Using the inflammatory tactics of the Fox News Channel to demonstrate the conservative bias handed down by Fox's owner, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, this documentary gathers interviews from media watchdogs and former Fox employees, but their overwhelming condemnation of Fox's skewed news practices isn't half as effective as footage taken directly from Fox itself. Ultimately we see that the “fair and balanced” network is anything but.

CRITIQUE

Director Robert Greenwald (Steal This Movie, Uncovered: The Truth About the Iraq War, and 53 other television movies miniseries and features) and his staff really did their homework for this quickly produced, insightful documentary probing into what may be the most watched news outlet on television. Recording the Fox News Channel 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for about three months, we see in the words of Fox News itself how biased it is. Ex-employees, some on camera and some fearfully talking only anonymously, talk about the lengths they were driven to in creating a right wing, conservative news channel, one that actually presents very little news. As one of the media critics says early on, there is really no journalism to be found on the Fox News Channel.

The Fox network is so thoroughly deconstructed that it would be hard to pin down one most damning item in the whole film. A man who once designed the networks graphics talks about how Fox was the first channel to make the most use of the American flag, and how the ultra-nationalist designs he came up with for Fox soon popped up on other networks that were desperate to compete. Presidential nominee John Kerry is shown as weak and waffling while President Bush is always captured in reverent, respectful images. Then there is the appalling montage of pundit Bill O’Reilly telling guests to shut up. Throughout we become privy to management memos dictating language, subject matter and point of view. The memos are one of the most shocking pieces of the documentary. We see news being created; what can even be considered “newsworthy” is dictated.

Outfoxed is only as fair and balanced as the subject it covers, but the information we get comes from Fox itself, so one wonders what the other side could possibly say to defend itself. Outside of the Fox footage, the people we hear from, outside of a few media critics, are ex-Fox employees, telling us first hand what the working conditions were like. We hear from one ex-anchor who talks about the scolding he received when he was sent to cover a Ronald Reagan birthday celebration, only to find out that nothing had materialized. (It should come as no surprise that Reagan’s birthday was treated like a national holiday around the Fox office.) An anonymous ex-employee says that it took a lot for him to come forward, and that after he left Fox, the network made it difficult for him to find work elsewhere. “I’m already on thin ice with my current employer because of what they did to my reputation,” he says. It might be hard to take an anonymous source seriously if there was not so much else to back up what he is saying.

In the end, the whole itself may be the most damning thing. Greenwald paints the picture of a network that has grown to monolithic proportions, owned by a man who is the master of a far reaching, global media empire. The contention is made that when Fox called the 2000 election for Bush, that set the tone for the events that followed, and may have even won Bush the election. Bush was portrayed as the rightful winner, and Gore as a sore loser, an impediment to progress who just could not accept the idea that he had lost the election.

Regardless of how one feels about that politically, it is impossible to deny the frightening power of the network. There is also the effect that Fox has had on news itself, as we see competing networks like CNN gradually moving to the right and adopting Fox tactics just to keep up. The bottom line has taken hold of our mass media, and the dissemination of information is now determined by the almighty dollar. We see it in some of the recent polls that Outfoxed covers: viewers of Fox News are far more likely to believe things that are known to be wrong than are people who do not watch that station.

Outfoxed is indicative of the kind of guerilla documentary that has become fashionable lately, and it is a shining example of what can be done with a little money and a strong, focused vision. There has been little or no promotion for the film, but that has not stopped the word of mouth. As of this writing, Outfoxed is the number two DVD on Amazon.com, down from its recent number one ranking. In our media dominated age, this should be required viewing.

Outfoxed was produced on a very low budget, and the video and audio quality reflect that. While not bad, they are certainly nothing special. Shot on video, this is a fullscreen presentation. The picture is clear, and as good as we can expect considering the conditions.

Like the video, the audio quality leaves much to be desired, especially during some of the Fox news clips. Some of the sound is hollow in these sections, but the audio during the interviews is pretty good.

This DVD is not about special features, but there is an interesting, thirty minute Behind-the-Scenes featurette that shows how the film came together. Greenwald had volunteers from all over the country that watched hours of Fox news programming, and it is interesting to hear their thoughts on what they saw. There is also a bit of inspiration to anyone wanting to make a film. In mid-March, Greenwald was still in pre-production, still putting all the pieces together to actually be able to make a documentary. By mid-July the DVD was out for sale. That is a remarkable turnaround. The featurette is an insightful look at the makings of a guerilla documentary.