Fox News' Lies Keep Them Out of Canada

[kas125]

Fox News' Lies Keep Them Out of Canada

By Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Reader Supported News

01 March 11



As America's middle class battles for its survival on the Wisconsin barricades - against various Koch Oil surrogates and the corporate toadies at Fox News - fans of enlightenment, democracy and justice can take comfort from a significant victory north of the Wisconsin border. Fox News will not be moving into Canada after all! The reason: Canadian regulators announced last week they would reject efforts by Canada's right-wing Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, to repeal a law that forbids lying on broadcast news.

Canada's Radio Act requires that "a licenser may not broadcast ... any false or misleading news." The provision has kept Fox News and right-wing talk radio out of Canada and helped make Canada a model for liberal democracy and freedom. As a result of that law, Canadians enjoy high quality news coverage, including the kind of foreign affairs and investigative journalism that flourished in this country before Ronald Reagan abolished the "Fairness Doctrine" in 1987. Political dialogue in Canada is marked by civility, modesty, honesty, collegiality, and idealism that have pretty much disappeared on the US airwaves. When Stephen Harper moved to abolish the anti-lying provision of the Radio Act, Canadians rose up to oppose him fearing that their tradition of honest non-partisan news would be replaced by the toxic, overtly partisan, biased and dishonest news coverage familiar to American citizens who listen to Fox News and talk radio. Harper's proposal was timed to facilitate the launch of a new right-wing network, "Sun TV News" which Canadians call "Fox News North."

Harper, often referred to as "George W. Bush's Mini Me," is known for having mounted a Bush-like war on government scientists, data collectors, transparency, and enlightenment in general. He is a wizard of all the familiar tools of demagoguery; false patriotism, bigotry, fear, selfishness and belligerent religiosity.

Harper's attempts to make lying legal on Canadian television are a stark admission that right-wing political ideology can only dominate national debate through dishonest propaganda. Since corporate profit-taking is not an attractive vessel for populism, a political party or broadcast network that makes itself the tool of corporate and financial elites must lie to make its agenda popular with the public. In the Unites States, Fox News and talk radio, the sock puppets of billionaires and corporate robber barons, have become the masters of propaganda and distortion on the public airwaves. Fox News' notoriously biased and dishonest coverage of the Wisconsin's protests is a prime example of the brand of news coverage Canada has smartly avoided.

---------
those four paragraphs are the entire article, which is at:
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/276-74/5123-fox-news-lies-keep-them-out-of-canada

[valerief]

1. Imagine, a law that says news can't lie. That's like saying politicians can't lie.

Without lies, Fox would be mute.

[Horse with no Name]

2. It's one of those rare moments in life

that really make you say "duh!"

[kas125]

11. As old as I am, I still can't understand why we don't have

laws about news and politicians lying, it just seems wrong that they can.

[Frisbee]

46. I guess becuase those who are doing the lying...

Would scream that their 1st amendment rights are being taken away if they aren't allowed to lie. Just think how different the political landscape and this country in general would be if we could get us one of those no lying laws! Sadly though, I don't ever see it happening.

[vim876]

71. No one is preventing them...

from lying. It would only prevent them from calling it "news." As "entertainment," they can say Barack Obama was born on the moon. I really don't see why we can't do this.

[The Wielding Truth]

81. We did but it was abolished by an Executive Order from Ronald Reagan

in 1987.It was created in 1949 to require holders of broadcast licenses to present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, honest, equitable and balanced.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine

[snagglepuss]

3. That may be a brief article but it is a brilliant summation of what was at stake in

Canada and what has been lost in America.



:kick:

[suffragette]

5. + 1,000

[MedicalAdmin]

47. It is why Canada, despite fewer people, larger area,

and less per capita income (formerly) isn't in a free fall financial mess from hell and we are.

I sincerely believe that the first step to recovery for the US would be to throw Lloyd Blankfein into assrape jail and broadcast it on the floor of the NYSE (et. al. ) - tell a lie, sell a fraud --- get your ass raped. But that'll never happen. We're too busy figuring out how the taxpayers can finance his next bonus.

[vim876]

72. Prison rape...

isn't funny. It's sexual assault against people who are under the protection of the government. The fact that it's so widespread in our system is disgusting. It frightens me that we can laugh about it so easily.

[MedicalAdmin]

80. I used to work in prison.

I know it isn't a joke. Heck - the only good thing Boosh did was the prison rape act.... (I wonder if he was worried about the very scenario I am suggesting) At the same time I consider it a minor punishment for the likes of Blankfein et. al. They have caused uncounted deaths and suffering all in the name of greed.

Want to stop Wall Street? Make the consequences real and severe. If we did it and if wall street knew about it, we would see a puckering of scrotums so severe that they would cause heavy winds from Maine to Florida any time anyone on Wallstreet even thought about fucking the public again.

Of course it won't happen.

[barbtries]

59. yep.

concise and to the point and tells it the way it, sadly, is.

[vim876]

89. I'm actually...

...not even talking about going as far as the Fairness Doctrine did. No one has to decide what's fair. If something is falsifiable, and has been shown to be false, don't call it news. That's all I ask. That and that "false advertising" law be applied equally to campaign ads.

[valerief]

4. Canada, will you invade us? Pretty please? Save us from ourselves! nt

[KT2000]

9. Please - please!

I will not resist!
I will serve coffee and donuts to all Canadian invaders.

[wryter2000]

22. I, for one, welcome our maple leaf overlords. n/t

:)

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

37. That's "Beer and Donuts"...

... "Strange Brew" is my favorite Canadian film! Yes, I will admit, I probably do not get out often enough.

[MedicalAdmin]

48. Koo oo coo coo ooo ooo coo coo.

Howz it goin', eh?

[valerief]

55. I love that flick, too. nt

[KT2000]

57. I will stock up!! n/t

[Mnemosyne]

35. I sent emails to Canada during the * regime, they wouldn't do it!

I actually sent a few emails out to several other countries asking them to invade and take out our war criminal resident dictator. :evilgrin:

No one replied. :cry:

[upi402]

6. Meanwhile, back in the land of the free

the hairdo hucksters show YouTube clips and poll us to see what the news will be.

Oh Canada! HELP!!!!!!!!!!

[PupAjax]

7. WWFND?

<>

[snagglepuss]

8. Nail meet hammer.

Hi PupAjax. Welcome to DU. :hi:

[kas125]

10. LOL, we know what they'll do. And

welcome to DU!!! :hi:

[Enthusiast]

18. With a picture like that

allow me welcome you to the DU.

[wryter2000]

23. Welcome to DU

:hi:

[myrna minx]

24. Welcome to DU.

:hi:

[Bozita]

38. Perfect!

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

39. Welcome...

...that poster got you noticed for sure!

[Thegonagle]

70. Nice sign!

[Critters2]

78. Brilliant! Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Tsiyu]

12. Makes America look pretty pathetic

for putting up with the lies.

Our tolerance for disinformation and propaganda is the only category where the US leads the free world it seems.

[Mnemosyne]

36. That's simply not true, Tsiyu. We are # 1 in WMD sales and prisoner population.

:sarcasm::woohoo::sarcasm:

:hi:

[Tsiyu]

41. Ah, I have been remiss

How could i forget the millions rotting in our prisons so Wackenhut and Correction Corp CEO's can have seven homes and luxury cars?

And all the arms we sell to every third world psycho? What's not to love there?

Please forgive my oversight as i bask in the pride of my lovely nation and its fine "products." ;)

[Mnemosyne]

76. I just couldn't take it we didn't include our #1 status for the only things we are

good at. :cry:

Sickening isn't it? I never imagined that arms sales and imprisoned citizens would end up our claim to fame.

Oh, let us not forget that we might be #1 in illegal invasion and occupation of non-threatening nations either. :puke:

Mad world, Tsiyu, mad world. :hi:

[Tsiyu]

88. Land of the Free, Home of The Brave, and all that blather

or is it, Land of a Few Greedy, Home of the Afraid?

or Home of The Uninsured, Land of the Early Grave?

Or Land of Lock and Key, Home of Lots of Profits We've Made?


i get so confused sometimes
:crazy:

[snagglepuss]

93. ROFL

:rofl:

[Mnemosyne]

96. I get seriously confused whenever they say, 'God bless America',

the question that it raises in my head, is always -Why?

Guess our confusion means that we aren't "good" Americans. :crazy:

[diane in sf]

13. lol :-)

[JeffersonChick]

14. Awesome! k&r

[1776Forever]

15. Oh I love the way you talk Robert - Wish you could have been in Congress:

"Fox News and talk radio, the sock puppets of billionaires and corporate robber barons, have become the masters of propaganda and distortion on the public airwaves."

:applause:

[Jester Messiah]

16. We need that law!!

A law to forbid knowingly lying on any program that represents itself as a news program. It shouldn't even need to be said, but such are the times in which we live.

[DCKit]

21. Faux would take it to the Supremes as a 1st amendment issue.

And with our current court, they'd win.

As a matter of fact, they pretty much did. The decision likened Faux Snooze to "infotainment" and exempt from the truth.

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Jester Messiah]

53. NO, and let's not get in the habit of suggesting such things here.

That's the sort of thing that gets copied, pasted, and sent to "news" organizations to paint us as being as bad as the freepers.

To your point, I think the better way would be to expand the court and stack the bench. :-)

[Enthusiast]

17. K&R Now that is beautiful.

Great article.

Just imagine the U.S without the constant lies of the corporate/far right wing. With all our resources we could return to our days of greatness. And I don't mean mineral resources, I mean human resources.

[Stuart G]

19. K and R nt

[BzaDem]

20. An interesting question would be whether people here would support an anti-lying law in the US.

If so, who would you favor deciding what is lying and what is not lying? The Bush administration (when they were in power)? Or the Bush Supreme Court?

[Pacifist Patriot]

29. It does present an interesting constitutional dilemma, doesn't it?

[NinetySix]

25. Thank GOD we don't have FoxNewt up here, but...

...we also don't receive MSNBC, so I have to podcast Rachel, and since Keith is gone, I can't receive his podcast anymore. Unfortunately, Ed Schultz and Lawrence O'Donnell aren't podcasted, so all I get to see are clips of them posted here. I hope Current decides to podcast Keith later this Spring!

[laundry_queen]

30. I get both of those

I'm in Alberta though, maybe that makes a difference.

[julian09]

34. you can get Keith at his new blog site FOK NEWS CHANNEL.COM

FOK = FRIENDS OF KEITH He has commentary and always intelligent perspective, a must go to site
for his fans. Just started last week.

[Tigress DEM]

43. Cool Friends Of Keith = FOK News classic. nt

[stubtoe]

26. Can't recommend this one fast enough.

Thank you for the post!

[ck4829]

27. K&R

[Badfish]

28. He wants FOX news so that he can decieve his people.

He has now taken a position against the truth and in defense of the lies.

[Citizen Worker]

31. Truth. What a concept.

[Kurovski]

32. K&R. (nt)

[fascisthunter]

33. as it Should be here

[Joey Liberal]

40. How did Harper get elected in Canada? n/t

[laundry_queen]

54. Because the left is split 3 -ways

and he cheated. (shocker)

[LiberalLovinLug]

64. There's the rub

If liberal Democrats want to start their own party to reflect truely traditional Democratic principles, where people are put ahead of corporations, all that will happen is that you will get Newt's dream...a permanent Republican majority and President. Look what happened with Nader in 2000.

In Canada here we have the Greens, the NDP, and the Liberal Parties all competing against each other and the Conservative Party.

I don't know what the solution is, because if you put all your eggs in one opposition party it eventually gets absorbed by the same corporate machine as the enemy. I think the only way is to join the one party and influence from within somehow.

[Kingofalldems]

42. We absolutely need that here--those airwaves belong to the people

K and R

[Lydia Leftcoast]

44. Rather telling, isn't it?

A conservative politician wants to repeal a law that bans lying.

[teabaghater]

45. How did the

goods folks in Canada allow a POS like Harper in anyhow? I have become so embittered with hatred against republican's it's hard to control. Their disgusting tentacles are reaching into all aspects of life. The disappearance of Rove and Limbaugh would slow their progress.

[eleny]

51. Then here's a video in the Video Forum for you...

An oldie with updated graphics.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x554917

[indimuse]

49. "The Chickens have come home to Roost!"

..

knr!

[eleny]

52. There's some hope I can get next to

K&R

[provis99]

56. huh? Fox News is in Canada RIGHT NOW.

My brother in Winnipeg is watching it as I type this.

[earthbone]

58. So wonderfully revealing.

[disillusioned73]

60. That is freakin awesome, posted to my FB...

now, how do we get one of our so called legislators to propose something like this??

Bernie Sanders, Al Franken... some one - anyone??

[JackintheGreen]

61. My 13 y.o. just asked me this morning

"Isn't there a law that keeps Fox from lying?"

Sadly, dear, no. Not in America.

[Blue Owl]

62. Just say no to FOX "news"

n/t

[femrap]

63. Why can't we pass a law against

lying on the TV news?

I live in the wrong country.

[Shagbark Hickory]

66. Because wealthy indifiduals that own cable networks make the rules.

Thru political donations, lobbiests, etc.

[femrap]

67. Ain't Fascism grand............

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :grr: :grr:

[Shagbark Hickory]

69. I wouldn't exactly call it fascism. More like anarchism. n/t

[femrap]

68. Ain't Fascism grand............

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :grr: :grr:

[BzaDem]

79. Perhaps because we have something called the first amendment? You know, the whole free speech thing?

Maybe because having the government censor speech based on what it considers "lies" goes against the entire point of the amendment?

I'll ask you what I asked above. If you favor an anti-lying law, who do you want to decide what is lying and what is not? The former Bush administration (when they were in power)? Or the Bush Supreme Court?

[femrap]

83. Journalists do have

a responsibility to provide FACTS. But I know that notion is quaint....as is the Geneva Convention.

[BzaDem]

91. Says the Constitution?

Last I checked, we had free speech regardless of some committee's determination on what is "fact" and what is "not fact."

[femrap]

99. Go blather with

another libby....gnat.

[SpiralHawk]

65. Republicons & Fox lie all the time because...

...they think they are special and above American values and ethics....they have their own special Republicon Family Pharisee Values -- thus, even the kind of torture that was perpetrated on Jesus Christ is, in their eyes, ok.

[spanone]

73. there should be some standards for journalistic integrity

[grahamhgreen]

74. don't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools.

[OnlinePoker]

75. Maybe not on Basic Cable, but it is available

Here in Victoria, Fox News is on Channel 142 on Shaw Cable (specialty channel so if you want right wing propaganda, you have to pay extra).

On edit:
I just looked it up and Fox News was approved in 2004 and broadcasts through most Canadian cable and satellite providers. What Kennedy is referring to is Fox News North, news broadcast from Canada rather than the States. The following is from an organization fighting the change to the regulation:

"The regulation dealing with false or misleading news has been on the books for years. The wording of the regulation itself is at odds with a 1992 court ruling that stated that that the "right to freedom of expression" meant that a person could not be charged for disseminating false information."

http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/crtc-to-allow-fake-news-just-in-time-for-fox-news-north-to-launch/

The CRTC chose to ignore the court ruling and it probably would have continued to do so if not for the Fox application. With political pressure coming to bear, the CRTC has no choice but to comply. The court ruling would be similar to a U.S. first amendment ruling.

[pam4water]

77. Fox Lies K&R

[lucky leftie]

82. Good job, Canada!

All this and healthcare, too. You are a model for us Americans. Oops, does that remark make me part of the "blame America first crowd?"

[proud patriot]

84. kick rec and shared

[Shining Jack]

85. Canada isn't immune...

... against the current fascism spread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x558128

And Harper is a fucking bastard.

[Swampguana]

86. Canadian news is so much different

than the United States! And better!

[ladym55]

87. News needs to separate from "infotainment"

Why is it such a BIG problem to fact check the information we put forth as "news"? Since when did "free speech" in relation to journalism mean that if I have an opinion I can spew it without any support? Shouldn't an argument be backed by SOMETHING?

To me, worse than Faux are the M$M news sources that operate on the pretense that they are "objective." If all news in the U.S. had to pass the reality test (i.e., if I state an opinion it should have SOME kind of support behind it). If we just look at the past two weeks and the coverage of Wisconsin, we'll see the New York Times interview some guy in Janesville claiming to be a union member and condemning unions. He wasn't a union member. You'll hear NPR call the Wisconsin Democratic State Senators "cowards." CNN Headline news will say that the Walker needs this bill to fix the budget deficit in his state.

[Fiendish Thingy]

90. Just one more reason why I'm moving there n/t

[DeSwiss]

92. K&R

"The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them." ~George Orwell, Notes on Nationalism

[HEyHEY]

94. This article is full of shit about Canadian journalism, man.

True, we got rid of the lying clause, but Canadian journalism ain't that great, esepcially since the CBC went downhill by trying to turn into eye-witness news.

[ryan14]

95. question

Ok so the CRTC is concerned the law banning lying on news broadcasts violates a 1992 Supreme Court ruling:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/crtc-ditches-bid-to-allow-fake-news/article1921489/

So how would a news organization go to court to see if lying is legal on broadcast news tv?

[democracy1st]

97. kick

[Vidar]

98. Thank you, Canada.