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2014 in review: The year according to Fox News

It's one way of looking at the world's events

Wednesday 31 December 2014 13:25 GMT

Fox News says 'the US is awesome' – and torture report is just 'one last shot at Bush' (Fox News/YouTube)

The way the news is covered by Fox in the US can seem incomprehensible to the rest of the world – not to mention many Americans.

This is how 2014 panned out – if Fox News coverage is to be believed:

Penis pictures are news

Fox31 team react to the image stream (Twitter)

March

Pulling photos straight from Twitter moments before going on-air was a nightmare waiting to happen for any network, as Fox-affiliated KDVR found in spectacular fashion when a penis was spliced into coverage of the Seattle helicopter crash.

Homosexual impulses lead to serial killings

Rodger detailed his hatred for the girls who he blamed for his being a virgin at the age of 22, and the boys who they chose instead of him

May

A licensed psychotherapist booked to appear on Fox’s Justice With Judge Jeanie programme suggested Santa Barbara shooter Elliot Rodger could have been acting upon “homosexual impulses” when he targeted his victims.

Single ladies rely on government like a husband

Beyoncé now has a whole radio station dedicated to her (Getty Images)

July

Fox News host Jesse Watters coined the phrase ‘Beyonce Voters’, who ‘depend on government because they’re not depending on their husbands’. Watters was critical of this section of the electorate for ‘needing contraception, health care, and they love to talk about equal pay’.

It’s OK to use racial slurs about China

Bob Beckel speaking on Fox News The Five show (Fox/YouTube)

July

Fox News presenter Bob Beckel claimed “Chinamen” had been taught “how to do computers” by Americans in a rant about China’s “threat” to the national security of the US.

Michelle Obama needs to drop a few pounds

August

Fox’s psychiatry contributor, Dr Keith Ablow, claimed that Michelle Obama isn’t in a position to campaign for healthier eating because “she needs to drop a few” herself.

Breaking news from civil rights riots isn’t that important

August

Fox presenter Megyn Kelly lashed out on air when her interview in the aftermath of the death of American journalist James Foley was interrupted for breaking news that clashes between police and rioters had broken out in Ferguson, Missouri.

Russell Brand is left-wing commie scum

Russell Brand labelled 'left-wing commie scum' by Fox News (Getty)

August

Fox presenter Greg Gutfeld called Brand “left-wing commie scum” after he condemned the news station for hiring a token black person to come on to lament the riots.

Women in the armed forces are ‘boobs on the ground’

Eric Bolling asked 'would that be considered boobs on the ground or no?'

September

Presenter Kimberly Guilfoyle asked if the UAE’s first female fighter pilot’s role during Isis air strikes could be considered “boobs on the ground” in Syria.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Show all 10

1/10Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike fluff the BAFTAs

Awards ceremonies seem cursed with autocue disasters. The BAFTA Awards in 2011 saw actors Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike flounder after the machine broke. Pike panicked and nearly read out the winner of Best Original Screenplay before she had announced the nominees. Ever the consummate professional, host Jonathan Ross dashed in to stop her, joking that it was 'the fastest (he had) moved for years'.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'Introducing...The Four Tops.'

Back in 1989 at the BRIT Awards, presenters Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood suffered from an 'autocue apocalypse' when they misread their lines on the teleprompter, stumbling over their words. The haply duo then failed to show a recorded message from Michael Jackson and incorrectly introduced Culture Club frontman Boy George as The Four Tops.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'Oh b*****ks!'

Also in 2011, comedian Lenny Henry messed up an autocued joke twice while guest presenting The Five O’Clock Show on Channel 4. He shouted 'b*****ks' three times in a desperate effort to recover - Channel 4 were forced to issue an apology for any offence caused by teatime swearing.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'The former home of the poet and author...Hilaire Bollock.'

BBC South presenter Sally Taylor gave poet Hilaire Belloc an X-rated surname in April 2009, when she described a building as 'the former home of the poet and author Hilaire Bollock'. Many would have crumbled, into fits of giggles or sheer mortification, but Taylor continued straight-faced with not so much as a pause.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'Coming up: No more than 12 words or four seconds.'

Experienced news presenter Adam Boulton gave Sky News viewers a fun surprise in 2009 when he was fed the wrong filler copy to read by one of his colleagues. 'Coming up', he said. 'No more than 12 words or four seconds. I don’t understand that at all.' Choosing to acknowledge the technical failure with humourous authority served Boulton well – a technique many fail on.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'Sorry about that guys.'

Even the most powerful men in the world fall at the feet of the omnipotent teleprompter. Barack Obama is always accompanied by two devices but, in July 2009, one gadget tumbled over and smashed while he was giving a speech about the economy. 'Oh goodness! Sorry about that, guys,' he said before ad-libbing like a champ.

Getty

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Bill Clinton shows everyone how it's done

Then there was Bill Clinton in 1993, who was plagued by an Autocue mare while speaking to Congress. Horror of horrors, his teleprompter had been plugged with someone else’s speech and it took a 'please ground swallow me up' seven minutes to rectify the error. Or at least, that’s how many would have described it. Not the US president, however, who plodded on from memory as if nothing had gone awry.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'You're watching ABC News. I'm Michael Roland.'

Like Taylor, Australian news presenter Virginia Trioli opted for the 'pretend nothing happened' method when, in 2010, she told ABC’s audience: 'Good morning. You’re watching ABC News 24. I’m Michael Roland.' Being able to announce one’s own name without technological help is sort of a prerequisite of any job, surely?

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Brian Cowen copies Barack Obama's speech

Former Irish prime minister Brian Cowen read 20 seconds of an address that Barack Obama had given moments earlier on St Patrick’s Day in 2009. It took him a good few lines before the political leader realised that he had been accidentally copying his host’s words – ouch.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Gordon Brown's face mask

Former Labour Party leader Gordon Brown was launching his 2007 campaign when a damned Autocue screen went and obscured half his face during a speech. Apparently news crews had been given strict restrictions about where the cameras could be placed, meaning that Brown’s address was broadcast to audiences who could not see him.

Sexism awareness videos should themselves be treated with sexism

October

Bob Beckel again. The Fox host addressed the viral video actress Shoshana B Roberts created highlighting catcalling in New York by saying: “She got 100 catcalls, let me add 101. Damn, baby, you’re a piece of woman.”

Young women shouldn’t worry themselves with politics

October

Fox’s Guilfoyle said young women shouldn’t be able to vote or sit on juries because they don’t have the same concerns as their elders. “I just think, excuse them so they can go back on Tinder and Match.com,” he said.

Ignore CIA torture because ‘the US is awesome’

Fox News says 'the US is awesome' – and torture report is just 'one last shot at Bush' (Fox News/YouTube)

December

Fox’s “National Security Analyst” KT McFarland condemned the release of a damning report into the CIA's use of torture as a political manoeuvre designed to show Americans "how we’re not awesome".

The Sydney terror siege justifies CIA use of torture

Fox & Friends co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck made the remarks during a segment on the 16-hour siege

December

Elizabeth Hasselbeck used the hostage situation in Sydney to defend the CIA after it was widely condemned for enhanced interrogation techniques revealed in the so-called 'torture report'.

Videos should be edited to say what you want

Tawanda Jones was misreported by Fox News to have said "kill a cop", which has been proved to not be true (YouTube)

December

Fox apologised after editing a video of protesters to make it sound as if they were chanting "kill a cop" during a demonstration over a grand jury decision not to charge the police officer who put Eric Garner in an illegal chokehold.

The AirAsia plane crashed because of the metric system

Presenter Anna Kooiman

December

Presenter Anna Kooiman linked the use of different measurement systems to the safety of flights abroad.

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