Fox News: We Edit, You Decide

[Upchurch]

There's nothing I can really add to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGqPxn7njqM&feature=Views&page=1&t=t&f=b).

[Cylinder]

There's nothing I can really add to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGqPxn7njqM&feature=Views&page=1&t=t&f=b).

Pu-lease.

Special Report ends every single broadcast, five nights a week with a comedy gag from a politician or a comedian's take on politics or politicians. The majority of them actually poke fun of the President. Fox covers them usually with a laugh track and leads them in such a way that any rational - and that's the key word - person would identify them as comedy.

Your videographer suffers from an advanced state of BDS. A course of therapy and medication could help, but that would be up to his clinician-of-choice.

[KingMerv00]

Let's say Colbert DIDN'T coach him. Who cares? It was a joke. It was funny and anyone who wouldn't vote for him because of those statements has no sense of humor.

[Jocko]

There's nothing I can really add to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGqPxn7njqM&feature=Views&page=1&t=t&f=b).

Holy crap. They take a humor feature and cut it down without actually changing the meaning, and this is called an editorial conspiracy? If they'd taken the responses and cut the questions, that would be dishonest, but it says Colbert Report on the friggin' graphic! So ***** what?

Kee-rist, this is one bored lib. Really love the little captions and Mr. Rogers monologue, BTW. Very engaging. :rolleyes: I think he could use a fair bit of editing himself.

[HarryKeogh]

My problem with this pol is that he didn't say "I'm not saying that because every news outfit will show it and some idiots may think I mean those things especially those that read Drudge"

[Skeptic]

There's nothing I can really add to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGqPxn7njqM&feature=Views&page=1&t=t&f=b).

Er... I don't get it. EVERYBODY knows "The Colbert Report" is comedy. And FOX clearly shows that the clip is from the Colbert Report and it shows Steve Colbert as well.

Nobody is saying or implying that the question-and-answer session with Colbert is serious. What FOX news find "hard to believe" is that the politician answered questions like "I enjoy cocaine because...", EVEN IF it is only a comedy sketch.

[Forty-Two]

When I saw that on The Colbert Report, my jaw dropped at how stupid Wexler had to be to say those things. I don't care what party he's in, that's just political suicide.

That being said, Fox News is waaaaaaayyy too smug and condescending about their editing.

[Jocko]

When I saw that on The Colbert Report, my jaw dropped at how stupid Wexler had to be to say those things. I don't care what party he's in, that's just political suicide.

That being said, Fox News is waaaaaaayyy too smug and condescending about their editing.

Oh, sure, like you've never blown a solid week on cocaine and hookers. Talk about smug. ;)

[pgwenthold]

Oh, sure, like you've never blown a solid week on cocaine and hookers. Talk about smug. ;)

"Because it's fun..."

[KingMerv00]

When I saw that on The Colbert Report, my jaw dropped at how stupid Wexler had to be to say those things. I don't care what party he's in, that's just political suicide.

That being said, Fox News is waaaaaaayyy too smug and condescending about their editing.

Actually, I thought it was funny. All things being equal, I would like a candidate with a sense of humor. He actually earned a few points in my book.

[pgwenthold]

When I saw that on The Colbert Report, my jaw dropped at how stupid Wexler had to be to say those things. I don't care what party he's in, that's just political suicide.



At least it was obvious that it was a joke. I've seen republicans on the CR that appear serious in their stupidity. The guy from Georgia who didn't know the Ten Commandments, despite supporting a law to require them to be posted, for example. I was thinking, "He's got to be joking!" but there was no indication that he was.

[Forty-Two]

The reason Wexler came across to me as not to bright has less to do with what he said and more to do with the vacant look on his face as Stephen Colbert goaded him into saying them. His expression was that of, "Um, I think this may be wrong, but I should do what he says..."

If the guy had just laughed it off and started joking around, props to him. If he had said, as HarryKeough put it, "I'm not saying that because every news outfit will show it and some idiots may think I mean those things," again, no loss of respect there either.

I guess that thing that struck me most about him was the way he was just mindlessly going along with it. I'm a huge fan of both TCR and TDS, and I love watching the moment when people realize they've just made a fool of themselves. Some of them clam up and end the interview (like Rod Blogojevich, governor of my native state), some of them relax and join in, realizing they deserve the egg on their face. This guy... He just didn't seem to have the wits to choose either option.

[Upchurch]

Interesting. I'm surprised no one, or very few, saw it the way I did.

At least it was obvious that it was a joke. I've seen republicans on the CR that appear serious in their stupidity. The guy from Georgia who didn't know the Ten Commandments, despite supporting a law to require them to be posted, for example. I was thinking, "He's got to be joking!" but there was no indication that he was.
There are, apparently, two kinds of congressmen in terms of the Colbert Report: the ones who play along with the joke and the ones who are genuinely idiots. The guy pgwenthold mentioned is the latter.

The guy in the OP clip is the former. To me, I thought it was fairly obvious that the editing job, by removing context, made him look more like a genuine idiot rather than a guy who was just having fun with it.

Yes, the Colbert Report is a comedy show and obviously the bit was meant to be funny, but it is a question of whether or not they were having fun with him or at him.

[JamesDillon]

I never thought I'd be defending Fox News, but this doesn't seem all that bad to me. Wexler said some incredibly stupid things, even for a comedy show, and Fox edited for time and to make the comments look slightly worse, but they certainly didn't take them out of context (I don't see how one could take "I like doing cocaine because it's a fun thing to do" out of context, anyway). It is a little annoying that Fox seemed, let's say, willing to leave people unfamiliar with Colbert under the impression that it was a serious interview, but any backlash Wexler suffers from this is more his fault than Fox's.

On the other hand, how many Fox News viewers would have voted for Wexler (even in an uncontested race) anyway?

[Forty-Two]

On the other hand, how many Fox News viewers would have voted for Wexler (even in an uncontested race) anyway?
True enough. ;)

[Skeptic]

There are, apparently, two kinds of congressmen in terms of the Colbert Report: the ones who play along with the joke and the ones who are genuinely idiots. The guy pgwenthold mentioned is the latter.

The guy in the OP clip is the former.

I don't think anybody disagrees, the problem is he played along with the joke WAAAY too much.

To me, I thought it was fairly obvious that the editing job, by removing context, made him look more like a genuine idiot rather than a guy who was just having fun with it.

Didn't look to me like that at all. I mean, just how much context can you remove from "The Colbert Report"? Who, exactly, thinks the questions like "I enjoy cocaine because...." are serious? In any case he was obviously smiling and playing along with the joke.

[Skeptic]

It is a little annoying that Fox seemed, let's say, willing to leave people unfamiliar with Colbert under the impression that it was a serious interview, but any backlash Wexler suffers from this is more his fault than Fox's.

Oh, c'mon. That "The Colbert Report" is comedy is common knowledge. If nothing else, anybody who doesn't know and cares enough can google it.

[Ipecac]

Interesting. I'm surprised no one, or very few, saw it the way I did.

I'm with you, Upchurch. I thought it was a bit over the line.

[roger]

I hate fox news, but don't see this item as particularly nefarious. It was an end of segment filler, they edited it down to get the jist while fitting in the time slot. It's still clear the guy was joking around.

[Upchurch]

Oh, c'mon. That "The Colbert Report" is comedy is common knowledge. If nothing else, anybody who doesn't know and cares enough can google it.
Common knowedge or not, it's been taken seriously by the media in times past (http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=Colbert).

[Jocko]

Common knowedge or not, it's been taken seriously by the media in times past (http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=Colbert).

Yeah, well, so was Dennis Kuscinich. The world's a strange place.

[pgwenthold]

Common knowedge or not, it's been taken seriously by the media in times past (http://mediamatters.org/issues_topics/search_results?qstring=Colbert).

My thought as well. Heck, there are idiots who have taken the friggin Onion seriously.

[Checkmite]

The laugh track in the background kind of gave it away.

[Jocko]

The laugh track in the background kind of gave it away.

That's not a nice thing to say about Dennis Kuscinich.

[Upchurch]

The laugh track in the background kind of gave it away.
The laugh track was from the Colbert Report.

[Jocko]

The laugh track was from the Colbert Report.

Precisely. So? You're afraid some dolt who can't operate a ballot anyway will misread the interview as genuine, yet think it makes a difference whether the laugh track is native to the video or not?

[Upchurch]

Precisely. So? You're afraid some dolt who can't operate a ballot anyway will misread the interview as genuine, yet think it makes a difference whether the laugh track is native to the video or not?
Sorry, I was refering to my assertion that the edited piece portrays the congressman as the "genuine idiot" type rather than the "playing along" type. The laugh track would have been there either way.

[Cylinder]

Today's featured skit was OBL and Zawahiri on Late Night with David Letterman going on record that they were not lovers.

I hope no-one mistook it for real news!

[bjb]

I also don't believe Fox did anything wrong. They simply edited the segment down to the 'good' parts. In any case, this only makes the Republicans look worse. If this guy is so bad, why can't the Republicans can't find anybody to run against him? I think this is the point Stephen Colbert was trying to make.

[HarryKeogh]

I think this is the point Stephen Colbert was trying to make.

I think the point was "hey, we're running a comedy show and our goal is to make people laugh so if we can make any politician look dumb and get a laugh out of it let's do it and if we have to edit in some of my funny facial expressions to get more laughs that'll work too"

[hgc]

I saw the original, and it was just a little long and tedious. Of course Fox was going to edit it down the the juicy bits.

My problem is with the Fox Conservabot introducing the clip. It's entirely set up with note of standard-issue faux shock (oh my!) and a studious exclusion of any reference to the fact that it's a humor/satire piece.

The commentator who produced the entire Youtube video really hits the point home when he says that Colbert intentionally set it up to be taken out of context, and Fox lapped it up like cream from a saucer.

[a_unique_person]

I prefer CNNNN, "We Report. You Believe".

http://www.cnnnn.com/

[Whoracle]

As much as I hate Fox I don't see the big deal. They did show the part where Colbert says this is just for fun. It's not like they just edited out everything other than "I enjoy cocaine because it's a fun thing to do" then there would be a problem.

[gtc]

I prefer CNNNN, "We Report. You Believe".

http://www.cnnnn.com/

They have the truth about 911 here (http://www.chaser.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3208&Itemid=31).

[Snide]

As much as I hate Fox I don't see the big deal. They did show the part where Colbert says this is just for fun. It's not like they just edited out everything other than "I enjoy cocaine because it's a fun thing to do" then there would be a problem.I pretty much agree, but I would have liked them to at least include the part where he first laughed when trying to repeat the cocaine line. To show some context that Wexler was in on the joke and just playing along.

[pgwenthold]

I didn't have the sound on at the beginning of the video, but what was the part about "spontaneous and uncoached"? Did the Fox guys actually say that?

[hgc]

So Colbert covered this last night, and it was hilarious. First, he showed his own clip of Wexler just doing the "I like cocaine..." part, and he edited it the exact same way Fox did. But his real target was NBC and ABC. He showed clips from The Today Show and Good Morning America, where they were poking fun at the oh-so-whacky Colbert report and about how crazy Congress critters were to submit themselves. Either NBC or ABC then shows the clip of the guy from Georgia who had supported the bill to put the 10 commandments up on the walls of the House and Senate, but then couldn't name them when prompted by Colbert to do so, and cackling like that was funny. So Colbert contrasts that actually relevant question he had asked with clips from Today and GMA of all the non-news BS they fill their time with. As usual, Comedy Central is way ahead of the curve in news coverage.

[Pauliesonne]

I think it's time I pulled up my underwear, trousers, throw away the tissue and start complaing about this travesty!!!!

[Rob Lister]

I think it's time I pulled up my underwear, trousers, throw away the tissue and start complaing about this travesty!!!!

A practice unknown in the U.S. That accounts for a our differences in politics.

(we keep ours. Sometimes we frame and hang them if they are particularly interesting)

[Pauliesonne]

A practice unknown in the U.S. That accounts for a our differences in politics.

(we keep ours. Sometimes we frame and hang them if they are particularly interesting)

Why would SPERM be interesting?

[Jon the Geek]

I think I disagree with just about everyone:
* Fox did nothing wrong in their editing of the clip. They left the essence of the bit while taking out the parts that didn't add anything.
* Fox, like the rest of you who are saying it makes Wexler look dumb, are making yourselves look dumb. The point was that people would take this as being bad, because it could be taken out of context, then they'll all show the whole thing in context and still say it's bad because of the possibility of the lack of context. Dumb, dumb, dumb. It's just a funny bit, and anyone who sees this as Wexler doing anything at all dumb really needs to quit over-analyzing. Oh, except he could have come up with something more creative, like "I enjoy cocaine because it's the only way Americans can support South and Central American revolutionaries since the whole Iran-Contra thing" or something more controversial than "it's fun."

Yeesh.