Posted on 03/17/2003 8:00:01 AM PST by pac91303
The overwhelming success of the Fox News Channel has finally snapped the establishment media's Achilles' heel. As the number one-rated cable news network, Fox News has broken Big Media's monopoly over the dissemination of news. By doing so, Fox News threw a monkey wrench into the liberals' political agendas. And that has them worried.
For decades, the establishment media have dominated the airwaves and newsprint. Now, with the advent of the Internet and the emergence of Fox News, they can no longer decide which major stories get covered - and which get ignored.
Many Americans have finally acknowledged "the elephant in the room" whenever they watch CNN or Dan Rather, and have been handed the power to switch. This makes Fox News a breath of fresh air - as well as a threat to an extremely dominating media culture.
As Bernie Goldberg pointed out in his bestseller, "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News," the way to fix one-sided reporting is not to hire more conservative writers. The only way to remedy the slant is to do the job right the first time by reporting both sides of the news. Fox News' Roger Ailes saw the problem and fixed it.
What Fox News did was truly unprecedented. They sought to restore the tenets of fairness and balance; basic rules of journalism that have all but been forgotten.
Although Fox News occupies fewer markets than CNN and MSNBC, they draw a much larger audience. That speaks volumes about the hunger for objective news coverage.
But while the Big Media often place politics above principle, the independent news organizations have suffered attacks by liberals who don't like what Fox News and other independent news organizations, such as the Washington Times, WorldNetDaily.com, Newsmax.com and CNSNews.com, report.
When Democratic scandals do get coverage from independent news sources, the liberals likely perceive them as politically motivated attacks.
By the same token, if the mainstream media had exposed Bill Clinton, it's quite possible he would have been held accountable for his crimes and respectfully left office, like Richard Nixon.
Despite Mr. Clinton lying under oath to a federal grand jury, suborning witnesses and tampering with evidence, he went through his presidency virtually unscathed. Nixon, however, wasn't so fortunate. When two investigative reporters from the Washington Post exposed him in the Watergate scandal, his political career was over.
So why didn't the press go after Clinton like they went after Nixon? The fact that Clinton was a Democrat probably made all the difference.
Hence, the reason Democrats never complain about a liberal media bias: they possibly think they can seek refuge with the establishment media.
But when Democrats like Al Gore and Tom Daschle decry the independent media, it's a sure sign Americans are getting a side of the news they haven't yet heard.
The mainstream press seemingly goes out of their way to appease Democrats. After all, nearly 90 percent of them are registered Democrats, according to a 1996 Freedom Forum survey. So it comes as no surprise that Democrats - who pride themselves on the power of the press - bemoan the independent media.
But whenever the independent media uncover Democratic scandals, it's immediately declared "right-wing." Yet with the mainstream media, the Democratic viewpoint usually goes unchallenged.
Now, the mainstream media are trying to copy Fox News' success with little, if any, results. In fact, when Fox News was the first to create the ticker that runs text across the bottom of the screen, the others immediately followed suit.
For example, CNN's attempt at revamping its news programs probably shows its paranoia. And MSNBC, calling itself "America's News Channel," might be exposing its own uncertainties.
The one crucial element CNN, MSNBC and the Big Three haven't bothered to duplicate is Fox News' fair and balanced approach of presenting both sides of issues. By giving voice to both liberals and conservatives, Fox News has set themselves apart from the rest, which is why they are the nation's number one cable news channel.
After all, if Fox News was the conservative and pro-Republican vehicle that liberals claim, they wouldn't have hired staunch ultra-liberals like Alan Colmes, Greta Van Susteren, John Gibson, Geraldo Rivera, Ellen Ratner and David Korn.
If the mainstream media ever hope to succeed, they should follow Fox News' lead and report the news the way it was meant to be reported - fair and balanced.
Besides, if changes were already evident, Dan Rather & Co. and the others with blatantly liberal agendas, wouldn't be going down in flames in the ratings war.
If the media elite insist on ignoring the warning signs, they will only have themselves to blame.
Yea ain't it great! The libs are so depressed about Fox and talk radio that they think they have to start their own versions on the liberal side. I guess NPR, Pacifica, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, New Times, LA Times, Washington Post, etc. etc., aren't enough for them. It's a great time to be alive!!!!
Yep. I left FOX to watch them, and enjoyed them thoroughly.
Why watch Greta and Whorealdo shovel leftie tofu into the "fair and balanced" line-up when you can get red meat on MSNBC?
FOX better watch out. They're headed the way of CNN by hiring all the CNN rejects, who bring all their favorite attitudes and guests with them. They are playing a dangerous game with their new-found success. They would be well served to dance with the fella that brung them!
There is an important point to be made here. FOX news is in peoples' homes, but CNN is the choice of news networks for hotels, bars, airports and convention centers. I recently attended a conference in Orlando, and all that was available was CNN. My guess is that FOX and CNN have similar household representation, but CNN has the captured audience of travellers.
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