Take FOX news off the air

[boolean]

Contact the FCC:
http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html

With the mislabeling of who is a Democrat and who is a repuglican AGAIN, it is obvious that they are deliberately misleading their viewers. This cannot stand. Without an informed population, Democracy is doomed to failure.

Send the FCC an email and DEMAND that FOX "news" be taken off the air. At the very least, they ought to be fined for such blatant propaganda. This is beyond reprehensible. Not everyone pays attention to Daily KOS or the Internet. There is a significant portion of the population that WILL be influenced by this brazen lying.

K&R this please. We need to flood them.

http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html

I would also recommend contacting FOX's main competitors and try to get this story out.

CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?39

MSNBC:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10285339 /

Keith Olbermann:
[e-mail]

EDIT to say that I don't know about broadcasting license laws or how this stuff works. Maybe the FCC is powerless here...At the very least contact Keith!

[proud patriot]

1. Yes !

[onenote]

2. uhh...they don't have a license.

Cable networks aren't licensed.

[proud patriot]

3. Bummer

[Ezlivin]

4. Then can we take away their Learner's Permit?

It's obvious they are not qualified to be on the air.

[Swamp Rat]

23. LOL!

[boolean]

5. Is there no way to hold them accountable then?

Sorry, I don't know the laws or the details of how these things work.

Can the FCC even do anything? All I know is something MUST be done here.

[onenote]

7. contact sponsors, but don't expect much

There really isn't anything. You could tell your cable company that you think that they should drop the channel, but that's not likely to convince them since every other multi-channel video provider (DirecTV, DishTV, etc etc) carry Fox News too and its a relatively highly rated (although declining) channel. I doubt the sponsors are going to do anything either.

[BlooInBloo]

22. of COURSE there is... the American public can stop watching...

... because they care about the truth so much.

Well, I guess, no, there really is no way to hold them accountable.

[Canuckistanian]

27. They can claim to be a satirical network....

And in a way, they are. They're a complete joke.

[The Wielding Truth]

6. Then can they be sued? This is defamation of character!

If this would be done once to them they would order cease and desist. OMG, they should be stopped! Any lawyers out there?

[onenote]

9. not defamation of character

You'd have to prove that it was intentional and that it caused harm to a public figure. No chance in hell you'd succeed.

[The Wielding Truth]

17. Faux does use the open airwaves. It also looks like it is reviewable.

...The FCC revoked the Fairness Doctrine, with the exception of the personal attack and political editorializing rules that remain in effect....http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html

I believe something could be done to stop the routine spread of misinformation. We have proof that it is unconscionable that these were accidents. Intentional acts to defame or misrepresent must be also illegal.Prove me wrong or go after them! Where is right and wrong in this country anymore? How can this continue unchecked? Where is truth?

[onenote]

21. sorry, but no.

The Fox News Channel is not subject to FCC regulation. Period. End of discussion. Believe me, I do this for a living.

Fox owned broadcast stations are licensed, but there's been no assertion that the erroroneous information appeared on those stations. And if it did, it still wouldn't be actionable under FCC precedents that keep the FCC away from regulating the speech that is not obscene or indecent.

[Hosnon]

29. Yea...they're simply not "on the air". nt

[Vinnie From Indy]

35. What if FOX decided to air live executions?

How about child pornography?

While I am no expert in this area, I find it hard to believe that cable is completely unregulated and the broadcasters are allowed to do as they will without ANY restrictions.

[onenote]

37. obscenity laws apply

that's it.

[The Wielding Truth]

26. huh... no harm done with accusations of being involved in scandal?

Maybe that is where these laws should be examined? Shouldn't the one making the claim over public airwaves prove what they are saying about a public figure has some merit? That it is not a blatant lie meant to confuse and mislead? They should be court ordered to stop misleading until they have proof.

[RobertSeattle]

10. Um, it's defamation to be called a Democrat?

Be careful what you wish for...

[The Wielding Truth]

24. That's what Faux is aiming for. Lie and lie louder then black is white.

[RobertSeattle]

8. Always seems strange how many people don't know that

http://law.enotes.com/everyday-law-encyclopedia/fcc-reg...

[Downtown Hound]

18. Read closer

The FCC only has authority over broadcast, telegraph, and telephone. Fox News is cable, therefore, the FCC has no authority over it. They unfortunately are free to lie as much as they want. The reason the FCC was created was because there are a limited number of bandwidths to transmit a signal on. It was decided in the early days of broadcasting that those bandwidths belonged to the people, and that any corporation wishing to broadcast over them would have to apply for a license from the federal government, the duly elected representatives of the people, and adhere to certain standards. Cable and satellite transmissions do not belong to the people, they belong to the corporations that own them. Therefore, they can lie to the people as much as they want, and there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it. I don't like it any more than you, but that's the way that it is.

[The Wielding Truth]

28. Not all Fox is Cable. I receive their signal by antenna.

[Garbo 2004]

32. Fox News Channel is not broadcast or subject to FCC. You don't get

the FNC by antenna or public air ways, only sat or cable subscription. You may receive a local Fox broadcast affiliate but that's not the same as FNC, no more than your local NBC affiliate station is the same as MSNBC or your local CBS station is the same as Comedy Central.

[The Wielding Truth]

34. Okay, I was reading the org thread post as FOX "news" not FNC.

I thought that these nasty little tricks were being played out on the syndicated stations. I bow to consensus. I am still furious and if this is proven to happen on broadcast stations, I'll be ranting again. Thanks.

[Erika]

11. Their ratings are plunging

Let them die a natural death.

[Gatchaman]

12. Keep a close eye on your local faux affilliate

Especially the Sunday shows. Any shenanigans on a broadcast channel, and we should drop a train on 'em.

[2008]

13. this should be a separate post then

since it appears you have gotten to the crux of the issue (broadcast vs. cable)

[spoony]

19. But my local affiliate is good, why punish them?

It's like attacking FX or the Simpsons because of the FNC.

[Garbo 2004]

33. Yeah, like the FCC will be right on it. Have you forgotten who runs FCC?

Who appoints the commissioners? Maybe if the station flashed a boob or something like that there might be some action.

But other than that, which would result in a fine, what do you really think would happen if you filed a complaint with the FCC for a station or network broadcasting misrepresentations of news or fact? If that in itself were enough to warrant FCC action, the three networks would be off the air.

[pwb]

14. Rupert Murdock is owner of fox news,.. neocon headquarters

why doesn't anybody speak of this? please put two and two together here people. warmonger central big time.
they call other news liberal, when in fact they are radical neocon right.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

25. "why doesn't anybody speak of this?"

welcome to du, your bloodpressure will laugh at you in a couple of months for saying that.

[Clark2008]

15. Who'd they mislabel today?

I'm outta the loop on this one, apparently.

[LSparkle]

20. Me too ...

Were they replaying Conan's joke bit maybe?

[slackmaster]

16. Demand a retraction if they haven't published one

Let's not overreact to something that might well be a simple screwup.

[ContraBass Black]

30. And how exactly is the FCC going to shut down a cable station?

That's no more sensible than demanding that their license be revoked.

[Bouncy Ball]

31. Good God. None of that is going to work.

You want me to tell you what will work?

TURN OFF FUX NEWS.

In fact, while you're at it, turn off MSNBC, CNN, and all the rest. Turn the shit OFF. Don't watch it, don't listen to it. Haven't you seen the article about how Fox is losing its viewership for the first time in the ten years it has been around? All you have to do is keep it up, the steady drip drip drip. Call it FUX, call it FAUX, laugh loud and long if and when anyone quotes something they heard on Fox, snort if someone quotes Fox as a news source, use air quotes when you say "news" and Fox in the same breath, you get the idea.

We stopped watching cable news crap two years ago. Now we don't even have cable anymore--turned the whole mess off. It's great.

Their WORST FEAR is not a couple hundred people calling up the FCC screaming about them. Their worst fear is no audience.

That means death.

[stella]

36. I stopped watching Fox news but I will watch CNN and MSNBC

because I want Fox news to lose viewers not their competitors.

[NicoleM]

38. Notwithstanding the fact

that it's not possible, as noted above, this is still America. For now, we all still have the right to say whatever we want, within very specific limits. There are laws against fraud and libel and slander, but there's no law against being a suck-ass news station. I still believe in freedom of speech, even for Fox.

[AllegroRondo]

39. We could at least sue for false advertizing

they should not be allowed to call what they do "news"

[gully]

40. Excellent point.

nt

[Downtown Hound]

41. False advertising is in fact the one case I think we have against Fox

Fox advertises itself as "Fair and Balanced." Harumph, I think we all know what to think of that. There is nothing illegal about being a partisan news source. It is however, illegal to lie about it as they do. It would take a massive campaign to bring them to court to face charges on this issue and some pretty savvy lawyers, but it could be done, and I think, easily proved.

[w4rma]

42. Definitely get the complaints on record.

Realize that this is for the long term.