Ten Reasons Fox News Doesn’t Really Care About The Egypt Story

[Joanne98]

Oh sure, staffers and hosts working for Rupert Murdoch are doing their best to convey a sense of grave importance when discussing the historic turmoil playing out in Cairo and throughout Egypt. But you only have to watch Fox News for five or ten minutes to see their hearts just aren’t in the story. The usual Fox News juice is completely missing. There’s no swagger on-screen these days.

Instead, it’s like watching students hand in homework, or little kids eating their vegetables.

It’s true. Egypt is killing Fox News’ mojo.

Why? The short answer is Fox isn’t actually a news-gathering organization in the traditional sense in that it reacts and responds to breaking news around the world. Nor is it one strives to inform its viewers. It’s just not. Instead, Fox News is a political organization. Under Obama, Fox News exists in order to attack Democrats and to try to destroy the Obama presidency, while at the same time boosting Republicans. Period.

Specifically though, here are ten reasons why I think Fox News is just going through the motions when covering Egypt.

1. It’s a foreign affairs story, not a domestic politics one.

Admit it, you can count on one hand the number of countries the Fox newsroom cares about and is willing to to cover in any detail. And Egypt is not among them. (I’d suggest America, Israel, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Great Britain make the cut.) The channel devotes a comically small portion of its time and resources to covering the world, which means it’s instantly at a disadvantage when news breaks six time zones away. Add in the fact that Fox News usually doesn’t care when news breaks six time zones away and you have a recipe for today’s somnambulant coverage from Egypt. After all, it took them at least a week to get a correspondent over there to cover the situation on the ground.

2. Obama can’t be blamed. Well, not in any kind of coherent way.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201102020010

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Obama can't be blamed." You nailed it.

Fox, Inc. (R) won't run with it unless they think it will help cause America to FAIL...

[BklynThirtyThree]

2. also

the protesters are not white. The far right has a long history of ignoring the massacre of brown-skinned people (Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, El Salvador, Honduras, Vietnam, etc.) via Twitter: over 500 injured without access to ambulances at Tehrir Square, death toll uncertain.

[BobbyBoring]

7. and also

their signs are spelled correctly AND Fox can't find Egypt on a map!

[Populist_Prole]

3. May I add that

This is a case of real freedom of a vast population. The right wing's crocodile tears espousing freedom/liberty etc would stand out in too sharp relief with the neocon's real view on "freedom", which basically revolves around the plutocrat's desire for unrestricted capitalism. Whenever a RW-er speaks of freedom; he means money.

[butterfly77]

4. They are warming up to it..

they are talking about Ipads,snow,bulling,healthcare and anything else. They are dipping in to the Cairo story waiting until the perfect time to blame President Obama in some way. I don't put it past some of the CONS to be in someway talking to mubarak and telling him to send in the pro Mubarak protestors.

[Karenina]

5. That WAS, until their team was attacked...

Events rapidly unfolding, eh?

[Demeter]

6. Going through the motions

Because journalism is HARD WORK! and you could get beaten up, jailed or Killed!
Or worse yet, blackballed like Helen Thomas.

Fomenting ignorance and murder is relatively risk free, given the total lack of law enforcement and public standards. And it pays better. You can just make shit up, and people will buy it and swallow it whole.