Sources used in this document:

Fox News has lowered the standards of general media journalism, which before had to show at least some veneer of objectivity to be considered respectable. The documentary depicted Fox employees talking about how they were forced to push a "right-wing" agenda or fear losing jobs. When headquarters sent a memo, suggesting that certain issues and points-of-views had to be expressed by reporters, this was considered marching orders, not a point of debate. Media executives not journalists were in control at Fox and determined the on-air content. Demonstrating that no news is free from engineering by the production team, the documentary revealed that Republicans made up of 83% of the interview subjects on Fox, and only weaker liberal voices were asked as guests, to serve as punching bags rather than as advocates of an alternative point-of-view.

As a final indignity, during the 2004 Presidential Campaign, the Fox network openly campaigned for Bush, daily attacking John Kerry's positions and presenting Republican-generated questions about the Democrat's character and war service without any question of their veracity. Even if someone does not watch Fox News, in short, they may have to suffer in a nation governed by a man elected under a dubious electoral system, where partisan news is presented as real news, without disclosure of the network's biases. The network even declared Bush the winner in the notoriously close elections of 2000 and 2004 before the official results had been released, perhaps biasing potential voters and at very least creating the perception that Bush was commander-in-chief before his status was official. It would be fine if Fox admitted its bias, but it did not, and many viewers unwittingly fell under its sway.

The 'outfoxing' of the media can be seen in the current presidential campaign, where non-issues like Barak Obama's calling John McCain's supposedly new economic proposal 'like putting lipstick on a pig -- it's still a pig.' Despite the fact that McCain had also used this common expression, which implies that something unattractive is still 'what it is' Obama was vilified for supposedly using a sexist expression, given the gender of McCain's running mate the Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. Obama was forced to use valuable airtime to explaining his remark and defending himself, which made him look weak and apologetic about a non-issue. Despite the presence of other news, the 'pig and lipstick' debate ran as the first story on every major network, as well as National Public Radio. When the terms of the debate have been re-defined as to who can make the most inflammatory charges, rather than who can make the best proposals, the 'outfoxing' of American news beyond the Fox network is complete.