Fox News: Disgraceful.

[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...

[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.

[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.

[Professor S]

The key to watching Fox News is remember WHO YOU'RE WATCHING. Sean Hannity is on a show called Hannity and Colmes, which is a show exprressly to share the views of a conservative (Hannity) and a liberal (Colmes). Hannity isn't even a journalist. He's a conservative radio talkshow host not unlike Rush Limbaugh. So why should you be surprised that he expresses conservative views?

Bill O'Reilly, while being an arrogant ass and having a tendency to offer same lies of ommission that Micheal Moore is guilty of, is also an openly conservative host. So why would you be surprised or disgusted that he's a voice of the right?

Don't expect these people to be balanced, as they never pretended to be.

Here are the strengths of Fox News: Their "fair and balanced" philosophy is not based on their journalists, but on their guests and representatives of both parties. Whenever they have political "experts" discuss a topic, they ALWAYS have "experts" from BOTH SIDES and give them equal talking time (not on O'reilly, but as I said he's an arrogant ass and I don't believe he's a journalist). ALWAYS (on their news programs). This is something that other networks like CNN do not ALWAYS do and CBS under crazyman Dan Rather NEVER do. Plus there are news stories that Fox covers that other networks do not, not unlike the UN Oil for Food scandal which gets more and more disgusting with each passing day.

There is one fox journalist who I love, but his name escapes me. I believe he mans the afternoon news broadcast and he absolutely grills everyone he has on as guests, be them liberal or conservative. He has brown hair and glasses (Not Neil Covuto) so if anyone can remind me what his name is I'd be very appreciative.

Here is my advice: If you want truly fair and balanced news... DON'T TRUST ANY ONE SOURCE. I watch CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and FOX. Then I take all the information together and make your decision as to what you believe.