# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/81 "2012-10-16T19:34:13Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > I actually have a theory that it is a actually a semi-honest mistake, but still an indication of bias. Basically it goes like this. The person who puts up the headlines doesn’t know what party the person being indicted belongs to, but is under a lot of time pressure and **doesn’t have time to look it up.** :dubious: Are you really proposing that whoever is writing copy on a story doesn’t have 5 whole seconds to ggogle a name? ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/82 "2012-10-16T19:52:29Z")
In short, Fox News as a channel is as conservative as you’ll see in cable news, but I also don’t think that’s really particularly a fair way to assess the channel. Anyone who watches Bill O’Reilly or Sean Hannity or Fox and Friends hopefully knows they’re not watching a news show but a commentary show, those are going to be slanted. They’re there because they realize their audience is conservative and there’s a demand for conservative commentary. That said, when I’ve seen their straight news, it’s usually pretty straightforward. In fact, the straight cable news on pretty much any channel is generally going to have a lot less bias. There is some, but it’s no where near the level that you get out of a pundit show. However, even if they’re giving a perfectly unbiased report, being aware of their audience, they’ll still be more likely to report on things that their audience is interested in. So, during the presidential election, you’re probably more likely to see Romney coverage on Fox News and Obama coverage on MSNBC. So, to that end, there is a bit of unavoidable bias simply by virtue of catering to their audience. So, all that, yeah, if you’re going to flip on during O’Reilly, Fox News is about as biased as you’re going to get. But if you’re just watching the straight news and taking the commentary shows as just that, it’s not really all that bad. So it just really depends on how you want to look at it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/83 "2012-10-16T20:48:55Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > A political moderate? You are a rare breed, my friend. Well, I tend to be liberal on most social issues while fiscally conservative. I tend to favor free markets and policies based on sound economic theory. What turns me off about Fox News and the Republic Party in general is less about their politics that it is how they have come to represent a sort of “stupidness” within American politics. Then again, I believe all politics is about tricking morons into voting against their own interests. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/84 "2012-10-16T23:49:19Z")
> [@Docta\_G](#): > > It’s not news. This. It’s the reason why CBC (and BBC until the WMD debacle) is the only news I take seriously. ---
**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:** [October 17, 2012, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/85 "2012-10-17T00:07:10Z")
> [@Greekfreak](#): > > This. > > It’s the reason why CBC (and BBC until the WMD debacle) is the only news I take seriously. And this exactly why Harper’s Reform party is champing at the bit to defund and neuter the CBC. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/86 "2012-10-17T02:01:48Z")
IMO There is some hard news on Fox that is pretty straightforward. Shep Smith, and Chris Wallace do well. There are others who are described as NEWS rather than opinion that sure seem to include a lot of “some say” type of propaganda Here’s a brilliant take on the technique by Jon Stewart Sorry of it’s already been posted. [http://www.aoltv.com/2009/10/30/jon-stewart-explains-fox-news/](http://www.aoltv.com/2009/10/30/jon-stewart-explains-fox-news/) ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/87 "2012-10-19T15:23:34Z")
The current top five headlines on their business section (not their opinion section, but their business section) online: NRA EVP: Obama Will Go After Guns if He Wins President Obama’s Big Lie… EXPOSED The Worst Business Decisions of All Time Consequences of America’s Growing Entitlement Culture Medicare Coverage: Separating Fact from Fiction Can anyone tell me that this is fair and balanced? Four out of five of these articles are clearly opinion pieces in a very obvious direction. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/88 "2012-10-19T16:45:12Z")
That’s Fox Business, which is a separate channel and site (though equally slanted). ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/89 "2012-10-19T18:21:27Z")
Right, but Fox News itself has: “Miss-tweeted” about some vulgar Eva Longoria tweet about Mitt Romney ‘Discrepencies’ in Secret Service Prostitution Probe Did Obama Botch Libya Response… Again Woman, 80, Arrested For Booting Obama-Hitler Sign That’s basically 4-for-4 for slanted headlines. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/90 "2012-10-19T18:26:51Z")
Fox News is total and utter tripe. Its an insult to other meda when it calls iself a News station. No doubt I’ll realise its relevance after I’ve had the lobotomy. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/91 "2012-10-20T14:40:38Z")
[People who watch Comedy Central are better informed than people who watch Fox News](http://thinkprogress.org/default/2007/04/16/11946/daily-show-fox-knowledge/) Say you’re a news station. If your viewers tend to be less knowledgeable about things in the news, would you say you’re doing a good job presenting it? Looking at it completely logically, you are either really bad at informing your viewers, you are really good at misinforming your viewers, or your viewers are mostly mouth-breathers. Sure, it can be come combination of the three. But is any of them actually a good excuse? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/92 "2012-10-20T15:39:39Z")
First: are you saying that FOX slants the news? Yes, of course. Do the other networks do as well? yes. Take the NBC coverage of the Trayvon Martin affair-every image shown of Martin was that of him at age 14 or younger-there was not a single time that he was depicted as an adult. Not only that , there was no pretense at presenting just the facts-Zimmerman was guilty from day one. All of the news networks slant their broadcasts-not one of them presents an objective, impartial look. ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/93 "2012-10-20T16:37:08Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > It is all relative to your own personal views. > > I find all of American news to be hideously right wing, but that’s because I am a typical Swedish-living left winger. I’m an Australian, and I find American politics as a whole hideously right wing. Sometimes I feel ashamed that Rupert Murdoch was spawned in my country. But I always remind myself that a country shouldn’t be judged by its worst creations. eg I don’t blame the British for the Daleks. And I don’t blame the Americans for Jar-Jar Binks. By the same token, we Australians shouldn’t be blamed for Rupert Murdoch. And don’t give me that rubbish about how Murdoch isn’t a fictional character, because I’ve seen Fox News and it is clearly fiction. I particularly like their satirical pieces where they claim things like “climate change isn’t real”, “universal healthcare is a bad thing” or “Iraq has WMDs”. LOL at those zany Americans. You guys have a really great sense of humour. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/94 "2012-10-20T16:39:03Z")
It’s probably funnier from a distance. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/95 "2012-10-20T19:18:46Z")
Molesworth 2, you actually make a great point. Fox News is amazingly entertaining if you view it as a giant parody of the conservative movement. It’s actually quite sad if they AREN’T trying to be a parody. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/96 "2012-10-20T19:53:13Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > First: are you saying that FOX slants the news? Yes, of course. Do the other networks do as well? yes. > Take the NBC coverage of the Trayvon Martin affair-every image shown of Martin was that of him at age 14 or younger-there was not a single time that he was depicted as an adult. Not only that , there was no pretense at presenting just the facts-Zimmerman was guilty from day one. > All of the news networks slant their broadcasts-not one of them presents an objective, impartial look. So you are saying that there is some sort of natural law out there that prevents one side from being worse than any other side? ---
**Author:** ![monavis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@monavis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monavis)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/97 "2012-10-21T21:22:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Because Democrats will cease to exist at all levels of government? (As a side issue I don’t think News Corp. brass like Romney very much in the first place.) The country is very divided, so the Democrats will have their say. The margin is very slim for either person, (Romney or Obama). ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/98 "2012-10-22T12:59:45Z")
When I used to install Uverse TV/internet/phone service, customers would often bug me while I tried to work. the solution? 1. For young people, get the internet working as fast as possible. They’ll leave you alone once they have working internet. 2. For the elderly, get 1 TV working as fast as possible. Put Fox News on. Voila! You won’t hear another word out of them after you put Fox News on. Seriously. I found two elderly households out of probably 100 that DIDN’T immediately sit down and start watching Fox News as soon as I got their TV going. It’s like little kids and SpongeBob. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/99 "2012-10-22T14:24:41Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > So you are saying that there is some sort of natural law out there that prevents one side from being worse than any other side? Probably the fact that each side needs to appeal to the vast majority of people who sit in the middle. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/100 "2012-10-22T14:33:04Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Probably the fact that each side needs to appeal to the vast majority of people who sit in the middle. Is there also a “fact” that they _must_ employ similar methods in similar proportions? “They both do it!” is nothing more than intellectual laziness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=6)