7 Craziest Fox News Attacks Against Its Critics

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6. Fox’s Juan Williams is one of the network’s alleged lefties. When he made a disturbingly racist comment about his fear of flying with Muslim passengers, he was let go by his other employer, NPR. The reaction from Fox News was swift and repulsive.  Fox CEO Roger Ailes lashed out in defense of his pet liberal, saying that NPR is “...of course, Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism.” Most people would regard that as something of an overreaction, but for Fox it is consistent with its characteristic vengefulness when it considers itself under siege.

7. Perhaps the most frequent target of Fox’s vitriol is the watchdog group, Media Matters for America. By defining its mission as a monitor of conservative bias in the news, Media Matters has earned the  undying enmity of Fox News. In the course of its persistent barrage of slander aimed at Media Matters, Fox has called the founder, David Brock (without substantiation), a dangerous, self-loathing, mentally ill drug user. Fox was so frightened of Media Matters that, in the week prior to publication of its book  The Fox Effect, Fox News broadcast no fewer than a dozen derogatory pieces in a preemptive strike with segments on its most popular programs, including The O’Reilly Factor, Hannity and Fox & Friends. It was the sort of blanket coverage usually reserved for a natural disaster, a declaration of war, or a lewd TwitPic of a politician. Fox’s anti-Media Matters campaign even included more than 30 solicitations on the air by Fox anchors beseeching viewers to file complaints with the IRS challenging Media Matters’ tax-exempt, non-profit status.

These are just a few of the more notable instances when Fox has engaged in pronounced public wailing after taking flack from a critic. But it’s an almost daily occurrence for Fox to slap back at a politician, pundit or even a celebrity, who utters something Fox regards as unflattering. For a network that touts its powerfulness, Fox News behaves with the sort of sensitivity generally associated with sniveling weakness, wildly lashing out at critics and stubbornly refusing to acknowledge mistakes or accept responsibility for errors. This may be undignified, unprofessional and immature, but it is the Fox way.