# FOXNews--Fair and balanced my ass: At last the truth comes out! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 30, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593 "2002-11-30T03:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/41 "2002-12-01T06:05:32Z")
I’d like to know the relevance of Bill O Reilly to any conversation regarding political bias in Fox News. MSNBC has Phil Donahue in the same type of position as O Reilly, are they extreme left wing? (Assuming you think O Reilly is right wing, which I don’t necessarily). Tony Snow worked for Bush. Big deal. Maybe Fox is right leaning. That still leaves CNN, NBC, ABC, and CBS for the left. I’m hearing more and more about this and wondering if it’s an attempt to repeat it over and over so that it eventually becomes “fact”. Show me some proof that a news story on Foxnews was biased to justify this line of thinking. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/42 "2002-12-01T09:09:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Witch \* > \*\*Oh, Bill’s my favorite snuggly bunny too **Dio**. I especially like how he always looks like he has a hot poker rammed up his ass, which may explain his ill-bred and bad tempered habit of never letting any of his guests have the last word. > Sean Hannity is another pissah. He’s such a numb-nut I have to ask myself at times if it isn’t an act. The thought that it isn’t is extremely frightening to me. \*\* To be fair, Bill O’Reilly gives his guests the last word all the time. Possibly even the majority of the time. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/43 "2002-12-01T09:11:54Z")
And for what it’s worth, I think the rest of the media is so far left that even if a news station WAS pretty neutral, they’d look right wing in comparison. We’re used to left wing bullshit - any change from that is going to look right wing. ---
**Author:** ![Texican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ebca7d/32.png) [@Texican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Texican)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/44 "2002-12-01T14:55:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Soup\_du\_jour \* > \*\ ***Lib** , can’t someone be both independant and conservative? > > Nevertheless, I’d bet that Mr O’Reilly votes for the elephant more often than for the donkey. \*\* O’Reilly has said many times that he is actually a democrat. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/45 "2002-12-01T15:44:38Z")
[…running from room, pulling hair, screaming…] Won’t someone _PLEASE_ think of the children!? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/46 "2002-12-01T16:46:10Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by SenorBeef_ > > To be fair, Bill O’Reilly gives his guests the last word all the time. Possibly even the majority of the time. Not really. He rants and raves and calls them names for the majority of segement, then he gives them them like the last ten seconds to respond to all the ignorant bullshit he’s been spewing for the first four minutes. And then he STILL interrupts them half the time. And **Beef** , **Oblong** , and anyone else who resorts to that canard about the networks being “liberal,” do you have any actual PROOF of this, or is this just what Rush Limbaugh told you to think. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Texican_ > > O’Reilly has said many times that he is actually a democrat. No he hasn’t, at least not on his show. He constantly says that he is an independent (which is a joke of course). I don’t know how he manages to speak at all with his tongue so far up GWB’s asshole all the time. . ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/47 "2002-12-01T16:55:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Texican \* > \*\*O’Reilly has said many times that he is actually a democrat. \*\* LIE. O’Reilly was a registered REPUBLICAN until just before the 2000 election when he suddenly changed, and NOT to a Democrat. Try again. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/48 "2002-12-01T16:58:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*And **Beef** , **Oblong** , and anyone else who resorts to that canard about the networks being “liberal,” do you have any actual PROOF of this, or is this just what Rush Limbaugh told you to think. \*\* **Diogenes** , It’s obvious how liberal all of the other Tv networks are, since none of them go around condemning homosexuality and other perverted behavior, which is what any truly neutral TV network would do.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/49 "2002-12-01T17:12:55Z")
Beat me to it _Dio_! I don’t think I’ve ever seen O’Reilly give a guest he’s ideologically opposed to (and boy, isn’t THAT hard to tell) the benefit of the last word. He sits there with that pissy look on his face, and in the last five seconds before commercial makes some assinine comment that the guest cannot even respond to. Sometimes it reminds me of the Morton Downey Jr. Show without the “OOOO OOO OOO” s. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/50 "2002-12-01T19:28:05Z")
FoxNews wants to be consired a serious news network. They hired Geraldo “Watch out for that chair!” Riviera. What’s wrong with this picture? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/51 "2002-12-01T19:37:51Z")
Oh, yeah! The last word thing from O’Reilly. I’d forgotten about that. What a farce. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/52 "2002-12-01T19:53:55Z")
I used to watch O’Reilly, but have stopped. One reason is that my wife can’t stand him. A second is his habit of saying to some guest, “I’ll give you the last word,” but then interrupting the guest’s “last word” to reiterate his own POV. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/53 "2002-12-01T20:04:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WSLer \* > \*\*From… the column by Paul Krugman, comes the following little tidbit:… > > “Fox’s Brit Hume even claimed credit for the midterm election. ‘_It was because of our coverage that it happened,’ he told Don Imus.'People watch us and take their electoral clues from us. No one should doubt the influence of FoxNews in these matters._’”\*\* I didn’t hear that particular Imus interview, but here’s [John Ellis’s interpretation](http://johnellis.blogspot.com/). > [@](#): > > As it happens, Mr. Hume did not, in his interview on the Imus show, “claim credit” for the midterm election results. He was mocking the notion that he or anyone else at the Fox News Channel had that kind of power. “It was because of our coverage that it happened” was Hume’s way of saying that anyone who believed that was an idiot. > > The editors of The New York Times op-ed page know this. But they printed Krugman’s drivel anyway. And the question is this: Why would you print something that everyone knows is nonsense? ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/54 "2002-12-01T22:41:46Z")
**december** , Until John Ellis comes up with something a lot more substantial for evidence that Hume was joking, then he already was, which is less then nothing, then I might believe him. Until then, he (Ellis) can stick it. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2002, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/55 "2002-12-01T23:17:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WSLer \* > \*\ ***december** , > > Until John Ellis comes up with something a lot more substantial for evidence that Hume was joking, then he already was, which is less then nothing, then I might believe him. Until then, he (Ellis) can stick it. \*\* Ellis said Hume _wasn’t_ joking. Rather, Ellis said, Hume was saracastically making the point that FOX obviously does not have the power to determine the election. I didn’t hear that interview. If you didn’t hear it either **WSLer** , what is your basis for rejecting Ellis’s POV? ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/56 "2002-12-02T05:13:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*Not really. He rants and raves and calls them names for the majority of segement, then he gives them them like the last ten seconds to respond to all the ignorant bullshit he’s been spewing for the first four minutes. And then he STILL interrupts them half the time. \*\* That’s true. I thought you meant that he’d start on a rant about the person after they were off the show, not giving them a chance to respond, which generally isn’t the case. > [@](#): > > \*\* > And **Beef** , **Oblong** , and anyone else who resorts to that canard about the networks being “liberal,” do you have any actual PROOF of this, or is this just what Rush Limbaugh told you to think. \*\* As much as you’ve shown proof that FNC is conservative. As for actual proof, I don’t know. The subject doesn’t interest me that much, except where it intersects other interests. One of those media watch dog types did a study on gun control coverage, and came up with the national networks having 700 anti-gun slanted stories, 50 neutrals, and 7 pro, or something like that. If you’re interested, I can look it up. Btw, I’ve never listened to Rush Limbaugh in my adult life. To assert that I’m some blind conservative follower is pretty stupid. For the most part, it seems to me that most conservatives are authoritarian conservatives, and are almost as ideologically opposite to me as any authoritarian liberal. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/57 "2002-12-02T15:16:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*WSLer wrote: > > Just when you thought the _NYT_ couldn’t sink to a new low. > > That sort of deliberate misrepresentation — Hume was **joking** , people — by extremist-left news sources is no doubt one reason that Fox News has taken over. People are sick of liberal preachiness and disreputable fabrications. \*\* Excuse me-- are you saying the New York Times is “extremist-left” filled with “liberal preachiness and disreputable fabrications”? With regard to the OP, Fox News is a frigging joke as far as the amount of bias in their “reporting”, but misleading slogan aside, does anyone really not expect that? Fox News was set up to be the mouthpiece of Rupert Murdock’s conservative positions. This biased reporting as proven popular with those who dig Rush Limbaugh and other conservative commentators. So what-- let them have their fun. The Fox News slogan’s accuracy to me is like a beer commerical’s accuracy-- shear fantasy that no one takes seriously. BTW: not only does Coors Light actually taste like shit, wild parties attended by sex crazed supermodels do not magically appear when you pop the top on a can of this ghastly “beer”. Sorry. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@The\_Ace\_of\_Swords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ace_of_Swords)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/58 "2002-12-02T15:28:55Z")
**Elf6c** , the slogan has more import than simply being fantastical and blantantly untrue. It is a _selling point_ to advertisers that Fox is “fair and balanced,” to the extent that there _is_ a segment of viewers who _buy the lies._ (NY Times, yesterday.) And they still use this slogan, despite that no one of import takes it seriously! Huh. Didn’t the Republicans say that they believe in the smart, perceptive, public citizen and the free-market? Bullshit. They believe in the stupid, frightened citizen that they can snow, and the old-boy network. Al finally called them out by name: they’re a disgusting wing of the Republican Party – we need either a counterbalance or a return of the fairness doctrine, but I doubt either will happen anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/59 "2002-12-02T15:41:59Z")
Elf6c wrote: > [@](#): > > Fox News was set up to be the mouthpiece of Rupert Murdock’s conservative positions. Likewise for CNN and Ted Turner’s liberal positions. So what? ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/60 "2002-12-02T17:15:54Z")
**Lib** , you misunderstand. There is nothing wrong with CNN, because its opinions are correct. Therefore, it does not really have any bias. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593.md?page=4)