# FOX as a Source? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 4, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-as-a-source/651998 "2013-03-04T15:05:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![anukulardecider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@anukulardecider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anukulardecider)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-as-a-source/651998/101 "2013-04-13T16:06:35Z")
> [@Bpelta](#): > > A professor of journalism at West Liberty University recently [banned](http://www.mediaite.com/online/professor-bans-students-from-using-fox-news-as-a-source-it-makes-me-cringe/) her students from using FOX News as a source because it’s “biased;” she wrote that it “makes her cringe” and she’d “almost rather you print off an article from the Onion.” Apparently, after public pressure, [she’s](http://www.wtrf.com/story/21200533/controversy-rising-over-wlu-syllabus) “since changed her stance and allowed students to use all academic sources.” > > My question for the Teeming Millions: Is FOX News reliable enough to be used as a source in an academic paper by undergrad college students? I wouldn’t use Fox if I wanted to get a passing grade. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-as-a-source/651998/102 "2013-04-13T16:20:00Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > And Dan Rather, an important anchor for many years at CBS, was caught in a major distortion that led to his resignation and has been [accused of others](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Rather#Criticism). That doesn’t excuse any actions by Fox but lets not pretend that Fox is the only outlet that plays with the facts. That’s a 1:100 ratio. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-as-a-source/651998/103 "2013-04-13T17:04:30Z")
> [@anukulardecider](#): > > I wouldn’t use Fox if I wanted to get a passing grade. Indeed, as it is also the implied note that from an academic point of view sources like TV news are at best considered one step back from “grey literature” > **[Grey literature | Health Knowledge](https://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/research-methods/1a-epidemiology/grey-literature)** > >   PLEASE NOTE: We are currently in the process of updating this chapter and we appreciate your patience whilst this is being completed.   Grey literature has been defined as 'that which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business and... Once you realize that most TV news out there do not even reach that lukewarm level of being useful in an academic setting, it is no wonder that academics would advice students to not use FOX or other TV newscasts as sources (with the only exception being if there is research done on media itself). So why the academic in the OP singled out FOX? As reported already in this thread, one can see that many academics have very strong reasons why to single out FOX among all the TV news organizations. It is not only that there are simple reasons why TV news sourcing is not a very good tool in an academic setting, but the main reason why FOX is singled out is that it also adds a layer of fabrication that is painfully obvious to the academics. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-as-a-source/651998/104 "2013-04-15T01:16:52Z")
BTW, [Fox’ viewership is declining.](http://www.thenation.com/article/173748/gop-fox-circus-act) (From _The Nation,_ righties be ye warned.) > [@](#): > > Having cable news’s oldest average age for both prime-time hosts and audiences represents something of a double-edged sword for Fox in the cutthroat world of cable TV. One advantage is that older audiences are traditionally more loyal, which is why several industry experts say that Fox News is unlikely to be dislodged from its perch atop overall cable TV news ratings anytime soon. This age-loyalty effect redounds to the benefit of Fox News’s best-known prime-time hosts, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, as roughly two-thirds of their viewers are age 50 or older, according to a recent Pew State of the News Media survey. > > But at the same time, there is an undeniable actuarial reality at work—or as Bartlett bluntly puts it, “Their viewership is quite literally dying.” The most lucrative advertising dollars flow to TV shows that attract viewers “in the demo,” short for “demographic”—industry parlance for people ages 25 to 54. By contrast, Fox News’s prime-time commercial breaks are blanketed with pitches for cheap medical devices and insurance companies aimed at retirees and the elderly. Perhaps not surprisingly, the network’s advertising rates have grown at a much more modest pace in recent years, according to the Pew survey. Similarly, the growth of its ad revenues has diminished every year since 2008. > > \ > > . . . Though the network did retain its status as the top-rated cable news network in 2012—its eleventh consecutive year at number one—the steep drop in ratings that its shows have experienced since Election Day has raised eyebrows, precisely because corresponding shows on MSNBC and CNN have not experienced the same precipitous decline. > > Just how much of a drop are we talking about? According to Nielsen data, Fox News’s prime-time monthly audience fell to its lowest level in twelve years in January among the 25-to-54 demographic. Daytime Fox News programming likewise saw its lowest monthly ratings in this age cohort since June 2008. Even the network’s two biggest stars, O’Reilly and Hannity, have not been immune from viewer desertion: Hannity lost close to 50 percent of his pre-election audience in the final weeks of 2012, and O’Reilly more than a quarter. The slide hasn’t stopped in 2013, either. Compared with a year ago, O’Reilly’s February prime-time ratings dropped 
26 percent in the coveted 25-to-54 demographic, his worst performance since July 2008. Hannity’s sank even further, to the lowest point in his show’s history. > > As Wald points out, short-term ratings snapshots can be deceptive. But in the weeks following Obama’s 2009 inauguration, Fox News’s viewership actually surged, averaging 539,000 prime-time demo viewers versus 388,000 and 357,000 for CNN and MSNBC, respectively. This past January, however, Fox could only muster 267,000 average nightly viewers—a 50 percent drop from that 2009 level, and not much more than MSNBC’s 235,000 or CNN’s 200,000. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-as-a-source/651998/105 "2013-04-15T01:46:25Z")
Also this: > [@](#): > > So why are all these Fox News viewers tuning out? Some of the decline may be due to a broader cultural trend of people deciding to avoid cable TV news altogether. However, a recent Public Policy Polling survey of news media trustworthiness suggests there’s more going on than public apathy. In February, PPP found a marked drop in Fox News’s credibility. A record-high
46 percent of Americans say they put no trust in the network, a nine-point increase over 2010. What’s more, 39 percent name Fox News as their least-trusted news source, dwarfing all other news channels. (MSNBC came in second, at 14 percent.) > > As might be expected, Fox News’s credibility barely budged among liberals and moderates (roughly three-quarters of whom still distrust the network) and very conservative viewers (three-quarters of whom still trust it). However, among those who identified themselves as “somewhat conservative,” the level of trust fell by an eye-opening 27 percentage points during the previous twelve months (from a net plus–47 percent “trust” rating in 2012 to plus–20 percent now). Only a bare majority of center-right conservatives surveyed by PPP say that Fox News is trustworthy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fox-as-a-source/651998.md?page=5)