# 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:** 80
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1581 "2017-11-04T22:03:05Z")
> [@ThisIsTheEnd](#): > > Neither one is a _ **source** _ of news, except when they have a reporter on who’s providing information that hasn’t been published yet. > > What you’re really talking about is who spins more blatantly, more frequently, and more ludicrously, and Fox wins that contest like Secretariat won the Belmont. Your first sentence is a tautology. That’s the definition of news. MSNBC has the ability and the opportunity to do a lot of journalism these days. They keep doing it even while they are being equivalenced with the worst pseudo-journalism in US history. I have a broad question: When they are covering the baboon in the white house, why do you need to accuse them (MSNBC) of spinning? It’s clear that no spin is required. Spinning would make the story even less probable than it already is. MSNBC is more informative and ethical than CNN, slant and all. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1582 "2017-11-08T10:25:10Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I like the question mark in the headline. Almost like it comes with an embedded “many people are saying” or “just asking questions”. It’s known in the trade as the “[Cavuto mark](http://www.cc.com/video-clips/8ov5kh/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-the-question-mark)”. If that video isn’t working, [here’s the gist of it](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Citations:Cavuto). ---
**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 8, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1583 "2017-11-08T16:47:40Z")
If you go to the Fox “News” website right now, the day after the election, you’d almost think there wasn’t an election the day prior. Search for the term “election” on the main page…you get three results. The only relevant one is half-way down the page and it is a link to a fox & friends video segment. Nothing to see here folks…move along. :eek: ---
**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:** [November 8, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1584 "2017-11-08T16:56:59Z")
Hannity practically refused to acknowledged the existence of Virginia in last night’s show. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1585 "2017-11-08T17:09:52Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > If you go to the Fox “News” website right now, the day after the election, you’d almost think there wasn’t an election the day prior. Search for the term “election” on the main page…you get three results. The only relevant one is half-way down the page and it is a link to a fox & friends video segment. > > Nothing to see here folks…move along. > > :eek: Strange, when I go to it, the main story is “Election Aftermath” ---
**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 8, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1586 "2017-11-08T17:23:41Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Strange, when I go to it, the main story is “Election Aftermath” Ha! That just popped up. Here is what was there just a few minutes ago (I grabbed a screenshot): [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/BjS9OeH.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/8Oqov) Better late than never I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1587 "2017-11-08T17:38:27Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Ha! That just popped up. Here is what was there just a few minutes ago (I grabbed a screenshot): > > [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](https://imgur.com/a/8Oqov) > > Better late than never I guess. Most importantly, the top editor’s pick is still “Katharine McPhee’s risque new look on magazine’s cover” so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1588 "2017-11-08T17:50:19Z")
I heard hannity utter a drive by last night, scurrying as fast as he could past the truth, on his way to cavutoville: The states weren’t trump states anyway. That’s why this wasn’t news under the fair and balanced banner. How do the people in those states feel about that? Is anyone making equivalencies between MSNBC and Fox anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1589 "2017-11-08T18:40:23Z")
My father in law has come to live with us and he is a true FoxNews devotee. He and I (a flaming liberal) enjoy hashing out the politics of the day. He parrots FoxNews without so much as a thought that they might be lying. He truly doesn’t think they are lying at all. Sure, like anyone, they might rarely make a mistake, but they correct it and move on. But lying? No way! They tell it like it is. Oh, and Obama was a wimp who tried to ruin the country and Trump doesn’t take any shit off of anybody. Thank God for Trump, who won’t let the world push us around any more. So last night, as we’re eating dinner, he had FoxNews on in anticipation of Trump’s speech in Seoul. Tucker Carlson ran a story about how CNN had lied about something or other having to do with Hillary Clinton, I think. They story was somewhat convoluted and I really wasn’t following his point. Nevertheless, the upshot of it was that journalists have a responsibility to report the truth of an event/issue/whatever and they cannot allow their personal opinions to enter into the reporting. Sebastian Gorka enthusiastically agreed. Awesome. Tuck then finished with some damning report about CNN and asked the audience if CNN would report this issue, refute it, or ignore it. Still, the big thing was that journalists CANNOT EXPRESS THEIR PERSONAL OPINIONS WHEN REPORTING THE FACTS. Awesome. Cut to commercial. Coming back from the commercial, Tuck decided to kill time with a bit of reporting about the election. He reported, factually, that Bill D’Blasio had won reelection in NYC. Here were Tuck’s words: “Bill D’Blasio has been reelected as Mayor of New York, but I can’t imagine why.” WTF? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1590 "2017-11-08T18:57:02Z")
This tweet sums it up nicely: > [@somebody on twitter](#): > > CNN: Mueller’s arresting folks > MSNBC: Mueller’s arresting folks > Nick Jr: Mueller’s arresting folks > Fox: Obama may be blacker than we thought That might be a little hyperbolic, but I clearly remember when Trump was preparing for his first overseas visit… that one where he outed the Israeli intelligence source… Fox was prepping its viewers with a chyron about Obama having bowed more often than was previously known. This was before the trip took place. Later that week they were running with “Trump shakes hand of Saudi prince, does not bow.” Somebody needs to tell Fox that Obama isn’t president anymore. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1591 "2017-11-08T19:02:49Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Strange, when I go to it, the main story is “Election Aftermath” Subtitled “Pelosi Gloats as GOP Licks Wounds”. GLOATING! That evil cow is GLOATING! The article contains a 3-word quote fragment from Pelosi saying “door is open” to Democrats retaking the house, wrapped in a bunch of panic-inducing quotes reminding everyone that Nancy Pelosi is a boogeyperson who will be Speaker again if the house flips. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1592 "2017-11-08T19:08:08Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Subtitled “Pelosi Gloats as GOP Licks Wounds”. > > GLOATING! That evil cow is GLOATING! > > The article contains a 3-word quote fragment from Pelosi saying “door is open” to Democrats retaking the house, wrapped in a bunch of panic-inducing quotes reminding everyone that Nancy Pelosi is a boogeyperson who will be Speaker again if the house flips. LOL, I didn’t actually READ the story. Come on, it’s Fox News. Why would I read political stories there? ---
**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 8, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1593 "2017-11-08T19:37:12Z")
Neil Cavuto must be very pleased that his name is in the dictionary. He is all-time _famous_! Like one of those guys who becomes well-known, at least for a while, for going into a random crowd with guns blazing. Yes, like a mass murderer – for Cavuto has been instrumental in the attempted slaughter of reality. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1594 "2017-11-08T20:08:28Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > LOL, I didn’t actually READ the story. Come on, it’s Fox News. Why would I read political stories there? I usually wouldn’t. I was just curious what this mustache-twirling “gloating” entailed, that it would strike such terror into Fox viewers. Of course the entirety of the “gloating” ended up being the sentence fragment “door is open”. Of course this seems to be taken from a statement 3 weeks before the election, referring to the hope that Trump’s horrible polling numbers would help Democrats retake the house. They have no shame. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1595 "2017-11-08T20:14:19Z")
Yeah, I just went back and read that, since you did. I don’t see any evidence of “gloating” Of course, I didn’t expect to see any. There is a cool story about a couple having sex in Domino’s Pizza not going to jail 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1596 "2017-11-09T01:16:52Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Most importantly, the top editor’s pick is still “Katharine McPhee’s risque new look on magazine’s cover” so there’s that. I don’t know how that one slipped in, but on their front page’s “Features and Faces” right now, they have stories more appropriate for their audience, with cutting-edge reports on Frank Sinatra, Jane Seymour, and the Golden Girls. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1597 "2017-11-09T02:55:38Z")
Fox has hired racist huckster Sebastian Gorka as a “national security strategist”. > **[Fox News hires former Trump aide Sebastian Gorka](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/08/fox-news-gorka-trump-244719)** > > "Welcome to the Fox family," Hannity told Gorka. So, yeah, Fox really is that bad. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1598 "2017-11-09T04:29:22Z")
Not even a real German Nazi, but a cheap Hungarian imitation. ---
**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 9, 2017, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1599 "2017-11-09T05:43:08Z")
Well, but Hungary was half of the empire responsible for getting The Great War started. So there is that. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625/1600 "2017-11-09T12:01:36Z")
I had reason to go to [FoxNews U.S. page](http://www.foxnews.com/us.html) just now, and will report what I saw. An orange pop-up alerted me to FOX NEWS FIRST: Donna Brazile: My book tells ‘hard truths’ about Clinton campaign, DNC Other top headlines were: Leave No Man Behind: Expert team prepares to retrieve remains of fallen WWII servicemen from up to 350 feet below ice Authorities search for 3 men who escaped Tennessee jail US army to decide if Bergdahl is entitled to $300G back pay Man on trans-Pacific voyage in ocean rowboat rescued Pence, Abbott attend vigil for victims of church shooting Rep. Marsha Blackburn: To save lives and money, we must cut off federal funding for sanctuary cities New York City school shut down when toddler dies after eating grilled cheese Ex-principal in Kentucky to be sentenced in child porn case 13 Baltimore high schools, no students proficient in math, report says Man who claimed to be first ‘Dreamer’ deported under Trump arrested again for allegedly trying to enter US Las Vegas shooting victims still searching for their heroes [religion] Marine Corps drill instructor abuse case going to jury At the top of the videos list: Air Force hate crime hoax: Past hate crime hoaxes round-up I didn’t copy-paste all the smaller-font headlines, but these caught my eye: California teacher arrested for alleged sexual misconduct while working in Tennessee Pence tells Texas shooting victims ‘we will never leave your side’ (Was it key to their Tennessee sexual misconduct story to show in the headline that the teacher was from California? Was Pence’s church visit so important for Americans to know about that TWO different front-page headlines were needed?) As an experimental “control” I also checked [CNN’s U.S. page](http://edition.cnn.com/us). It may not have been much better overall — Kevin Spacey was the big story — but overall it had more relevance than Fox’s page. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=79) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fox-news-really-all-that-bad/636625.md?page=81)