Fox News - fair and balanced?
November 20th 2007 06:50
Are the folks at Fox News "fair and balanced"? That's their tagline, but is it true?
The obvious answer to that is "no". Let's get that out of the way. Now, however, let's look at it a little more closely.
Is Fox News "fair"?
Fair: 1. free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice: a fair decision; a fair judge.
Fox News is pretty biased, so they couldn't really be considered "fair". I don't think it's much of a stretch to admit that. The commentators on Fox generally like to cover good outcomes resulting from actions taken by Republicans. Conversely, they seem to relish the chance to deride failed policies by Democrats. This is true of most of the "editorial" folks at Fox News, but it also is reflected, to some degree, in the news stories they choose to cover throughout the day.
Is Fox News "balanced"?
Balance(d): 1. a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.
I would say that Fox news' coverage is partially balanced. They do make an effort to have dissenting voices on their broadcasts. Granted, they may badger those protagonists by cutting them off, talking over them, or asking them unfair and leading questions, but they do allow opposing viewpoints to be expressed. The two top-rated primetime shows are the O'Reilly Factor and Hannity And Colmes. Bill O'Reilly is pretty conservative and doesn't have an offsetting cohost. Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes do offset each other (although Hannity, the conservative, is certainly the dominant host). As far as Fox's other personalities, I believe that most -- but not all -- are conservative. Neil Cavuto, John Gibson, and Brit Hume seem comfortably conservative. However, Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera seem more moderate or even liberal. I can't really tell much about Greta Van Susteren's political leanings. So while Fox seems to have some moderates/liberals, the strongest personalities on the network are conservative. Also, while Fox allows some opposing viewpoints, they generally lean to the right (and strongly lean to the right at times).
So that's my analysis. I would say that Fox is "unfair and partially balanced". While their claim of being "fair and balanced" could be considered false advertising, I'm pretty sure they use that term with their tongues firmly in their cheeks. They know they're not REALLY fair or balanced in their coverage, but they probably enjoy the fact that their use of that tagline irritates their competitors. Should they do that? Probably not. They are the #1-rated cable news channel, though, so who's going to stop them?
The obvious answer to that is "no". Let's get that out of the way. Now, however, let's look at it a little more closely.
Is Fox News "fair"?
Fair: 1. free from bias, dishonesty, or injustice: a fair decision; a fair judge.
Fox News is pretty biased, so they couldn't really be considered "fair". I don't think it's much of a stretch to admit that. The commentators on Fox generally like to cover good outcomes resulting from actions taken by Republicans. Conversely, they seem to relish the chance to deride failed policies by Democrats. This is true of most of the "editorial" folks at Fox News, but it also is reflected, to some degree, in the news stories they choose to cover throughout the day.
Is Fox News "balanced"?
Balance(d): 1. a state of equilibrium or equipoise; equal distribution of weight, amount, etc.
I would say that Fox news' coverage is partially balanced. They do make an effort to have dissenting voices on their broadcasts. Granted, they may badger those protagonists by cutting them off, talking over them, or asking them unfair and leading questions, but they do allow opposing viewpoints to be expressed. The two top-rated primetime shows are the O'Reilly Factor and Hannity And Colmes. Bill O'Reilly is pretty conservative and doesn't have an offsetting cohost. Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes do offset each other (although Hannity, the conservative, is certainly the dominant host). As far as Fox's other personalities, I believe that most -- but not all -- are conservative. Neil Cavuto, John Gibson, and Brit Hume seem comfortably conservative. However, Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera seem more moderate or even liberal. I can't really tell much about Greta Van Susteren's political leanings. So while Fox seems to have some moderates/liberals, the strongest personalities on the network are conservative. Also, while Fox allows some opposing viewpoints, they generally lean to the right (and strongly lean to the right at times).
So that's my analysis. I would say that Fox is "unfair and partially balanced". While their claim of being "fair and balanced" could be considered false advertising, I'm pretty sure they use that term with their tongues firmly in their cheeks. They know they're not REALLY fair or balanced in their coverage, but they probably enjoy the fact that their use of that tagline irritates their competitors. Should they do that? Probably not. They are the #1-rated cable news channel, though, so who's going to stop them?
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Comment by Ahmed
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
and it goes on.
Comment by PopulistConservative
Angry Electorate
C-SPAN is about the most unbiased source I know of. I think it could wear the "fair and balanced" moniker with a straight face.