http://www.alternet.org/story/149381/off_the_rails%3A_the_year_in_fox_news_misinformationOff The Rails: The Year In Fox News Misinformation
A month-by-month look back at Fox News' most outrageous and factually challenged moments of 2010.December 31, 2010
As the year comes to a close, Media Matters offers a month-by-month look back at Fox News' most outrageous and factually challenged moments of 2010.
JanuaryHume Counsels Tiger Woods To Ditch Buddhism To "Make A Total Recovery." On the January 3 edition of Fox News Sunday, Brit Hume commented on the scandal surrounding golfer Tiger Woods: "He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, 'Tiger, turn your faith -- turn to the Christian faith, and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.' " Hume's attack on Buddhism was criticized by religious leaders, but endorsed by Hume's Fox News colleagues Tucker Carlson and Fred Barnes. Hume stood by his comments despite the criticism.
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Glenn Beck's Fiascoes Multiply. Beck devoted his entire March 9 program to an interview with former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) after Massa claimed -- without any evidence -- that the Democrats had forced him out of the House because he refused to vote for health care reform. The hour-long interview did not produce any evidence of Democratic wrongdoing -- instead, Massa acknowledged that he resigned under allegations of sexual harassment. Beck concluded the program by apologizing to his viewers: "I have wasted an hour of your time." Later in the month, Beck went on a tirade against Democratic leaders, like Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), who "wanted to compare themselves to the civil rights activists" as they walked arm-in-arm to the House health care vote. Beck screamed at them: "How dare you!" Lewis is, of course, an icon of the civil rights movement who marched, arm-in-arm, with a group including Martin Luther King Jr. at the Selma Civil Rights March.
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JuneGiving Land Back To Mexico. On June 15, Fox News reported that a "massive stretch of Arizona
now off limits to Americans. Critics say the administration is, in effect, giving a major strip of the Southwest back to Mexico." The next day, Fox Nation reported: "Obama Gives Back Major Strip of AZ to Mexico." The claim was completely false -- the strip of land in question is part of a national wildlife refuge that, according to refuge officials, was closed to the public in 2006 -- two years before Obama was elected -- and is still very much under the control of the U.S. Border Patrol. Even after the story was debunked, Fox News continued to mislead, reporting that the land had been "quietly surrendered" to "Mexican drug gangs and illegals."
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July
Fox Hypes Phony New Black Panthers Scandal. A Media Matters report found that in more than 100 instances between June 30 and July 17, Fox News hyped the manufactured scandal that President Obama's Justice Department engaged in racially charged "corruption" in the New Black Panther Party case. The phony allegations, made by GOP activist J. Christian Adams, were largely promoted by America Live anchor Megyn Kelly and, following a familiar pattern, were picked up by non-Fox media outlets. Still, numerous media and political figures, including Fox News contributors and Republicans, have dismissed the phony scandal.
Fox Assists Breitbart's Smears of Shirley Sherrod As Racist. On July 19, Andrew Breitbart posted a deceptively edited clip of then-USDA official Shirley Sherrod and accused her of racism. Following Breitbart's post, FoxNews.comran an article headlined "Video Shows USDA Official Saying She Didn't Give 'Full Force' of Help to White Farmer," before the USDA announced Sherrod's resignation on July 19. Following her resignation, Fox News programs amplified attacks against Sherrod. Fox News Senior Vice President Michael Clemente later admitted that a "breakdown" allowed FoxNews.com to run the story about Sherrod's comments. Prior to Clemente's admission, however, Fox aggressively claimed it did not cover the story prior to her resignation.
WHOLE YEAR AT LINK