News Live
9:00am
(cc)

President Bush Addresses Nation
10:00am
Tune in for LIVE coverage as President Bush delivers a major speech on toppling terror and winning the war in Iraq. (cc)

Studio B w/ Shepard Smith
3:00pm
(cc)

Your World w/ Neil Cavuto
4:00pm , 1:00am
Live From D.C. — Should Uncle Sam toughen rules for rebuilding homes in Hurricane Hot Zones? Neil finds out how it could impact you, and at what cost. (cc)

The Big Story w/ John Gibson
5:00pm


Special Report w/ Brit Hume
6:00pm


FOX Report w/ Shepard Smith
7:00pm
(cc)

The O'Reilly Factor
8:00pm , 11:00pm
(cc)

Hannity & Colmes
9:00pm , 2:00am
Newt Gingrich brings his powerful insight to the Katrina cleanup, Bush's Supreme Court pick, and the war on terror. Join Sean and Alan for the debate! (cc)

On the Record w/ Greta
10:00pm, 3:00am



Seems that their only true "neutral" news show is on at 9:00 AM. Brit Hume is certainly not beyond expressing his opinion, as is not Shep Smith. Then of course you have the lineup of loudmouths until Greta The Ugly at 10:00.

So I don't see how one could conclude that FOX is a news first network. They are blatanly opinionated, and certainly biased to the right. I will defend them here, though, as they still are an island in a sea of liberal electronic media. CNN is really not any different from FOX, which is why they have a separate channel for the newsphiles. MSNBC, too, is mostly opinion based.

[Mr_Cheeze]

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention the "Special" Presidential Address at 10:00. Let me guess:

We've got to stay the course. We're making progress. Democracy in Iraq is important. Blah blah blahbitty blah.

[truckboy]

Yes, I am comparing Fox to Al jazeera. They both slant content to their desired direction. Fox's TV channel is pure propaganda. Not Federally supplied, but propaganda nonetheless. I've said it before and I stand by it. The "Liberal Media" idea is a myth thought up by right wingers and repeated ad nauseum until you thought it was your idea.

BUT...

The point of this thread was not to argue about Fox. It was to point out that this guy is going to work for the enemy in many people's minds, but he thinks he is a patriot choosing to attempt to educate (both sides) instead of toe the party line.

Is this guy a traitor or a patriot?

[Mr_Cheeze]

You can keep saying that there is no liberal media bias. Unfortunately for you, the Jedi mind trick only works in the movies.

kernel is right. You lefties have too much of a hardon about FOX. What is it exactly? Should the right not have their own outlet? So what if they are obviously biased. It is so hypocritical for anyone to complain of it while also saying that there is no left media bias.

I don't know of the Marine in question, or the documentary, but from the quotes I can see that he probably believes he was doing a good thing. Problem is, as a Marine, they are taught to never give comfort to the enemy. So he shouldn't be surprised if many are offended by his actions. I don't think he is.

[catbbq]

Perhaps the Washington based Al jazeera will be a bit more.... whats the word? Truthful? Non-biased? Centerist? Whatever, I assume you get my point.

Is this guy still active duty? I assume not. No, I am not going to do any research on the topic myself.

I don't see how being a reporter for any news source would make you a patriot. At the same time, unless he is telling secrets, I don't see how it would make you a traitor either.

Just like how falling down a well doesn't make a kid a hero.

[truckboy]

I think it takes big balls to do something like that. He's not a Marine any longer, but what cheeze says brings up the idea that he doesn't consider Al Jazeera or Arabic people (its viewers) the enemy. I think he's thinking bigger, wants to be a peacemaker. Thanks for considering my original intent for this thread.

I disagree. The Jedi mind trick works, just not as well as in the movies. I see it in the current Administration's efforts, but the general public is finally catching on.

The seemingly Liberal bent in the mainstream outlets only reflects reporter's desire to expose corruption and deceit. It's not ABC's fault that politicians and business people are corrupt. They still report on mass murderers and other non-political stories that make it to the national interest level, don't they?

How come nobody ever heard of the Liberal Media until about when Ruxh Limbaugh came onto the scene? Was Edward R. Murrow and Walter Kronkite Liberaly biased? No, they exposed deceit. It's an old trick. Discredit the guy who says he saw you cheat.

i do have a hard-on for Fox News Channel, and you explained exactly why a few posts ago. They pose themselves as a news outlet and provide 99% opinion.