29-10-2003 21:25									#1
	Litigious Fox Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadca...1073216,00.html

quote: Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Channel threatened to sue the makers of the Simpsons over a spoof news ticker, the show's creator Matt Groening has claimed. Mr Groening said Fox News raised the unlikely prospect of suing a show broadcast by its sister channel, Fox Entertainment, because it wanted to stop the Simpsons parodying its famously anti-Democratic party agenda. The row centred on a parody of Fox News' rolling news ticker, which included headlines such as "Do Democrats cause cancer?" Mr Groening said the news channel backed down because it would have caused Fox to bring a lawsuit against itself. "Fox said they would sue the show and we called their bluff because we didn't think Rupert Murdoch would pay for Fox to sue itself. We got away with it," Mr Groening told National Public Radio in the US. "But now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls [tickers] on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news," he added on NPR's Fresh Air programme. The episode of the Simpsons in question showed a rolling news ticker at the bottom of the screen, which read: "Pointless news crawls up 37 per cent... Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com... Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer... Dow down 5,000 points... Study: 92 per cent of Democrats are gay... JFK posthumously joins Republican Party... Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple..." Fox News denied the channel had ever threatened legal action. "We are scratching our heads over here. We liked the cartoon. We thought it was great," Robert Zimmerman, a Fox News spokesman, told the Independent. Last year the makers of the Simpsons apologised to Brazilian tourist officials who had threatened to sue over an episode that poked fun at Rio de Janeiro.

it was on npr too.

of course, both are liberal-leaning media outlets, and fox news hasn't actually sued. i find, though, that the mere threat of it makes fox news come across as less than honest, damaging their reputation. if they really felt that they were a reliable news source, would they be so litigious?

if it really is true that they threatened the simpsons, though, all gloves come off. you can smear franken, i've got no problem. go ahead and nail krugman. but when you mess with the simpsons...

	29-10-2003 21:33									#2
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Seeing as Fox must make a bundle out of the Simpsons, I doubt they'll press ahead too far with this.

	29-10-2003 21:35									#3
	Put an end to popups!

quote: "But now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls [tickers] on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news," he added on NPR's Fresh Air programme.

as;dlkfjas;gha

Goddamn catering to ****ing morons.

	29-10-2003 21:37									#4
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

A major dissapointment. Some of the best gags on the Simpsons were when they were making fun of their own network. I always gave Fox some credit being able to laugh at itself. I'd hate to think that those days are over.

	29-10-2003 21:45									#5
	Get a bigger avatar today!

Do Democrats really cause cancer?

	02-11-2003 12:32									#6
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

Do democrats cause cancer.

good stuff.

The simpon's still is pretty funny, just not quite to the level they once were.

	02-11-2003 12:44									#7
	Full PM-box? Change here!

quote: "But now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls [tickers] on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news,"

Hmm... Here's news for Groening's scroll - "Fox thinks it's audience is DUUUUMMMMBBBBB!!!

	02-11-2003 17:51									#8
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

finally revealed it was a hoax. sad, though, that fox's behavior in the past could make people believe this was real...

	02-11-2003 17:51									#9
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

rah- those days are over now. Fox is dead to me because they don't have a firm line-up.

Every sunday evening their programming changes. So up there's!

	02-11-2003 17:55									#10
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Fox has been rather litigious for a while now, taking a particular interest in shutting down dozens of fan sites about their shows, especially X-Files, 90210, COPS, etc. I remember how, in just one day the owners/webmasters of at least 15 X-Files sites got a "cease and desist" order of some sort and were told to shut down or remove content.

	02-11-2003 20:09									#11
	Re: Litigious Fox Increase the size of your Attachments

quote: Originally posted by Q Cubed "But now Fox has a new rule that we can't do those little fake news crawls [tickers] on the bottom of the screen in a cartoon because it might confuse the viewers into thinking it's real news," he added on NPR's Fresh Air programme.

Fox News must be embarrassed to admit viewers can't tell its news from a cartoon.

	02-11-2003 20:51									#12
	Increase Your PM Length

sounded like a hoax.... but a funny hoax nonetheless.

	02-11-2003 21:16									#13
	Get a bigger avatar today!

npr isn't biased... but whatever...

	02-11-2003 21:18									#14
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

sava, you do realize i was being sarcastic, right?

although, i do have to admit, i didn't like o'reilly's interview on fresh air. not one question about his book.

	02-11-2003 21:19									#15
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

sorry I can't tell anything any more... I'm pumped full of meds so don't mind my drugged up posts.