SOME Old people don't know Faux News is really not a news network

[redstate_democrat]

My grandparents used to watch Faux News religiously. My grandmother was in the hospital a few months back and the entire family was in her hospital room.

The television was on Faux News and they were spewing some horrible garbage about Obama. My grandfather looked visibly bothered by the news. They actually thought Faux had credibility.

Needless to say, I freaked out and went batshit. I explained to them how Faux News was not really a news channel, but a propaganda tool for the right wing. They were surprised to learn this. They aren't really knowledgeable about a lot that goes on in politics. They just know to vote for Democrats. And they vote religiously. But Faux News was giving them high blood pressure.

So I told them, DO NOT WATCH FAUX NEWS. I told them to start watching MSNBC or CNN. They said they would and they've been watching MSNBC since.

I tell this story because a lot of people don't realize that Faux News is a pravda.

People, tell the elderly folks in your lives about Faux News. The people don't know. If you see anyone in your family watching Faux, please, you owe them a duty to tell them that it is not a reliable source for news.

My granny and granddaddy are true Keith Olberman and Maddow fans, now. :D

[Left Is Write]

1. They don't? My dad has been calling them Fixed News and Faux News for years.

At 69, I think he qualifies as old. ;)

[redstate_democrat]

2. I guess my grandparents weren't as sophisticated

:(


But now they're latte sipping liberals. They don't own a Volvo, but they drive pretty nice Crown Vic.

[Left Is Write]

5. Well...

there are plenty of people right here at DU who could qualify as "old" or "elderly," so it isn't really right to make a blanket statement that "Old people don't know Faux new is propaganda."

I'm busy trying to counter the gullibility of people in my own peer group/age group who fall for the stuff that network spews. My husband has an acquaintance who is constantly spouting the latest talking point or smear.

[redstate_democrat]

8. Yes, you're right. I shouldn't have used a blanket statement.

I'll just say a significant number of the elderly believe Faux is a real news station.

[RebelOne]

7. I'm 69 and I don't qualify myself as old. It's only a number.

And I watch MSNBC and CNN.

[Left Is Write]

9. I don't think of my dad as old either -

but I do believe he falls into the age group the OP was referring to.

[redstate_democrat]

12. Hey, I never gave an age range.

I believe you just assumed I was speaking of people around the age of 69. My grandfolks are much older. But anyway, I've already stated that I shouldn't have made the blanket statement. Of course some people in any group fall outside the perceived norm for their group.

[Left Is Write]

17. ...

I know you said you shouldn't have made the blanket statement. I wasn't trying to pile it on. :D

I get very sensitive to remarks about older people, senior citizens, NASCAR fans, and residents of Minnesota's 6th district with respect to their politics and political knowledge, 'cause my dad fits into all those categories and tends to buck stereotypes. I get sensitive about my father in the first place, because he's the one who taught me good Democratic values.

[seabeyond]

3. i live in a place fox is everywhere. and they dont. i go back and forth with how stupid

these people are and how ignorant these people are. you are right, they dont know. the few times i have called people on fox they are amazed at what i am saying. all their people watch it, they NEVER hear dissenting voice or opposite view. they are clueless.

[NC_Nurse]

4. My dad watches Faux religiously. He is 73. He actually BELIEVES that all of the

other networks are liberally biased. He even stopped watching PBS. He likes the echo chamber approach
to the world. It's quite illuminating how they play into that for people who want to cling to failed ideologies.

The bad part is when he tries to spew Faux talking points at me. It's hard not to tell him to STFU. I have a few times,
in so many words, but he always looks so deflated. ;-)

[youthere]

6. Its the same as my Grandma who used to think "The Star" and "National Enquirer" were real newspapers

[redstate_democrat]

10. Yes, I know.

Even the most ridiculous accusations don't clue some folks in. "Oprah gives birth to bat-like alien" should, at the very least, raise an eyebrow as to the veracity of the publication.

[Arugula Latte]

11. Hah! My grandmother, too.

She'd believe anything she read or heard on TV.

Ah, grandma, I miss you.

[Bluzmann57]

13. My parents are 77 and 74

so that qualifies as old. They refuse to watch fox noise. In fact my dad once offered to "kick O'Reilly's ass" because of some kind of idiocy he spewed about homeless vets. My dad is a dedicated pacifist who actually saw combat and for him to make a statement like that was something else. And last year, when my mom was in the hospital, she asked the staff to block the noise channel. They didn't, but she just didn't watch anyway.
So there are some seniors who know damn well that fox noise isn't legitimate.

[JenniferJuniper]

14. My father is 70 and says if he saw Sean Hannity in the street

he'd punch him out.

And trust me, he would.

[redstate_democrat]

18. lol

I love old folks

[stolivodka]

15. They should be forced off the air by the FCC

..or at least not be allowed to call themselves "news". It is a breach of the public trust.

[redstate_democrat]

19. They should be.

They are the modern day Pravda. They are breaching the public trust. There should be some truth, at the very least, in "news reporting".
The claim they are "fair and balanced" should at least expose them to some FCC fines.

[enough]

16. I watched over the years as my formerly sophisticated parents slowly dropped all their skepticism

and came to believe that Fox was a legitimate news network. None of my protests had any effect. This corresponded with an increase in paranoia on their part, as well as the surfacing of bigotry that had never been expressed by them before. Truly a disheartening element of their old age.

[tilsammans]

20. Everyone should see the film "Outfoxed"!

Particularly people who actually WATCH Faux News.

Your last sentence warmed my heart: "My granny and granddaddy are true Keith Olberman and Maddow fans, now." Way to go!

:kick:

[DevonRex]

21. I think it's that some of the older generation are more trusting than

we younger folks are.

[crossroads]

27. Good point!

They grew up during more settling times or less sophisticated times... or at least they felt like they could believe and trust in the lies they were being fed back then! Just a different vibrational frequency...
CR

[1corona4u]

22. I really wished people would stop using the word 'old'...

when they don't mean it in a derogatory way. Elderly, or older is the proper word.

[wiseoldman]

23. the wannabe "Hitler Youth of America" love the False News Channel

this has nothing to do with age... it has to do with people that can't comprehend anything longer than a bumper sticker.

[Enthusiast]

24. That is great! Well, not great that they didn't know, but

great that they now know the difference. They are two of millions. Faux presents it as if it had credibility. I have relatives that watch Fox every day.

[demokatgurrl]

25. Hell, plenty of YOUNG people don't know either

I see them watching at the gym. Very disturbing.

[Lex]

26. One of my (stupid) relatives said "It says "NEWS" right in the name."

I was trying to saying to her that Faux News is NOT a news channel but an agit-prop channel for the Republican Party.