do you think fox news is fair and balanced?
2007-11-18 10:12:42 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in News & Events ➔ Media & Journalism
Seems to me, they are more for the Republican Party then the Democratic Party. No, they are not fair and balanced. Not, at all.
2007-11-18 10:16:57 · answer #1 · answered by That one 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
No, I don't.
But it's important, I think, to question what the claim 'fair and balanced' would even mean if it were true.
To me, 'fair' carries a connotation of equal treatment, and 'balanced' implies a thoughtful presentation of many different points of view. On the surface, I think these values seem reasonable.
The problem is that not all points of view always deserve equal consideration in a finite presentation medium like television. To treat an obvious crackpot the same as someone who is a distinguished expert in their field, and to lend both views the same thoughtful consideration does not promote informed public discourse. Instead, it actually distorts the issues by making it appear as though a minority view is more legitimate than it actually is.
So, if you take a Fox News show like Hannity and Colmes, where you have a conservative and a "liberal" (Colmes describes himself as a 'moderate') and give them equal time, and parade out guests who are conservative and liberal in a perfect 50/50 split, you're still doing a disservice to the public discourse. You might be "fair and balanced" to two points of view, but you're not being "fair and balanced" as far as the issues themselves are concerned.
But I think Fox News' bias goes far deeper than this, and it has been studied and reported on. Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)'s Seth Ackerman wrote a good piece on it in July/August 2001. I like this piece because it was written before 9/11, but there are lots of things that you can find that are more contemporary. Media Matters, whose work I greatly respect, also frequently has pieces on Fox News.
These sources probably won't (and shouldn't be taken as intending to) sway a staunch defender of Fox News, but if you're considering the issue critically they do constitute much of the basis for the argument that Fox News is biased, so I encourage you to check them out and think about the issue for yourself.
2007-11-18 18:49:30 · answer #2 · answered by Vlad 2 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Fox News changed the meaning of "Fair" and "Balanced" to mean the exact opposit
2007-11-18 20:52:13 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 0⤋
Nope... kind of Off Balance. As in leaning to one side shy of being Coulter News.
2007-11-18 18:39:19 · answer #4 · answered by Yulik MahBaht 4 · 6⤊ 0⤋
SNL's Weekend Update had more journalistic integrity than Fox news. They could have done it right BUT NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
2007-11-18 20:36:51 · answer #5 · answered by kevpet2005 5 · 6⤊ 0⤋
You mean that's news? I thought it was a parody on the real thing.
2007-11-18 19:05:20 · answer #6 · answered by the old dog 7 · 7⤊ 0⤋