Sometimes its hard to know if
The Simpsons parody the standards of Fox News, or if Fox News executives calibrate their ethical standards to the parodies they see on The Simpsons.
You may remember from last Fall that Fox, the network that broadcasts The Simpsons, reportedly considered suing the show's creators for spoofing Fox's news division:
The episode featured a "FOX News crawl" at the bottom of the screen. It read: "Pointless news crawls up 37 per cent ... Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com ... Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer ... Dow down 5000 points ... Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay ... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party ... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple ..."
[Simpsons creator Matt] Groening told National Public Radio that, after the episode was broadcast on Fox, he was threatened with legal action by the news channel.
"We did the crawl along the bottom of the screen," he said. "and Fox said they would sue the show" he said. "We called their bluff because we didn't think Rupert Murdoch would pay for Fox to sue itself. We got away with it.
"But now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news."
Fox countered by saying they never considered suing The Simpsons. It's hard to know what to make of Fox's claim, since rather than having people mistake a cartoon for news, Fox is content to broadcast news that's as believable as a cartoon. For proof, look at this Fox News gem dug up by Josh Marshall:
"You've got a real credibility problem," John Lehman, former Navy secretary under President Reagan, told Clarke, calling the witness "an active partisan selling a book."
Clarke responded: "I don't think it's a question of morality at all, I think it's a question of politics."
As anyone who followed the testimony could tell you, this wasn't Clarke's response to Lehman, it was the response he gave several minutes later to a different question posed by Lehman's fellow Republican, former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson. This has me thinking of another "news" report I once saw on Fox, in which Homer Simpson, whose reach for a piece of candy got him accused of sexually assaulting feminist activist, grad student and one-time Simpsons' baby sitter Ashley Grant, hopes to clear himself by agreeing to an interview with "Rock Bottom" host Godfrey Jones:
Homer: Ehh, someone had to take the babysitter home. Then I noticed she was sitting on the gummi Venus, so I grabbed it off her. Oh, just thinking about that sweet, sweet candy...[moans lustfully] I just wish I had another one right now. But the most important thing is--
Jones: That was really great Mr. Simpson. We got everything we need.
This is how viewers in Springfield saw the interview:
Homer: Somebody had to take the babysitter home. Then I noticed she was sitting on [
splice] her sweet [
splice] can. [
splice] -- o I grab her -- [
splice] sweet can. [
splice] Oh, just thinking about [
splice] her [
splice] can [
splice] I just wish I had he --[
splice] sweet [
splice] sweet [
splice] s-s-sweet [
splice] can.
Jones: So, Mr. Simpson: you admit you grabbed her can. What do you have to say in your defense?
Homer: [looking lustful in a clearly-paused VCR shot]
Jones: Mr. Simpson, your silence will only incriminate you further. [paused shot of Homer grows larger] No, Mr. Simpson, don't take your anger out on me. Get back! Get back! Mist -- Mr. Simpson -- nooo!
Man: [quickly] Dramatization -- may not have happened.
Fox News--as fair and balanced as The Simpsons, but not as funny.
