Fox News is Un-American

[Jeff Lebowski]

So says Jacob Weisberg in this op-ed piece:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/218192

That might be SU-style hyperbole, but he makes an interesting argument about how Fox news is undergoing a disturbing return to a 19th century-style partisan press. And other networks are starting to mimic it out of desperation.

[UtahDan]

Fox is just a right leaning version of what the other major outlets have always been. There is no such thing as "unbiased" news. I think the thing that was most telling of all, and gave me a renewed measure of faith in the press, was when the White House announced that it was going to grant interviews of "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg to all of the members of the White House press pool except Fox. The ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN quickly put their heads together and told the White House that if Fox was not included then none of them would participate.

I think the White House has gotten all the traction out of attacking Fox that it is going to get. I'm not sure it did much beyond gratify the most militant part of the Democrat party. It certainly didn't help them yesterday.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Fox is just a right leaning version of what the other major outlets have always been. There is no such thing as "unbiased" news. I think the thing that was most telling of all, and gave me a renewed measure of faith in the press, was when the White House announced that it was going to grant interviews of "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg to all of the members of the White House press pool except Fox. The ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN quickly put their heads together and told the White House that if Fox was not included then none of them would participate.

I think the White House has gotten all the traction out of attacking Fox that it is going to get. I'm not sure it did much beyond gratify the most military part of the Democrat party. It certainly didn't help them yesterday.

First of all, I think the White House is nuts to lead the charge on something like this. The Execs at Fox should be thrilled with such a god-send.

But I think Weisberg makes an interesting point. There is always media bias, but Fox has mastered the art of info-tainment. Most of their programming is not news reporting at all, but talking heads like O'Reilly, Hannity, and Beck; each of which has a strong partisan bias. MSNBC seems to be pushing farther to the left in response. Are we gradually returning to the days of news outlets being primarily partisan tools?

[ERCougar]

First of all, I think the White House is nuts to lead the charge on something like this. The Execs at Fox should be thrilled with such a god-send.

But I think Weisberg makes an interesting point. There is always media bias, but Fox has mastered the art of info-tainment. Most of their programming is not news reporting at all, but talking heads like O'Reilly, Hannity, and Beck; each of which has a strong partisan bias. MSNBC seems to be pushing farther to the left in response. Are we gradually returning to the days of news outlets being primarily partisan tools?

I'm definitely not a FNC fan, but I actually think their bias is less harmful because it's less insidious. Everyone knows that they lean to the right, so you know what you get. I don't think that everyone carries the same perception of the major news outlets.

As long as people are upfront about their bias (and for that reason, FNC needs to drop the "Fair and Balanced" stuff, but really--does anyone consider them fair and balanced?), I don't mind reading or listening to them. It's when they purport to be balanced that it irritates me. It's my one major complaint about NPR (although I listen to a lot more NPR than FNC).

[UtahDan]

First of all, I think the White House is nuts to lead the charge on something like this. The Execs at Fox should be thrilled with such a god-send.

But I think Weisberg makes an interesting point. There is always media bias, but Fox has mastered the art of info-tainment. Most of their programming is not news reporting at all, but talking heads like O'Reilly, Hannity, and Beck; each of which has a strong partisan bias. MSNBC seems to be pushing farther to the left in response. Are we gradually returning to the days of news outlets being primarily partisan tools?

I don't think we can return to former days because I think the media is such a different beast than it has ever been before. But I think the thing that Fox and others have done, which he sees as a vice and I see as a virtue, is get consumers and other media outlets focused on delivering a lot of news analysis. I say it is a virtue because the complaint, which I thought was correct by the way, during the early 90s was that most news was already news commentary masquerading as "straight news." I think there is little doubt that Rush Limbaugh almost single handed beat this drum so loudly that news outlets had to go out of their way to be less biased.

So now what we have is news analysis mixed in with straight news. Now of course no news is ever totally unbiased, but I think the stronger news analysis presence (O'Reilly, Olberman, Maddow) has drawn a sharper contrast between what it is and what "news" ought to be. I think that the consumer is more savvy than she/he has ever been when it comes to this and can now readily distinguish one from the other. This was less in the public consciousness in the early 90s.

So in the main, while I have mostly tuned the talking heads out myself, I think people are sophisticated enough to see the two products as distinct. Plus I think that with a 24 hour news cycle (which never existed in the days of yore) you are necessarily going to fill the time with mostly analysis. There just isn't enough news to do otherwise. It is not an overall bad, in my opinion. I think it has people thinking more than they used to and as a result we have a more informed electorate than ever.

[ERCougar]

I don't think learning your news from opinion pieces is all bad, as long as you give both sides a fair shake. Like UD says, no news piece is completely unbiased. I wonder if the best way to get a complete picture is to let both sides have their say and then make a judgment. Isn't that the principle of our legal system? Do we complain that the plaintiff is too biased, that the defendant isn't giving the other side adequate treatment?

[YOhio]

I'm annoyed at the Un-American slur. Whenever it gets thrown around my mind instinctively closes. Same with Un-Patriotic.

I love the juxtaposition of Weisberg's article damning the trend of partisan media outlets with the little blurb at the bottom highlighting his book "The Bush Tragedy."

Anyways, Weisberg is the guy who made the case for religious bias against Mormon political candidates. What an asshole.

[byu71]

Before I read the article, is this Weisberg guy an independent, conservative or liberal.

[Tim]

but really--does anyone consider them fair and balanced?

Um.... yes. Like, practically every conservative that I know.

[ERCougar]

Um.... yes. Like, practically every conservative that I know.

hmmm...I don't know. I think most conservatives just see it as a counterbalance to the liberal MSM (to use their term ). I think if you really got down to it, they'd agree there is a slant, but a justified one.

[Jeff Lebowski]

hmmm...I don't know. I think most conservatives just see it as a counterbalance to the liberal MSM (to use their term ). I think if you really got down to it, they'd agree there is a slant, but a justified one.

You must not listen to Fox much, my friend. It is no longer called the mainstream media. Fox's huge market share makes them the mainstream media. They now call it the "traditional media" or "traditional liberal media".

[ERCougar]

You must not listen to Fox much, my friend. It is no longer called the mainstream media. Fox's huge market share makes them the mainstream media. They now call it the "traditional media" or "traditional liberal media".

LOL...oops. I have to admit--I don't even know what channel they're on.

[byu71]

hmmm...I don't know. I think most conservatives just see it as a counterbalance to the liberal MSM (to use their term ). I think if you really got down to it, they'd agree there is a slant, but a justified one.

I am a conservative and this is how I see it. Fox is a pain in the ass for the liberal media. I am so happy about that because the liberal elite media have been a pain in the ass for me for most of my life.

So yes, I see that as being both "fair" and "balanced".

[il Padrino Ute]

Before I read the article, is this Weisberg guy an independent, conservative or liberal.

He's a liberal.

[Sleeping in EQ]

Bias is a symptom of more deep seated problems. If we're going to start talking about media bias, the place to begin is with the overwhelming corporate bias that the CNNs, MSNBCs, FNCs, etc. of the world all share.

These are businesses that pay people like Olbermann and Hannity to deliver ratings. They aren't paid for "objectivity." They are paid for delivering a commodity, albeit an often obnoxious one that is undermining the very notion of citizenship.