My take on Fox News
September 1, 2009
Despite all the hate my friends on the left dish out, FOX News is killing in the ratings game. Specifically, if you compare FOX’s right leaning opinion shows like O’Reilly, Hannity, Beck, Greta, Baier and Shep to the left leaning opinion shows on MSNBC and CNN like Olbermann, King, Maddow, Cooper and Hardball – FOX is REALLY winning. Check out the August numbers:
FOXNEWS O’REILLY 3,440,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,937,000
FOXNEWS BECK 2,810,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 2,450,000
FOXNEWS BAIER 2,066,000
FOXNEWS SHEP 1,860,000
MSNBC OLBERMANN 1,114,000
CNN KING 1,063,000
MSNBC MADDOW 885,000
CNN COOPER 827,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 640,000
My friends on the left (you know who you are) constantly point out that FOX News is biased. It is almost a canned answer to anything I post that comes from a FOX source. For example, if I link to an article on FOX News that suggests that it is the coolest summer on record according to the NOAA my leftist friends will immediately point out – “FOX News is biased” and that will be the end of the conversation. They won’t discuss the methods NOAA used to measure the temperature – they don’t think they need to – “FOX is bad” is the only thing they need to know.
My take? FOX News is biased, but no more biased than NBC, CBS or ABC. My friends on the left will now disagree, but I hope they will continue to read my post. For years the news has been reported in a generally neutral way, but from a generally left leaning point of view (POV). NBC, CBS and ABC employed writers, producers and reporters that more often (average 75/25 split) members of the Democratic Party than they are members of the Republican Party. Most NBC, ABC and CBS reporters and producers are attempting to be objective, but their objectivity is colored by their particular point of view (POV). Those of us on the right (about half of the US population) have been bothered by this model and as with most things, the market tends to correct problems.
FOX News was created to offer what they call ‘fair and balanced’ news, but from a right leaning point of view. Most reporters and producers from FOX are attempting to be objective, but their objectivity is colored by their particular point of view (POV). Get it? When someone who is left leaning watches FOX News they are outraged at how biased it is. Why? Because they have never experienced what we on the right have experienced for years. All four major networks ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX attempt to report in a generally neutral way – three from a left-leaning POV and one from a right-leaning POV.
Don’t believe me? Just watch Al Jazeera. Their POV is COMPLETELY different from ours and their model of delivering the news in a ‘generally neutral’ way seems COMPLETELY biased to Americans. Reporting is reporting anywhere in the world, but it is ALWAYS colored by the bias of the producers and reporters making the report.
Lastly, lots of my friends on the left confuse ‘opinion/entertainment shows’ like Olbermann and O’Reilly with news shows. Think of them like sitcoms – they are not news. They don’t pretend to be news. They are left or right wing opinions delivered for entertainment purposes – i.e. to sell ads. Ironically, both my left and right wing friends watch FOX political entertainment programs (as proven by the ratings). Even Howard Stern watches Glenn Beck – he can’t get enough of his antics. I for one, can’t stomach the show.
My hope is that my friends on the left will eventually agree that those of us on the right have a right to our opinions and our biases. We also have the right to have a network that is delivered from our POV – just as they have a right to a network that is delivered from their POV. The market will sort out the rest.
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I concur. CNN is biased. Fox is biased. MSNBC is biased. Any news outlet has a discernible point of view, which one could refer to as “bias.” Conservatives have just as much of a right to listen to O’Reilly blather on as they do Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann.
My problem with Fox News isn’t with their bias, it’s with their ability to actually deliver news to their viewers. Every Pew Research Center study that has been conducted on the matter confirms the fact that Fox News viewers know less about current events than viewers of every other major news network. The most informed viewers are those of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report, arguably the most biased news-related shows one could possibly watch.
Clearly, bias does not affect an outlet’s ability to deliver the news. So if it isn’t bias that’s preventing Fox News from educating its viewers, what is it? I would argue that Fox News often strays from bias into the realm of outright lies. The oft-repeated bald-faced lie on their network that “America has the greatest system of health care on earth” is but the latest example.
Comment by Matt Buck — September 1, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
Yeah but Fox News is biased
Comment by Chris McCroskey — September 1, 2009 @ 1:45 pm
@Matt Interesting take on the issue. Did the Pew Research Center conduct a study on viewers of HBO compared with NBC on their knowledge of current events? Why is it Fox’s responsibility to instruct viewers on current events? I would argue their responsibility is to entertain and retain viewers thereby sell ads.
I watch Colbert and Fox, how do I figure into the Pew study? I reviewed the study you cite (2007) and I wonder if you let your own bias cloud your analysis of it? For example, the study noted:
“There is no clear connection between news formats and what audiences know. Well-informed audiences come from cable (Daily Show/Colbert Report, O’Reilly Factor), the internet (especially major newspaper websites), broadcast TV (NewsHour with Jim Lehrer) and radio (NPR, Rush Limbaugh’s program). The less informed audiences also frequent a mix of formats: broadcast television (network morning news shows, local news), cable (Fox News Channel), and the internet (online blogs where people discuss news events).”
Viewers of the Daily Show and Colbert were similarly informed as watchers of O’Reilly. There was no difference. Your comment suggests that viewers of Colbert and the Daily Show were the most informed, but you failed to note the O’Reilly (FOX opinion show) was included in that list. Do you think your bias caused you to overlook that part of the study?
Ironically, my own bias formed the way I viewed the study. For example did you know that the average viewer of FOX News was more informed than the average viewer of ANY of the network morning shows? Did you know that Rush Limbaugh’s viewers were more informed than CNN viewers, local TV viewers and the network evening news? Finally, would you be surprised to learn that the average O’Reilly Factor viewer was better informed than the average National Public Radio listener?
Get it? I can parse the data to suit my own position. Fox viewers are no smarter or dumber than any other viewer and to say otherwise is to avoid the truth. Fox viewers are Republicans and Democrats, Liberals and Conservatives. More Americans watch the top two FOX shows than all other cable news networks combined. Ouch.
Comment by Alexander Muse — September 1, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
Oh, and here is the link to the Pew study you cite: http://people-press.org/report/319/public-knowledge-of-current-affairs-little-changed-by-news-and-information-revolutions
Comment by Alexander Muse — September 1, 2009 @ 3:19 pm
[...] News playing the part of al Jazeera essentially setting the conservative agenda and setting it way right of the isle. Yesterday it was announced for the third consecutive time, FOX would stand as the lone broadcast [...]
Pingback by » FOX News Plays the part of Al Jazeera in the Political Sabotage of America | Highbrid Nation | Because Knowledge is Power — September 8, 2009 @ 12:23 pm