Charlatans and a Disingenuous News Corporation: (ePub)

An interesting dynamic is the relationship between Bill O'Reilly, the superstar of the Fox News Channel and one of the network's most consistent critics the comedian John Stewart, host of The Daily Show.

They appear on each other's shows and have respectful amusing banter. At one stage in 2011 after a series of encounters O'Reilly seems genuinely concerned that John Stewart may see the Fox News Channel as a "terrible, cynical, disingenuous news organization" operated by Charlatans. In a paradoxical performance just after these encounters, O'Reilly conducts an hour where he is both disappointed at Stewart's assessment but at the same time seems hell bent on providing a concentrated hour proving him right.

The first part of this News Corp Narrative is a detailed look at this particular hour of The Factor. Others who see promise in the mutual respect between O'Reilly and Stewart also see in this hour the operation of a "truly terrible, cynical, disingenuous news organization" featuring selected charlatans.

That conclusion is based on a view that trusted and privileged people who make "elaborate, repetitive and voluble claims to skill and knowledge" are really "quacks or frauds." These trusted, privileged superstars "fail to reveal the full story or whole truth and while appearing to be sincere are in reality false, deceptive and insincere."

Readers, of course, are asked to judge for themselves.

The second part of this narrative challenges a Fox defence against accusations of being a propaganda arm of the Republican Party. It stems from another interview John Stewart conducted with Brett Baier who repeats the mantra that, "there are opinion shows and there are news shows" and he concludes that, "I'm a news guy. I do news." This is despite having little defence when Stewart points to contrasting interviews conducted with the two most recent Presidents. Stewart characterizes the interview with President Bush as, "You were literally sitting with President Bush in a love seat." Others remember the interview with President Obama being very tense with the young reporter interrupting the Commander in Chief repeatedly as he attempted to deliver the Fox agenda for his viewers.

In the shadow of Baier's claims to be a news guy, a close look is taken at a week of Special Report hosted by Baier and packaged as a "news" program since it is anchored by "news men". For part of the week the senior "news man" on the network Chris Wallace replaces Baier in the anchor's chair.

When he Chairman of News Corp has been questioned about lack of diversity on the Fox News Channel he has offered Greta van Susteren as an example of a liberal anchor. Others would say that every daily hour with Greta van Susteren is another Republican hour. Part three give three examples of hours with Greta van Susteren. Others believe that any hour taken at random would reveal similar promotion of the prevailing narrative sold with all the talking points of the day with domination of Republican guest given kid glove treatment and whenever a Democrat should wander into the line of fire a grilling can be expected.

The final section deals with a variety of broadcasts where readers can decide if they are witnessing civil discourse and rational debate or the efforts of charlatans abusing the privilege that has been offered them by the News Corporation and the trust of good folk.

Others may conclude that when News Corporation's most highly paid on air personality feigns not to understand the comedian's perceptions of charlatans and a "terrible, cynical, disingenuous news organization," that perhaps he "protests too much."

Perhaps he is being as disingenuous as his news corporation.

This News Corp Narrative is a story of the operations of the Fox News Channel.

Another framing of the account may be of the operations of POOPs proselytizing from a place designated by the same comedian whose observation gave Uthers this book title, as "Bullshit Mountain"