Or, more accurately, how stupid does Fox News think you are if you watch them?
Watch this short clip showing angry protestors while Bill O’Reilly talks about the outside agitators who are bussed in to the protests in Wisconsin. There’s just one problem. Last time I checked, there weren’t many palm trees in Wisconsin.
In order to further support their narrative about violent protests, a Fox News reporter has claimed that he was punched in the arm by a protestor, and that another protestor threatened to break his neck. Fortunately, a bystander had captured the entire event on video and it shows no punch or any other violence, just a light tap after the reporter swatted away a sign the protester was holding.
And the most ironic thing? The protesters were chanting “Fox News lies”. How apropos.
UPDATE: Mediaite points out that O’Reilly did say earlier in the same program that the clips they were showing were from “all over the country”. So in fact Fox News was not implying that this footage was from Wisconsin (in my own defense, I have to point out that I did not actually accuse them of lying about this — I have plausible deniability!). Although repeatedly showing footage from violent protests and having one of your reporters claim he was punched in the arm are still pretty sleazy propaganda techniques.
3 Comments
As someone who won’t take anyone at face value without a little investigation, I looked for a longer clip to make sure there is a broader context. I do have to say, and it does pain me to do so, earlier in the piece (before what you see here), O’Reilly states that footage is from union protests all over the country. He doesn’t specifically say this footage is from Wisconsin.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/no-fox-news-did-not-lie-with-wisconsin-palm-tree-violent-protest-video/
Thanks Sammy. I did look around, but didn’t find that. Fox News does enough misleading stuff that we don’t need to accuse them of stuff they didn’t actually do. I updated the original post with this info.
it doesn’t matter that o’reilly says it’s from protests all over the country, he’s talking about wisconsin… and typical faux news manipulation is at play here. i often find myself succumbing to the hypnotic manipulation until i smack myself and wake up and realize there is some serious propaganda going on.
sammy, no need to waste time investigating any further, but good on you for doing so.
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