'The Worst Kind of Stereotyping'


J$P Video! Geraldo Rivera on Angelia Jolie and The War on Fox.

From Fox & Friends, June 15 2007:

Geraldo talks about freedom of the press, Lou Dobbs, and more [QuickTime video]:



YouTube version:


posted: Fri - June 15, 2007 at 10:17 AM       j$p  send 

Harold
Well, Geraldo's an expert on stereotyping so I guess that means a lot coming from him. Since when did wanting border enforcement mean you are anti-Hispanic? Guessed I missed something there.
 
Anyway, I like Jolie but what she's doing is ridiculous. Maybe it's her handlers, who knows?
June 15, 2007, 10:54:23 AM EDT – Like – Reply

Fox Fan
I hereby formally submit my application for the position of handler to Angelina Jolie.
June 15, 2007, 9:36:35 PM EDT – Like – Reply

Jonathan Holmes, PsD
So Bush's failing "surge" strategy in Iraq, two more DoJ affiliates testifying in the ongoing U.S. Attorney firings Scandal, and Scooter Libby failing to receive a 'get out of jail free' card all go to the wayside because Angelina Jolie has a beef with the Fox propaganda network?
 
A new motto for Fox should be made, and I have the perfect slogan:
FOX News: We distract (for the GOP), you ignore current events.
 
Now I have a problem with what Jolie did, but with all the other stories going around, is it really necessary to spend for to five minutes on celebrity gossip?
June 16, 2007, 12:49:17 AM EDT – Like – Reply

johnny dollar
Well that's as close to an off-topic rant as I've seen. But the most bizarre aspect is that, on a three-hour program, it's some sort of eeevil GOP trick to "distract" from other stories because you spend five minutes on Angelina Jolie. Mind-boggling.
 
PS: I also think you might have a different viewpoint if it was YOUR newspaper or reporter or camera crew that was being blacklisted.
June 16, 2007, 9:31:58 AM EDT – Like – Reply

sknabt
Way back in his old ABC days, I had a lot of respect for Geraldo. Unfortunately, his post-ABC career like the trash talk show humbly named after himself has completely reversed my opinion of the man. Stunts like Capone's vault and drawing US Iraq operations in the sand have turned him into a laughingstock. 
 
If you caught his suck-up act with Bill O'Reilly following their mutual scream-fest over immigration, it became apparent to me how desperate the man is for a job at Fox (http://www.eyesonfox.org/?p=171). When his recent foray into syndication failed forcing him back to Fox News this confirmed his career is largely in the tank. If he gets the boot from Fox where will he go to feed his 5 kids?
 
I thought Fox News picked him up primary to satiate their demand for tabloid trash for which he's an expert. But he's also a useful idiot because he's got a reputation for being liberal so they can use him as a tool to be lead apologist for Fox News. Hey, here's a liberal that doesn't think Fox News is a Republican infomercial. 
 
Ah, phooey! We're simply seeing how badly Geraldo needs the work.
June 16, 2007, 10:32:10 AM EDT – Like – Reply

johnny dollar
laughingstock...tabloid trash...idiot...tool...apologist...
 
I certainly see your point about juvenile name-calling.
June 16, 2007, 10:49:13 AM EDT – Like – Reply

johnny dollar
> his career is largely in the tank. 
 
Let's check the ratings. This past weekend Geraldo's program had more viewers than any program on any other cable news channel. He beat everything on CNBC, CNN, and MSNBC. And in the 25-54 demo he was statistically tied for first with one program on CNN. Nothing else was close. And guess what? This is pretty much the way it goes every weekend.
 
But you say his career is in the tank? Just the sort of reckless nonsense that this site was created to expose. Thank you so much.
June 16, 2007, 11:21:21 AM EDT – Like – Reply

sknabt
"laughingstock...tabloid trash...idiot...tool...apologist...
 
I certainly see your point about juvenile name-calling."
 
Nice try. Let's go through 'em one by one.
 
"Laughingstock." One example I attached to that was his "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault" that, as even you'll have to be forced to admit, was widely scorned. For example, according to Wikipedia, "Cheech Marin parodied him as Horrendo Revolver on Cheech & Chong's Wedding Album." Please defend this as serious journalism that doesn't deserve to be laughed at. 
 
"Tabloid trash." How would you characterize the talk show "Geraldo" which was hailed as by Newsweek as "TV trash"? Are you an admirer of his work here? Also, note, it's not a label I'm applying to Geraldo, just to much of his body of dubious journalistic work. Again, please defend "Geraldo" as high-quality, serious journalism. 
 
"Idiot." Actually, I said "useful idiot" which is a general term. Since you apparently don't understand the term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot.
 
"Tool" is used in the same manner as "useful idiot." Which begs the question, how do I address the topic of Geraldo being disingenuous in his praises of Fox News? Oops, if "tool" and "useful idiot" is name calling, then calling him "disingenuous" is too. Darn it, there I go again. Maybe I can call him an "apologist"... oops... you objected to that already. 
 
On second thought, J$, it wasn't even a nice try.
June 16, 2007, 3:00:45 PM EDT – Like – Reply

johnny dollar
Mike Wallace used to host a talk show. And before that he was an on-screen pitchman for cigarettes (back before those ads were banned). Peter Jennings for a while worked on a puppet show. I don't defend Geraldo's talk show any more than I defend Mike Wallace selling cigarettes. But neither do I think it's particularly relevant.
June 16, 2007, 3:09:51 PM EDT – Like – Reply

sknabt
Let me wrap up your sniping for chinks in my post. You say:
 
"But you say his career is in the tank? Just the sort of reckless nonsense that this site was created to expose. Thank you so much."
 
As evidence you post his ratings on Fox News. But you ignore the fact I mentioned his syndicated version of "Geraldo at Large" got canceled due to poor ratings. Do you disagree with this "reckless" fact?
 
Fox News loves tabloid trash. Frankly, I don't get the attraction since their largely conservative audience has a reputation for social conservatism and religiosity. But I recently blogged on a media study that seems to indicate they spend more time on it than CNN or MSNBC: http://www.eyesonfox.org/?p=189.
 
Geraldo's one of the kings of it so I'm not surprised he polls typical Fox News numbers there. But if he starts criticizing Fox News for conservative bias how long do you think those ratings will hold? Fox fans such as yourself are very sensitive to that sort of criticism. IMHO, he plays along.
 
Geraldo has very few places left to go. He can't easily transition back to a mainstream news outlet as a reporter, he has little legitimacy. Syndication was the logical place for his sort of format. To be frank with you, I'm surprised he didn't make it there because a lot of his sort of low-grade crap (there goes the name calling again) gets picked up by local stations looking for that sort of attention-grabbing filler.
 
Is there anything or anyone at Fox you won't rush to prop up? 
June 16, 2007, 3:29:38 PM EDT – Like – Reply

sknabt
Was Peter Jennings a journalist when he was in a puppet show. This is getting ridiculous.  
 
I'm not going after Geraldo because he ran a paper route for a tabloid newspaper as a child, I'm looking at his body of work as a journalist. It's fair to judge his journalistic credibility based upon his work as a journalist. It's sad I've got to even explain this to you.
 
And, of course, you dodge the issue of the quality of Geraldo's show on Fox News. My goodness, it'd force you to criticize something at Fox News. If that happened... well... gee... the sun might not rise in the morning... dogs and cats will sleep together.  
 
"But neither do I think it's particularly relevant." Huh? In a discussion where I'm getting bashed by you for using the term "tabloid trash" in reference to Geraldo? You really don't see the connection?
 
Incredible. Simply incredible.
June 16, 2007, 3:37:21 PM EDT – Like – Reply

Fox Fan
I might be a Fox Fan but I'm not a Geraldo fan. How's that for propping him and all things Fox News up? He is part of the tabloid press, specializing in celebrity and pop culture. Sure, he has opinions on politics but that isn't his reigning realm, it's the segment he chose to comment in for the moment. 
 
The fact that ALL news organizations report "tabloid" news (celebrity, pop crap, gossip) is because people watch it, read it, discuss it, some crave it. Fox is one of a thousand in this respect, the difference is that they have a larger audience and are therefore a prime target for people to criticise.
 
The fact that you have a website dedicated to criticising Fox is a testament to their success in both hard news and Geraldoesque news. You wouldn't feel the need if they were some rinky dinky outfit. Kudos to Fox News for continually topping the news charts and to you sknabt for caring so much that you dedicate hours to picking it apart.
June 16, 2007, 3:54:20 PM EDT – Like – Reply

johnny dollar
> Was Peter Jennings a journalist when he was in a puppet show
 
Was Rivera a journalist when he was in a talk show?
 
Was Anderson Cooper a journalist when he hosted a reality game show, for crying out loud?
 
> his syndicated version of "Geraldo at Large" got canceled due to poor ratings. Do you disagree with this "reckless" fact?
 
Well it's not wholly correct, as GaL was getting pretty decent numbers, in some cases doing better than the network news shows. And was on the way up. The ratings were not as good as they could be, but that was A factor, not the sole factor, in bringing GR back to the news channel.
 
I have commented elsewhere about the flaws in the PEJ (not an impartial organization) study, like comparing one hour of hard news on CNN and MSNBC NOT with one hour of Fox News Live but rather an hour that is specifically designed to be a BREAK from the hard news hours around it. Why do you suppose they did that? And do you consider it fair? I notice you didn't mention that aspect in your report.
June 16, 2007, 3:56:48 PM EDT – Like – Reply

Puck
What gets me is somebody has to keep linking to eyesonfox.
 
Oh yeah a REAL fair and balanced site.
 
Geraldo's show got cancelled with poor ratings, but did you know? In local New York ratings, his show did well, it was on against the evening news broadcasts.( source was Daily News or The Post, I read both.)
 
You know, the very liberal New York City.
 
I can't seem to find it. Could someone please tell me the address for eyesoncnn? Or eyesonmsnbc?
 
What? CNN and MSNBC are perfect?
 
Who knew?
 
Thank you
June 18, 2007, 3:07:27 PM EDT – Like – Reply

Puck
Johnny
 
It would be great to get a market by market ratings report of the show, also followed by the time the show was on in each market.
 
Some markets like Philadelphia and Scranton ran the show at a late hour.
 
Would it not be a hoot if it turned out that the show did well in Liberal big cities but did poor in more conservative rural markets?
June 18, 2007, 3:14:02 PM EDT – Like – Reply

johnny dollar
That's very possible, given Geraldo's political leanings. Of course, if you check the newspoodles, you'll find them recently labeling Geraldo as a "conservative"!
June 18, 2007, 3:47:03 PM EDT – Like – Reply

Ira
sknabt: A few points.
 
At the age of 63, it is more than likely that Fox is Geraldo Rivera's last job.
 
Geraldo left CNBC/MSNBC because they refused to let him travel to Afghanistan (and eventually Iraq) to cover the fighting. He had a good relationship with Roger Ailes from the latter's time with CNBC so the move to Fox was somewhat obvious.
 
And FYI, along with Jeannine Pirro, Geraldo does a weekly Friday roundup of the news (mostly legal) on the rapidly growing syndicated "Morning Show With Mike and Juliet."
 
I am probably one of the few conservatives who defends Geraldo Rivera. Sure he has made a fool of himself on many occasions, especially the Al Capone vault fiasco. But I also remember when Rivera began as a kid reporter in NYC and exposed the conditions at the Willowbrook school for troubled teens. At the time. this was ground-breaking journalism, especially for a local newscast.
 
Geraldo Rivera is no conservative and may traffic in tabloid stories on his weekend show. But overall with 35+ years of experience. it is a positive that he on FNC.
June 18, 2007, 8:36:14 PM EDT – Like – Reply