# What can we do about Fox News? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 24, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693 "2012-10-24T03:20:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/1 "2012-10-24T03:20:43Z")
At this point, it’s abundantly clear that Fox News not only fails to be “Fair and Balanced,” but actively produces ignorance and misinformation on a host of issues: see [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=667548) for detailed arguments and cites. So now the question is…what do we do? As much as I’d like to believe that “the truth will prevail,” frankly, I don’t think that’s the case. No matter how much the “liberal” media points out the hypocrisy and inaccuracy of the claims put forth by Fox’s opinion shows (and even it’s “news” segments), every bit of it is dismissed by Fox’s followers as part of the liberal conspiracy. However, legislative or judicial action seems to be right out. The First Amendment, after all, is the cornerstone of our society. Moreover, even if Fox was doing anything that technically wasn’t protected by freedom of the press, there is no doubt in my mind that any government prosecution would merely energize their base, and that any successful civil suit would spawn hundreds of baseless copy-cat cases against MSNBC, NPR, etc. So how do we, the educated elite (mostly liberal, but I hope that some conservatives will acknowledge the harm Fox is doing to their own side and to the nation), fix this problem? How do we prevent future misinformation, and undo past harm, caused by the Fox News channel’s shameless agenda? ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/2 "2012-10-24T03:24:13Z")
Don’t watch it and mock those that do. ---
**Author:** ![humblebumble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@humblebumble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humblebumble)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/3 "2012-10-24T03:24:31Z")
Fox News is a lost cause. I suggest sitting back and watching the freak show. ---
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/4 "2012-10-24T03:26:44Z")
> [@humblebumble](#): > > Fox News is a lost cause. I suggest sitting back and watching the freak show. One problem with this plan: The freak show audience can vote. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/5 "2012-10-24T03:35:55Z")
\*\*What can we do about Fox News? \*\* Point and laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/6 "2012-10-24T03:40:00Z")
Write to their advertisers. (Well, it’s slightly better than merely making mock.) And, of course, criticize harshly in opinion forums like this. It’s part of social consensus building. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/7 "2012-10-24T03:43:56Z")
Step one - stop referring to yourself as the “educated elite”, it plays right into their agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/8 "2012-10-24T04:56:53Z")
\*\*What can we do about Fox News? \*\* Simple - watch it. After a while, you’ll realize how badly you’ve been lied to over the years by the mainstream media. FOX ain’t perfect, but they are a helluva lot closer to “fair and balanced” than anything else out there. ---
**Author:** ![Reyemile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/46a35a/32.png) [@Reyemile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reyemile)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/9 "2012-10-24T05:29:40Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Step one - stop referring to yourself as the “educated elite”, it plays right into their agenda. The “us” there was dopers; believe me, there are plenty of dumb liberals who I’m almost regretful to say are on “my side” ---
**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:** [October 24, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/10 "2012-10-24T06:07:05Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > \*\*What can we do about Fox News? > \*\* > > Simple - watch it. After a while, you’ll realize how badly you’ve been lied to over the years by the mainstream media. Nope, after a while there is plenty of evidence, not just opinion but based on facts, that FOX is the one lying or being incompetent nincompoops. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Qbn1rCZz1ow/maxresdefault.jpg "24 - Global warming has stopped? Again??") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbn1rCZz1ow) Jump to minute 3 and 15 seconds on this video to see FOX and friends repeating a confirmed falsehood as news. I have seen already several examples of FOX news just regurgitating what the Daily Fail says, and corrections are virtually never coming from them. FOX news just spews utter nonsense. > **["Utter Nonsense": 10 Scientists Who Have Criticized Fox's Climate Coverage](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-nation/utter-nonsense-10-scientists-who-have-criticized-foxs-climate-coverage)** ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/11 "2012-10-24T06:18:16Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > \*\*What can we do about Fox News? > \*\* > > Simple - watch it. After a while, you’ll realize how badly you’ve been lied to over the years by the mainstream media. > > FOX ain’t perfect, but they are a helluva lot closer to “fair and balanced” than anything else out there. I agree we should all watch it, but not for the reasons you think. We need to watch it so we can see the kind of utter bullshit they’re feeding the misinformed so we can speak intelligently to them about these topics to demonstrate to them the astounding extent Fox has lied to them. ---
**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:** [October 24, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/12 "2012-10-24T06:27:50Z")
“Watch”? Is watching television news common amongst netizens these days? Seems like most of us get real news from the series-of-tubes rather than the tube. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/13 "2012-10-24T06:36:01Z")
Don’t be so sure than the “Liberal” media are much better. In fact, they’re the ones who should be smart enough to know better. And what the hell do you intend to do about Fox anyway? Do you want to take away their free speech? How do you think that’ll go over? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/14 "2012-10-24T06:38:20Z")
Watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/15 "2012-10-24T08:35:57Z")
Without Fox news, the Daily Show would be significantly less funny. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/16 "2012-10-24T11:08:01Z")
> [@Reyemile](#): > > At this point, it’s abundantly clear that Fox News not only fails to be “Fair and Balanced,” but actively produces ignorance and misinformation on a host of issues: see [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=667548) for detailed arguments and cites. > > So now the question is…what do we do? > > As much as I’d like to believe that “the truth will prevail,” frankly, I don’t think that’s the case. No matter how much the “liberal” media points out the hypocrisy and inaccuracy of the claims put forth by Fox’s opinion shows (and even it’s “news” segments), every bit of it is dismissed by Fox’s followers as part of the liberal conspiracy. > > However, legislative or judicial action seems to be right out. The First Amendment, after all, is the cornerstone of our society. Moreover, even if Fox was doing anything that technically wasn’t protected by freedom of the press, there is no doubt in my mind that any government prosecution would merely energize their base, and that any successful civil suit would spawn hundreds of baseless copy-cat cases against MSNBC, NPR, etc. > > So how do we, the educated elite (mostly liberal, but I hope that some conservatives will acknowledge the harm Fox is doing to their own side and to the nation), fix this problem? How do we prevent future misinformation, and undo past harm, caused by the Fox News channel’s shameless agenda? Your way of thinking is far more dangerous than Fox news could ever hope to be. Conservatives know how to pick out the bullshit just like liberals do. The liberal base has it’s own nut groups just like the conservatives do, it ballances things out. ---
**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 24, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/17 "2012-10-24T11:37:43Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Your way of thinking is far more dangerous than Fox news could ever hope to be. Conservatives know how to pick out the bullshit just like liberals do. The liberal base has it’s own nut groups just like the conservatives do, it ballances things out. Another believer in the supposed natural law that states that it is impossible for one side to be worse than the other? Pure intellectual laziness. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/18 "2012-10-24T11:44:14Z")
I think if you can wait long enough then a majority of Fox News (and Limbaugh and his ilk) will die of old age. Their median age seems to be mid-60s from what I can find, which admittedly is not much. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/19 "2012-10-24T12:01:57Z")
I don’t see the problem. Republicans have Fox News… And the Libs/Dems have just about every other Newstation on the planet. [I’m talking about on air media.] ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693/20 "2012-10-24T13:22:14Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I don’t see the problem. > > Republicans have Fox News… > > And the Libs/Dems have just about every other Newstation on the planet. [I’m talking about on air media.] Reality has a well known liberal bias after all. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-about-fox-news/638693.md?page=2)