Don't get me wrong, FNC is my favorite news channel. But let us all be honest. Their anchors , and especially their hosts are nearly all conservatives. "Usually Fair and Rarely Balanced" I say.

I'll agree with you there.

Semi-fair and sort of balanced.

Fox conservatives:
Britt Hume
Bill O'Reilly
Sean Hannity
Shepard Smith
John Gibson
David Asmund
Tony Snow
? Rita Cosby?

Fox liberals:
Neil Cavuto
Alan Colmes
Greta Van Sustern
Linda Vester
Orlando Selenas
Geraldo Rivera
? Judith Regan ?

So who am I missing and where am I wrong?

its pretty much divided, they are trying to sway a bit more toward conservitive because that is who ussually watches the show. i dont really know another conservitive station, do you? i like allan & colmes, but o-reilly is starting to get too moral on me.

I think it is the other way around.

Fox hasn't been around too long. When they were just starting, they advertised heavily on Rush Limbaugh. Rush even did live reads for them (for a steep price, I'm sure).

Mike

I not sure that Cavuto's a liberal...
O'Reilly a favorite of mine, mainly because he doesn't back down from tough issues
Let's not forget the morning show crew, more conservatives (Doocy and Kilmeade) ED's kinda moderate.

I think Cavuto tries very hard to be fair. Probably the hardest on all of Foxnews.

While I have no specific instances to site, I do recall him displaying liberal leanings on quite a few occasions (I remember yelling at the TV ).

I always watch his show, so I'll point it out next time.

I used to like O'Reilly a lot more than I do now. He gets the big contract, the Radio show, and he instantly transforms himself from a news reporter to a news maker.

He used to use note cards, assumedly scribbled with facts and quotes. Now, he uses his opinion. He's closer to Geraldo than ever before.

He's blatantly lied to us all before, and I'm certain he'll do it again.

Next topic: morning show crew. I don't really watch the morning show. I can't remember one instance when I was watching it. Is it a bunch of fluff or what?

I do like Foxnews Sunday. Great guests, and I like Tony Snow.

Mike

yeah i agree, he is too opinionated. which causes him to eat his words sometimes, geraldo sucks too.

Well add another conservative to the list - Gingrich signs deal with Fox News

I've seen O'Reilly "eat his words" once and I watch the show nearly every night. You want ridiculous? Try Sean Hannity. O'Reilly's my favorite FNC host.

How do you find Hannity to be "worthy of ridicule"? I read his book, listen to his radio show, and on occasion, watch his TV program. He is a well-spoken conservative who does an excellent job of styling himself after Reagan.

I've watch his how nearly every night. He rarely uses any logic when framing an argument, just call them socialist or talk about the "nuclear freeze"
"Winning the war of liberty over liberalism"
Ridiculous.

I am in the process of reading his book, and watch 'Hannity & Colmes' and occasionally listen to his radio station. He is my favorite politicion.

Great book by the way, every conservitive should read it.

O'reilly tends to be much more rational...

Mike...Neil Cavuto is far from being liberal. Sometimes he comes off that way because he's such a nice guy!

Don't get me wrong - I really like Neil Cavuto.

He actually keeps me tuned in to watch financial news. I am still amazed by that.

I think "Team Cavuto" is strong and fair.

And I don't know why everyone complains about his ties.


Mike



*Edited for a spelling error I should have caught.

Guess I may as well put in my 2cent's worth. I watch Fox a lot. It is my favorite. But I have to share with my husband and watch the stock channels also.
It isn't very hard to give it up when Shep. Smith and a couple of the other really loud mouths come on. They tend to make it sound like a Tabloid. O'Reilly used to be really good, but now I find him offensive much of the time. He interrupts people and is generally rude. Some may call this not backing down, but that is not how I see it. He really doesn't listen much of the time, and that sure isn't fair and balanced. I do listen to him in the car a lot.
Neil Cavuto is a favorite as is Tony Snow, but Britt is my all time favorite. He is conservative no doubt, but he does listen and I think try to be fair.
What do you all think of the panel on his special report?

The panel's all conservative except Juan Williams and he doesn't get on much. Fred Barnes is hilarious...

Special Report is a show that I really do not watch. It is on during The Simpsons, and I need to take a break sometime.

But I do like Britt Hume. He's definitely conservative, and isn't afraid to laugh at a ridiculous story.

I can't stand The Beltway Boys. I find them boring. Therefore I usually find the panel boring.

Mike

turnea:

I agree with that though I don't think I would call Mura Liasson anything but Liberal. You are right about Barnes.

Mike,
Fortuanately to each his own...I find the Simpsons boring and some other things I won't go into.
Love Sun. mornings, but mostly that is church service time.

I also enjoy watching Brit's panel on Fox. Fred and Bill are very conservative. Mora and Mort are moderates. Juan and Cecy are liberal.

My favorites are Neil Cavuto, Tony Snow and Shepard Smith. I really miss reading Tony Snow's weekly commentaries. I always look forward to Neil's commonsense segments. In my opinion, Shepard Smith is their strongest interviewer. His interviews with Hassan Abdel Rahman are my personal favorites. He also returns some of my emails. You gotta love that!

Since this is my first post I decided to take on a relatively innocent, harmless issue. I am a loyal CNN watcher, and usually I don't watch the opinion show's there either, besides maybe crossfire sometimes. I tried watching fox news a few times, till I heard the people on the morning show blaming Bill clinton for just about everything.

Something that wasn't pointed out here though is that FOX news is owned by rupert murdoch the cheif executive officer of fox news...A supposed conservative, but I don't think you can even call him that. I think he is a conservative so far as it is necessary in helping him succede. Murdoch was once quoted as calling lenin "the great teacher" Yikes! If you have ever seen the james bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies, you can see alot of resemblances between Elliot Carver, and Rupert Murdoch. I find it kind of scary that this man is in charge of alot of things we may watch, or read, or think...The only problem with my argument against fox is I also love the simpsons...darn it...

"No children have ever meddled with the republican party and lived to tell about it."

Sideshow bob

Wow, sick_and_tired (may I call you s&t?)-

Is that true? Send me a link or advice on what to read. I would really like to find out more about this.

Oh yeah, and welcome to the forum

Here are a few sites...And you can call me whatever you like...

http://www.salon.com/june97/media/media970619.html
http://torchmagazine.com/foxnews.html
http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/02/05/Murdoch2.html

and thank you for making me feel welcome

I read the sites from S&T but I didn't find anything convincing. Mostly what I got out of it that the man is good at making money. As for the quote about Lenin, I have no idea in what context it was said.
I disagree with you completely, but welcome!

I saw the quotation about Lenin made by Murdoch in the first article you listed, s&t. It states that he said that in the 1970's and has since, "turned to the right".

It goes on to describe how he supported Reagan and Thatcher, but then also supported Tony Blair. What that idicates to me is that he is nothing but a populist. Whatever's popular he's latching onto. And why shouldn't he? This philosophy has made him billions.

I still like Fox News, even if they did make a mess of the new layout on their website.

Jaime,
would you please point out where that is in the article. I have even printed it out because I do not see it. What I am reading is "a committed leftist who kept a bust of Lenin on his mantle as a young man, Murdoch turned to the right sometime in the 1070s, but his reasons for doing so remain opaquel:
Perhaps I am missing it, but I don't think so.

MOUSE- You've got the quotation. The whole paragraph says:


Are you inquiring as to how I deemed him a populist?

No I am referring to the quoted about the great teacher.

Murdoch is conservative here only because it's good for business. His British holdings loudly backed Blair. His Asian properties are slavishly pro-PRC. His pro-PRC bias is so bad that after the spyplane incident, the NY Post, which jumps all over the Red Menace whenever possible, was quiet. The first Op-Ed piece was a defense by the PRC ambassador to the US. Then there was a piece by the highly paid China apologist, Henry Kissinger. It was a pathetic performance.

I can't stand Hannity. He's rude and ignorant. I stopped watching him when he had a physician who performed abortions as a guest and insisted on referring to him as 'Mr.' In my field, I insist on my honorific of 'Dr.' and I was offended by Hannity's action. The only reason Colmes has a job is that he is one of the few liberals dumber than Hannity. His presence is analogous to all those appearances of Pat Buchanan on other networks. Buchanan is so stupid, ignorant, offensive and obnoxious that any normal person would be ashamed to agree with him. Similarly, Colmes is such a whiny wimp that any normal person would be turned off.

Definitions of conservative and liberal (in reference to the media) change steadily. I believe the following is presently true:

A show that outwardly claims to be conservative is.

A show that outwardly claims to be liberal is non-existent.

A show that outwardly claims to be neither and

strives to entertain is liberal.

A show that outwardly claims to be neither and

strives to inform is considered conservative even though it is not.

From this we can loosely conclude that:

Conservatives are more direct than liberals, liberals are more entertaining than conservatives, conservatives are perceived by the public as being informative, but by large they are not trusted and are generally misrepresented.



Perhaps it has something to do with the media...

jjirout

True, some of the time. But seriously, one cannot help but notice that the vast majority of FNC hosts (the people with shows, like John Gibson) are conservative. This is not because they are informative, it's because they pose their questions and responses from conservative point of view, regardless of the issue. Gibson's is the worst about that.

Can you provide an example of a conservative question?

I can spot liberal questions easily: "So, what policies will you implement to stop global warming?" - "Don't you care about education?" - "How are you going to insure that civil rights are upheld?"

But, what is a typical conservative question?

"Are you going to raise taxes?" ?

That is really just informative.


jjirout

I know this message/reply is a little out of order but I think Fox's slogan is a poor representation of what they are. The best characteristic to sway there presentations is that there are several "hosts" that constantly cut people off and/or side with one f the guests strongly.

Example: John Gibson recently hosted a segment speaking to a school teacher about a special programs which encourages students to be progressive and active citizens. John Gibson presumed that this meant they were being subjected to "liberal indoctrination" he went in with this assumption (the guest later got him to admit it.) And ruined the whole interview by telling the teacher what the teacher was teaching.
That's just plain bad hosting.
"Are you encouraging these kids to be little liberals?"-Conservative question.

Down with Gibson, O'Reilly for president!

FOX's slogan "Fair And Ballanced" is the way they describe fighting back against the supposed liberal bias in all the other news channels.

"Al Gore liked the old system where only one side was presented."
-Fox News chief, Roger Ailes to the Washington Post

I don't have a problem with a conservative channel. I just think that they should pick a better slogan. One that isn't quite so deceiving...

"It's ok Lisa honey, I used to beleive in things too."
-HOMER SIMPSON

As a conservative question, it is direct. By stating "liberals", it is not hiding the fact that the askee is conservative.

"You don't care about the environment?" - as a liberal question - is highly manipulative.

What conservative question really parallels this subtlety?

jjirout

Just a guess here, but some conservatives tend to think that if one is against having a Department of Homeland Security one is against protecting Americans.

Then there was that whole Bush phrase, "You're either with us or you're with the terrorists." Doesn't leave much room for alternative options, does it?

I agree with turnea that John Gibson doesn't hide his conservatism. I'm not sure if his show is a news program or a political analysis show, though.

If it's a news program he should REALLY ask more "fair and balanced" questions. Gibson is just the most obviously partisan of the hosts(In case you haven't noticed, I don't like him much...). If one were to watch Brit Hume, you'd know know he was conservative as well, it's most obvious in the panel segment. He tries to be a little more fair, though.

Sure the the hosts on FNC don't hide being conservative, but that doesn't make them "fair and balanced"

I see your point, and I agree that conservatives and liberals are both guilty of slippery slope logic. But, the way in which the parties go about spreading their illogic seems to differ. (I think that this has some bearing on how we perceive or label shows as being conservative or liberal.)

"You're either with us or you're with the terrorists." is an example of a false dilemma / used by conservatives.

"So, you don't care about the environment." - slippery slope / used by liberals.

Both examples assume that reality can be perceived in an overly simplified manner. This conservative example of illogic is hidden within an attitude - and subtly implying illogic. The liberal example is spoken and directly illogical.

My point is that people tend to see the differences between liberal and conservative in terms of their different styles and not necessarily in terms of their different ideologies because their ideologies are not really that different.

jjirout

How would it be if we left Fox for a while and discussed some of the other networks. Do they even attempt to be fair or balanced?

Actually Fox is probably the most unbalaced of those I've seen, the liberal bias is certainley not clearly evident in the cable arena. I think CNN and MSNBC really try to be balanced, more so than Fox.

Obviously I disagree with you there. I was watching both CNN, Fox, and CNBC today, and found it to be the opposite. Fox had several Democrat or liberal guests on and I did not find this on the others. I will try to watch more often and take note. How about the networks?

Yeah, it's pretty obvious most of the brodcast networks are liberal in their national coverage.

THeres an interesting article on the internet about this...cant be bothered to dig it up.

Basically suggests that owing to the belief that the media is all liberal, Murdoch sees FOX as "balanced" in that it balances out the media in general by weighing in heavily proconservative. A balancing force rather than balanced I guess. Its not balanced by any means, should be obvious.

I dont believe that. Most broadcast networks are pro-big business. See how little the corporate scandals have affected us and their place int eh news? Its barely there! Compare that with Clintons sex scandals, ALL OVER THE PLACE. People couldnt get enough of it. The conservative media always points out the immoral things that the "left" (I hardly consider it left) are doing, but its OK for Big Business to be corrupt in the name of a free market.

There was a story a while ago that ABC pulled because it was unflattering to Disney (ABCs parent company). How "liberal" is that? And you hardly hear about workers going on strike, nor do you hear about anti-war protests, unless some violence has occured. How "liberal" is that?

And while you were only speaking of national coverage, this is international. Practically all the news media is pro-Israel.

I decided to open this debate up a bit in case anyone's interested in pursuing the notion of a "liberal media" in general - apart from Fox News. The new thread can be found here.

The media's not liberal at all. If it was we would be hearing a lot more outrage about Homeland Security.

MT

Why do you believe that? The liberals in congress went along with it.

Did anybody see Rush on CNN last night? It was wonderful