# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/61 "2002-12-02T17:53:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by december \* > \*\*If you didn’t hear it either **WSLer** , what is your basis for rejecting [John] Ellis’s POV? \*\* Is this the same John Ellis, who is first cousin of Bush jr.? * * * “Fox’s murkiest judgment call may have been hiring John Ellis, the President’s first cousin, to analyze election exit-poll results. Lo and behold, Fox was the first network to declare erroneously that Bush had won the election, prompting the avalanche that followed. We now also know that Ellis was discussing confidential exit-poll information with his cousins throughout election night. At Congress’s mid-February hearings on election night coverage, Ailes said in his prepared testimony that Ellis was merely acting as “a good journalist talking to his very high-level sources.”” [http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/oreilly-sucks/foxbias.htm](http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/oreilly-sucks/foxbias.htm) * * * And as for the alleged “liberals” appearing on Fox: Geraldo Rivera, Alan Colmes, Juan Williams, Cece Connolly (???) , Greta van Susteren, Mara Liason. Just add Pat Cadell and you’ll have the most ineffectual, bland, self-hating “liberals” on TV. I mean, come on, paring up Colmes with Hannity!?! And if anyone cares to read O’Reilly’s latest, he can be found here: > **[Bill O'Reilly: Biography and Latest Articles - Bill O'Reilly](https://townhall.com/columnists/billoreilly/)** > > Bill O'Reilly is host of the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" and author of "Who's Looking Out For You?" and Pinheads and Patriots. > > ©Creators Syndicate the site for “Conservative News and Information”. ---
**Author:** ![o42cDeadBeef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@o42cDeadBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o42cDeadBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/62 "2002-12-02T18:05:26Z")
Here’s a clue for all of you listeners out there - TURN OFF THE TV. If you don’t like something that’s playing, then simply turn it off! Read a book, call a friend, go for a walk, support the common good etc. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/63 "2002-12-02T18:14:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by o42cDeadBeef \* > \*\*Here’s a clue for all of you listeners out there - TURN OFF THE TV. If you don’t like something that’s playing, then simply turn it off! Read a book, call a friend, go for a walk, support the common good etc. \*\* And if one doesn’t care for the thread topic being discussed, they should probably move on to the next one, no? ---
**Author:** ![o42cDeadBeef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@o42cDeadBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/o42cDeadBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/64 "2002-12-02T18:21:19Z")
I suppose. My point is not to belittle the point(s) being made but rather to demonstrate the obvious. I happen to watch the news shows (plural) and read Internet news (e.g. Drudge, et al) to stay informed of current events and when I’ve had enough of a particular hosts’ ‘bias’, I simply turn them off. Same rules apply for those people who fear that the amount of violence and sex on television is corrupting their kids and society. Those shows wouldn’t exist if they’ weren’t watched. Most people watch only enough to become sound bite vicitms and worse yet, they vote too! ---
**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, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/65 "2002-12-02T20:08:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*Elf6c wrote: > > Likewise for CNN and Ted Turner’s liberal positions. So what? \*\* Sorry for the delay. I think we agree- so what. Although I do not think CNN is very liberal. Certainly more liberal then the Washington Times or Fox News though. They are more moderate-centrist in bias (IMHO). NPR-- now that would be more “lefty-liberal”, again IMHO. You never did answer the question I asked-- was that your opinion of the Times, were you paraphrasing someone else, just joking around or what? It was hard to tell from context and I didn’t want to guess wrong. ---
**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, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/66 "2002-12-02T20:35:46Z")
I was exaggerating, though CNN’s leftness is obvious to me. Of course, the whole thread is becoming a farce. Someone posted a link to an Angelfire page as a cite. ---
**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, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/67 "2002-12-02T21:38:49Z")
Cool-- thanks Lib. I agree that most people take the media bias thing a bit too seriously, especially when it is the opposite of their own personal bias. I guess that is true as a rule about many things though. Have a good one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/68 "2002-12-02T21:51:11Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by El Gui And as for the alleged “liberals” appearing on Fox: Geraldo Rivera, Alan Colmes, Juan Williams, Cece Connolly (???) , Greta van Susteren, Mara Liason. > Just add Pat Cadell and you’ll have the most ineffectual, bland, self-hating “liberals” on TV. I mean, come on, paring up Colmes with Hannity!?!_ I won’t argue with your assessment of these commentators, **El Gui**. However, you cannot name 6 _conservative commentators_ who are regular news analysts on CBS or ABC or NBC or CNN or PBS – not even “ineffectual, bland, self-hating” ones. This supports my point that each of those 5 stations is more biased to the left than FNC is biased to the right. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/69 "2002-12-02T22:23:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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. > \*\* Want a [Harriss poll](http://secure.mediaresearch.org/news/MediaBiasBasics.html#Most%20Americans%20View%20Bias%20as%20Liberal) or are you a [Gallup man](http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/392/79028) Despite the labors of groups like FAIR to suggest that members of the media are Conservative, perceptions of the public at large tell a different story. In a 1998 Gallup Poll sponsored by the American Journalism Review, twice as many people perceived a Liberal bias as opposed to a Conservative media bias. A Freedom Forum poll agreed with the Gallup results with respect to Liberal bias save the latter poll found the public perceived only a slight Democratic bias in the media. comments by [Walter Cronkite](http://secure.mediaresearch.org/news/MediaBiasBasics.html) “Everybody knows that there’s a liberal, that there’s a heavy liberal persuasion among correspondents…Anybody who has to live with the people, who covers police stations, covers county courts, brought up that way, has to have a degree of humanity that people who do not have that exposure don’t have, and some people interpret that to be liberal. It’s not a liberal, it’s humanitarian and that’s a vastly different thing.” –- Walter Cronkite, March 21, 1996 Radio & TV Correspondents Dinner. newsweek bureau chiefs? (same site) “There is a liberal bias. It’s demonstrable. You look at some statistics. About 85 percent of the reporters who cover the White House vote Democratic, they have for a long time. There is a, particularly at the networks, at the lower levels, among the editors and the so-called infrastructure, there is a liberal bias. There is a liberal bias at Newsweek, the magazine I work for —- most of the people who work at Newsweek live on the upper West Side in New York and they have a liberal bias…[ABC White House reporter] Brit Hume’s bosses are liberal and they’re always quietly denouncing him as being a right-wing nut.” — Newsweek Washington Bureau Chief Evan Thomas in an admission on Inside Washington, May 12, 1996. Lots of other polls from trade orgs and the like, but these are the big names. Does it mean they are wrong? No. Does it mean they are out of step with the general public? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2002, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/70 "2002-12-02T22:35:42Z")
The most important thing is to recognize bias, then work within it. I enjoy reading the same story on CNN, NYTimes, FoxNEWS, Drudge, NewsMax, the straight AP Wire, and Rueters News Service. Sometimes the London Times, to boot. Gives a nice rounded view. I consider it a game to weed through the rhetoric and innuendo to glean facts. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/71 "2002-12-03T11:15:28Z")
December: Quote “I won’t argue with your assessment of these commentators, El Gui. However, you cannot name 6 conservative commentators who are regular news analysts on CBS or ABC or NBC or CNN or PBS – not even “ineffectual, bland, self-hating” ones. This supports my point that each of those 5 stations is more biased to the left than FNC is biased to the right.” **PBS** John Mclaughlin Tony Blankley **CNN** Robert Novak Kate O’beirne **MSNBC** Pat Buchanan **ABC** George Will ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/72 "2002-12-03T14:18:24Z")
Right, **Icerigger**. Each of these stations has only one or two conservatives, while FNC has 6 liberals. ---
**Author:** ![keithnmick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@keithnmick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keithnmick)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/73 "2002-12-03T19:12:09Z")
I think one Pat Buchanan is worth two regular liberals anyday! ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/74 "2002-12-03T21:14:07Z")
Maybe really skinny ones. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/75 "2002-12-03T23:27:41Z")
December, you asked for six I gave you six. ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/76 "2002-12-04T02:02:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Icerigger \* > \*\*December, you asked for six I gave you six. \*\* On re-reading I realize that my request may have been somewhat ambiguous. I meant to ask for six from the same network. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/77 "2002-12-04T02:06:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elf6c \* > **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.** So you’re saying I should change my plans for this weekend? ---
**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 4, 2002, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/78 "2002-12-04T05:52:24Z")
There are more than two conservatives on CNN, and i don’t think you should rxpect the same number of news analysts on the networks as you do on the 24 hour cable oulets. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/79 "2002-12-04T10:11:59Z")
But the CNN conservatives are selectively dimwitted. The FNC liberals are merely hideously ugly. ---
**Author:** ![litost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@litost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/litost)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593/80 "2002-12-04T10:23:27Z")
Is it just me or are most of the representatives of the Religious Right (apart from the main bosses) young, very pretty women, well made-up with seductive smiles, while the liberal side presents aging, bespectacled women ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foxnews-fair-and-balanced-my-ass-at-last-the-truth-comes-out/139593.md?page=5)