May 10, 2005
Fox News rocks
NPR has a piece on Fox News using the phrase 'we wish him well' when they don't really mean it. Here's an example about CNN's Jonathan Klein: "Our focus is on beating the broadcast networks," Fox News spokeswoman Irena Briganti told AP's David Bauder. "We wish Jon well in his battle for second place with MSNBC."
Other examples include "These false accusations are the rantings of a bitter employee. It's unfortunate that his career ended the way it did. We wish him well." about former Fox News producer Charlie Reina, who accused the channel of pushing the conservative line.
My personal favorite was to Ted Turner: "Ted is understandably bitter, having lost his ratings, his network, and now his mind. We wish him well."
I think that's hilarious. Excellent PR should be cutting to your rivals but always with a smile. My dream has now become to work in Fox's PR department. I can so do a 'Oh is MSNBC still around? We wish them well.'
Posted by Karol at May 10, 2005 11:11 AM | TrackBackTechnorati Tags:
Hahahaha! That this merits a story on NPR is silly. Look! Fox is evil! They say they wish people well when they really don't! Honest, we have examples! Implicit, of course, is that when NPR wishes someone well, the mean it.
Posted by: Peter at May 10, 2005 11:55 AMI grew up in Louisiana, where you can say anything you want about somebody, as long as you follow it up with "Bless his little heart." It's like a social get-out-of-jail-free card.
Same thing.
In other news, some people apparently hate FOX News because they're insufficiently dour. Those bastards.
Posted by: Jeff Harrell at May 10, 2005 12:37 PMI grew up in Louisiana, where you can say anything you want about somebody, as long as you follow it up with "Bless his little heart." It's like a social get-out-of-jail-free card.
Oh I love that! I'm so adding that to my vocabulary. That Dawn Summers is the evilest girl in the world, bless her little heart.
Posted by: Karol at May 10, 2005 12:39 PMGrowing up in Mississippi, we would follow up with "God love him/her." I would hear, "Bless his little, pea-picking heart" from time to time, but not nearly as often.
Posted by: ccs178 (Chris) at May 10, 2005 12:46 PMYeah, I noticed that if you preface something with "No offense, but..." nearly anything can follow, because you just absolved yourself.
Also, if you use "On some level..." you can follow with utter bullshit because it might be accurate... on some level.
The same goes for "In some weird way..."
Posted by: Jay at May 10, 2005 02:33 PMI just loved Ace of Spades post on "let's be honest" many months ago. Send him a note and ask him to re-run it, why don't you? It's one of the funniest posts I've read in the past year, and I've added "let's be honest" to my supply of really snappy remarks -- along with Ace's "shut up, really?"
Posted by: Pat at May 11, 2005 03:05 AM
