So, Fox News is Kind of an Asshole...

I'll cop to it right up front; I've never been a fan of Fox News and there are far more significant reasons than the one I'm about to share. But when it comes to non-news, Fox has had some good and even progressive programming. And, though I'll admit that I'm far from a regular viewer/reader of the network, I hadn't previously noticed tabloid-style nastiness (I'll be interested to hear from more experienced viewers whether this is the norm).

Earlier today, Fox posted this piece about Richard Grieco's artwork. It's not a bad article,and in it Richard talks about the inevitable comparison between his career path and former co-star Johnny Depp's and says that while he's happy for Johnny, he likes his own shoes.

Of course, Fox topped off the story with a "Where are they now?" photo line-up of the stars of 21 Jump Street--and chose, for some reason, to feature this photo as Richard's "now" shot. It's impossible to believe that this was anything other than a deliberate attempt to find the worst relatively recent photo of Richard available, particularly when you compare it with the "now" shot of Johnny Depp.

I'm sure everyone (except, apparently, the person who put this story together) is bored to death with the 25-year-old "rivalry" between these two men, but Fox appears to have done as good a job of spreading misinformation with its choice of illustration as it does with its news reporting.

Thus far since the article went live earlier today, about 150 brand new visitors have come to this blog, the vast majority of them on the search terms "richard grieco drugs" and "richard grieco drug problem". For variety, a handful have entered on terms like "richard grieco plastic surgery" and "richard grieco troubles".

The power of the media is impressive and disturbing; without a single negative word, Fox has managed to convey an impression that has people all over the country hitting search engines to get to the root of a problem even they haven't directly suggested exists.

If you're one of them, check out this post to see what Richard Grieco actually looks like in the present--not his best or worst pictures, but an actual sample of photos from different events over the past couple of years.