Question regarding fox news

[Markson]

My name is Mark.
I’m a soon to be journalism student from Denmark, with a big interest in American politics and media.
Lately I’ve been visiting hannity forums, because this forum has a lot of members with a very right-wing/conservative orientation, and I find it interesting to hear in general what these people feel and think.
There are some questions that I’ve been thinking about regarding the fox news channel, and I’ve decided to ask them of you (conservatives).
Do you watch fox news? (I’m asking on this forum because I’m assuming you probably do)
If yes,
Do you think that fox news are fair and balanced and without the bias and spin? (as they proclaim themselves)
If not, why do you then watch fox news?
I’m sincerely interested, so any serious replies would be appreciated.

[Markson]

I'm sorry about the text being black.
It's because i wrote it in Word, and then copy/pasted it into the thread.
(as english is a second language to me, I wanted the spellcheck..)

[Apatriot]

My name is Mark.
I’m a soon to be journalism student from Denmark, with a big interest in American politics and media.
Lately I’ve been visiting hannity forums, because this forum has a lot of members with a very right-wing/conservative orientation, and I find it interesting to hear in general what these people feel and think.
There are some questions that I’ve been thinking about regarding the fox news channel, and I’ve decided to ask them of you (conservatives).
Do you watch fox news? (I’m asking on this forum because I’m assuming you probably do)
If yes,
Do you think that fox news are fair and balanced and without the bias and spin? (as they proclaim themselves)
If not, why do you then watch fox news?
I’m sincerely interested, so any serious replies would be appreciated.

First, this forum doesn't like many colors. It's best to stick with the default.

Second, I'm conservative, but I don't watch Fox, except with my parents or my in-laws or on election night. I listen to NPR (which is the most fair and balanced), and I watch ABC news, primarily local (for local news).

Why don't I watch Fox? It makes me nervous. There is just too much going on, and the tone is too negative. I do believe that Fox is more balanced than any of the other commerical stations. I stopped watching NBC news because of how unprofessional and biased they've been. Their only shining example of objectivity was the late Tim Russert. I wish that the rest of the media would have learned a lesson on hearing the praise that people from all political persuasions, not just the liberals.

[Mimiheart]

If you edit, there's are two As with a red x through them in the upper left. Highlight your post, and hit that, it should take away any formatting. Also, google toolbar has a spellchecker, and I believe firefox has one built in.

[Markson]

Now in white :D:

My name is Mark.
I’m a soon to be journalism student from Denmark , with a big interest in American politics and media.
Lately I’ve been visiting hannity forums, because this forum has a lot of members with a very right-wing/conservative orientation, and I find it interesting to hear in general what these people feel and think.
There are some questions that I’ve been thinking about regarding the fox news channel, and I’ve decided to ask them of you (conservatives).
Do you watch fox news? (I’m asking on this forum because I’m assuming you probably do)
If yes,
Do you think that fox news are fair and balanced and without the bias and spin, as they proclaim themselves?
If not, why do you then watch fox news?
I’m sincerely interested, so any serious replies would be appreciated.

[RickRhetoric]

Fox is indeed the most fair and balanced. And more people watch it according to all official television ratings.

I leave it on all time because it has bits of news and need-to-know, or nice-to-know information 24/7. It can be a little boring and repetitive at times, but that's tolerable.

In this area, every channel except Fox is high definition. Democratic cable providers do not like Fox.

[MrShotShot]

One can argue "fair and balanced" - what is obvious with Fox News vs other news networks in the US is that Fox goes out of its way to balance opinion on its panels. There will always be a rep/dem or con/lib.

[VCaddy05]

Now in white :D:

My name is Mark.
I’m a soon to be journalism student from Denmark , with a big interest in American politics and media.
Lately I’ve been visiting hannity forums, because this forum has a lot of members with a very right-wing/conservative orientation, and I find it interesting to hear in general what these people feel and think.
There are some questions that I’ve been thinking about regarding the fox news channel, and I’ve decided to ask them of you (conservatives).
Do you watch fox news? (I’m asking on this forum because I’m assuming you probably do)
If yes,
Do you think that fox news are fair and balanced and without the bias and spin, as they proclaim themselves?
If not, why do you then watch fox news?
I’m sincerely interested, so any serious replies would be appreciated.

first off... welcome, I hope you can enjoy yourself and learn a good bit about both sides of the argument here.

Second... Yes I believe that Fox news is the most fair and balanced news coverage you will find on TV. On Fox you do have conservative talkshow hosts like Hannity, and Beck, but they are usually balanced out by guests who hold a different opinion. THe reporting when not watching their commentators are usually very good as well. They do stand to the right of issues mostly,but do go out of their way to balance the issues with opposing Views. Other TV news stations tend to be Very liberal, with little balance, and when they do it seems they always have some half assed republican who doesnt know the issue as well as they should and get ganged up on in the process.

Third... dont worry about spell check, most people type faster then their minds can think half the time anyway. we know what you mean.

[pattyk]

I do like Fox the best. I found Fox before I became a conservative.

the others always seem to be talking "feelings" instead of actual facts and issues.

I flip around, but I go to Fox for the news.

[Tulsa]

When I watch the news, I watch Fox. I feel I will get a better spread of information vs the other networks.

[-American-]

I switch back and forth between Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. I watch Fox News most of the time but like to see the bias leftwing spin of the other two news channels. It makes me appreciate FN more.

From what I've seen over the years Fox News is the most fair and balanced of the three 24 hour cable news networks. Both sides are presented, even on Hannity's show he'll have Democrats on to argue with. I don't see that on MSNBC, and rarely see it on CNN.

[TheBurningRed]

Personally I watch CNN, MSNBC, and FOX. I like to watch all there biased opinion pieces then take it and form a opinion based on what I saw and heard. While I tend to think alot of people believe having a "bias" is a bad thing, but if more people would actually see that bias is a good thing. By what I mean is that it can present a different view on the same subject that just watching or listening to one source (is usually) not enough information.
So while alot of people on this forum will say that Fox News is the only cable news station they watch and its the most "fair and balanced", just remember it does have a bias towards one political POV as much as the other news networks.

[lovehate7]

To put it simply; msnbc is too liberal, fox is too right wing, cnn is as objective as it gets, among the three.

[lovehate7]

Fox news is the most fair and balanced? You must be a comedian. Fox is more subjective then any other News, I believe Fox news employees must sign a contract prior to being hired that states; you will not say any thing nice about someone who isn't a right wing conservative.

[sgdp]

FOX is the best of the cable news networks, but it, to me, leans right.

Why? Because there's a market there. They're a business, and they do it well. Kudos to Murdoch. (Minus the whole charging to view the NY Post online.)

[Justus]

My name is Mark.
I’m a soon to be journalism student from Denmark, with a big interest in American politics and media.
Lately I’ve been visiting hannity forums, because this forum has a lot of members with a very right-wing/conservative orientation, and I find it interesting to hear in general what these people feel and think.
There are some questions that I’ve been thinking about regarding the fox news channel, and I’ve decided to ask them of you (conservatives).
(1)Do you watch fox news? (I’m asking on this forum because I’m assuming you probably do)
If yes,
(2)Do you think that fox news are fair and balanced and without the bias and spin? (as they proclaim themselves)
(3)If not, why do you then watch fox news?
I’m sincerely interested, so any serious replies would be appreciated.

1. No, used to.

2. the actual news? most of the time. commentators and how even they are (equal amount of libs) no.

3. Watched it to get the right wing spin, just like I watched msnbc/cnn for their left wing spin.

[Panhead0422]

I very seldomly watch the "news" because I am very tired of listening to slanted opinion pieces that are labeled "news". FOX news is not slanted as far to the left as the rest of the "news" media is, but that is only a matter of degree. On a compass face, with north (zero or 360 degrees) being the "center", west being the "left" and east being the "right", most other "news agencies" would be at 270 degrees and fox would be at 315 degrees.

[Wookinstien]

To put it simply; msnbc is too liberal, fox is too right wing, cnn is as objective as it gets, among the three.

Fox serves as a counterbalance to the liberal news outlets like ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN. Journalism is dead here in America. It was killed by the likes of Neilson and Arbitron. When news became a sellable commodity then news stories become sensationalized, slanted to your core audience.

So there is no such thing as "fair and balanced", "objective", or ethical.

[jeepers]

All modern day news sources are biased to beat the band. There isn't a single one out there that isn't.

I'm 48 years old and see more bias in the news now than I ever have in my lifetime, no matter what angle you come from. Television or print media, it's epidemic these days.

Calling Fox 'fair and balanced' is much more true than calling CNN and MSNBC 'fair and balanced'. Fox at least ATTEMPTS to balance it's commentary. There really isn't any source of the conservative viewpoint on television that means anything on other stations. They usually have one token conservative that isn't always speaking to conservative issues, or can't speak about it well.

It does, however, lean more to the right.

I watch a smattering of all of it. I don't just hang out on one station anymore. When cable news FIRST came to power in the 80's, your choice was CNN. I remember during Gulf War I, EVERYONE was glued to it. All day, all night, for days. It's where I learned the name 'Wolf Blitzer'. But he was still just a talking face, not a person.

It took the 90s for me to start noticing 'wait a minute, they're really injecting their opinion into things', and that position has been nothing but validated over the years.

I'm at the point where my critical thinking radar is on at all times. I've been fed so much biased tripe in these past two decades that nothing goes through me without going through my personal filter. I don't take anything at face value.

It's a good thing and a bad thing. Bad because I don't just turn on the news, listen and buy it. Fact checking has now become the way of things, I can't trust news sources to do it for me. Good becasue i'm so much more aware of who is saying what, who supports who politically...etc. It's good that I don't just turn it on and buy it. I'm far less likely to be duped. A mixed bag.

There is a a HUGE difference between an opinion show and someone who is reporting the news. If you watch Fox and think 'that Glenn Beck sure is biased', well, hell yes he is. He's supposed to be biased. He was hired to spew an opinion and he does. He's not a journalist, he's a commentator.

What is more important is if Shephard Smith is biased. Shep is a hard news anchor. He's supposed to just report it. Katie Couric and Wolf Blitzer are just supposed to report it. However, that is not what happens.

There is a limit to the amount of bias that one can limit in oneself. Even if your goal is to not do it, you're going to do it anyway. If YOU hold yourself to the standard of being 'fair', you're far les likely to miss the mark than if you don't.

If you treat your audience like they're idiots, you will be less fair. Journalists can have a tendency to act like they're the ones in the know, and the rest of us are stupid. When that is operating, bias is going to be more likely to be interjected into the story. When your ego is out of control and you think that you know it all, it can make you deaf to facts that don't support your theories.

I would advise you, if you have the opportunity to do so, regardless of what your major requires, to take a few courses in 'critical thinking'. Be one of those people who work to be a real journalist instead of an opinion piece spewer. Hard journalists are hard to come by.

I will admit that it's more PLEASANT to watch Fox at times. They're just less acidic in general. Again, I like to listen to a variety of viewpoints, but there are some that I can only stand for a matter of minutes before I have to turn the channel.

What you need to ask yourself when you watch other stations is not just what do you see, but what is MISSING?

Conservative and moderate viewpoints are most times missing on the other ones. Without that, there is NO balance, no matter what they say.

Most journalists in this country have been polled, self reporting themselves as liberal. Doesn't that tell you something? If it's true that a journalist is always going to inject some of their own opinion into everything (even if that means only not reporting something that doesn't support their theory), how can one say that the media is 'balanced'?

It isn't. That is why Fox News was born and has grown to be so successful. A massive segment of society finally had some of it's opinion put back onto television. Some of it's concerns were being addressed again. Considering that regardless of election results, we still currently poll being a center/right country it doesn't take a math major to understand why.

So is the question 'is Fox fair and balanced?' or is the question really 'is any media outlet in America 'fair and balanced'?

Is the BBC fair and balanced? Is Al Jazeera fair and balanced? Any major worldwide media??

[OldBuzzard]

With the the FOX News channel, you have to be able to distinguish between the actual NEWS side, and the Commentator side. That's where liberals get confused.

The actual NEWS side is pretty well balanced, and the tend to not interject 'commentary'.

The rest of Fox News, the commentary programs, Hannity, etc, is very RIGHT leaning. They, unlike the liberals, are very open and upfront about that.

[super cool ski instructor]

Fox news is the most fair and balanced? You must be a comedian. Fox is more subjective then any other News, I believe Fox news employees must sign a contract prior to being hired that states; you will not say any thing nice about someone who isn't a right wing conservative.

I am dumber after reading this post.......:D

[Cold_War_Warrior]

FOX News Channel is seen as a Conservative network because they allow a Conservative point of view to be heard. The others don’t and spend most of the time berating them and their views.

That’s what makes FOX fair and balanced. They report the same news stories as all the others do and more. That’s why more people (Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, Conservatives, Independents, Moderates, etc.) watch FNC than the rest.

[Justus]

With the the FOX News channel, you have to be able to distinguish between the actual NEWS side, and the Commentator side. That's where liberals get confused.

The actual NEWS side is pretty well balanced, and the tend to not interject 'commentary'.

The rest of Fox News, the commentary programs, Hannity, etc, is very RIGHT leaning. They, unlike the liberals, are very open and upfront about that.

Exactly!

[Markson]

Thanks to everyone for the answers. I found them very interesting and informing.

[Samm]

I do like Fox the best. I found Fox before I became a conservative.

the others always seem to be talking "feelings" instead of actual facts and issues.

I flip around, but I go to Fox for the news.

Same here (about liking FOX best... not the before becoming conservative) I used to watch CNN all the time and even MSNBC but they drove me to FOX during the Iraqi invasion. FOX coverage was fantastic... from the field... whereas MSNBC was primarily reporters interviewing other reporters. CNN was fairly good then, but have become increasingly left in the last 5-6 years. FOX has some very conservative personalities for sure, but they also have some of the most liberal you can find on television news. Folks like Ellis Henican or Dr. Lamont Hill are about as far left as you can get and would be right at home on MSNBC and of course there is Juan Williams, Alan Colmes, Kirsten Powers... etc. who are definitely not conservatives. FOX is the only network on which the whole spectrum of political positions can be heard.

I still almost always watch NBC or CBS evening "milk toast" news. They come on immediately after the local news and are for the most part well presented and inoffensive.

[Samm]

Fox news is the most fair and balanced? You must be a comedian. Fox is more subjective then any other News, I believe Fox news employees must sign a contract prior to being hired that states; you will not say any thing nice about someone who isn't a right wing conservative.

Thank you for your comment Mr. Olbermann... isn't there something more you want to add regarding Bill O'Reilly? :razz:



:)) :)) :))

[smyrna]

Let's just say it this way...I get dizzy when I watch the no-spin zone.:mrgreen: