Is Fox News Playing with our fears to get ratings?

Are they just trying to get ratings or are they playing on people's fears? Or are they just sincerely making an effort to spread the word through subtle hinting?

Of course they are. But the thing is pretty much all news companies do that.

It is all about money. The higher the ratings the more people will pay to advertise their product on that network. How do you make your ratings higher?

You make a show that people feel compelled to watch.

how many times have you seen a promo for the local news that went something like this?

" Is there something in your water that will make you die an instant painfull death if you drink it? Find out Tommorow at 10..."

Scaring people gets people to watch. Unfortunatley it also creates panics and big problems in real life.

Take the over reaction to the swine flu by the media for example. Alot of ER's have been clogged up with people who are panicking thinking they are dying when there is nothing actually wrong with them.

Because of this the people who truly do have an emergency that needs tending to immediatley have to wait, and that can be a big problem when you are bleeding to death or something of that nature....

Yes, Fox news uses scare tactics and fear mongering to raise their ratings but so does CNN and MSNBC and pretty much any other news network you can think of.

Do they do it? Yes. Is it wrong and immoral? Yes.

All that said, you have not offered up an opinion yourself. What do you think?

[edit on 4-5-2009 by gimme_some_truth]

With this I am referring to the New World Order and their constant references to government control and takeover.

I think it is just their perception. They are conservative and so to them it looks like a takeover. It may or may not be. Just like MSNBC stokes the fires about Bush, because they see what he does/did as trying to take over the world.

Yup you are correct, it's all about the ratings. Scared people=easily led people. And that is what Fox does, they lead people down a path of propaganda and deceit.

It's the same with the government and their infamous Terror Codes several years ago, going from yellow, to orange, to green for no reason other than some guy in Pakistan used his microwave.

Fear is the new sex, fear sells far better apparently.

~Keeper

they are just like every other msm source, they're only focused on the $$$...

they don't care what they have to say or do to get it!

Honestly! I used to be able to cope with them (FOX) for a few minutes a day... even some CNN. Now, I never watch .. can't even manage ... a peek ...

They seem like a bunch of kids on Ridalin trying to get some other poor kid so sacred he'll pee his pants and then they can laugh, tease and kick him while he's down.

A bunch of idiots I say, idiots.

Of course they are playing with our fears to get ratings, I thought that was common knowledge by now!
What I don't understand is why this "fringe" topics... is this really what most people fear? I thought it was only a small sample of the population. Looks like they're trying to get others into this stuff, which is something to ponder on.