# 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:** 68
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1341 "2017-02-03T21:22:33Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > Themes accurate jobs report was the renunciation of Obama’s dismal economy at the ballot box. Jobs at Uber weren’t cutting it. Can anyone translate? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1342 "2017-02-03T22:27:07Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Can anyone translate? I’m guessing that “Themes” was intended to be “The most”. Of course, with that emendation the **content** of **PCP** ’s comment still doesn’t make any sense (for one thing, how people vote for President is not a reliable indicator of their personal job satisfaction, and for another, a lot more people voted for Clinton than for Trump). But at least the **form** becomes a syntactically consistent sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1343 "2017-02-04T03:02:08Z")
Short answer to the OP, saving 27 pages of discussion: Yep. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1344 "2017-02-06T15:19:06Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > The monthly jobs report came out today and it was better than expected. Over 200K jobs added, although the unemployment rate ticked up. 01%. In the past, Fox has criticized similar numbers as not being as good as they appeared. But today they thought the “first jobs report of the Trump administration” was yuuuge. Amazing what the man has accomplished in two weeks. Well, really more like -2 weeks, since the numbers were collected prior to the inauguration. > > [http://mediamatters.org/blog/2017/02/03/watch-fox-friends-accidentally-praise-obamas-last-jobs-report/215229](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2017/02/03/watch-fox-friends-accidentally-praise-obamas-last-jobs-report/215229) Per Faux News, only 271,000 jobs were created in October 2015, but, oh boy (!!), 227,000 were created in January 2017. Face it, Faux is the propaganda organ of the POP (Party of Putin), fka, GOP. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAlecCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SmartAlecCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAlecCat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1345 "2017-02-25T17:13:26Z")
So they just decided to call an “independent analyst” a “Swedish defense and national security advisor.” [Who is Nils Bildt? Swedish ‘national security advisor’ interviewed by Fox News is a mystery to Swedes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/25/who-is-nils-bildt-swedish-national-security-advisor-interviewed-by-fox-news-is-a-mystery-to-swedes/) > [@](#): > > Nils Bildt, billed as a “Swedish defense and national security advisor” by Fox News, told O’Reilly that Naslund was “rather incorrect” and that there had been big problems with integrating immigrants into Swedish society. > […] > The Dagens Nyheter newspaper reported Friday that neither the Swedish armed forces nor the Foreign Ministry had heard of Bildt. Johan Wiktorin, a fellow at the Royal Swedish Academy of War Sciences, took to Twitter to suggest he had not heard of Bildt either. > […] > Reached via email, Bildt initially said that he did not dispute anything in the Dagens Nyheter report, though he noted that he had not chosen the title with which he was attributed by Fox News. “I made clear that I am an independent analyst,” Bildt said. Later, he followed up to dispute the claim he had served time in prison. > […] > Fox News’s coverage of Sweden has become a subject of debate over the past week, after President Trump referred to “what’s happening” in the country during a rally in Florida last weekend. Swedish experts were confused by the comments, but Trump later clarified he had been referring to a segment with filmmaker Ami Horowitz that had aired on Fox News Channel’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” > > Horowitz’s film had suggested a link between refugees and increased crime rates in Sweden, but Swedish experts say he oversimplified the problem, and two policemen interviewed by the filmmaker said they had been misrepresented by him. ---
**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:** [February 25, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1346 "2017-02-25T19:28:29Z")
Pish tosh! The guy’s Swedish, therefore he’s a Swedish, er, whatever the fuck he is. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1347 "2017-02-27T16:59:40Z")
> [@Pearl\_Clutching\_Provocateur](#): > > Themes accurate jobs report was the renunciation of Obama’s dismal economy at the ballot box. Jobs at Uber weren’t cutting it. The same ballot box where more voters chose the Democrat? ---
**Author:** ![supposedly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7993a0/32.png) [@supposedly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supposedly)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1348 "2017-02-27T18:16:19Z")
Hey people. Without FN I would have no idea where my right wing neighbors are getting their off the wall “facts” from. ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1349 "2017-02-27T19:53:51Z")
I noticed they still slip in NO GO neighborhoods…they’ll even preface it with, “we know you’re hearing they don’t exist but they really do.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1350 "2017-02-28T01:12:28Z")
> [@rock\_party](#): > > I noticed they still slip in NO GO neighborhoods…they’ll even preface it with, “we know you’re hearing they don’t exist but they really do.” Who “slips into” particular neighborhoods? What does “slipping into” actually mean? What is claimed to not exist? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1351 "2017-02-28T01:41:04Z")
I think he/she is saying Fox still uses the term “no-go area” even though it was debunked long ago. Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1352 "2017-02-28T05:20:19Z")
A couple of years ago Fox was reporting that France and Germany had areas where even the police were too afraid to go into…NO GO areas. They apologized for their error, but lately they’ve been mentioning the NO GO areas in France, Germany and now Sweden, even saying “we know you’ve heard they don’t really exist, but they really do” ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1353 "2017-02-28T06:03:19Z")
> [@rock\_party](#): > > A couple of years ago Fox was reporting that France and Germany had areas where even the police were too afraid to go into…NO GO areas. They apologized for their error, but lately they’ve been mentioning the NO GO areas in France, Germany and now Sweden, even saying “we know you’ve heard they don’t really exist, but they really do” Britain also. They also said that Birmingham was a Muslim-only city. * * * In terms of the OP, I want to say that I’ve seen one or two Fox news anchors actually behave with a smidge of decency recently. For example, Chris Wallace recently has given guests like Sean Spicer a fairly rough ride (and I swear you can see in Sean’s face the feeling of “Hey, we’re supposed to be friends here…”) And the reporter that was let into the gaggle did complain about other news outfits not being let in. Most of Fox still remains among the worst quality, and most dangerous, “news” channels in the world. But little things like that give me a little hope. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1354 "2017-03-10T16:10:56Z")
I have a bunch of posts over the past year or so demonstrating that strong jobs numbers under Obama were reported by all major news outlets, but absolutely ignored by Foxnews. Nowhere to be found. Well, today’s good jobs report under Trump came out. Did foxnews ignore it? Nope. Two front page stories: “JOBS BOOM Number of Americans in labor force hits record high” and “Strong February job growth greenlights fed’s March rate hike” I’m sure there is some reason this is suddenly newsworthy, but wasn’t for the past four years. Incidentally, the “leftwing biased media” reported the good jobs numbers under both Obama and today. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1355 "2017-03-10T16:46:02Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > “JOBS BOOM > **Number of Americans** in labor force hits record high” My bold. I haven’t bothered to read the stories, but in the past ISTR Fox really focusing on the labor force participation _rate_, which is, to be fair, a valid thing to bring up. Are they now touting the total _number_ of employed Americans and not talking much about the percentage of the population working? Also, Trump has been President for about seven weeks (god, it feels like sooooo much longer), only some of which were within the sample period for this report. How much effect on the labor market has he had at this point? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1356 "2017-03-11T19:19:53Z")
Well, since there hasn’t been time for any actual policy changes to affect the market, if you want to credit Trump for it you have to fall back on Keynes’ ‘animal spirits’ for an explanation. The argument is that businesses are hiring more because of the anticipation of a more business-friendly climate under the Trump administration. In that case, it would be fair to give him at least partial credit for any employment gains that came after the election, not since he’s actually been President. On the other hand, the economy is a noisy, chaotic thing to measure and I would be extremely suspicious of any declarations of greatness after only a handful of data points. Sure, there have been a few good jobs reports, but that could be due to all kinds of things. Obama had periods of good jobs reports followed by periods of terrible ones. So let’s discuss Trump’s effect on jobs a year or two from now after we’ve worked though a full year or two of data. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1357 "2017-03-11T20:34:53Z")
I’m not talking about whether the claims of affecting the good job numbers are legitimate. I’m just talking about the fact that legitimate news organizations report the jobs numbers regardless of who is president. Foxnews does not. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1358 "2017-03-11T20:37:20Z")
Also, to hit record highs you have to previously be near record highs or hold the record high that was just surpassed. I’m sure Fox gave Obama the credit for that… ---
**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:** [March 14, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1359 "2017-03-14T23:04:26Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Also, to hit record highs you have to previously be near record highs or hold the record high that was just surpassed. > > I’m sure Fox gave Obama the credit for that… Funny you mention that. I work in a casino that is mostly populated with non-urban types. I am hired to deal cards, and any opining I do while working can affect my income directly, so while I am a chatty Kathy, I do my best to hold my tongue during political conversations. (It’s also unprofessional). Sometime as inauguration was getting closer, someone who actually I had pegged as more thoughtful than others in the room, was commenting on how the stock market was doing well which meant that a Trump administration would be great, otherwise it would be tanking. I didn’t say what crossed my mind, which was how well the stock markets did under Obama, and how if he used that logic he would have to concede that the Obama presidency was quite positive. I am pretty confident such a assertion would have been met with silence. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2017, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1360 "2017-03-15T04:11:22Z")
Upthread I said that some of the Fox news presenters are no so bad. I want to take that back now, as I just encountered the substantial counterweight of Tucker Carlson, which is enough to smear all other presenters. I hadn’t seen this presenter before, and watching his interviews with Bill Nye and Jorge Ramos was painful. He cannot even behave civilly let alone rationally. Every ad hominem and fallacy you can think of, delivered while the interviewee was trying to speak. The one good thing I can say is at least he telegraphs when something stupid is about to come from his mouth by furrowing his brow. And, as an aside, I feel bad for Bill Nye having to do interviews like this constantly. Sure, he must make great money. But America seems really intellectually sick right now, and having to shovel steaming heaps of ignorance, from a pile that is not getting any smaller, doesn’t seem a fun way to make that money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=69)