Outfoxed
Outfoxed is an attempt to expose the Fox News Network’s right-wing, pro-administration agenda. It explains what some Americans already know: that FN has very little journalistic integrity. It was designed to be (and has become) the mouthpiece of conservative politicians and those who wish to maintain the status quo.
Although this film is full of interesting information, I’m not a fan of director Robert Greenwald’s cheezy clip art graphics and sloppy editing. Compared to Super Size Me or The Corportation (both political documentaries with prominent CG interludes), the cartoon graphics in Outfoxed detract from the impact of the story and make it look well, dumb. For a much more tasteful and well-written story on the same topic, watch Bill Moyer’s final report on “Now with Bill Moyers”.
There is no real counterpoint in this film. It doesn’t appear as though Greenwald was striving for objectivity. This is an exposé in the same sense that Fox News produces exposés. Perhaps the thinking is that all you have to do to find a pro-Fox opinion is to turn the TV on to Fox News, so why bother giving equal time? For better or worse, Outfoxed plays by Fox’s own “unfair and unbalanced” rules, giving us only one side of the story. Despite all this (and in spite of Greenwald’s slapdash style), Outfoxed is still worth a gander. If nothing else, it gives the public a glimpse of the man behind the curtain, and a better understanding of how the news media spins the stories.