# Is Fox News really all that bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 3, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625 "2012-10-03T21:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 133
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2643 "2020-11-02T04:55:49Z")
Well, to be fair I didn’t really watch them much before that. They had that on in the physical therapy clinic that I went to after I had knee surgery, and at the time (and time of day), it was mostly actual news with some lifestyle type stuff, with a bias to the right, but not exactly propaganda either. So it was something that I could sort of halfway listen to while I did various exercises without having to actually concentrate on it, and the bias was not exactly well hidden, but it wasn’t what it is today. Sometime not long after that, my buddy was on there (Happening Now, I believe), and I decided that I could do without it entirely after that, and asked the PT folks to just turn it off. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2644 "2020-11-02T18:52:21Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That was the point when I resolved not to watch them any more; you don’t get a literal expert on a subject on your show, have them state that historically this wasn’t out of the ordinary, and then badger them about it because it doesn’t line up with their particular line of propaganda. That’s journalistically unethical and just bullshit all around. My raging RW father constantly claims the likes of Hannity, O’Reilly, even Rush Limbaugh are fair and balanced because he says they let people with opposing views on their shows ( or take their calls in the case of talk radio ). That claim is specious because it’s true only in the most extreme academic sense. From what I’ve observed during the times I’ve had to suffer through watching it as a captive audience, those on the show with opposing views are mocked, constantly interrupted, and misrepresented via strawman arguments…much to the satisfying entertainment of their viewers. The hapless guest ( or caller ) is never allowed to re-rebut, much less get to point out the misrepresentation being used against them. Anybody with any objectivity at all can see the utter sham of the claim of being “far & balanced”. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2645 "2020-11-02T19:00:41Z")
The awful thing is that my buddy’s appearance was essentially apolitical. He’s a professional military historian, and is apparently something of an authority on the US treatment of POWs. Not that it stopped them from interrupting him and trying to lead him into the answers they wanted. He did a fine job of sticking to his guns and refuting them as much as possible, but they were determined to “prove” that the Obama administration had negotiated a poor deal for Bergdahl and let a bunch of terrorists free. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2646 "2020-11-03T18:48:46Z")
The Fox website has been surprisingly bipartisan today. There were a few editorials earlier that were pro-Biden and just now a pro-Trump editorial that said we must support Biden if he wins. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2647 "2020-11-03T19:30:27Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > The Fox website has been surprisingly bipartisan today. There were a few editorials earlier that were pro-Biden and just now a pro-Trump editorial that said we must support Biden if he wins.- Hedging their bets? Maybe they’re afraid they’ll go out of business if DJT crashes and burns. “Donald Who? Never heard of the guy.” ~~If~~ When DJT loses, Fox is going to be one of the many entities he blames. No doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2648 "2020-11-03T20:53:34Z")
A Slate piece the other day quoted a Murdoch “insider” saying that they would be very comfortable being the voice of the resistance in a coming Dem regime. Fox has always been the leader of grievance America, it will be poised to be the center of conservative whining for a very long time. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2649 "2020-11-03T22:11:43Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > When DJT loses, Fox is going to be one of the many entities he blames. No doubt. Trump was already blaming Fox this morning. Apparently, the network was doing some crazy shit, like actually showing Obama speaking. Beyond the pale. I mean, they should have been ignoring Biden completely, and Trump was just not impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2020, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2650 "2020-11-03T22:12:29Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Fox has always been the leader of grievance America, it will be poised to be the center of conservative whining for a very long time. Deficits are going to become a crisis again. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2651 "2020-11-04T00:41:45Z")
So is the pandemic. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2652 "2020-11-04T00:59:08Z")
But does it stop being a hoax right away or not for 87 days? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2653 "2020-11-04T01:20:31Z")
In 87 Days, people will have been convinced that Biden was totally responsible for the pandemic. Fox News will be blaming him for creating it. ---
**Author:** ![lum\_s\_husband](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lum_s_husband/32/3698_2.png) [@lum\_s\_husband](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lum_s_husband)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2654 "2020-11-04T01:28:21Z")
In 87 days, Biden will have already been president for 12 years. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lantern2/32/3010_2.png) [@Lantern2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern2)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2655 "2020-11-04T11:08:51Z")
No doubt Fox is terrible in many ways but you do have to give them credit for calling Arizona before anyone else, apparently angering the Trump people. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2656 "2020-11-04T15:30:12Z")
Why am I already seeing over 6K new covid cases in the US today? ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2657 "2020-11-04T20:42:26Z")
We are at 60K new cases and over 600 deaths today. I think I was misled. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2658 "2020-11-05T04:44:22Z")
I posted about this in another thread, but I was watching Maddow and she was all doom and gloom about Arizona which gave me some anxiety. I surfed to Fox and Bill Hemmer was calmly explaining to a surprisingly non-argumentative Sean Hannity why Biden was sure to win Arizona. I wasn’t even catching the details, I was just soothed because someone was telling me what I wanted to hear. Then I thought “Oh shit, this is how it starts” and I grabbed the remote and changed the channel.😄 Their coverage has been surprisingly neutral, I must say. I usually add them to the Election night channel surf rotation unless the D is getting butchered. They actually do have really good analytics and it’s an added bonus if their analysts start pissing off their commentators. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2659 "2020-11-06T03:05:00Z")
I think that even Fox news has to realize that civil war is bad for business. There is a fine line between scared and angery enough to compulsively watch Fox and scared and angry enough to take up arms against the government. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2660 "2020-11-06T14:00:34Z")
FOX will go where the ratings are. It’s not like they actually have _principles_ or anything. ---
**Author:** ![MildlyAnnoyed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mildlyannoyed/32/4981_2.png) [@MildlyAnnoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MildlyAnnoyed)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2661 "2020-11-06T16:51:09Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > There is a fine line between scared and angery enough to compulsively watch Fox and scared and angry enough to take up arms against the government. That depends on which government we’re talking about. And what parts scared / angry might be in the mix. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/2662 "2020-11-16T18:51:42Z")
Apparently, stumbling over his words makes Joe Biden “[barely literate and in cognitive decline](https://www.news.com.au/national/barely-literate-joe-biden-should-never-have-accepted-nomination/video/c3f9bf949940074ae005b326add078ab)”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=132) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=134)