# This country is fucked: Survey says Fox now most trusted name in news. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 26, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580 "2010-01-26T22:32:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/241 "2010-02-03T01:04:05Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I’m sure you’ll forgive me if I’m a tad skeptical of a poll conducted by the _Daily Kos_ purporting to describe what conservatives think. Most of those figures are so ridiculous it’s laughable. The poll was conducted by Research 2000, not by Kos, and the methdlogy is sound. Those numbers are real. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/242 "2010-02-03T01:06:33Z")
> [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > You really believe that, don’t you? And the terminations of both Rather and his producer Mapes, which occured for exactly that issue… was because… why again? > > Seriously, even virtually everyone on your side of the political aisle admits that those bad actors at CBS were using the trumped up ‘evidence’ to push their agenda, long after everyone else realized it was bogus. > > As for the substance of the story being true, OK I’ll say this for the 10th time on this thread, since people don’t seem to get it: it doesn’t matter. It’s the perception that matters, the perception that CBS was trying to skew (or ignore) the evidence to push their non-politically-objective agenda. > > Same thing with the East Anglia Global Warming stuff. It looks like they are cooking the books, and public opinion moves away from the theory they were evidently trying to push. _ **It doesn’t matter** _ if it’s actually true or not. :rolleyes: It does matter in a place called the Straight Dope. The bottom line is that no matter how you want it to be, the reality that remains is that popularity does not mean fact. There is really no reason whatsoever that a so called moderate or independent would be happy for this situation regarding Fox. BTW the poll does show that independents do not trust Fox also, and as mentioned before, it does not show that the majority of \*\*all \*\*the people trust Fox. There is a reason why the poll has a question mark in the title. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/243 "2010-02-03T01:13:42Z")
Intelligence should be our first weapon And stop reveling in rejection And follow yourselves, not some ageing drain brain Whose quite content to go on feeding you garbage ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/244 "2010-02-03T03:03:55Z")
Is that a limerick? It scans like a limerick, but it doesn’t rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/245 "2010-02-03T03:08:21Z")
Yes, but the poll was taken by Fox! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/246 "2010-02-03T03:20:16Z")
I don’t know what you mean by “it scans like a limerick” since it’s four lines, doesn’t rhyme, and doesn’t have the rhythm or line lengths of a limerick. Perhaps it’s some joke from South Park. Yes, I will assume from now on any time somebody says something inexplicable that it’s some joke from a South Park episode I never saw. That’s what it usually turns out to be. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/247 "2010-02-03T03:30:48Z")
P.S. it’s a lyric from “Running on the Spot” by The Jam, who are somewhere on a musical continuum between The Clash and The Proclaimers. The lyrics are full of typos because I copied them off one of those crappy lyrics site. I mainly like the advice not to keep going to some brain draining garbage dump. They must have had Fox in mind. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/248 "2010-02-03T03:39:31Z")
Speaking of ageing drain brains, have you seen Fox News CEO Roger Ailes lately? [http://www.newshounds.us/2010/01/31/roger\_ailes\_less\_than\_ringing\_endorsement\_of\_glenn\_beck.php](http://www.newshounds.us/2010/01/31/roger_ailes_less_than_ringing_endorsement_of_glenn_beck.php) > [@](#): > > Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and Arianna Huffington had an interesting exchange on ABC’s This Week today in which she confronted him about the “inciting… paranoid style” of Glenn Beck which she characterized as dangerous. Color me suspicious, but Ailes’ response, that Beck was speaking about Hitler and Stalin and that he was “probably accurate” struck me as a less than full-throated defense of Beck and showed some defensiveness. Ailes also claimed that Beck said “one unfortunate thing which he apologized for.” Was Ailes referring to Beck calling President Obama a racist which a deep-seated hatred for white people and white culture? Because I must have missed that apology. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Smashy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mr\_Smashy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Smashy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/249 "2010-02-03T13:18:39Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > :rolleyes: > > It does matter in a place called the Straight Dope. > > The bottom line is that no matter how you want it to be, the reality that remains is that popularity does not mean fact. > > BTW the poll does show that independents do not trust Fox also, and as mentioned before, it does not show that the majority of \*\*all \*\*the people trust Fox. There is a reason why the poll has a question mark in the title. Popularity does not mean fact. You are correct. The OP was about a poll about which was more trustworthy (in the eyes of those responding to the poll). That’s not about facts, not exactly: in fact it’s more about popularity, after a fashion. > [@](#): > > There is really no reason whatsoever that a so called moderate or independent would be happy for this situation regarding Fox. Not sure if you were referring to me, but this ‘so called moderate/independent’ is isn’t necessarily happy or sad about this situation - it just is. What I don’t like is intellectual dishonesty, and it’s something I see an awful lot of here on these message boards, driven by political agendas and in some cases, outright hatred. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/250 "2010-02-03T13:49:59Z")
> [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > Not sure if you were referring to me, but this ‘so called moderate/independent’ is isn’t necessarily happy or sad about this situation - it just is. What I don’t like is intellectual dishonesty, and it’s something I see an awful lot of here on these message boards, driven by political agendas and in that some cases, outright hatred. Oh really? So you see how intellectually dishonest Fox news is regarding Climate Change (an item that will cause more damage the longer we follow the path of doing nothing, affecting millions) and you think that is not worse than what Dan Rather and CBS did? So you see also how dishonest the information given to fox viewers regarding health care reform will make people continue to pressure politicians to do the wrong thing and continue with a health care system that lets many die, go into bankruptcy and limits the freedom of citizens and companies to do business in America? And that also is not worse than CBS did? I’m beginning to agree with others that you may think you are intellectually honest, but in reality you appear as a coward for not dealing (You continue always to ignore the cites that showed fox entertainers and even newsmen telling the American people false or misleading information) with the reality of the misinformation prevalent in Fox news. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/251 "2010-02-03T14:17:00Z")
> [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > Perhaps in 10 years we’ll see similar levels of trust for CBS etc, especially if Fox is caught in some kind of reporting scandal to help the Republicans… the odds of which I’d put at 50/50. [What do you mean, “if”?](http://crooksandliars.com/2008/07/25/mcclellan-white-house-gave-fox-commentators-talking-points) The difference is that Fox [parrots Republican talking points](http://mediamatters.org/research/200902100019) so consistently that its bias isn’t news to anyone who isn’t (to borrow a phrase I hate) “drinking the Kool-Aid”. When someone like, say, [the BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/resources/pressure/hutton.shtml) step over the line it’s big news precisely because it’s so out of character. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Smashy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mr\_Smashy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Smashy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/252 "2010-02-03T14:29:07Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > [What do you mean, “if”?](http://crooksandliars.com/2008/07/25/mcclellan-white-house-gave-fox-commentators-talking-points) > > The difference is that Fox [parrots Republican talking points](http://mediamatters.org/research/200902100019) so consistently that its bias isn’t news to anyone who isn’t (to borrow a phrase I hate) “drinking the Kool-Aid”. When someone like, say, [the BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/resources/pressure/hutton.shtml) step over the line it’s big news precisely because it’s so out of character. Well, personally I wouldn’t say that that scandal arises to the level of what CBS was caught doing (trying to throw an election). You can judge for yourself, of course. Don’t get me wrong, I’m trying to defend Fox per se… I’m trying to get people to realize that the other networks were complicit in this situation. Something that the ‘blame Fox first’ crowd doesn’t seem to want to admit. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Smashy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mr\_Smashy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Smashy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/253 "2010-02-03T14:48:29Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Oh really? > > So you see how intellectually dishonest Fox news is regarding Climate Change (an item that will cause more damage the longer we follow the path of doing nothing, affecting millions) and you think that is not worse than what Dan Rather and CBS did? > > So you see also how dishonest the information given to fox viewers regarding health care reform will make people continue to pressure politicians to do the wrong thing and continue with a health care system that lets many die, go into bankruptcy and limits the freedom of citizens and companies to do business in America? And that also is not worse than CBS did? > > I’m beginning to agree with others that you may think you are intellectually honest, but in reality you appear as a coward for not dealing (You continue always to ignore the cites that showed fox entertainers and even newsmen telling the American people false or misleading information) with the reality of the misinformation prevalent in Fox news. Well, again you are confusing people’s perception with what your ‘facts’ (which are in dispute, but I’ll resist the threadjack lure). You didn’t link to the Fox ‘misinformation’ about Climate Change (can’t call it Global Warming I guess, as it’s damn cold these days), so I have no way to judge. But let’s assume, just between the two of us, they have been saying it’s in doubt, that it’s not settled science. That’s actually [what](http://people-press.org/report/556/global-warming) people believe. > [@](#): > > There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. And fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem – 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 2008. > > (snip) > > Over the same period, there has been a comparable decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. Just 36% say that currently, down from 47% last year. So, putting aside whether Global Warming is happening, human caused, etc… The PERCEPTION of people is that Fox is telling them what they already believe. Which is WHY THEY ARE THE MOST TRUSTED. Remember, there are almost twice as many conservatives as there are liberals in America - Fox is better aligned with what they want to hear. Seems like good business to me. You and others continue to decry that they are lying, they are convincing people that HCR is bad so they are getting people killed through lack of care, isn’t that worse than tyring to throw an election through falsified memos, etc. You completely miss the point. You need to forget about whether they are ‘right’ or not, from your point of view, as it _ **doesn’t matter** _. That’d be some intellectual honesty I’d like to see. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/254 "2010-02-03T14:53:10Z")
CBS wasn’t “caught trying to throw an election.” You lose all credibility when you spout that kind of inane bullshit. It makes you sound like one of the idiots on Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/255 "2010-02-03T15:04:38Z")
The smoke was fake but the fire was real. Somehow that escapes attention. It’s interesting how people who watch Fox News and voted for Bush discover they have this deep well of integrity and respect for the truth when it comes to Dan Rather or Bill Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/256 "2010-02-03T15:13:51Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Yes, but the poll was taken by Fox! 😉 But it comes with a free Frogurt! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/257 "2010-02-03T15:44:08Z")
> [@cricetus](#): > > The smoke was fake but the fire was real. Somehow that escapes attention. You say that as though it were established fact. It’s not. It’s a matter in dispute. CBS knew this, which is why they presented the documents. They wished to buttress the case for the story that Bush failed to report as ordered. But that story is by no means universally accepted as true, with or without forged documents backing it up. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Smashy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mr\_Smashy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Smashy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/258 "2010-02-03T15:50:35Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > CBS wasn’t “caught trying to throw an election.” That’s your opinion. Mine’s different. It was [painfully obvious](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian_documents_controversy) to virtually everyone that those were fake docs. > [@](#): > > The authenticity of the documents was challenged within hours on Internet forums and blogs, with questions initially focused on alleged anachronisms in the documents’ typography and content soon spreading to the mass media. Although CBS and Rather defended the authenticity and usage of the documents for a two-week period, continued scrutiny from other news organizations and independent analysis of the documents obtained by USA Today and CBS raised questions about their validity and led to a public repudiation on September 20, 2004. Rather’s well known as a Texas Democrat - he’s spoken at the Texas Democratic Committee meetings, his daughter is high up in Dem circles, and he’s helped raise money for them. And consider the timing: this incident was very close to election time, an October Surprise. If you’re asking me if I have a Post-It note from Dan’s office with scribbling on it that says, "_Continue to push falsified memos as if they are genuine, even after everyone else in the world knows they aren’t, in an effort to get Kerry elected_, um no I don’t have that. But to me, 2+2=4, and the dots don’t need too much connecting here. Unless you are blinded by an agenda and refuse to see the truth. Your call. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/259 "2010-02-03T15:56:05Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > You say that as though it were established fact. > > It’s not. It’s a matter in dispute. No, it really isn’t. There is ample other evidence without the dics, including the testimony of the woman who typed the original docs (before Rove pulled the switcheroo ;)). I don’t want to get off on a tangent here – “Bush was a deserter” is becoming his “Clinton got a blow job” – but it’s really beyond any reasonable dispute that he blew off the last several months of his ANG duty, and that it was basically ignored because of who his father was. We lefties accepted that Clinton was a horndog, and that it was silly to deny it a long, long time ago. It wouldn’t kill you guys to admit that your boy got the rich kid treatment during Nam. I don’t even blame him for doing it. I woul have done the same thing faced with those choices and those advantages…well, except for the desertion part. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580/260 "2010-02-03T15:57:09Z")
> [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > So, putting aside whether Global Warming is happening, human caused, etc… The PERCEPTION of people is that Fox is telling them what they already believe. > > … > > You completely miss the point. You need to forget about whether they are ‘right’ or not, from your point of view, as it _ **doesn’t matter** _. > [@Mr\_Smashy](#): > > Unless you are blinded by an agenda and refuse to see the truth. Your call. I find these statements to be somewhat at odds with one another. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-country-is-fucked-survey-says-fox-now-most-trusted-name-in-news/526580.md?page=14)