Fox News: Disgraceful.

[gekko]

Bullied? Into doing reporting the news in the way the company wants? That's not harrassment, that's politics of running a business.

There's nothing different about the way Fox news runs their company, than there is about any other major news orginazation, only Fox reports the news with a conservative slant, while everyone else ops for a liberal slant.

Fox news is a business, and like every other business in the world, is out to make money.

I have forgotten the petty problems you all care so much about. It's a news station, if you don't like it, change the channel. At least you still have that freedom.

[Neo]

What I'm saying is that is much more than a simple "slant." And I question the notion all other news stations are liberal considering they aired more negative stories about Gore in the 2000 election trying to paint him as a sore loser. Anyway I invite you to watch it before arriving at conclusions.

[Dylflon]

I thought CNN was conservative too. *shrugs*

[Neo]

Originally Posted by Dylflon

I thought CNN was conservative too. *shrugs*

Well here are some headlines from September 5th, 2004 from both CNN and Fox. Watch how Fox sensationalizes and puts a conservative spin on them:

CNN: "Kerry focuses on on jobs, health costs."

Fox: "Kerry blasts Bush on jobless data."



CNN: "Hurricane Frances spreads across Florida."

Fox: "Florida devestated again."



CNN: "Bill Clinton awaits heart surgery next week."

Fox: "Clinton to have typical surgery."



CNN: "Putin: 'An attack on our country' Russian leader admits weakness..."

Fox: "Putin vows no more weakness on terror."



CNN: "[Bush]A strong showing, but long road ahead."

Fox: "Bush durges ahead."

[gekko]

If only I had the time, I could show you many headlines with a liberal twist on them when it came to covering OIF. And I'm only talking CNN, throw the NY Times into the mix and I wouldn't even need to try.

[thatmariolover]

Originally Posted by gekko

If only I had the time, I could show you many headlines with a liberal twist on them when it came to covering OIF. And I'm only talking CNN, throw the NY Times into the mix and I wouldn't even need to try.

Indeed... If only if only...

[playa_playa]

It's not the purported conservatism of Fox News that irks me. If it did, I'd be just as vexed by the remarks of George F. Will or the opinions of Antonin Scalia. The truth is, FN is just a shady syndicate and a sorry excuse for journalism.

You need to look no further than O'Reilly's vitriolic 'interview' ('interrogation' seems more apt) of Sami Al-Arian. When the ex-USF professor came on the show to answer a couple of questions regarding the state of USF and its supposed ties with terrorists, what he got was a barrage of inflammatory remarks guised as questions. The 'interview' ended with O'Reilly firing off "if I were with the CIA, I'd follow you wherever you went," Al-Arian being dismissed before he had a chance to make defending remarks and O'Reilly sitting on his chair with a smug grin of self-satisfaction that would make even Clarence Thomas doubt the intelligence of "conservatives" today. You know, journalistic prudence at its paramount form. And of course, Al-Arian was subsequently fired from USF by some bs reason like "he spoke for the entire USF administration." Then in the following year, he was arrested and indicted on charges that were never really clarified and is rotting in prison to this day (thank you very much, Mr. Rumsfeld and your Patriot Act!).

So no, I don't consider this sort of practice good journalism. And I don't care if the syndicate favors supposed liberalism or conservatism. Shoddy professionalism coupled with ****ty ideology that really has nothing to do with true conservatism (tossing Bush's salad or being a 'neo-conservative' has nothing to do with true Socratic conservatism) makes for one stinker of a new channel. Funny thing is, I'll be damned if I watched it, but I defend its every right to be on air. Could we say Bill O'Reilly and co. would do the same for people critical of them (O'Reilly's scuffle with Al Franken ring a bell?)?

PS - I swear I'll kick the next dog and/or a small animal I see if I hear someone else say that most of the media has a liberal slant. There are plenty of Washington Posts for every New York Times. And there are plenty of William Kristols, O'Reillys and Rush freakin' Limbaughs for every Michael Moores.

[Xantar]

Think about this for a second: the job of news stations is ultimately to try to get as many viewers as possible. So if the media has a liberal bias, does that mean that a great majority of Americans are liberal?

By definition, that doesn't make sense.

The reason some people keep calling the media liberal is because it doesn't cater to a far right viewpoint. I think you will find that real liberals have just as many problems with the media, if not more, as conservatives. They just don't have their own radio talk shows to rail about it.

I think it makes more sense to say that news networks are by and large centrist but that Fox has managed to stir up conservative passions enough to build its own viewership.