Thread: FOX FAIR AND BALANCED?

The Most Biased Name in News
Fox News Channel's extraordinary right-wing tilt

By Seth Ackerman

"I challenge anybody to show me an example of bias in Fox News Channel."--Rupert Murdoch (Salon, 3/1/01)

Years ago, Republican party chair Rich Bond explained that conservatives' frequent denunciations of "liberal bias" in the media were part of "a strategy" (Washington Post, 8/20/92). Comparing journalists to referees in a sports match, Bond explained: "If you watch any great coach, what they try to do is 'work the refs.' Maybe the ref will cut you a little slack next time."

But when Fox News Channel, Rupert Murdoch's 24-hour cable network, debuted in 1996, a curious thing happened: Instead of denouncing it, conservative politicians and activists lavished praise on the network. "If it hadn't been for Fox, I don't know what I'd have done for the news," Trent Lott gushed after the Florida election recount (Washington Post, 2/5/01). George W. Bush extolled Fox News Channel anchor Tony Snow--a former speechwriter for Bush's father--and his "impressive transition to journalism" in a specially taped April 2001 tribute to Snow's Sunday-morning show on its five-year anniversary (Washington Post, 5/7/01). The right-wing Heritage Foundation had to warn its staffers not to watch so much Fox News on their computers, because it was causing the think tank's system to crash.

When it comes to Fox News Channel, conservatives don't feel the need to "work the ref." The ref is already on their side. Since its 1996 launch, Fox has become a central hub of the conservative movement's well-oiled media machine. Together with the GOP organization and its satellite think tanks and advocacy groups, this network of fiercely partisan outlets--such as the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal editorial page and conservative talk-radio shows like Rush Limbaugh's--forms a highly effective right-wing echo chamber where GOP-friendly news stories can be promoted, repeated and amplified. Fox knows how to play this game better than anyone.

Yet, at the same time, the network bristles at the slightest suggestion of a conservative tilt. In fact, wrapping itself in slogans like "Fair and balanced" and "We report, you decide," Fox argues precisely the opposite: Far from being a biased network, Fox argues, it is the only unbiased network. So far, Fox's strategy of aggressive denial has worked surprisingly well; faced with its unblinking refusal to admit any conservative tilt at all, some commentators have simply acquiesced to the network's own self-assessment. FAIR has decided to take a closer look.

"Coming next, drug addicted pregnant women no longer have anything to fear from the authorities thanks to the Supreme Court. Both sides on this in a moment."--Bill O'Reilly (O'Reilly Factor, 3/23/01)

Fox's founder and president, Roger Ailes, was for decades one of the savviest and most pugnacious Republican political operatives in Washington, a veteran of the Nixon and Reagan campaigns. Ailes is most famous for his role in crafting the elder Bush's media strategy in the bruising 1988 presidential race. With Ailes' help, Bush turned a double-digit deficit in the polls into a resounding win by targeting the GOP's base of white male voters in the South and West, using red-meat themes like Michael Dukakis' "card-carrying" membership in the ACLU, his laissez-faire attitude toward flag-burning, his alleged indifference to the pledge of allegiance--and, of course, paroled felon Willie Horton.

Described by fellow Bush aide Lee Atwater as having "two speeds--attack and destroy," Ailes once jocularly told a Time reporter (8/22/8: "The only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it." Later, as a producer for Rush Limbaugh's short-lived TV show, he was fond of calling Bill Clinton the "hippie president" and lashing out at "liberal bigots" (Washington Times, 5/11/93). It is these two sensibilities above all--right-wing talk radio and below-the-belt political campaigning--that Ailes brought with him to Fox, and his stamp is evident in all aspects of the network's programming.

Fox daytime anchor David Asman is formerly of the right-wing Wall Street Journal editorial page and the conservative Manhattan Institute. The host of Fox News Sunday is Tony Snow, a conservative columnist and former chief speechwriter for the first Bush administration. Eric Breindel, previously the editorial-page editor of the right-wing New York Post, was senior vice president of Fox's parent company, News Corporation, until his death in 1998; Fox News Channel's senior vice president is John Moody, a long-time journalist known for his staunch conservative views.

Fox's managing editor is Brit Hume, a veteran TV journalist and contributor to the conservative American Spectator and Weekly Standard magazines. Its top-rated talkshow is hosted by Bill O'Reilly, a columnist for the conservative WorldNetDaily.com and a registered Republican (that is, until a week before the Washington Post published an article revealing his party registration--12/13/00).

The abundance of conservatives and Republicans at Fox News Channel does not seem to be a coincidence. In 1996, Andrew Kirtzman, a respected New York City cable news reporter, was interviewed for a job with Fox and says that management wanted to know what his political affiliation was. "They were afraid I was a Democrat," he told the Village Voice (10/15/96). When Kirtzman refused to tell Fox his party ID, "all employment discussion ended," according to the Voice.

Even Fox's "left-right" debate show, Hannity & Colmes--whose Crossfire-style format virtually imposes numerical equality between conservatives and "liberals"--can't shake the impression of resembling a Harlem Globetrotters game in which everyone knows which side is supposed to win.

On the right, co-host Sean Hannity is an effective and telegenic ideologue, a protégé of Newt Gingrich and a rising star of conservative talk radio who is perhaps more plugged into the GOP leadership than any media figure besides Rush Limbaugh (Hannity reportedly received "thunderous applause" when he spoke at a recent closed-door House Republican Conference meeting that is usually closed to the media--U.S. News & World Report, 5/7/01.)

On the left is Alan Colmes, a rather less telegenic former stand-up comic and radio host whose views are slightly left-of-center but who, as a personality, is completely off the radar screen of liberal politics. "I'm quite moderate," he told a reporter when asked to describe his politics (USA Today, 2/1/95). Hannity, a self-described "arch-conservative" (Electronic Media, 8/26/96), joined Fox when the network was started, and personally nominated Colmes to be his on-screen debating opponent (New York Times, 3/1/9. Before the selection was made, the show's working title was Hannity & Liberal to Be Determined--giving some idea of the relative weight each host carries, both on-screen and within the network. Fox sometimes sends a camera down to Hannity's radio studio during the network's daytime news programming, from which he holds forth on the news of the day. Needless to say, Colmes does not receive similar treatment.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1067

Go to the site and read "the rest of the story." It is quite interesting!!!

Fox is part of NEWS CORP.....CEO? Rupert Murdock.

Murdock owns around 150 newspapers, 7 radio stations, 35 or so TV stations, magazines (including TV GUIDE, 20th Century Fox, cable companies, some 26 .com sites (including MYSPACE.com). and much more.

He claims to be a conservative republican. BUT GET THIS!

"Conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch will host a fundraiser for liberal New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, the Financial Times reports. The mating ritual of the unlikely allies has been under way for months. Clinton set political tongues to wagging last month by attending a Washington party celebrating the 10th anniversary of Fox News, the cable news channel owned by Murdoch."

The brazenness of this move is almost too much to stomach, even in a story about Hillary Clinton. Here you have a leading Democratic U.S. Senator engaging in a "mating ritual" with the head of the news network that has overtly worked to systematically destroy both the Democratic Party and her own husband's administration.

Here you have a top member of the American government shaking down cash from a guy whose record is chock full of union-busting, tax-evading, local media crushing, war mongering and all sorts of other disgusting behavior - behavior permitted by Congress without question, thanks to America's system of legalized bribery, as epitomized in the Clinton-Murdoch fundraiser.

Here you have, in short, proof that the hostile takeover of our government runs far deeper than we ever imagined, in a far more bipartisan way than we wanted to admit. Thank you, Sen. Clinton - in bragging about the fundraiser you are holding with the right-wing billionaire who has worked to destroy your party and your husband, at least you are (albeit inadvertently) acknowledging how far-reaching the hostile takeover of our government really is.

MURDOCK DID NOT BECOME AN AMERICAN CITIZEN UNTIL 1985, and only then because he was forced to, by an FCC investigation. Murdoch became a naturalized citizen, to satisfy the legal requirement that only US citizens could own American television stations.

Rupert Murdoch, head of the world's largest media empire, has used his influential position to push an ideological agenda closely associated with U.S. neoconservatives. During the lead up to the U.S. invasion of and war in Iraq, the editors of Murdoch's 175 media holdings vociferously supported President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair's pro-war campaign. One British newspaper opined: "You have got to admit that Rupert Murdoch is one canny press tycoon because he has an unerring ability to choose editors across the world who think just like him. How else can we explain the extraordinary unity of thought in his newspaper empire about the need to make war on Iraq? After an exhaustive survey of the highest-selling and most influential papers across the world owned by Murdoch's News Corporation, it is clear that all are singing from the same hymn sheet. Some are bellicose baritone soloists who relish the fight. Some prefer a less strident, if more subtle, role in the chorus. But none, whether fortissimo or pianissimo, has dared to croon the anti-war tune. Their master's voice has never been questioned" (Guardian, February 17, 2003).

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1304

The reason I posted this info is so you could see how deceitful the media is.

Several months ago, I wrote a letter to a friend about 2008.

I told her that FOX, CNN, MSNBC/NBC, CBS AND ABC would pick 2 or 3 candidates that they would "push." Sure enough, they picked ROMNEY, McCAIN, GUILIANI, CLINTON and OBAMA.

As time passes, the brainwashing will begin. Stories will come out to "disenchant the voters" with some of the candidates. Right now, they are concentrating on getting McCain, Guiliani and Clinton out of the way.

I think the final two candidates will be Romney and Obama......and shortly before the election, Obama will take the hits.

The NEWS channels will hype ONE CANDIDATE so much, that many will say, "I might as well vote for him, at least I won't lose my vote." I'm sure you have all heard that more then once. I know in the 45 years I've been voting, I sure have........MANY times.

Right now, it looks like they want Romney to be the winner.

Murdoch's papers strongly supported George W. Bush in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, as did many of the corporations that own and control much of TV. They gave him mega bucks in campaign contributions.

BUT.......people are changing. They are going to the internet more and more as a news source. Newspaper circulations are dropping and TV viewing is down. WHY? Because people no longer trust them. Will this be enough of a change to help in 2008?

Many of the senators are trying to say NEWSPAPER polls want AMNESTY. They are trying to make us believe the internet has no value in this matter.

ARE WE GOING TO PROVE THEM WRONG? DAMN RIGHT WE ARE.

GO ALIPAC PATRIOTS.........GO AMERICAN CITIZENS AND LEGAL IMMIGRANTS. LETS WORK TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8oO_OD3PtI

They hate that conservatives now have a voice! That's also why they hate Rush, Hannity, et. al.. The liberals have dominated the media for decades and it drives them crazy that they can't control Fox or other conservative programs. We now have a choice, instead of having to believe the pablum shoved down our throats by the far left, "mainstream" media. Bernard Goldberg exposes them in every one of his books, and he used to BE a liberal.

The Bancroft family, who hold a controlling stake in Dow Jones, owner of The Wall Street Journal, have signalled that they are willing to talk to News Corproation over its $5 billion (£2.5 billion) offer for the group. Earlier this week T Rowe Price, the US fund manager and Dow Jones' second largest shareholder, urged that discussions should take place.

In a statement late last night, the Bancrofts, who hold 64 per cent of the voting shares in Dow Jones, said they would meet News Corporation and any other potential suitors.

The family said that to protect the "editorial independence and integrity" of The Wall Street Journal and "the leadership, strength and vitality" of the paper and Dow Jones' other news services "the family has reached consensus that the mission of Dow Jones may be better accomplished in combination or collaboration with another organisation, which may include News Corporation".

News Corporation, parent company of The Times and Times Online, made a $60 a share offer for Dow Jones on May 1.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news

REMEMBER.........News Corp IS Rupert Murdock!

I have noticed that Fox News has been advocating Romney, McCain and Guiliani as the conservative candidates. Not giving enough voice for the other candidates that I will most likely vote for.

Although they have this slant, I love my Fox & Friends and I do have to say I've been Hannitized. I have had to endure CNN for so many years it was so nice to have Fox come alive.

I don't watch it during the day, but I do watch those I noted above. I do get most of my news from the internet because I don't trust all media completely.

Hannity's stand on the illegals is the first thing we have agreed on!

FOX is the most biased of any station on TV.

Fox biased?



Communist Network News takes the cake on bias.
(CNN)

Don't you find it strange that the only news they are reporting is Bush bashing the American people, and sob stories on the illegal immigrants.

There isn't much news on the outrage the Americans are feeling at the moment.
Doesn't take much to figure out who's driving that horse.