Originally posted by Dronetek
Why do all the anti-fox people let all the other networks slide with the biased and crappy reporting?
Fox gets slammed because it isn't a real news network. It's really just an extension of the Republican spin/PR machine. Seriously.
Fox is headed by Roger Ailes. This is a guy who has absolutely
NO background in journalism whatsoever. Nothing. He was a media consultant
for Republican political candidates, such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
But when Rupert Murdoch created Fox News, he wasn't really looking to create a true news organization in the first place, so choosing a conservative
republican PR person rather than a journalist made perfect sense.
I work in television and I can tell you no journalist takes Fox News seriously. In fact, a few months back, it was revealed that Ailes and other
people from Fox were consulting with the Bush Administration on how to present Iraq and other thorny issues to the public. If any other news
organization had done that people would still be screaming now about how there was an obvious bias/conflict of interest. But Fox gets a pass because
everybody in journalism (including legitimate conservative journalists) understands exactly what Fox is.
The other networks would never risk advising political candidates. It would destroy their reputation. Fox doesn't care. Most of their audience
would fail to realize how having a republican PR person as the head and advising Republican candidates presented any conflict of interest.
At least MSNBC and CNN
try to have a balance. MSNBC, in fact, gives Tucker Carlson (a conservative) and Joe Scarbrough (a former Republican
congeressman) their own shows. CNN has Lou Dobbs and Glenn Beck. And on all the other shows, when there is a political issue they always at least
have a conservative guest to give the conservative point of view.
By contrast, the only liberal on Fox is Alan Colmes on Hannity and Colmes, who was deliberately chosen because he looks like a weakling next to Sean
Hannity.
Fox makes no attempt to balance out their guests and have the liberal point of view fairly presented. Ever watch "Special Report with Britt Hume"?
His "panel" are all conservatives. And their discussions often revolve around not whether "the liberals" are wrong, but
how wrong they
are! It's hilarious. The only real points of contention are whether the liberals are scumbags, or just stupid, ridiculous people. Britt's
"panel" gives us insight on these issues.
The whole network is nothing but a slamfest against liberals. I'd much rather get my conservative point of view from the National Review Online.
Here's a link:
www.nationalreview.com...
Even if you're a conservative, I'd seriously advise you to avoid Fox News as much as possible. It's garbage. GARBAGE!! You might enjoy hearing
those liberals get slammed, but the price you pay is being misinformed. In fact, the University of Maryland did a study in 2003 that found of all
prominant news organizations, people who watched Fox News were the most likely to have misperceptions of
facts than any other news
organization.
And I want to point out, I'm not hostile to conservatives or republicans (I will admit to having a hostile attitude to neo-cons and the Bush
Administration, but that's different). In fact, when I first registered to vote back in 1974, I registered as a republican, and I have never changed
that even though I've probably voted for slightly more democrats in my life. I might even vote for Ron Paul in '08 (just like I voted for Ed Clark,
the libertarian candidate, in 1980). I'd prefer to vote for Joe Biden, but I don't think he's got much of a shot at the nomination. I don't
think Paul stands a chance of being the Republican candidate, but unlike Biden he'd probably run anyway as an independant or Libertarian.
But Fox News? I can't take it seriosly.
[edit on 24-8-2007 by ClintK]