On the Monday edition of the Fox Business Network’s Intelligence Report, Media Research Center president Brent Bozell reiterated his hope that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will keep “to his word” and maintain a genuine “interest at the top at Facebook to go after fake news not to go after policy.”
However, Bozell warned that the MRC will “have something to say big time” if Zuckerberg falls into a “serious” trap being sprung by ultra-liberal billionaire George Soros to silence conservatives under this guise of stopping fake news.
Host Trish Regan set the scene prior to welcoming on Bozell by outlining how minuscule of an audience these fake news sites have which traditional journalists have been crusading against:
But here is the thing, fake news actually in reality it's not that big a deal. The site denverguardian.com, it actually did the best, ranked 92,000 in web traffic. In other words, people go to 91 other sites — 91,000 other sites before they go to this fake one. The Patriot News Agency, another one that’s fake, it ranks nearly 185,000 and has a total of 113 likes — a whopping 113 on Facebook...So real news sites, to keep it in perspective, a site FoxNews.com is in the top of one hundred. So, the point being really no one goes to these fake sites[.]
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Concerning Soros’s push to fund efforts to supposedly stop fake news, Bozell ruled that “it’s serious” and similar to the Fairness Doctrine’s push to silence talk radio even though, in the case of fake news sites, they had nothing to do with the outcome of the election.
“Look, fake news exists. It is the story of the Pope endorsing Donald Trump. These are these click bait organizations, you click on there so they can sell you a product. That is fake news. That needs to be exposed and that needs to be flushed down the toilet but that’s not a huge issue. If that's all we were talking about, fine, what they’re talking about is going after conservative organizations and conservative thought because it's quote, unquote, fake news,” Bozell explained.
Bozell also referred to an attempt by MSNBC’s Joy Reid to label the MRC as accepting of fake news as proof of that the left is far more concerned with stopping opposing viewpoints:
You're already seeing reporters doing this. MSNBC tried it this morning on me. You now have left-wing organizations influencing the advertising community with some of these fact-checking organizations. They have put Breitbart on the list. They have put my organization — NewsBusters — on the list, so this is censorship. This is serious business and these left-wingers need to be exposed. I hate to say it, this goes all the way to President Obama who’s been using this language.
Bozell added that if Soros was truly concerned about thwarting fake news, “then [he] wouldn't be putting money into it.” Instead, it’s an excuse to ban conservative viewpoints “as being false.”
Later on, Regan inquired with Bozell about his discussions with Facebook’s Zuckerberg in light of the site’s proposal to begin flagging content that’s legitimately false:
[L]ook, you know, people have accused me of being too, you know, deferential to him, but I don't think I have been. I think he has expressed interest at the top at Facebook to go after fake news not to go after policy and he has — he’s told me, he has been absolutely insistent on this. I take him for his word but if we see Facebook do this, then we’re going to have something to say big time or as they say, bigly.
Here’s the transcript of Bozell’s segment from FBN’s The Intelligence Report with Trish Regan on December 19:
FBN’s The Intelligence Report with Trish Regan
December 19, 2016
2:26 p.m. Eastern
TRISH REGAN: You know, fake news is one of the many excuses Democrats have been using for their candidate's loss. Facebook is now vowing to crack down on the practice and is doing so thanks to big bucks from the likes of George Soros, a big funder of the Democratic Party. But here is the thing, fake news actually in reality it's not that big a deal. In fact, the Daily Caller took a look at these sites and they actually get very little if any traction. The site denverguardian.com, it actually did the best, ranked 92,000 in web traffic. In other words, people go to 91 other sites — 91,000 other sites before they go to this fake one. The Patriot News Agency, another one that’s fake, it ranks nearly 185,000 and has a total of 113 likes — a whopping 113 on Facebook There’s one called MSNBC.com.co, that’s another fake one. It's ranked nearly 550,000. Again, people go to half million or more sites before they go to one that wasn't. So real news sites, to keep it in perspective, a site FoxNews.com is in the top one hundred. So, the point being really no one goes to these fake sites, so how is it that they are getting blamed for Hillary Clinton's loss? I want to ask the president of Media Research Center Brent Bozell. Brent, good to see you. What do you — is this just another ploy here by the tech community, the entertainment community to sensor conservatives, what is this all about going after fake news on Facebook?
BRENT BOZELL: Well, Trish, I think it's serious. First of all, it had nothing to do with the election. That's just, you know, Tuesday’s excuse for Hillary not winning. This is serious because this is the fairness doctrine that had — that the attack on talk radio all over again but this time, it's on conservatives. Look, fake news exists. It is the story of the Pope endorsing Donald Trump. These are these click bait organizations, you click on there so they can sell you a product. That is fake news. That needs to be exposed and that needs to be flushed down the toilet but that’s not a huge issue. If that's all we were talking about, fine, what they’re talking about is going after conservative organizations and conservative thought because it's quote, unquote, fake news. You're already seeing reporters doing this. MSNBC tried it this morning on me. You now have left-wing organizations influencing the advertising community with some of these fact-checking organizations. They have put Breitbart on the list. They have put my organization — NewsBusters — on the list, so this is censorship. This is serious business and these left-wingers need to be exposed. I hate to say it, this goes all the way to President Obama who’s been using this language.
REGAN: Yeah, they have been talking about the fake news in the White House and they've been citing as well as being such a problem. You know, it seems to me kind of obvious, Brent, when something comes up, you almost can tell just by looking at it that it's fake. You know, isn't there sort of also a consumer be aware element to this, you don't need to click on something that clearly obviously doesn't look right?
BOZELL: If that's what fake news was, then George Soros wouldn't be putting money into it. That's not — that’s exactly the point, Trish. That's not what they are after. They’re after conservative organizations and labeling it fake news — just like George Soros and company underwrote the Fairness Doctrine several years ago, trying to put pressure to get conservatives off talk radio. That is all this is about. This is about going after conservative talk on the internet and banning it by somehow projecting it as being false. Global warming would be of them.
REGAN: And — giving that power to the likes of ABC or The Washington Post, that they somehow can sanction it as —
BOZELL: Sure.
REGAN: — you know, correct news or news that's right as opposed to fake news, so a lot of things about this —
BOZELL: Trish, this goes right to you.
REGAN: Well, hey, look, I’ve seen it. I've seen it.
BOZELL: And Fox News.
REGAN: In fact, one of our guests, Jan Morgan, who’s been a frequent visitor of this program, she posted a video, Brent, in which she was talking about how she did not want to see an increase in Syrian refugees coming to this country and she actually got shut down on Facebook. We did a story on it and they later, you know, turned it around, but my goodness, you see the propensity for this kind of thing to happen. I agree, Brent, it does go right to me and it does go to you. Now, it's my understanding you have had conversations or your in discussion with Mark Zuckerberg to express this concern to him?
BOZELL: Yes, I have been and look, you know, people have accused me of being too, you know, deferential to him, but I don't think I have been. I think he has expressed interest at the top at Facebook to go after fake news not to go after policy and he has — he’s told me, he has been absolutely insistent on this. I take him for his word but if we see Facebook do this, then we’re going to have something to say big time or as they say, bigly.
REGAN: Yeah and certainly those eyebrows get raised when you see the likes of George Soros in there. Anyway, good to see you, Brent, as always, thank you so much, sir.
BOZELL: Thank you, Trish.
