# 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:** 50
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/981 "2015-12-04T20:18:32Z")
Note also that this is just one piece of a much larger pattern. I’m sure lots of news papers/outlets out there don’t give this one item as much attention as others, but doing so _only_ when it benefits your narrative is part of the blatant corruption of rational thought that is Fox News. Further, it’s part of a repeated, intentional, and overt constellation of examples. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me … fool me a thousand times, won’t get fooled again. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/982 "2015-12-04T20:39:36Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Foxnews does not, and as usual did not this month either. Unless the numbers are bad, and it makes it look like the economy is doing worse than anticipated. So, Foxnews viewers believe that the economy is tanking, while unemployment has decreased dramatically over the Obama administration. Because Foxnews is not real news. A litmus test for a legitimate news organization would be to report the jobs number every month. Foxnews fails this, and worse shows its ass by only reporting it when it suits their agenda. But, as I said, there were links to two Fox News stories about the jobs report easily found on their homepage. And it was the big cover story on Fox Business, which I think is the equivalent of CNBC as a more economic driven outlet. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/983 "2015-12-04T20:42:45Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > But, as I said, there were links to two Fox News stories about the jobs report easily found on their homepage. And it was the big cover story on Fox Business, which I think is the equivalent of CNBC as a more economic driven outlet. It was the top story with an alert on top of the page on MSNBC, NBC news, CNBC and every other version of NBC you can come up with (as it is every month on every news site). It was nowhere on [Foxnews.com](http://Foxnews.com) until later in the day where it was buried. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/984 "2015-12-06T19:58:42Z")
> [@SmartAlecCat](#): > > I love how she points out that “ **only** 271,000” jobs were created, though 180,000 were expected. Whenever Bill Maher quotes any comparative numbers, he always makes a special point to helpfully tell Republicans which one is bigger, to avoid just this sort of misunderstanding. Apparently it’s quite common among the Fox News crowd. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/985 "2015-12-06T20:37:36Z")
Oh yeah, here’s one for the “Yes, they actually are that awful” file: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZ-VxhZrCA) FOX takes a video of radical muslims in France ca. 2011 and pretends that it’s footage of Syrian refugees ca. 2015. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/986 "2015-12-22T18:37:46Z")
A Facebook friend of mine brought [this article](http://www.autostraddle.com/this-is-how-fox-news-brainwashes-its-viewers-our-in-depth-investigation-of-the-propaganda-cycle-297107/) to my attention. Entitled “This Is How Fox News Brainwashes Its Viewers: Our In-Depth Investigation of the Propaganda Cycle,” it gets fairly comprehensive as it points out - to keep this literally on topic - why Fox News really is all that bad. ---
**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:** [December 22, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/987 "2015-12-22T18:50:30Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Oh yeah, here’s one for the “Yes, they actually are that awful” file: > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZ-VxhZrCA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZ-VxhZrCA) > > FOX takes a video of radical muslims in France ca. 2011 and pretends that it’s footage of Syrian refugees ca. 2015. At least they didn’t put a (D) by their names. ---
**Author:** ![T.M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@T.M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.M)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/988 "2015-12-23T10:42:14Z")
Governments are always quick to tell us about the new jobs that have been provided by THEIR policies and dodge the issue that the unemployment figures have increased. In the U.K. The government are telling us about all the lovely new jobs but fail to tall us about the 350,0000+ immigrants that have entered the U.K. over the last 12 months far exceeding the number of new jobs so it is only logical that the number of unemployed increases ---
**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:** [December 23, 2015, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/989 "2015-12-23T11:12:40Z")
> [@T.M](#): > > Governments are always quick to tell us about the new jobs that have been provided by THEIR policies and dodge the issue that the unemployment figures have increased. In the U.K. The government are telling us about all the lovely new jobs but fail to tall us about the 350,0000+ immigrants that have entered the U.K. over the last 12 months far exceeding the number of new jobs so it is only logical that the number of unemployed increases Why does that have anything to do with this discussion? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/990 "2015-12-23T11:17:53Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Oh yeah, here’s one for the “Yes, they actually are that awful” file: > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZ-VxhZrCA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuZ-VxhZrCA) > > FOX takes a video of radical muslims in France ca. 2011 and pretends that it’s footage of Syrian refugees ca. 2015. “This content has been removed from YouTube as a violation of the terms regarding scams, spam and commercially deceptive content”. Yeah, you could see how FoxNews footage would qualify. Anybody wanna bet who filed the complaint ? Three guesses, and the first two don’t count. ---
**Author:** ![T.M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ad7895/32.png) [@T.M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/T.M)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/991 "2015-12-23T11:35:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Why does that have anything to do with this discussion? People are quick to accuse Fox of massaging the figures but governments Left or Right are very adept at pulling the wool over their citizens eyes by only telling half truths the manipulation of unemployment figures is a good example. another example the U.K. government told us that a certain ethnic group was guilty of only 25% of a certain crime therefore the other 75% was committed by the rest of the population, true on the face of it BUT the truth is that the 25% was committed by only 3% of the population which shows that their is a problem within that community. We need groups such as Fox be they left of right to put the other side of the argument so that we the people can come to a evenhanded opinion. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2015, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/992 "2015-12-23T11:49:43Z")
> [@T.M](#): > > People are quick to accuse Fox of massaging the figures but governments Left or Right are very adept at pulling the wool over their citizens eyes by only telling half truths > the manipulation of unemployment figures is a good example. another example the U.K. government told us that a certain ethnic group was guilty of only 25% of a certain crime therefore the other 75% was committed by the rest of the population, true on the face of it BUT the truth is that the 25% was committed by only 3% of the population which shows that their is a problem within that community. > We need groups such as Fox be they left of right to put the other side of the argument so that we the people can come to a evenhanded opinion. Perhaps you should start another thread about how the UK government lies to its citizens. My first question would be, have they changed the method that they use to calculate the unemployment figures? If not, how long have they been lying? But like I said, this issue is a different subject for a different thread. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2015, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/993 "2015-12-23T11:51:01Z")
> [@T.M](#): > > … We need groups such as Fox be they left of right to put the other side of the argument so that we the people can come to a evenhanded opinion. There are no “sides” to an argument if everyone is lying. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/994 "2015-12-23T12:17:52Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > MSNBC, considered equal and opposite (which is nonsense) reports the jobs numbers regardless of what they are. Right on top of the page as the lead story. Not attempting to defend Fox News, which I do not watch, but one of the more memorable examples of bias I have seen was MSNBC’s handling of a jobs report. It was a bad report, and everyone agreed on that. However, because of a statistical technicality, the unemployment rate fell slightly. MSNBC had commentators discussing how bad this report was, overlaid with a large text graphic proclaiming “Jobless rate falls” or similar. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/995 "2015-12-23T13:43:41Z")
> [@T.M](#): > > People are quick to accuse Fox of massaging the figures Let’s be clear here - when people say “FOX is full of shit” they aren’t just _accusing_. They’re _demonstrating_. They’re showing, quite clearly, that Fox either lied or misled about a particular issue. > [@](#): > > We need groups such as Fox be they left of right to put the other side of the argument so that we the people can come to a evenhanded opinion. Look, I think we can all agree that fact-checking is one of the primary things the media needs to do. It’s up to them to keep the politicians from lying. And when you catch a politician lying, by all means, call them out and show why they’re wrong! But FOX doesn’t do that with any regularity. Indeed, [more often than not, what’s needed is fact-checkers to keep _them_ in line](http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/tv/fox/), because they lie _all the time_. Indeed, they lie to the point where it really beggars belief that anyone takes them seriously in the first place; to the point where the few times they get it right does not mean that they have earned their place at the big-boy table (or for that matter any justification for existing). Because I can tell you right now, the only reason they got it right was because it furthered their political ideology to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/996 "2015-12-23T14:05:10Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Let’s be clear here - when people say “FOX is full of shit” they aren’t just _accusing_. They’re _demonstrating_. They’re showing, quite clearly, that Fox either lied or misled about a particular issue. In general, when people say “FoxNews is full of shit”, at least on the SDMB, they _are_ accusing. Mostly they are accusing FoxNews of spinning when they would prefer spin in the opposite direction. The idea that FoxNews is more deceptive than any of the other US MSM is mostly selective perception. I refer again to **Bricker** ’s thread on the topic, which demonstrated rather clearly that there is one standard (among liberals) to determine if FoxNews is biased, and none at all for the other MSM. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/997 "2015-12-23T14:50:43Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > In general, when people say “FoxNews is full of shit”, at least on the SDMB, they _are_ accusing. Mostly they are accusing FoxNews of spinning when they would prefer spin in the opposite direction. > > The idea that FoxNews is more deceptive than any of the other US MSM is mostly selective perception. Is this why study after study after study after study after study has shown FOX News viewers to be more misinformed on virtually every significant policy issue than people watching almost any other network, and in some cases worse-off than people who _don’t watch the news at all_? Did you skip over this entire thread? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16771193&postcount=307](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16771193&postcount=307) Also, I’ll take a win on that bet at the end of that post of mine. I fucking called it, man. 😃 But it’s not merely subjective perception. There’s a real and significant difference between FOX News and other major news outlets, and ignoring this is a _bad idea_. > [@](#): > > I refer again to **Bricker** ’s thread on the topic, which demonstrated rather clearly that there is one standard (among liberals) to determine if FoxNews is biased, and none at all for the other MSM. > > Regards, > Shodan Link? ---
**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:** [December 23, 2015, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/998 "2015-12-23T15:47:28Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > In general, when people say “FoxNews is full of shit”, at least on the SDMB, they _are_ accusing. Mostly they are accusing FoxNews of spinning when they would prefer spin in the opposite direction. > > The idea that FoxNews is more deceptive than any of the other US MSM is mostly selective perception. I refer again to **Bricker** ’s thread on the topic, which demonstrated rather clearly that there is one standard (among liberals) to determine if FoxNews is biased, and none at all for the other MSM. > > Regards, > Shodan You’ve been here long enough to know barging into a thread without reading it doesn’t fly. If you will take the time to read the thread instead of threadshitting, you would be aware that the issue with Fox News isn’t bias, its mendacity. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/999 "2015-12-23T17:22:11Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Is this why study after study after study after study after study has shown FOX News viewers to be more misinformed on virtually every significant policy issue than people watching almost any other network, and in some cases worse-off than people who _don’t watch the news at all_? [Listeners to Rush Limbaugh are better informed about US politics and current events that PBS listeners](http://capitalresearch.org/2008/10/pew-research-rush-limbaugh-hannity-colmes-listeners-best-informed-about-us-politics/) - therefore PBS is lying. Correct? > [@](#): > > But it’s not merely subjective perception. There’s a real and significant difference between FOX News and other major news outlets, and ignoring this is a _bad idea_. No, it is merely subjective opinion. The real and significant difference between FoxNews and other mainstream media is that FoxNews is to the right of center, and the rest are to the left. > [@](#): > > Link? [Here you go](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=321995). A very informative thread, consisting ultimately of “This is conclusive” when applied to Fox and “that doesn’t prove anything” when applied to other MSM. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1000 "2015-12-23T18:16:28Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > You’ve been here long enough to know barging into a thread without reading it doesn’t fly. > > If you will take the time to read the thread instead of threadshitting, you would be aware that the issue with Fox News isn’t bias, its mendacity. Leave this to us, please. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=49) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=51)