Fox News Admits Bias

[KidViciou$]

http://slate.com/id/2119864/

Let the apologists start posting

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: KidViciou$
Topic Title: Fox News Admits Bias
Topic Summary: London Bureau Chief Admits Conservative Bias

http://slate.com/id/2119864/

Let the apologists start posting

They won't count him because he is a Brit.

 

[KidViciou$]

but he's the bureau chief, that's gotta count for something

 

[glenn1]

Fox News Admits Bias

Why is this so earth-shattering? Everyone has bias, it's stupid to claim otherwise. Being able to control that bias is the hard part. I'll let others make the arguments for how well or poorly Fox and other news organizations have been meeting that second goal.

One could even make a reasonable argument that a no bias policy is not necessarily a goal every news organization should strive for since it would create a homogenized, bland product in a marketplace of ideas.

 

[KidViciou$]

Originally posted by: glenn1

Fox News Admits Bias

Why is this so earth-shattering? Everyone has bias, it's stupid to claim otherwise. Being able to control that bias is the hard part. I'll let others make the arguments for how well or poorly Fox and other news organizations have been meeting that second goal.

One could even make a reasonable argument that a no bias policy is not necessarily a goal every news organization should strive for since it would create a homogenized, bland product in a marketplace of ideas.

WRONG! no bias means that there is no attempt to withold information, or putforth information with the goal of furthering an agenda. information should be reported purely on the basis that it is an important event which has occurred

 

[EagleKeeper]

So Fox has a consertative bias.

None every denied it that I am aware of.

All the liberals have been saying it for a long time - they have never been challenged that I was aware of.

Other networks have bias also; some more than others and/or have axes to grind.

 

[nageov3t]

P&N really needs an OBVIOUS tag, a la Fark

 

[zephyrprime]

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
So Fox has a consertative bias.

None every denied it that I am aware of.

What about Fox themselves when they say that they are fair and balanced?

 

[filterxg]

The thing is they claimed neutrality by giving liberals equal airtime as conservatives. The thing was they would pick real weak liberal debaters against real strong conservative debaters. Also they were usually discussing topics that interest conservatives more.

Before everybody goes bashing Fox News...CNN is just as bad though a little less overt. Watch any Crossfire, or Lou Dobbs and you'll see the same characterics. Even Inside Politics, or Anderson Cooper 360 covers stories that interest liberals more than conservatives.

MSNBC is the least bias in my opinion. But that lack of Bias makes them less interesting and their ratings show.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Originally posted by: zephyrprime

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
So Fox has a consertative bias.

None every denied it that I am aware of.

What about Fox themselves when they say that they are fair and balanced?

Fox usually seems to try to provided opposing arguments for commentaries.

Definition of fair is up to interpretation depending on what part of the fence you sit on or stand beside.

I do not get much a chance to watch the news on any network.

When I do, it is usually Fox, due to that is the one that my local watering hole (casino sports book) has available on the TV.

 

[KidViciou$]

i don't watch network "news" because it has become editorials instead of facts

 

[glenn1]

WRONG! no bias means that there is no attempt to withold information, or putforth information with the goal of furthering an agenda. information should be reported purely on the basis that it is an important event which has occurred

How is it "wrong"? So what if one biased news organization withholds information, another with opposite bias will print it. The bigger danger to me is that a universal no-bias policy means the media is more subject to groupthink and a lowest common denominator herd mentality. While bias allows for partisan crap to be published, it also allows for the ability to go against the grain and do the digging and fighting necessary to get an unpopular story published which needs to be told (like Watergate).

 

[ValuedCustomer]

So that's one person associated w/ the MSM who's willing to be honest.. who's next to fess up? CNN? MSNBC? CBS? ABC? Reuters? NPR? - pfft, don't hold your breath

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: KidViciou$
i don't watch network "news" because it has become editorials instead of facts

Indeed. But IMO more like propaganda instead of facts.

 

[KidViciou$]

Originally posted by: glenn1

WRONG! no bias means that there is no attempt to withold information, or putforth information with the goal of furthering an agenda. information should be reported purely on the basis that it is an important event which has occurred

How is it "wrong"? So what if one biased news organization withholds information, another with opposite bias will print it. The bigger danger to me is that a universal no-bias policy means the media is more subject to groupthink and a lowest common denominator herd mentality. While bias allows for partisan crap to be published, it also allows for the ability to go against the grain and do the digging and fighting necessary to get an unpopular story published which needs to be told (like Watergate).

well that's the thing, because they are biased, they get discredited and people will not trust their news. if a news media is unbiased, that means they have an equal amount of reporters that lean either way which would expose any sort of "biased" stories if it's REAL news. watergate would have come out because of this, but i see what you are talking about. like i said though, they would be discredited

 

[CaptnKirk]

Dead man walking

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: glenn1

Fox News Admits Bias

Why is this so earth-shattering? Everyone has bias, it's stupid to claim otherwise. Being able to control that bias is the hard part. I'll let others make the arguments for how well or poorly Fox and other news organizations have been meeting that second goal.

One could even make a reasonable argument that a no bias policy is not necessarily a goal every news organization should strive for since it would create a homogenized, bland product in a marketplace of ideas.

A news organization is not in the business of pushing things in the "marketplace of ideas". Their job is to report facts. Facts themselves have no bias, they can be good or bad for certain viewpoints, but they are still facts, you can't argue bias. Reporting only certain facts or mixing editorial opinions with the facts is bias. I don't see any reason news organizations should be doing that.

Yeah, we need different ideas out there, and there are plenty of people willing to do that. If you want variety in your ideas, pick up an Al Franken or Ann Coulter book. But our society needs un-biased, fact based reporting in order to function. Everyone is entitled to their own views, not their own facts, and we need a solid basis of facts to discuss anything.

 

[Rainsford]

Originally posted by: glenn1

WRONG! no bias means that there is no attempt to withold information, or putforth information with the goal of furthering an agenda. information should be reported purely on the basis that it is an important event which has occurred

How is it "wrong"? So what if one biased news organization withholds information, another with opposite bias will print it. The bigger danger to me is that a universal no-bias policy means the media is more subject to groupthink and a lowest common denominator herd mentality. While bias allows for partisan crap to be published, it also allows for the ability to go against the grain and do the digging and fighting necessary to get an unpopular story published which needs to be told (like Watergate).

But Watergate wouldn't be published because of bias in a perfect world, Watergate would be published because it was an important set of facts. Bias is choosing only stories that make your side look good or injecting editorial comments into fact based stories. Neither of those seems vital to having a good news industry.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: Rainsford

Originally posted by: glenn1

Fox News Admits Bias

Why is this so earth-shattering? Everyone has bias, it's stupid to claim otherwise. Being able to control that bias is the hard part. I'll let others make the arguments for how well or poorly Fox and other news organizations have been meeting that second goal.

One could even make a reasonable argument that a no bias policy is not necessarily a goal every news organization should strive for since it would create a homogenized, bland product in a marketplace of ideas.

A news organization is not in the business of pushing things in the "marketplace of ideas". Their job is to report facts. Facts themselves have no bias, they can be good or bad for certain viewpoints, but they are still facts, you can't argue bias. Reporting only certain facts or mixing editorial opinions with the facts is bias. I don't see any reason news organizations should be doing that.

Yeah, we need different ideas out there, and there are plenty of people willing to do that. If you want variety in your ideas, pick up an Al Franken or Ann Coulter book. But our society needs un-biased, fact based reporting in order to function. Everyone is entitled to their own views, not their own facts, and we need a solid basis of facts to discuss anything.

Idealistically what you say is true. Realistically, the MSM market themselves toward certain demographics because they are in business to make a buck. They even have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to make that buck. As such, they all know what sells for them and what tone to give the "facts." A quick read of news from two opposing news organizations will highlight that fact.

The best way to get news is to read a wide variety of the facts and then decide for yourself what's a real story and what's a fictionalized story (by omitting facts or twisting them to place a certain spin on them).

 

[imported_Giancarlo]

Originally posted by: KidViciou$

WRONG! no bias means that there is no attempt to withold information, or putforth information with the goal of furthering an agenda. information should be reported purely on the basis that it is an important event which has occurred

And you think you on the left are much more capable of that? I think not.

 

[Infohawk]

No, not everyone has a bias when presenting the news. You can focus on certain issues and present certain facts in a biased way. Or you can come out and just push biased views like Fox's opinion shows do. But it's possible to not have bias when presenting the news, nice try. Just because your TV shows are biased garbage, don't act like they all are.

 

[imported_Giancarlo]

Well I typically read several sources before I trust anything. Trust, but verify. I know for a fact that the people on the left aren't anymore capable then the people on the right at presenting facts because they have to skew it one way or another.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: Infohawk
No, not everyone has a bias when presenting the news. You can focus on certain issues and present certain facts in a biased way. Or you can come out and just push biased views like Fox's opinion shows do. But it's possible to not have bias when presenting the news, nice try. Just because your TV shows are biased garbage, don't act like they all are.

To prove your statement, please provide us with an example of an unbiased major news source. You won't find one.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Infohawk
No, not everyone has a bias when presenting the news. You can focus on certain issues and present certain facts in a biased way. Or you can come out and just push biased views like Fox's opinion shows do. But it's possible to not have bias when presenting the news, nice try. Just because your TV shows are biased garbage, don't act like they all are.

To prove your statement, please provide us with an example of an unbiased major news source. You won't find one.

Even Reuters and AP have slipped subjective content into their articles.

I still find the Christian Science Monitor to have some of the best articles out there.

 

[KidViciou$]

Originally posted by: Giancarlo

Originally posted by: KidViciou$

WRONG! no bias means that there is no attempt to withold information, or putforth information with the goal of furthering an agenda. information should be reported purely on the basis that it is an important event which has occurred

And you think you on the left are much more capable of that? I think not.

a HELL of a lot more capable than the people at fox!