Via Reader Supported News we get sad news. It seems those notoriously “polite” Canadians have made Rupert Murdoch feel unwelcome. They have a law there that “requires that ‘a licenser may not broadcast … any false or misleading news'” How rude. Well, naturally, Fox knows when it’s not wanted and it’s not in Canada.
Now, current right wing Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to make Canada a comfortable place for Rupert, and, in a move that tells you everything you need to know about how the right gets and keeps power, has tried to do the right thing by repealing this onerous law, but the Canadians won’t have it, so we’ll have Fox all to ourselves.
We can be proud of the fact that here in America it’s perfectly okay for the media to lie and deceive. In fact, it’s constitutionally protected, as Fox itself has proven:
On February 14 [2010], a Florida Appeals court ruled there is absolutely nothing illegal about lying, concealing or distorting information by a major press organization. The court reversed the $425,000 jury verdict in favor of journalist Jane Akre who charged she was pressured by Fox Television management and lawyers to air what she knew and documented to be false information. The ruling basically declares it is technically not against any law, rule, or regulation to deliberately lie or distort the news on a television broadcast.
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The attorneys for Fox, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, argued the First Amendment gives broadcasters the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on the public airwaves.
What a great country! Fox was right, of course. It does have a First Amendment right to lie and deceive, and like the good Americans they are, they rightly feel an obligation to exercise their First Amendment rights to the fullest, with America itself the hapless beneficiary.
Fox is too good for Canada and so are Rush, Sean, Glenn, and all the other right wingers that are kept off the chilly air up North by Canada’s insistence on journalistic standards on the public airwaves. Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about that here.
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