Fox News and the Latest Outrage

So, the latest bit of outrage going around in Canada is a segment a Fox News show the "Red Eye" did on Commander Leslie's comments that our troops may need a breather in Afghanistan after next year. The panel on the show took the opportunity to lampoon Canada in general, and make fun of our military. Naturally this has sparked some outrage in Canada, asking for boycotts of Fox and it also made our major news networks.

I won't post a link here (simply search youtube for Red Eye Canada) and you will easily find it. The main reason? My points below.

Let me first clarify that I'm not a fan of Fox News, far from it, and I am playing a little bit of a devil's advocate here. First off, The Red Eye (and Fox News in general) has always been about infotainment, and less about news. I did briefly watch the Red Eye for about 15 minutes a few months ago, and changed the channel because quite frankly, the show is awful. But, one thing I did note is what the show is trying to be. They are trying (albeit badly) to be a conservative version of The Daily Show. The problem is, they have a tough time doing the "news satire" bit with a conservative bent because it is hard to do without coming off as incredibly mean spirited. And also the people on that show are hacks compared to people like Bill Maher, Stewart and Colbert.

When The Daily Show features Canada on his show when the U.S. president visits Stewart always takes his shots at Canada, however the tone of them are light-hearted and on topics that us Canadians can laugh at ourselves for. Take for example Rob Corddry attempting to speak French a few years ago. What The Red Eye did was basically call us Canadians wimps, made fun of a cultural institution in the RCMP, and proclaimed the superiority of the US. Satire or not, those three topics all strike a BIG nerve with Canadians. So, given that the people who produce the Red Eye either are incredibly ignorant or they did their homework. My guess is the latter. Here's why...

Their goal with this segment was to manufacture outrage and get attention. So, I'm thinking they knew which buttons to press to get us Canucks going. Guess what, it worked. Fox does not have a high viewership in Canada; but in the Internet age youtube clips spread very quickly. There are groups on facebook, news segments, emails, hate mail, etc... all dedicated to this topic now all asking for boycotts and a call to action against the evil people of Fox News. I would be interested to see the Red Eye's viewership numbers in the coming weeks. My guess? It's Canadian audience will spike. If you have ever heard the stat when Howard Stern started out, people who disliked him listened longer than the people who liked him.

Here's my advice Canadians. Ignore it. Turn the other cheek. Why, because getting angry is playing right into what Fox and the Red Eye want. Fox News is excellent at manufacturing outrage (see Hannity and O'Reilly) and they are now trying to do it up here. Not because they hate Canada, but because they are trying to build a market up here. They are trying to find a niche in our news landscape, and the area around the center political spectrum is already clogged with CTV NewsNet and CBC Newsworld. They are going for a big bang, and they may have got it. The thing that would anger Fox News and The Red Eye the most, is if we would have responded with a collective "Meh". Or a "look at those crazy Yanks trying to start something, how adorable" and left it at that.

You won't see me on any facebook group, or writing any hate mail. I hope my fellow Canadians do the same.

Cheers.