So...Fox News?

Question

What is the deal with Fox News? I am trying to understand how they even pass themselves off as a credible news station. All they emit is propaganda, and their emotional ties are 100% clear throughout their programming. The whole channel is clearly biased towards the left side, and they invite guests just to all yell at each other and argue...about purposeless things. Their news is under par and at times, incorrect. How do they get by? Does anyone watch Fox News? What do you think?

Answer 1

LoL ------- you figured this out now!

The Cliché 'Fair & balanced' is not a fact but a rhetoric targeted at the 'target' audience ie Right Wing Conservatives.

http://foxattacks.com/

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=137

"This is an amazing honor. I WANT you to know that I Spend so much TIME

in the world that is spinning all the time, that to be in the no-spin zone actually gives me vertigo."

(Stephen Colbert on the O’reilly Factor)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QquTUR9nb...

Answer 2

they get by because 1) they have a large amount of viewers who are right wing and they make programming for them and 2) their spin and psychological finesse at pretending to be fair and balanced is great.  Just take a look at some of the responses here and you'll see that they are successful at fooling lots of people into thinking they are somehow "fair" reporting.  

Except it is all very well documented and proven that they are a conservative station, it shouldn't be a surprise, and anyone who watches fox news without questioning it is not doing themselves any favors to finding the most fair news.  People should question all of the stations and their political leanings, not just fox.

The reason it is that way is because it is owned and operated by conservatives and republicans - again, this is a proven fact.  That's just the way it is so of course they only report highly on the right wing and negatively on the left.  Now is that a bad thing?  Well, if you're a republican, then no.  And honestly it's their business if that's the kind of station they want to run.  But obviously if you really want to find objective news, then obviously you have to turn elsewhere.

The other stuff you mentioned, well that's all ratings.  Rupert Murdoch, the owner of fox news (a conservative by the way) has a deep-seated belief in TV being as entertaining as possible to get the highest ratings.  Even the news.  So of course his networks do serious study into how to gain the most ratings by being as crazy and attractive as possible, and all of that shouting probably is some kind of ratings grabber technique that they've discovered.  Even check out all the fancy wonderful animations they use on the network, way more outrageous and energetic than most other news networks.  Again, all of this info is very easily accessible from a little research.  Is this bad? Well it's not bad business, but if you have any ethical or moral qualms then I suggest doing more research to see if you agree or not.

Answer 3

I think you are somewhat wrong on some points.  My opinion is that they are the most fair, and most unbiased channel on air.  However, I agree with the arguing and yelling, and interrupting others.  It bugs me.  I think I will send them a few emails to let them know they need to shift gears here.  Their regular newscasts are not this way.  Have you checked them out ?   They are not biased to the left, by the way, they are more conservative, by far, than the other channels.

Answer 4

I disagree with you on the point that they are biased towards the left.  I think they are more polarized to the right.  I will tend to agree with you on the arguing and shouting.  I was watching yesterday and I thought that as well when Heraldo and Megan Kelly were arguing over the Gitmo prisoner's rights issue.  But I think they do that to emphasize their "fair and balanced" mantra.  And I guess they think it helps their ratings.

That said, I think they are credible and give accurate news and I personally prefer Fox over CNN.