Fox News beats all rivals! How about that?

[edit on 093030p://333 by Weller]

www.upi.com...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- It's official -- watching Fox News makes you ignorant.

To be precise, researchers from the Program on International Policy at the University of Maryland found that those who relied on Fox for their news were more likely than those who relied on any other news source to have what the study called "significant misperceptions" about the war in Iraq.

Pollsters asked more than 9,000 Americans about three commonly held canards: that the United States had hard evidence Saddam Hussein had been working closely with al-Qaida; that weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq; and that world public opinion was in favor of the U.S.-led war.

Overall, a scary 60 percent believed at least one of these fallacies. Eight percent believed all three.

The most commonly held was -- unsurprisingly -- the Iraq/al-Qaida link. Fully 48 percent of respondents believed this. The totals for the other two were in the 20 percent to 25 percent range.

But among those who get their news from Fox, 80 percent had at least one "misperception" and 45 percent -- nearly six times the overall average -- had all three.

Originally posted by edsinger
I Love it! CBS is falling and the liberals are on the run! WOW What a great thing this is!

You have to remember that highly rated or most watched shows are also shows like "American Idol", "Survivor", etc. so the amount of people that watch a certain program or channel dont exactly have to be smart Even suggesting that FOX News gets more viewers is not something I would be bragging about because even many that watch that channel will admit its like "soap-opera news."...you know...the drama never stops! Even the most die hard Bush loving Republican should at least admit that FOX and their "hard hitting news" is more worthy of being on Comedy Central?

Originally posted by Jimi Hendrix
This is all i found.

At national organizations (which includes print, TV and radio), the numbers break down like this: 34% liberal, 7% conservative. At local outlets: 23% liberal, 12% conservative. At Web sites: 27% call themselves liberals, 13% conservatives.

I worked in the newsroom at three large newspapers for 22 years, and many of the journalists who rate themselves as politically moderate are well to the left of center, especially on social issues

www.instapundit.com...

[edit on 29-9-2004 by Jimi Hendrix]

Um, I don't really consider instapundit a reliable source for facts and statistics but what you are saying is basically correct.

When you ask "reporters" or those who work in a newsroom what they rate themselves you will find more "liberals."

However, that's because the entry level pay for radio/tv/print is not high enough to attacted "conservative" or right wing people. If you worked at a newspaper you know what I mean. You find a fresh person working the newsroom, someone brand new, and ask them what they make. It's crap. More "liberals" attempt to get into news media than conservatives.

The right simply does not tend to be attracted to these types of positions. There is a lost of socioeconomical data here I'm no exxpert on. But that was a key argument as to why the worker bees in the news media always seem to number mostly "liberal."

However, you know, as much as I do, and statistics support this, that when you look at the alignments of the editor positions, and the positions of those on the boards of the companies who control these media outlets, they are definatly right leaning.

GE owns NBC. Are you telling me that those from GE that oversee the operations of NBC are "liberal?" I highly doubt it.

Anyways, I'm not explaining myself really well here.

Check out www.whatliberalmedia.com...

This is Eric Alterman's book on the matter. I read it a while ago and that's what I'm trying to remember this stuff from.

Carry on! This is a good thread.

Big O, talking about GE, you might find this interesting: here's the contributions by the 'General Electric Company Political Action Committee' to parties, candidates and members of congressional committees for 2003/04
2001/02 and 1999/00

[edit on 29-9-2004 by kegs]

the argument shouldnt be about whether the media is right or left wing, but if the media is biased. any bias of any kind should not be tolerated. of course thats the people's job.

when i see on the news (the pre presidential miami debates) people screaming for a candidate like they would a teen idol and start fighting each other, it makes me sick. arent both of these guys rich white guys from yale?

Originally posted by NuTroll
the argument shouldnt be about whether the media is right or left wing, but if the media is biased. any bias of any kind should not be tolerated. of course thats the people's job.

when i see on the news (the pre presidential miami debates) people screaming for a candidate like they would a teen idol and start fighting each other, it makes me sick. arent both of these guys rich white guys from yale?

Yes, we can vote for Presidente, or President.

Originally posted by kegs
How about that? I dunno..... how about 'Congratulations America! you officially have more idiotic opinion sponges than ever before! Here, have a cookie.

Yeah whatch more faux news !!


No wonder they have NO CLUE as to what the REST OF THE WORLD THINKS!

Edit: Spelling.. would you believe it?


[edit on 30/9/2004 by Corinthas]

It's just sad to see that so many will have no real clue what is actually happening around the world, and in America. That channel is a complete joke to the concept of journalism.

So Fox news has won the ratings war thats nothing to be proud about. No wonder Bush is ahead in the polls Fox news is a little more then a band wagon for the Republicans.
Bush dosnt need state run media (example north korea.) when hes got fox.
Often Human nature prevents us from sitting on the fence and seeing common sense. if Fox news was owned by people who were Democrats then Republicans would have the same complaint fox would be the band wagon for Kerry.

Fox News is right-wing crap, but I still enjoy to watch it. Why? because it's so controversial! the arrogance of all those naive conservatives they bring onto that channel makes me steam with anger i end up yelling at the TV. I end up throwing my pillow at the ignorant-selfishness of Hannity and I absolutely fume at how smug they are.

The only two people i like on the channel are Bill O'reilly and Alan Colmes. I don't agree with many of Bill's views but I find him to be a straight-shooter. And I like Colmes because he can defend himself against the illogical arguments of Hannity.

All around A-grade entertainment that makes me wonder what's wrong with america

drfunk

What i dont get is the fact that your "eyes are opened" only to the right wing media, but never to the left? My views were conservitive before until I "opened my eyes" with the liberal media and their agenda. We all have our opinions. THe reason i believe theres so much more coming from fox news is the numbers. Remember most americans still get their news from the networks nightly, rather than go to cable, thats what most liberals primarily do. Conservatives who want to hear what they like go directly to fox news, skipping the networks, thats where the numbers are.

i dont care what any of you say they all serve under that big triangle eye!

/ \
/ 0 \
/ \
/______ \



they generalize politics, constantly reference terrorists, and absolutely never come close to penetrating that information blockade called national security. guess what, that giant blockade is there to stop us from finding out the bad policies our govt enacts. remember when the war first started, and the largest protest in the history of the world took place, and they reported on it for apoximatly 8 seconds. their sole purpose is to sway public opinion, ultimatly sophistaced, hard to see through, but its there in spades! sure different outlets have different agendas, that is there to
maintain the idea of diversity. imo...

edit: that is spose to be a triangle it didnt come out right...



[edit on 6-10-2004 by sturod84]

i am with you 100% sturod

Great, Great.

And I'll tell you exactly why this happened.

FOX news panders to a lower class of citizen, and I don't mean lower class finiancially.

What I mean by this is...now, I'm going to try to put this as delicately as possible...the bottom crust of America's intelligence/social strata watch FOX news religiously.

Here's why:

Almost all of their reporting/broadcasting is done with a 'high intensity' mood to it, IE everything is 'BREAKING NEWS!!' and a 'NEWS ALERT!', even if it's just an update on the Michael Jackson case. The reason this is done is so that the eyes are drawn to it while clicking through the channels. This isn't the way that they do it when there's big news afoot...this is how it is every single day.

What FOX news lacks in intelligent reporting, it makes up for in being watcher-friendly. Everything from Enjoyable commercials, to (I kid you not, they are the only news broadcast that allows this to happen) People screaming their faces red while arguing about minute political issues.

Their broadcast is slanted to the right, a direction that many financially challenged citizens associate with tax cuts at a subconscious level.

Let's face it everyone...Bill O'Reilly is actually pretty fun to watch.

To right wingers, he's a genius, who captivates the imagination.

To left wingers, he's a moron, who's underhanded tactics to make his guests look like idiots make us laugh. It's like an inept monkey doing Daily Show sketches from a right-wing perspective. Funny, but at the same time sad...

I think it's a real shame that so many people get their news from FOX.

Just pick up the paper, folks.

People are like fish, they are drawn to shiny bait and that is what Fox is. Sensationalism sells. Look, Baywatch is the most watched and highest syndicated tv show in history. Does that make it a credible show about the lives of CA lifegaurds?

Exactly. Hopefully, everyone who watches fox news will realize this too...

God, I feel like I've been taking crazy pills for the last few years...

Originally posted by Loki
Exactly. Hopefully, everyone who watches fox news will realize this too...

God, I feel like I've been taking crazy pills for the last few years...

Don't worry...you are not alone. Seriously, you're not alone...they're in your house...RUN

Who cares if FOX News is winning the ratings war? That doesnt mean that they are "fair and balanced". In the quiet words of Greg Graffin... "Concensus is not a fact based exercise".

Originally posted by Loki
God, I feel like I've been taking crazy pills for the last few years...

ease up on yerself, mugatu.

(apologies if that's not an intentional zoolander reference.)

Interesting headline in today's Wall Street Journal:

News Corp will consider buying the 18% of Fox Entertainment it doesn't already own.

To me, that means it's a done deal. Fox is already controlled by the draconian News Corporation, and our impartial buddy in big business, billionaire Rupert Murdoch.

Oligopoly brief: News Corporation

Of all the great media oligopolies, the News Corporation is the most multinational. This $20 billion company derives 75% of its revenue from the US, but its presence in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Australia is very strong. While its greatest assets are now in broadcasting and satellite TV, it has is a major movie studio, a newspaper leader in the UK and in Australia, and a major book publisher, as well.

In spite of its multinational scope, the company is identified with one man: Australian newspaper tycoon Rupert Murdoch who built the company in 1980 and directs it like a private holding, which it is not. He runs it like an exacting autocrat, giving key roles to his sons and other relatives.

source

Murdoch is also interested in moving the the company to the U.S., to capitalize on the investment opportunities we have to offer, and to take advantage of our texas style, freewheelin' corporate policies.

.
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, which represents 32 pension funds managing 85 billion Australian dollars, or $62 billion, and Corporate Governance International, last week said they would advise members to oppose the move if News Corp. abolished Australian rules.

Murdoch wants to shift to the United States to have News Corp. included on the benchmark S&P 500 index, allowing more U.S. investors to buy the stock. Some investors are concerned that the proposal, to be voted on this month, would strengthen the Murdoch family's control over the company.

source

News, shmooze. Ratings shmatings. Balanced shmalanced. Fox News is a small puzzle piece in a larger multinational entertainment octopus, designed to sell advertising space for products and attitudes. This is big, big business, and in the game of shaping public opinion, the biggest business. In between, they'll air whatever gets most folks watching, including a variety of lame "reality shows" of which I consider Fox news one of. As soon as you put a camera man's angle, and a writer's spin on "reality" it's newsiness is lost to me. Don't bore me with arguments that Fox is better or worse than other major news outlets. This only reinforces the misguided belief that any of them are anything but fountains spewing corporate spin.

It's painful for me to watch my father watch Fox News. He finds the anchors more "entertaining" as well, bless his misinformed heart.