Fox News just turned Lucky 13, to the consternation of ideological bigots and the celebration of those that actually believe that true tolerance of all people includes those politically right of center.
While I watch Fox News on a daily basis, what still should shock most people is the depth of hostility toward Fox News by those on the left.
The left despises Fox News because it is perceived by them to be “conservative.” What they claim is that Fox News slants the news with a right-wing bias.
This is ludicrous, and I question whether the left actually believes this, or if they just spout it in the hopes that others will believe this.
First of all, even if Fox News slanted the news to the right, which it does not, the left keeps insisting that CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, the Jayson Blair Times, the Los Angeles Palestinian Times, and National Palestinian Radio are neutral and unbiased. The issue is not bias, but a refusal to admit bias. Anything not reflexively liberal is automatically deemed right-wing.
Yet what separates too many media organizations on the left from those on the right is that media outlets on the left will not place a wall between their editorial pages and their hard news stories. The Wall Street Journal editorial pages are brilliant and conservative, but this does not bleed into the rest of the paper, which is spectacularly written and non-partisan. The Jayson Blair Times is in the gutter ethically and financially because it is one giant editorial page with little resemblance to news.
(Liberals love to mention David Brooks, as if one right of center individual who spends most of his time bashing conservatives creates ideological openmindedness.)
Fox News has an opinion division and a news division. The opinion division consists of Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, newcomer Glenn Beck, and to a lesser extent, Greta Van Susteren.
Let’s eliminate Great Van Susteren from this equation for two reasons. First of all, most people criticizing Fox News are not talking about her. Secondly, although she did interview Sarah Palin more sympathetically than most media people, this was a case of a woman sticking up for another woman. Greta focuses mainly on tabloid journalism, such as Natalee Holloway and Anna Nicole Smith.
(I have been sharply critical of her for this, although her show has gone from being totally unwatchable to being much better now that she focuses somewhat on stuff that is not complete cr@p.)
Critics who say Fox News slants the news are referring specifically to O’Reilly, Hannity, and Beck.
These critics are wrong because these shows are not news. Let me say this again. They are not news.They are opinion shows. I happen to more often than not agree with the opinions, but they are opinions nonetheless.
Also, people who lump these shows together are the same people who think all conservatives are the same.
Hannity is the easiest to pin down. He is a partisan Republican. He opposes President Obama and Democrats. Yet his show is a debate show. He frequently has Bob Beckel, Kirsten Powers, and other liberals as guests. He recently sparred with Michael Moore. To say that liberal views are unrepresented on the show is ridiculous and false. Some will argue that as the host, Hannity controls the agenda. Yet for 13 years, Alan Colmes was his liberal cohost. The show was absolutely fair and balanced.
Beck is different in the sense that while he is a conservative, he is not a Republican. Hannity wants to fix the Republican Party. Beck could be perfectly happy blowing it up. Beck is similar to Hannity in the sense that he is outwardly and vocally opposed to virtually everything President Obama stands for. His show is not balanced, but he never claims that it is.
O’Reilly is the most complicated. He leans right culturally, but he is no conservative. He is certainly not a Republican. He is an independent. More importantly, he is not a partisan. He bends over backwards to be fair to President Obama, to the point of getting critical mail from conservatives. Hannity and Beck do not have this occurrence. Bill O’Reilly has plenty of guests who disagree with him. To put it more simplistically, O’Reilly is not an ideologue, while Beck, and especially Hannity, are. O’Reilly has concerns about some of Obama’s agenda, but is certainly not in vocal opposition to everything he says and does. He also has views that liberals support, such as opposition to the death penalty.
Yet again, and this must be repeatedly emphasized…these shows are not news.
The news division consists of professionals that are capable of putting bias aside and simply reporting news without editorializing.
Neil Cavuto covers business and financial news. The stock market is non-partisan, and Cavuto simply sticks to his area of expertise without trying to change the subject.
Jim Angle, Wendell Goler, and Carl Cameron are very respected White House Correspondents that report the news in a fair, and yes balanced, manner.
Shepherd Smith, Brett Baier, and John Gibson report the news. They tell the story, but do not try to become the story. Chris Wallace conducts tough but fair interviews.
None of these people are hyper-partisan hacks. Neither are Harris Faulkner or Lauren Sivan.
Some will argue that because the opinion shows come on in the evening when most people are home from work and watching television, that this trumps everything else. This is false because when major news stories break, it is not the evening opinion hosts that are reporting. The best example of this were the 2008 political conventions. O’Reilly and Hannity did not report from the convention. They did their shows, but the reporting was done by the news division and only the news division.
Contrast this with MSNBC, which was prepared to have liberal bullies Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann reporting the conventions until a public backlash ensued. Chris Matthews is the one who said that he “felt a thrill go up his leg” when Obama spoke. Olbermann is the one who picks a new conservative every day to declare his “worst person in the world.” This is far beyond anything Hannity has ever done.
MSNBC does not separate its news and entertainment divisions. Even the rare commentary by “conservatives” are done by people like Pat Buchanan, who absolutely does not represent mainstream conservatism.
Yet what drives liberals crazy about Fox News is that it consistently wins the ratings battles. Fox News has better ratings than CNN and MSNBC combined.
(CNN began to decline rapidly from a quality standpoint when Bernard Shaw retired. He was as good as it got. Bill Schneider remains a fair political analyst. Yet overall, they remain left of center, although not to the level of lunacy that is MSNBC.)
There are two explanations for why Fox News has the largest audience. Neither of these explanations makes liberals comfortable.
The first explanation is that America is a center-right country. This explanation is the wrong one, even though we are. For one thing, it only reinforces the stereotype of bias that I am debunking. Yet I cannot dismiss the explanation simply because I disagree with it. I dismiss it because the ratings victories are so substantial that the country would have to be hard right to explain the numbers. America is not hard right. Democrats control the White House and Congress. One must concede that many Fox News viewers are independents and Democrats.
The accurate explanation is not ideology, but credibility. The liberal media simply has none.
Yes, there are plenty of individual liberals that are paragons of virtue. I have some of these people as friends of mine. Yet the main institutions that are seen as liberal are also seen as corrupt.
Dan Rather, Mary Mapes, and Katie Couric wrecked CBS News. The New York Times did not become the Jayson Blair Times due to one bad hiring decision. It is due to decades of corruption by Arthur “Pinch” Sulzberger Jr. Tim Russert was a rare liberal that put aside his bias in favor of fairness. Tom Brokaw fails to do this. Peter Jennings helped Hillary Clinton write speeches. These and other liberal institutions can’t stop cheerleading for the left, disparaging the right, or getting stories wrong and then covering up the truth. This also comes in the form of suppressing stories.
O’Reilly, Hannity, and the Wall Street Journal do not have this problem. If they did, the millions of liberals monitoring them on a daily basis would have something, and MSNBC would gleefully report it.
(O’Reilly had a brief personal scandal. The left covered it with the enthusiasm of the landing on the moon.)
ACORN is a prime example. ACORN is a criminal enterprise. We know this. They are a top down crooked entity that would make John Gotti proud from a tactical and results standpoint. Fox News is covering the story, while the rest of the media is ignoring it.
So what do liberals do? They say the story has no validity specifically because Fox News is reporting it. This is circular logic. Fox News says it is important, liberals go after Fox News, and then use that as a basis to get rid of the story as biased. Is Fox News going after ACORN because it is liberal?
A better question would be if the other outlets are refusing to tackle ACORN because it is liberal.
Enough independents and Democrats think that even if Fox News is letting ideology lead to the story being covered, the story itself is completely legitimate. The fact that Andrew Breitbart broke the story does not devalue it. Anybody on the left could have broken the story. They chose not to do so. That is bias.
The reporting of the story itself on Fox News has been tough, but absolutely fair. Megan Kelly gave a one hour interview to ACORN’s founder. He stated his case, and the viewers decided.
I will offer one more explanation of why Fox News and other non-liberal news outlets succeed, although it is less important.
Liberal news is boring. Rush Limbaugh is not just conservative. He is lighthearted, jovial, and fun. He can talk about football, music, and other things beyond politics. His conservatism is less important than his gift for entertaining. Air America collapsed because three hours of hatred, rage, and anger toward conservatives gets very tiresome very quickly. Limbaugh never claimed to be a news reporter. Air America DJs did.
Even when George W. Bush had 28% approval, liberals never figured out that many people were disappointed in him, but they did not hate his guts.
Liberalism has become a philosophy of “anti.” Liberalism hates conservatism, and has contempt for non-liberalism.
Fox News is not a shill for the Republican Party, but it is not afraid or unwilling to question Democrats. It is willing to let Republicans speak without being abused. In the liberal world, that is conservative bias.
Fox News is hated because the left simply wants to silence all discussion and dissent. They romanticize the good old days when everyone was in harmony and perfect agreement because conservatism had no voice. They lament being challenged.
Fox News challenges orthodoxies without accepting tired old shibboleths at face value. Fox News makes people think. MSNBC makes people froth at the mouth from the news version of rabies.
The evidence is in the numbers. People watch Fox News. They ignore the competition.
So either most of the viewers are biased, or Fox truly does do a better job of presenting things without an insultingly obvious left-wing lens.
So yes, I will continue watching O’Reilly, Hannity, and until his head explodes, Beck. They are enjoyable entertainment.
I will also watch the honest members of the news division. They are fair, balanced, and usually accurate.
They have credibility.
The people have spoken.
Happy Lucky 13 Fox News.
Given your fabulous coverage of Israel, I hope I get invited to your Bar Mitzvah next week. Dennis Miller can lead the opening benediction.
eric
Amen to that. Fox was the only one who covers the ACORN story. Who ignores such a headline? People who no longer report the truth. But it is so ironic that Fox News trumps the other stations. The lone dog gets the biggest bone.
Photos of the Aftermath Indian Embassy Bombing in Kabul Afghanistan.
http://youhavetobethistalltogoonthisride.blogspot.com/2009/10/photos-from-aftermath-of-indian-embassy.html
As soon a SNL took a few shots at Obama CNN got all lit up and did a factcheck on the skit.
Pathetic
Well, our good host is right about some things here. The Fox News primetime line-up (and much of the daytime line up) is not news. it’s commentary. That’s why I refer to Fox News as Fox “News.” Where our good host misses the point is that Fox, of course, is extremely conservative. It’s not a bias. It’s an idium. It is what Fox is. Fox is conservative commentary and perspective on the news. The other outlets are not really all that liberal or Democratic, though some of their personalities are one way or another, but rather corporate entities that put out the local and national and international news usually as already reported by the AP et al. They are just regurgitating information. Where conservatives get confused with that is that, as Stephen Colbert famously said, “Reality has a well-know liberal bias.” The more you pay attention to the news – the real “news,” which is simply the reporting of things that have happened or are happening – the more liberal you’ll be. If you close your eyes and ears to everything but commentary, as opposed to news, then you’ll simply always be what you already were – and that, by definition, is something most all conservatives do.
JMJ
Jersey.
Its not just the way these moonbat outlets present the news. Although that too is cherry picked.
Its the subjects and stories they select and omit that makes them without a doubt liberal.
Wise up.
I scroll thru all channels all day long and find myself getting sick to my stomach when I know otherwise and these outlets refuse to even ackowledge a certain story exists
When you’ve got something as huge and with as many layers to peel back as ACORN does and everyone ignores it until its the 800 lb gorilla that finally took a crap on your sofa and is no loger ignorable thats says volumes about the majority of the media being biased and liberal.
And then theres the other side of this circus and the right that they spend an unbalanced amount of time attacking. Like Palin and Bachman.
You never see them highlighting half as much anything questionable that comes from Pelosi, and that there woman is a huge treasure trove of questionable remarks and positions.
Look at the line up on CNN compared to that of FOX. I think the only conservative voice there is Lou Dobbs, thats it. All there new hosts lately have been what ? Hugley, Joy Behar ? ( that idiot has no business going after Palin).
People watch FOX more than any outlet for the simple fact that you can always hear a conservative and liberal voice on the same issue usually whithin minutes of each other, if not seconds.
The other outlets just cant claim that.
PERIOD
Michelle Bachman:
“You know, it is an interesting phenomenon. I think it happened with a competing cable network that took an interest in me and it has only grown. So now, it’s almost like I have personal stalkers, only they have TV shows.”
I enjoy Fox News, but I especially enjoy Fox “News” – specifically Beck. I don’t watch much else – I listen to Hannity on the way home but get tired of his single-mindedness. I listen and watch CNN during the day at my desk while I write OERs, reports, or deal with email – it generally makes my stomach hurt, but I am trying to understand how the left thinks…like cute blonds, I suppose…
What I can’t understand is why the big deal about “GOP going after Rangel”…why aren’t ALL citizens and representatives going after him? He’s an admitted 1) buffoon who didn’t report income because his landlord doesn’t speak English or 2) a crook. Either way, defending him invalidates the defenders’ sanity.
I watch Fox News, but I balance it out with CBS, NBC and ABC.
I also read the Palestinian Times (LA Times), for laughs..and sometimes
for an occasional op-ed by one of their few people on the right.
Having the advantage of 20-20, and a good memory for places, and details, I like to think back, comparing what’s occurring now, and articles
in the editorial section of the paper.
I rarely read the NY Times..it’s just too much to enjoy. When I worked
in the “Big Apple” years ago, I bought the paper, and finished it by the time I arrived home after 5 p.m. It was frankly a good way to blot out
the subway (some people read it while standing). In my old age, my
back won’t allow for that priviledge, if ever I go back there for a visit.
I have posted before..I am a registered Democrat…but vote Republican
in the national elections. I am not especially fond of our two Senators, Boxer and Feinstein. Boxer is left of Adolf Hitler ( a liberal fascist) and Feinstein is cute.
Boxer, who is the darling of the liberal Jews, when asked to comment on
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…said she is FOR the Annapolis Conference
take on the 100 year old problem..
Esentially Annapolis, wherein the Arab reps did not acknowledge
the presence of the Israeli foreign minister…was for the Saudi Plan.
The plan favors Israel’s withdrawal to the 67 borders, the relinquishing
of East (Arab) Jerusalem to a Pales state…a Palestinian entity with
total control of their borders..air and see lanes..and the return of any
Muslim to what was Israel prior to 1950.
The above accomplished, the Arab-Muslim world will recognize Israel’s right to exist.
Oh me oh my……….millions of Arabs pourin into the truncated Israel,
the return of the Golan Hts to Syria, a Pales army created..borders which
even New Jersey would not envy (Israel is the size of NJ), I mean,
how dumb do they think we are?
Since then, the Pales Fatah Leader Abbas, has insisted Israel NOT be a state of the Jews OR a Jewish state..just a state..sort of like Texas or
Alabama or Maryland or South Carolina..not Jewish, not Arab, just a state of all it’s people.
Yeah right, and I will sell Abbas the George Washington Bridge.
Read the LA Times today and found a few articles most informative.
Obama’s plan to tax the insurance companies…and to place a surtax
on people who are successful..( make over 250,000 and 300,000 year), is going no where.
Labor is saying that a tax on “Cadillac Plans” for the rich, will be
spread throughout the entire membership..hurting the average worker.
I mean..do I recall when Obama proudly said the rich would pay for
the socialized insurance for all.
But the article about Gitmo was fascinating..and a glimpse into
Obama’s stupidity.
There are about 250 remaining detainees. Many of them are destined
to return to their home countries..for whatever? Others will be (40) tried in US courts…and perhaps sentenced finally to where I ask?
3 States have approved detainees on their soil..including California,
(thanks Feinstein). Maybe they will be put in prisons near Jewish neighborhoods..killing two birds.
Dozens of retired enforcement and military have sent letters to Obama
to forget allowing terrorists in the USA. Others have said it’s okay.
So, nothing has been resolved. Thanks Obama for nothing.
But I do have a bone to pick with some Conservatives. They believe
labor unions should be banned..contributing nothing per se to our
economy, and just creating worse problems.
This is why the Republicans cannot get more votes. Consider this:
Whitman is running for gov..she is arrogent about State employees..
most of them cops, firemen, etc. She wants to attrit them..and reduce
or eliminate cost of living increases.
I mean, with suggestions like that..what does a right thinking
Conservative do? There are over 250,000 civil servants in California
and 2m Federal.
True, unions are only 12% of the population…but they do
put leverage on private employers..just as Obama wants a govt
payor insurance plan to put leverage on private insurers.
Fox News has a right wing bent..so what? Let it. No one is forced to watch it.
If someone wants to hear and read their take on things..just go to
Max Blumenthal or Michael Moore’s website. All is fair in love and war.
In the meantime..800 billion of stiumuls has put the banks and insurance companies back into the black…but 30 people are out of work or nearly
out of work. and millions of homes are still threatened (read FHA
problems LA Times).
In Afghanistan..Ogama is meeting with top leaders and advisers and
the military.
The jury is still out on that one folks, while Iran is adding 3,000 centrifuges to it’s Qom plant recently admitted They say, it’s all for electricity, while
thousands languish in their jails for protesting.
Hey guys..hows about this one. A guy in Saudi Arabia who admitted
making some salacious comments about sex, is to be whupped 1,000 times. Whupped is an aka for whipped, breaten, severly abused physically. Get it.
Eagle, how is it that reporting the fact that GOP lawmakers are “going after” Rangel, which they are, is “defending” him?
Ya’ see, guys, this is what I mean: when a news outlet reports something you don’t want to hear, you cry “liberal bias!” Just like when a court makes a decision you dont like, it’s “activist judges!” Or when anyone complains about what conservatives say, it’s “they’re abusing my First Amendment rights!”
Just because you don’t like something, that doesn’t make it “liberal” or “activist” or “abuse.” It’s just that there’s something you don’t like. that’s it.
Micky, I’m not here to support or defend the corporate media. I don’t like then either. I don;t see much “liberal” slant, but I do see way too much gratuitous violence, sensationalism, paparazzi gossip, etc. And hey, Fox “News,” when they actually do news, does the same thing. So rant away all you like. I think you’re being suckered.
If you want to know what’s going on in congress, watch C-Span.
If you want hard international news, ITN.
If you want thorough covergae of national affairs, the NewsHour.
Good TV news – and coverage of actual realiy, rather than just reporting on it – is out there. You just have to know where to look. But if all you’re looking at is Fox “News,” then, to quote Eagle, you’re going to have the accumen of a “buffoon.”
JMJ
Yeah, I’ve heard your rant already bout all the boring boring boring stations you watch. Any normal person can only watch those stations for so long before blowing their brains out.
“So rant away all you like. I think you’re being suckered.”
Yeah of course when the Nielsen ratings and public opinion prevails and tells the truth you get on your high horse and claim intellectual superiority by saying were being suckered.
Belive it or not people are starving for info and know the difference between sensationalism, fluff, entertainment and real news. The fluff etc, I am very capable of filtering out on my own. Why do you think the communication industry is so hell bent on supplying formats and options that bring us info in every form possible ASAP ?
Out of desperation you always try to make it seem as if those like me who defend FOX are somehow “ONLY” watching FOX.
Nice try, but you seem to forget that everyone you’re yapping your bull to right now has a COMPUTER” and we are way more informed than your presumptive little mind asserts.
Its you whos the “buffoon” if you actually believe that we are all as un informed as you think.
“Good TV news – and coverage of actual realiy, rather than just reporting on it – ”
Yes, my daughters reality was at one time the Peewee Herman show.
In her world at the time the show supplied her informative needs very well.
By the way, you wanna explain the difference between “covering” and “reporting” on reality ?
“Yeah, I’ve heard your rant already bout all the boring boring boring stations you watch.”
Spoken like a true adult, Micky. Perhaps if the NewsHour featured topless bimbos setting off explosions while Mettalica plays in the background, Americans would be more informed. I know.
This is why so many Americans are so uninformed. This is why corporate media outlets pander to the lowest common denominations of American culture. Debate in the Senate Finance Committee? Booo-riiing… Gay Liberal Barney Frank caused the Mortgage Meltdown, DAMMIT!!!! EXCITING! Pure. Unadulterated. Stupidity.
JMJ
“Spoken like a true adult, Micky. Perhaps if the NewsHour featured topless bimbos setting off explosions while Mettalica plays in the background,”
whats immature about not getting off on watching our representatives walk around on the floor and get paid to shake each others hands occassionaly ?
I can watch C span for 1/2 an hour and only see one thing in progress if it ever does get acomplished while I can watch FOX for 1/2 an hour and learn about 20 things of serious importance happening across the planet.
I think its you who needs to grow up and get past your snobbiness that dictates because you watch whats actually the least informative outlest there is you’re somehow elevated above the rest of us.
Besides that.
You conveniently ignore the point I mentioned which is that I have a computer which many times has proven to be a much greater source of info for me than it has you as was made evident by all the debates I’ve shut you down in with facts and truth. :-(
If you were so damned informed you’d be able to drive your position home alot better with all the knowledge you claim to have than just expecting people to take your word for everything
“This is why so many Americans are so uninformed”
They’re un informed because they watch all those moonbat outlets and only get the side of the story they want to hear.
The difference between you and I is that I actually watch as wide a variety of outlets as you do, I have like 1900 and something channels
but I watch FOX also
Metallica is overrated
Well, unlike us, Micky, they’re mostly uninformed because they don’t watch, read, or listen to anything of import at all.
The internet is great, but it tends to serve all the more to pander to group ideology. We look up what we want to look up. Just as with TV, or radio, or newspapers, or magazines, we need to look at things on the internet that counter our views, not just what reinforces them. That’s why I read a lot of Townhall and blog here, for example.
JMJ
Rupert Murdoch is a right-wing jerk
Ted Tuner is a left-wing nutcase
Ted had a wierd idea to start a 24-hour news channel and it was an amazing success – changing the world of news forever. Rupert (after conquering his native country) was looking towards taking over the US media market and taking down his nemesis Ted. Rupert looked at the CNN and C-Span viewer stats and relized that conservaties actually tuned in to more than just Baywatch. So he took on CNN with a lopsided right-wing quasi-news agenda and ended up kicking Ted Turner’s A** in the ratings game. It was good for him, but the competition in the 24-hour news game caused both networks to dig lower to get more viewers and to spend as little as possible to fill the 24 hour daily void their channels both demanded. The result is half-ass news by both networks with lots of shouting heads and little to no analysis. The typical news report has two opposing knuckleheads spouting half-truths knowing that the so-called journalists will never check up on them because they will be on the next story within 30-seconds. The viewing public is left with nothing but blab.
And that is the short history of modern television news.
“We look up what we want to look up.”
I make it a point look up what I need to know in order to keep from talking out my butt.
If the facts dont support my argument, then I just dont bring it, and learned something at the same time
Jafman.
I think you’ve got news and opinionated commentary mixed up
There’s not many good sources for quality news these days, but they are out there, Jafman. you just have to put in the effort. The popular media would prefer you didn’t, though, and they’re pretty good at distracting the people from what really matters.
I get stuff from the net all the time, Micky. I’m not saying I’m any better about it. but I don;t just look up stuff that I want to get from any ol’ source. You have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. I don’t care what some corporate sponsored pro-oil think tank has to say about wind power, for example. Or what tobacco sponsored “science” has to say about cancer. Again, you have to separate the wheat from the chaff. I’ve seen a lot of chaff from the right in recent years.
JMJ
The point is that you go there to see it.
If you didnt you wouldnt be able to know the diff.
Ya know, I’ve said it before.
You toss it all in a blender and when its done spinning you take whats on top and play judge
C’MON MAN!! Are all you guys trying to tell me that the honorable and noble corporate media are trying to sway me, skew my beliefs by feeding me what they want me to believe? Using disinformation, misinformation or hiding the truth from me? Oh no, what shall I do? I guess I’ll tune in reruns of That 70’S Show and dream of the old days when the press was an ally of the people.
Toma
Hey Liberals, your President has won the Nobel Peace Prize. Hoorah. He is really up their now. Next to Yasser Arafat, Al Gore and the like. What an honor. I’ll bet if he made a movie of Dreams of MY Father he would win and oscar too. Gee, I can’t wait. Oh, that’s right he didn’t write Dreams of MY Father did he, Bill Ayers wrote it and gave all the credit to the Great One. Oh well, the academy can give him a oscar for his day to day performances at the podium, on T.V. and talk shows and the like. He is wonderful actor.
Wow. How impressive?
I wonder where George Soros is these days? Returning from Oslo I’ll bet. He’s an ace in the hole. Always there when the socialists need him.
Toma