At Fox News, Journalism is Number Two

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: dardin211
I'm sick of the old and I do mean old, "liberal media" claim.

It's time we started calling the major television news companies in America something else, because they sure as hell are not the liberal media of 20 years ago. The major television news companies in this country stopped being liberal sometime during the Clinton administration best I can tell. This did not happen over night, but slowly over time.

So people can stop yelling "liberal media" already, that died many years ago in my opinion.

:thumbsup:

 

[imported_sphinx]

I watch all the news networks. Local and national. I see what all of them have to say, then I form my own opinion. Never believe what you see or read.

 

[PatboyX]

Originally posted by: DealMonkey

Originally posted by: MisterCornell
Washington Post. Now there's an objective source. :roll:

Wha?!? The WaPo is not objective? Whatever do you mean?

Originally posted by: charrison
Now lets a see it from a non biased source 😀.

Well if you're going to resort to attacking the messenger, no news source will apparently suffice for you. 😉 IMO the WaPo is both mainstream and fairly balanced.

yeah, its gotten absurd. i think papers like the washington post, the new york times and the wall street journal are good sources for unbiased information if you dont get everything you read from the op/ed pages. people have just decided that you can ignore sources based on what appears in a completely different section, looked over by completely different editors and written by people who have nothing to do with the editorials.

but like this says, fox news and other cable stations have helped blur the line between reporting and opinion. so, the other day when that newsmax article was printed saying the new york times changed their opinion on WMDs, it makes perfect sense to people that the times quoting someone means that the times (as though it is of a single mind) believes this.

 

[ricleo2]

 

[Genx87]

because its an insult to journalism, democracy, and civilization in its entirety

You telling me something like CBS, ABC, CNN, or NBC is any different?

I think you are taking this journalism crap a little serious. If anybody buys into what anybody in the media says 100% they get what they deserve.

But continue your crusade, I am sure dozens around the world will appreciate it.

 

[NJDevil]

Originally posted by: Genx87

because its an insult to journalism, democracy, and civilization in its entirety

You telling me something like CBS, ABC, CNN, or NBC is any different?

I think you are taking this journalism crap a little serious. If anybody buys into what anybody in the media says 100% they get what they deserve.

But continue your crusade, I am sure dozens around the world will appreciate it.

It's different because their "news" anchors give far less opinion than Fox. I think commentator shows are fine, but when you have your news people throwing their opinion in the mix, it becomes harder to distinguish fact from interpretation. That is most people's main problem with Fox.

 

[dannybin1742]

You know, I don't think FOXNEWS is going to change their channel just b/c some liberal doesn't like it. Fact is they get triple of the ratings of CNN, they are obviously doing something right from a business perspective. And that's all that matters. People don't have to watch it if they don't want to, they choose too.

i don't think i've ever seen a response from you without ....."liberal this....... liberal that...."


but anyways, you are right, fox takes news and makes entertainment, thats why lots of people like to watch it, like my father in law. i like to watch CNN, but it is boring 90% of the time, but thats how i like my news, straight facts, no BS opinions

ratings are one thing, reporting news honestly is another

 

[Velk]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
BTW, isn't Fox the home of lowest common denominator garbage like "Married with Children"? They call for an all-American boycott of Target stores and eat "Freedom Fries", but Rupert Murdoch, owner of NewsCorp, is Australian.

Australia disowned Murdoch, he's your problem now ;p

( More seriously he became an American citizen years ago, the australian goverment wouldn't suck up to him enough. )

 

[mhillary]

:Q
Wow! thats some cool info.

 

[Caminetto]

The stupid have always wanted someone to tell them how to think. Intelligent people want to hear the facts and then form opinions.
Our society has changed from admiring the value of personal integrity to admiring money and status. And FOX sells!

 

[piasabird]

People that present the news are always using whatever bias they tend to lean toward. Where have you been for the last 20 years? It is a careful selective art when you do an interview and then edit out the facts that do not support your point of view, but this happens all the time.

When a network interviewer asks a conservative hard questions and then kind of gives the easy questions or a free pass to liberals what would you call that?

What people dont say is just as much a bias as what people do say.

When a journalist is up front with their bias and they dont try to hide it does this scare you? I think honesty scares liberals for some reason.

 

[SViscusi]

Originally posted by: Velk

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
BTW, isn't Fox the home of lowest common denominator garbage like "Married with Children"? They call for an all-American boycott of Target stores and eat "Freedom Fries", but Rupert Murdoch, owner of NewsCorp, is Australian.

Australia disowned Murdoch, he's your problem now ;p

( More seriously he became an American citizen years ago, the australian goverment wouldn't suck up to him enough. )

There were also limits on foreign media ownership in this country so he had to become a American citizen to get around that. He has a dual citizenship now.

 

[HomerJS]

Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
LIBERAL MEDIA!! LIBERAL MEDIA!! LIBERAL MEDIA!! Why is it that the flamingly liberal media is full of right wing mouthpieces? The same dickheads that hosted coke orgies 20 years ago are now beating me to death with their Bibles. BTW, isn't Fox the home of lowest common denominator garbage like "Married with Children"? They call for an all-American boycott of Target stores and eat "Freedom Fries", but Rupert Murdoch, owner of NewsCorp, is Australian. They make me mad as a raped ape. We're lucky The Simpsons got in the door with a once in a lifetime contract to say anything they want.

And now a Fox News Channel Breaking Story....

Democrats found to cause cancer. Get the full story on Fox News!!

 

[ahurtt]

Well, when you think about it, its the opinionated part of the news that makes news interesting. People thrive on controversy and conflict. There is no controversy in plain unadulterated fact. A news fact is just a boring fact until you start throwing peoples opinions about it into the mix. Until then, there is nothing to discuss. And that'd make it very hard to fill the programming lineup of a 24-hour cable news channel. Imagine a news show where "the man on the scene" never interviewed local bystanders to get their reactions to events. Any time they do that kind of thing where they ask people, "what can you tell us about the victim of this murder, what kind of guy was he?" you are introducing somebody's opinion which is NEVER fact. But EVERY news broadcast has done this. And there is also the notion that a large segment of the people don't know what to think on their own and so they turn to the media to have their opinions formulated for them. Some people just need to be told what to think. They can not draw their own conclusion about whether certain events are bad or good because they don't understand enough context surrounding the event to determine if it is a positive or a negative. So, if the news guy says it sucks, well then it sucks!

 

[NJDevil]

Originally posted by: piasabird
People that present the news are always using whatever bias they tend to lean toward. Where have you been for the last 20 years? It is a careful selective art when you do an interview and then edit out the facts that do not support your point of view, but this happens all the time.

When a network interviewer asks a conservative hard questions and then kind of gives the easy questions or a free pass to liberals what would you call that?

What people dont say is just as much a bias as what people do say.

When a journalist is up front with their bias and they dont try to hide it does this scare you? I think honesty scares liberals for some reason.

I don't recall CNN NEWS anchors COMMENTING on stories. Don't you think it can be a bit misleading when you label a show as news and then include the opinion of the host on it? Like I said, their other shows are commentary shows so they are supposed to have opinion, but news and direct commentary should be kept separate at news show.

Also, they claim that, "they report, you decide." How are you deciding if they are displaying their opinion along with the reporting? When has Fox ever admited any bias either, they claim to be impartial (particularly their news segment).

If Fox were to say, "some anchors may express opinion, this should not be confused with fact" then I wouldn't complain about Fox, but the fact that while watching their news, I get a healthy dose of political bias, completely contradicts what they "claim."

I have no problem with a "conservative" news network but to claim what they do and include commentary in news shows is unbelievably hypocritical. The day that CNN anchors start giving their opinion on situations while reporting themm, then I will stop claiming that Fox is the only real impartial news source.

 

[kage69]

It's not hurting anything.

It's hurting people's ability to make the informed decisions that support our democracy. The channels antics during the last election are a great example. Stop pretending like FOX is no different than the others, FOX IS IN A CATEGORY OF IT'S OWN! You attempting to downplay it's noteworthiness leads me to think you rarely watch it and are defending it merely as it coincides with your 'conservative' agenda.
It's not journalism, plain and simple. Commentary isn't illegal, but commentary masquerading as journalism is a danger to us all and you're a moron if you can't see that.

 

[Jhhnn]

Fox isn't a "News Channel", it's a propaganda outlet for the Bush Admin at the moment, and a conscious tool of the rightwing in general.

Calling it "News" is fundamentally deceptive, a form of false advertising. "Fox Opinion Channel" would be closer to the truth...

Watching it is the intellectual equivalent of letting vampires suck your blood....

 

[DealMonkey]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Fox isn't a "News Channel", it's a propaganda outlet for the Bush Admin at the moment, and a conscious tool of the rightwing in general.

Calling it "News" is fundamentally deceptive, a form of false advertising. "Fox Opinion Channel" would be closer to the truth...

Watching it is the intellectual equivalent of letting vampires suck your blood....

I watch it because I like to keep an eye on the true enemies of freedom! 😉 They're definitely up to something, I can just feel it . . .

 

[NetGuySC]

I guess we should all look at the CBS evening news for unbiased fact driven news with no political slant inserted 🙂

 

[kage69]

I have my qualms with CBS, but I think it's larger value currently is in serving as an example of accountability in action.

Regardless, there is no comparison between the two concerning 'the slant factor,' but it is amusing to consider the huge difference in standards applied to each organizations on-air blunders. 😉

 

[gordanfreeman]

their doesnt appear to be any disagreement on whether or not fox news presents opinions in their news pieces. i wont disagree with this fact, nor the fact that many news channels/shows may include some opinion in their shows.

however any channel or show that claims, or wishes to claim the title of a news show, should strive to provide the facts and nothing more, i believe. that is the goal of a proffesional journalist, to provide the people with the facts first. i think fox news is wrong in saying their reporters are 'americans first, reporters second'. if they want credibility as journalists their job should be reporting the facts first, not the opinions they are entitltled to have as americans. if it is your goal to be a serious news channel/show it should be your primary goal to always give the strait, unbiased facts whenever possible. opinion has no place in reportage, that is why newspapers have an op/ed page.

if these people at fox news, or cnn, or msnbc, cbs, abc, or whomever you watch/listen to want to give their opinions on the air, they ought to change proffesions and become a commentator and get a opinion show or not call what they are doing 'news'. by opinionating the news, purposfully or not, you are harming society in some fashion or another. not everyone is bright enough to separate the opinion from the fact in a newscast, not everyone has a college degree (much less a high school degree in some circumstances) and/or the critical thinking skills necessary to create their own informed opinions on their own. in this manner whomever controls the newsmedia could in essence brainwash a segment of the population to follow their beliefs. today this may be conservatives but believe me the day some liberal media source begins to do the same thing, i would put money down that the conservatives would be at the liberal's throats just as the liberals are at the conservatives today. even worse this creates an uninformed society which is the key to a democracy... an uninformed democracy will not prosper.

as i said before, there seems to be little question as to whether or not fox news is biased. as i stated just above, this should be viewed as a bad thing, i believe. on the other hand the fact that opinions and bias's work into other news sources is also bad. whether or not the excess of bias that seems to make its way into fox news makes fox news more wrong/bad/harmful than those others is up to the individual, some may say that any bias should automatically qualify a 'news' source as bad while others on here seem to think its not a bad thing at all. i, personally, believe that the more bias you add to a supposed 'news' show the worse off we all are. thus i see fox news as a relatively bad thing when compared to other news sources however i suppose biased news is better than no news at all...

 

[kage69]

even worse this creates an uninformed society which is the key to a democracy... an uninformed democracy will not prosper.

Exactly.

 

[DealMonkey]

Given what we know about Fox News, what do you suppose they mean exactly by "Fair and Balanced?"

Do you suppose they mean that they're a counter-weight to the "vast left-wing liberal media conspiracy" and thus have a balancing effect on mass media as a whole? Do they mean they're "fair and balanced" because internally, they present both points of view equally -- liberal and conservative? Or as far-fetched as this seems given the topic of this thread, do you think they mean they're "fair and balanced" because they refrain from interjecting bias into their newscast?

Personally, I think the phrase has absolutely no meaning anymore for FNC, I guess I'm just curious what the original idea was...

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
Given what we know about Fox News, what do you suppose they mean exactly by "Fair and Balanced?"

Do you suppose they mean that they're a counter-weight to the "vast left-wing liberal media conspiracy" and thus have a balancing effect on mass media as a whole? Do they mean they're "fair and balanced" because internally, they present both points of view equally -- liberal and conservative? Or as far-fetched as this seems given the topic of this thread, do you think they mean they're "fair and balanced" because they refrain from interjecting bias into their newscast?

Personally, I think the phrase has absolutely no meaning anymore for FNC, I guess I'm just curious what the original idea was...

I would have to say it is both. THey are balanced effect for the rest of tv news and they usually do present both sides of the story(and yes they do tilt right).