I expect this thread will end up better suited to the Pit than to anywhere else, but this post isn’t really much of a rant on my part. I’m more dumbfounded than enraged.
I don’t get much of my news from TV, so I hadn’t had a chance to form an opinion on Fox News’ “fair and balanced” and “we report, you decide” buisness. Then yesterday I managed to catch a few seconds of their segment on the recent kerfuffle in Alabama over the Ten Commandments monument in a state courthouse.
The headline? GOD BANNED.
What? A ruling that public display of a religious monument in a government courthouse violates the First Amendment constitutes banning God? I don’t even care if you agree with that take on the situation or not - can anyone seriously defend that characterization of it as unbiased reporting of the facts? Is Fox News really always like this? If they are, how can people possibly keep up all this “we report, you decide” stuff with a straight face?
Was it a News program or a News Analysis program? Big difference. The News Anaysis programs (like Hannity and Colmes) do not pretend to be objective, but rather to present a certain point of view.
If you watch O’Reilly, you will hear him agree that the monument should be removed. Ditto with Colmes, although Hannity will say it should stay.
Actually if you want to see real hysterical right-wing rant, go over to MSNBC for Scarborough Country.
Tax God. Pritnear everthing else to which Mankind is devoted pays into the collective kitty. Make sure you get all three of 'em, too, no senior discounts or stuff about a ‘spirit’. :rolleyes:
They always have to accuse those who want separation of church and state as also being for “banning god”, making religion illegal, burning Christians at the stake, etc. I haven’t decided if it is deception or simply extreme stupidity.
In other circumstances, I might be inclined to say it’s just sensational headline writing, and doesn’t disclose anything particular about an underlying bias.
But I’ve noticed that ALL of Fox’s “slips” are in the same direction, so I’m reluctant to extend that charitable construction their way.
That’s not what I’m talking about; this was the little headline graphic they ran at the bottom of the screen, and although I didn’t watch for very long, it sure looked like a news program and not news analysis.
Got any examples? I’m just morbidly fascinated by this. I’d heard liberal types taking shots at Fox News before (“We Distort, You Deride”) but I really never imagined the bias would be so blatant…