Talk about desperate. Like a jealous schoolgirl armed with a Sharpie, Fox News has now taken to wielding a Photoshop sword against those that might reveal its shortcomings. As reported by those helpful rascals at Media Matters, the nimrods over at 'Fox & Friends' recently did a segment called "Attack Dogs" that brought the network - unbelieveably - to a new low.

In the segment, co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade labeled New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe "attack dogs," insisting that Steinberg's June 28 article, which notes an "ominous trend" in Fox News' ratings was a "hit piece." The segment included photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe that were quite obviously altered to make both men appear, well, uglier and most definitely, wormier.

Their teeth had been yellowed, their features exaggerated, and portions of Reddicliffe's hair moved further back on his head. They added some pretty obvious dark circles under both sets of eyes implying ...uh ...sleeplessness due to an all-night porn habit? Dunno. Naturally, Fox News never mentions any of these alterations to their audience.

Fox News - what the hell is your problem? Were you invisible in high school? Picked on at Christian camp? Did you not get to go to the prom? Did you have an older sibling who stole food off your plate? Did you sit on the bench time after time and not get in the game? Is this why you feel the need to show the bodies of suicide victims and mess with faces of real journalists?

Using Photoshop to mislead the public has been much-discussed here at BlogHer and in the wider blogosphere but I'd naively assumed the issue would remain mostly in the fashion world - a wildly successful publishing conspiracy to make us ladies feel fat and ugly.

But grown 'newsmen' pulling such catty stunts? Men - with jobs and ties and everything? Wow. What's next? Will they be putting cayenne powder in Arianna's eye shadow? Telling everyone in the quad that Maureen Dowd is a slut? Talking behind my back at Tommy's party on Saturday? This is exactly the type of stuff that makes writers for 'The Onion' and 'The Daily Show' clap their hands in glee. Unknowingly, the Fox morons are not practicing journalism but merely providing some very healthy seeds of satire.

Speaking of caricatures, I'm being extremely generous here by not even mentioning the fact that F&F also pasted the doctored photo of Steinberg over the body of a poodle. Oops. I mentioned it. Apparently, these snively little weasels have not emotionally matured beyond junior high school. What's next? Water balloons? Ding-dong ditch 'em? These are the type of idiots that would have given Edward R. Murrow a wedgie, given the opportunity.

Some observations out in the blogosphere on this pathetic incident:

Endi Thinks: "Fox News is almost an oxymoron."

Terry Ann Online: "This isn't journalism anymore."

KabobFest was the kindest of all in their post, "Faux News' fauxtography":

"For the sake of Murdoch's wallet, let's hope they can find a Lynndie England-type of intern to blame for those crappy photoshop skillz."

LAME.

~Heather Clisby

Contributing Editor, Photography & Animal Concerns

Proprietor, Clizbiz & Clizbiz