Do more people watch Fox News because it IS "fair and balanced"?

Question

Check this out:

http://www.mrc.org/SpecialReports/2006/IraqWarCableTV/report121906_p1.asp

Apparently FNC is the only one that accurately reports the war in Iraq. They report on the allied victories, as well as the defeats.

On the flips side, MSNBC and CNN only showed defeats in Iraq, and simply did not report on the positive stories from Iraq, like coalition soldiers building schools and hospitals, etc.

Is America FINALLY sick and tired of one-sided news?


---BTW, I know this website is REALLY long, but at least take a look at the charts. They give a pretty good idea about the purpose and results of the study.

Answer 1

Even the soldiers have said Fox News more accurately portrays the situation in Iraq than the other news channels.

Answer 2

Wow, that's very interesting. It makes sense, though. I think that some Americans are finally sick and tired of the one-sided news, but then there are some that still love to watch the news stories that bash Bush and the war in Iraq. Personally, I like Fox because it has more credibility than CNN or MSNBC. Have all people forgotten about the fake documents that were supposed to make Bush look bad-you know, the ones fabricated by CNN? From what I've seen, Fox is WAY more reliable than CNN and MSNBC. Lots of people keep saying that Fox is obssessed with Anna Nicole Smith, but I've seen MSNBC do TONS of reports on Anna Nicole lately. Greta (on Fox) and Nancy Grace (on MSNBC I do believe) are both just giddy about all this stuff. It gives them both something to talk about for a month-or two or three.

Answer 3

It's not only long, but it's biased. All I had to do was click on "home" to see their front page reading: "America's Media Watchdog" followed up with a banner that read "The Leader in Documentary Exposing and Neutralizing Liberal Media Bias." I have seen you rail against liberals who used biased sites to support their view - so why are you doing it?

FAUX News calls THEMSELVES fair and balanced. The public didn't give them that name - they gave it to themselves. That doesn't make it true, and no amount of spin can change the fact that FAUX News is a comfort zone and tool of the far right. At least on MSNBC I can turn on a show like Hardball for political commentary knowing two things. That Chris Matthews is a Republican and that regardless of that he makes sure he has both sides represented when discussing an issue. There's a reason that only hard core right wing Republicans watch FAUX News like it's the be all and end all of journalism - they hear what they want to hear from a news channel that is slanted so far right they are falling off a cliff.

Answer 4

I hate to call you out on this one like this.. but lets look at the %.

Fox reported 12 stories of wrong doing and 81 of right doing.. that is about 13% of their total stories were about wrong doing

CNN was 59% about wrong doing of their total stories

MSNBC was 43% about wrong doings


if you consider balanced to be 50% then MSNBC is the most balanced, leaning slightly to the "conservative" mentality, then CNN.. leaning a little to the left.. followed by a distant FOX, leaning very far to the right.


EDIT: lol, I get thumbs down for crunching numbers... the only thing you can dispute about what I said was that 50% is balanced.. and that can only be disputed if the good/bad action in Iraq are out of balance.. then that would move the mean.. but there's no way for me to know the true mean and it probably won't move more than +/- 5% anyway lol. This is fact, using their numbers people.. think about it.

Answer 5

Did you look at the home page of this site? It is a conservative website, and is obviously biased. If you truly think that FNC is not biased, kindly find some sources that are neutral that say so.

Wikipedia offers a more neutral view of FNC-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News

Answer 6

You are correct. Only FNC reports on Iraq from a pro-American point of view. FNC also points out the mistakes being made by the Bush administration therefore earning it's fair and balanced reputation

Answer 7

The mission of the Media Research Center is to bring balance to the news media. Leaders of America's conservative movement have long believed that within the national news media a strident liberal bias existed that influenced the public's understanding of critical issues. On October 1, 1987, a group of young determined conservatives set out to not only prove — through sound scientific research — that liberal bias in the media does exist and undermines traditional American values, but also to neutralize its impact on the American political scene. What they launched that fall is the now acclaimed — Media Research Center (MRC).

Now what were you saying about fair and balanced?????

Scientists don't start from a position and then seek to prove it by any means possible - that's called bias..........

Answer 8

Obviously this report was put together by right wing fascist Nazi bushite neocons trying to make a point!......(that was sarcasm)

I watch Fox News (when I was TV) because of the fair and balanced reporting I get. So the article reflects my opinions.

Answer 9

BULLLLLL. FNC might as well be re-named the Republican channel. Anything to make Bush look like he's not a complete idiot, they will try. There is NOTHING POSITIVE going on in Iraq. They do try to make it look like it though, which is pretty funny.
CNN and MSNBC are REALISTIC. They don't try to sugarcoat things to make you replublicans happy. Your leader made a BIG MISTAKE, and continues to make them everyday. deal with it.

Answer 10

Conservatives already know this. Liberals have been brainwashed by the media that FNC is biased to the right, although in reality it is centrist. The cable and alphabet news is hopelessly skewed left because bashing Bush sells... and its all about the ratings, misinforming the masses are an unfortunate side affect.

Liberals are unable to separate the news on FNC from the editorial and political programs. That is why they don't notice the editorial skew in the cable and broadcast news, they have become accustomed to it.

Answer 11

The people who watch Fox stay on the channel longer. The don't watch for the news, they watch for the commentary.

They want to be validated about what they believe. If you want news, you go somewhere else because the news segments on Fox are only really 5% of the content.