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Fox News Turns Ten
Much to the dismay of many liberals and elitists out there, Fox News remains strong as the number one cable news channel, despite slipping ratings as of late.
We've all heard the pokes from the left criticizing Fox's "Fair and Balanced" slogan, as well some of its hosts. I wonder how many of those who make fun of Fair and Balanced also question CNN's slogan - "The Most Trusted and Most Honored Name in News"? Not many, I would venture to say.
I also wonder if those who criticize Fox the most have ever watched an entire program on that channel? I would bet that the amount of criticism and scorn levied against Fox is inversely proportional to the amount of time having actually watched the channel (no, taped Fox segments aired on parody shows such as Colbert Report don't count...sorry). So many people I know who hate Fox hem and haw when I ask them how often they watch the channel.
The fact is, like it or not, Fox fills a huge void in network and cable news. The void they are filling is news and commentary that is sensitive to conservative and common-man viewpoints. There's no denying that, and there's nothing wrong with that. Fox's success hasn't escaped its competitors, either. Notice how CNN has brought the very good and conservative radio talk show host Glenn Beck into its fold. Coincidence? Hardly. And it's working, at least in my house.
Actually, I'm not a daily Fox viewer. I may watch it a couple of times a week, mainly for Special Report and O'Reilly Factor. I watch Glenn Beck more often these days. But I watch Fox more than enough to know that it is not the Anti-Christ many liberals paint them as. I also watch the other cable news networks such as CNN and MSNBC, for good measure.
Enough rambling. If you've gotten this far, then I strongly recommend reading this column by Brian Anderson published in today's Miami Herald which shatters many liberals' perceptions of the network. It speaks for itself.
We've all heard the pokes from the left criticizing Fox's "Fair and Balanced" slogan, as well some of its hosts. I wonder how many of those who make fun of Fair and Balanced also question CNN's slogan - "The Most Trusted and Most Honored Name in News"? Not many, I would venture to say.
I also wonder if those who criticize Fox the most have ever watched an entire program on that channel? I would bet that the amount of criticism and scorn levied against Fox is inversely proportional to the amount of time having actually watched the channel (no, taped Fox segments aired on parody shows such as Colbert Report don't count...sorry). So many people I know who hate Fox hem and haw when I ask them how often they watch the channel.
The fact is, like it or not, Fox fills a huge void in network and cable news. The void they are filling is news and commentary that is sensitive to conservative and common-man viewpoints. There's no denying that, and there's nothing wrong with that. Fox's success hasn't escaped its competitors, either. Notice how CNN has brought the very good and conservative radio talk show host Glenn Beck into its fold. Coincidence? Hardly. And it's working, at least in my house.
Actually, I'm not a daily Fox viewer. I may watch it a couple of times a week, mainly for Special Report and O'Reilly Factor. I watch Glenn Beck more often these days. But I watch Fox more than enough to know that it is not the Anti-Christ many liberals paint them as. I also watch the other cable news networks such as CNN and MSNBC, for good measure.
Enough rambling. If you've gotten this far, then I strongly recommend reading this column by Brian Anderson published in today's Miami Herald which shatters many liberals' perceptions of the network. It speaks for itself.
posted by Robert at 9:30 AM
9 Comments:
Nothing like the author of "South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias" to give us an objective look at how fair and accurate Fox News is.
Wait a minute while I get Michael Moore to give us his viewpoint.
Sheesh.
.
Rick,
He's about as unbiased as either one of us are in our blog postings. Read Anderson's article again and tell me where he's being unreasonable.
Michael Moore to offer a counter viewpoint? C'mon Rick, you can do better than that!
Let me make myself clear. Anderson's biased, we're biased too.
People who complain about Fox's bias miss the point. All of the networks are biased. Fox is different only because its bias leans conservative. All of the old leftist-biased networks that we used to have to endure with no alternative are still around, yet there's something wrong with having one conservative network to provide competition? Give me a break.
Robert: You may have misunderstood what I was trying to say. Liberals perception of Fox News is that it's biased. To what degree is arguable, but biased nonetheless. Anderson's column does not "shatter many liberals' perceptions of the network," as you state, because he is, as you and I agree, biased. Because he is conservatively biased, he predictably fawns over Fox News. Just as Michael Moore would predictably criticize it. In order to "shatter many liberals' perceptions" of Fox, one would have to show that it is centrist or leans left. Two things that I think we all would agree will never happen.
Jonathan is exactly right. All networks are biased. Fox leans right, a lot of the MSM leans left. I have no problem with Fox showing Foley as a Democrat or them scrolling demeaning comments about protesters at the Republican National Convention in the marquee...but for God's sakes, don't call yourself "Fair and Balanced." They aren't and what drives Dems nuts is this kind of hypocrisy that the right consistently promotes and promulgates. "The Morals Party" is the other one. C'mon, all politicians are morally corrupt. But the Republican Party continues to insist that they are the party of God or of Believers. It's wrong but you never here a Republican calling out their own party for it.
You know what I would be totally comfortable with? Fox's new slogan: "Fox News: An Alternative To The Mainstream Media."
Now that's fair.
I think the misperception that I am pointing out is that Fox is this off-the-wall out of control monster that many liberals make it out to be. Rick, you may not feel this way, but you have to admit that many people do, ONLY because they appeal to conservatives.
Brit Hume's Special Report is pretty damn fair, if right-leaning. O'Reilly invites many democrats and liberals to his show, and yes he even lets them talk. You won't hear too many liberals admitting that. We can agree that they lean to the right. But, yes, I feel there is definitely a misperception of Fox out there, not because they're right-leaning, but because they have good shows and journalists.
Fox's slogan is just that, a slogan. Just like CNN's. Many of their shows are pretty fair and balanced as far as airing differing viewpoints from their guests (remember Alan Colmes shares a show with Hannity). Do Fox shows occasionally make outlandish remarks and make mistakes? Sure.
As far as Republicans stating that their party is the party of God or Believers or anything else of that nature, I think many other Republicans, if not most, would shun from using such hyperbolic terminology to describe their own party. I don't know, maybe it's just me.
I could take your post word by word Robert, substitute "liberals" for "conservatives", "Fox" for "The New York Times", "O'Reilly" for "Dowd" or "Rich" and it would work exactly the same way. The difference is that I wouldn't bother defending the NYT to conservatives and I don't get all musty about my channel being misunderstood.
There was an interesting article in Slate magazine about how O'Reilly treats the guests he invites on his show -cutting microphones even after he gave them the lame "you can have the last word", cutting off audio playback so the guest is completely surprised at the question, booking the token liberal to discuss one subject then asking them something completely different (which the conservative guest has been briefed on and is an expert in the matter) etc. Whatever. "Fair and Balanced" it's not a slogan, is a joke. Colmes is Hannity's whipping boy, if he had any integrity he would have quit a long time ago. And the whole "anti-elitist" schtick? Another scam the conservatives are buying wholesale.
You'll also notice that Anfderson -unlike any respectable writer trying to offer a "fair and balanced" view- does not include any counterpoints in his paean to Fox. Fox can do no wrong for him. That ain't goin to "shatter" any views.
Alex,
Fine. Believe me, I don't claim ownership of Fox nor get "musty" about Fox being understood. They're "my channel" as much as they are yours.
As far as shattering views, the only reason that won't happen is because the majority of staunch liberals I know avoid Fox like the plague but talk as if they watched it daily, which we all know is not true. Something about not knowing what you're talking about? It's ironic to hear them talk about tolerance, open-mindedness and equality, but only when it fits their narrow set of ideals. If you don't feel this way, you can exclude yourself from that list, but in my personal experience, hard-core liberals' comments about Fox (as well as most conservative viewpoints) are often laughable.
You might counter with, "Conservatives say the same thing about the MSM!". "Conservatives can be hypocrites too".
True, but we've already seen that post before, haven't we? ;)
Yeah, we just saw it.
I have watched Fox, but no more, I only have so much tolerance. It's not the bias, because I actually listen to the "enemy" a lot more than my liberal peers, it's that the manipulation is so transparent I can't see how otherwise intelligent people don't realize it.
At least I only have Fox to avoid. You guys give your remotes a lot more exercise.
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