Posted on 12/27/2001 8:50:46 AM PST by Starmaker
I will report, and let readers decide.
For quite some time now, I have been a major fan of the Fox News Channel, CNN´s 24-7 cable competitor.
CNN serves up news with a mix of male-bashing feminism, proactively atheistic secular humanism, and a bitter, America-last attitude. Their graphics look like something out of a garage home-editing chop shop. Their anchors robotically proclaim an ultraliberal party-line agenda which apparently flowed directly onto their copy sheets from Gloria Steinem´s misandric pen.
The Fox News Channel, in marked contrast, offers viewers Fair And Balanced coverage of breaking news events from around the country and around the world. Not only is their coverage accurate and immediate, it is presented in an interesting, engaging way. Their graphics, sets, and production values are all top-rate. Their anchors and show hosts, from Sean Hannity to Bill O´Reilly, offer tough, no-holds-barred commentary on all of the issues facing real people in America. They also engage in truly credible investigative reporting, which allows viewers to “get the scoop” and learn the inside details of a given story before they would anywhere else.
One aspect of the Fox News Channel that has become especially apparent since 9/11 has been their spin on our nation. After years of watching CNN and the so-called mainstream media present international stories from an “everything must be America´s fault” perspective, it is good to see the Fox News Channel (FNC) take another tack.
What FNC does is unabashedly present the news in a patriotic, America-first way. When you see a graphic-design flag appearing with their logo, you can believe that it represents more than just lip-service to our country. The FNC is blatantly in favor of the United States, and clearly proud to be a part of it.
This attitude reminds me of war coverage in WWII. In that era, there was no offering of moral equivalency to the Nazis. There was no attempt to understand Hitler. Instead, the media supported America and American soldiers in their battles against foreign enemies. The Fox News Channel is reviving that WWII-era patriotism, something which has been missed over the last number of decades.
And yet...
And yet, the extreme Left, in it´s own self-interest, is complaining greatly that the Fox News Channel is “biased”. Leading the charge with this complaint is the media watch organization, FAIR.org. FAIR.org complains that Bill O´Reilly, host of the popular show The O´Reilly Factor and author of the books The No-Spin Zone and The O´Reilly Factor, is very conservative.
They also suggest that FNC CEO Roger Ailes has a conservative bias. Just for argument´s sake, let´s say they are right. Not only about O´Reilly and Ailes, but about Tony Snow and Brit Hume. After all, both Hume and Snow have openly acknowledged their Christian faith, belief in moral absolutes, and love for their nation.
On the air, no less.
The real question is twofold: First, why did “media watch” organizations like FAIR.org fail to lambaste the obvious pro-feminist left-wing bias of CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS (as so brilliantly proven in Bernard Goldberg´s great new book, Bias)? Could it be that FAIR.org is not interested in fair criticism of both sides of the political fence, but rather only in going after the Fox News Channel for boldly refusing to meekly carry the liberal party line?
Second, given that all of the broadcast networks news programs and CNN slant to the Left, what would be wrong with the Fox News Channel slanting to the right?
Slant away, FNC.
Your ratings are soaring because you appeal to a population which has long been poorly served by the mass media: Patriotic American conservatives.
Actually, FAIR does criticize these organizations regularly for being biased. It's just that the bias they see is towards the conservative side. These organizations are owned by corporations, don't you know, and everybody knows corporations are all rabidly right wing.
Eaker
Ha. Mr. Flair, meet Mr. Bulwer-Lytton.
I have always had a problem with the word "slant". Either they are reporting news events or they are reporting lies. Bill O'Reilly isn't "the news", he is a political commentator. All political comentators tend to lean "left" or "right". The problem is that in the era of "news channels", people mistake actual "news" with the 20 hours a day worth of political opinions. Of course, many Americans are no longer smart enough to differentiate this themselves. They turn of Fox or CNN to see "news", but there is rarely news on the channels. They just assume "political opinions" are news.
They also suggest that FNC CEO Roger Ailes has a conservative bias.
Do they give any examples of right-wing bias at FOX? Surely, it takes more than poliutical affiliation to prove bias because then the other networks are by definition overwhelmingly biased to the left. There are plenty of examples in Goldberg's book Bias about left-wing bias at CBS and other networks. What are the examples of FOX's biased reporting?
No, no, no, no, no. He votes for the best candidate as stated in his book The No Spin Zone.
He is a hard-hitting interviewer and takes no prisoners, especially towards the lefties (Sharpton, Susan Sarandon, George Cloony, Susan Estrich and all others). He exposes the corruptness of our government and the billions and billions of wasted taxpayer dollars (i.e., the millions and millions Clinton gave to Haiti.)
He is a great investigator and one of the few honest journalists looking out for hard working Americans.
Also, one does not have to be non-judgemental in order to be non-biased. In order to report fairly about Clinton, one would have to be critical. Not being critical of Clinton would be biased for the left because there is simply nothing positive or even neutral to say about a traitorous, murdering, rapist.
Absolutely.
Plus, when the conservative viewpoint is available in equal proportions to the liberal one, the conservative one usually wins the argument. Common sense based on reason and logic usually does. Since NBC/CBS/ABC/CNN only feature the conservative viewpoint 5-10% of the time, they are biased.
FAIR hardly ever seems to criticize anyone for anything. I get oodles of hard data from the Media Research Center proving liberal media bias every single day, but all I ever get from FAIR is one press release every three weeks or so.
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