This article was published by The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor on Monday, October 5, 2015:
Even the liberal Huffington Post was embarrassed at just how bad MSNBC’s ratings are. The network cancelled three shows in July, and brought back the discredited Brian Williams. Wrote Larry Atkins:
The changes had come as a result of MSNBC’s plummeting ratings. MSNBC’s Nielsen ratings for the second quarter of the year dropped five percent in total viewers and 17 percent in the key adult demographic 25-54. Its primetime lineup’s ratings dropped by 10 percent. It was a continuation of a long time trend.
Last Thursday’s farcical interview by Chris Hayes of Josh Fox proved the point. Touting his latest attack on fracking, Fox was allowed to promote his latest “documentary” Gaswork: The Fight for C.J.’s Law, allegedly all about safety and health issues being ignored by the energy development industry. Hayes never asked about credibility issues raised by detractors of his previous efforts, Gasland and The Sky is Pink. In Gasland it was the “flaming faucet” incident about which Fox was publicly challenged by Irish filmmaker Phelim McAleer. That exchange can be seen on YouTube, despite efforts of Fox and his lawyers to have it removed. In it McAleer got Fox to admit that methane in water was common, with flaming water incidents dating back to 1936, but claiming weakly that this was “not relevant” to his purposes inGasland.
In The Sky is Pink Fox claimed that breast cancer was linked directly to fracking activities in the Barnett Shale region in Texas, claims which were later successfully refuted by credible national experts looking into the matter.
Did Hayes ask Fox about any of this? Did he ask Fox about the “flaming faucet” incident that brought the wrath of McAleer in his rebuttal, FrackNation? Did he ask Fox if he was ready to admit that his claim in The Sky is Pink was false? Did he ask Fox if he was ready to apologize to the women and their families living over the Barnett formation for scaring them half to death over his discredited claims?
Of course not. In the 4 ½ minute segment that ran Thursday night Hayes jumped in bed with Fox, providing him with nothing more than an echo chamber reflecting the network’s anti-fracking position.
McAleer learned about Fox’s latest attack in time to launch his own rebuttal, GasHoax, also on Thursday, at Brietbart.com. It’s as if McAleer has found his niche: tracking down Fox and demanding answers to questions that Hayes wasn’t willing to ask.
For instance, in speaking about The Sky is Pink, McAleer said:
Fox’s breast cancer film was widely reported by the mainstream media but has since been dismissed as nonsense by every respected cancer expert in the region.
Fox has never corrected the record or apologized for scaring women and families.
Fox’s most recent attempt to smear the fracking industry is based upon the tragic accident that resulted in the death of C.J. Bevins, a 21-year-old oil field roughneck who was crushed against a trailer by a forklift back in 2011. Ignoring the fact that it was an accident, and had nothing to do with chemicals, Fox managed to twist the narrative to support his agenda: the fracking industry’s use of chemicals is putting workers’ lives at risk. In his film, said Fox:
We interview many workers who have been asked to clean drill sites, transport radioactive and carcinogenic chemicals, steam-clean the inside of condensate tanks which contain harmful volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and other chemicals, and have been told to do so with no safety equipment.
Fox claims to have interviewed workers who were ordered to cover up toxic chemical spills, that the industry is paying them to “poison their own communities in order to feed their families” and that “if you get hurt, you’re on your own.”
In the same manner as FrackNation, McAleer rebuts Fox’s claims in Gaswork, interviewing experts who state that there is no increase in health or safety claims due to fracking. Although neither film is available yet in theaters, their trailers can be found under Sources below.
McAleer concluded:
Josh Fox is an unethical journalist. Everyone knows that, except Chris Hayes and MSNBC, apparently. They need to ask him tough questions, not give him a platform so he can scaremonger and spread fear.
But that didn’t happen. Instead MSNBC continued its slide into irrelevancy by giving Josh Fox airtime to its steadily shrinking audience.
Sources:
Breitbart.com: ANOTHER HEALTH HOAX FROM GASLAND’S JOSH FOX
MarcellusDrilling.com: Phelim McAleer to Release GasHoax Ahead of Josh Fox’s GASWORK
Gashoax trailer 4:30
EcoWatch.com: What the Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know About Fracking
Trailer for Gaswork 2.39
Background on Gasland
Background on FrackNation
Bio on Josh Fox
Bio on Phelim McAleer
Link to Vimeo: The Sky is Pink (2012)
EmergyinDepth.org: Debunking GasLand
YouTube: Gasland director hides full facts
Chris Hayes’ interview with Josh Fox on MSNBC
Huffington Post: MSNBC’s Changes Are Needed, But It Needs to Keep Its Liberal Voice
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