Is Fox News Fair and Balanced?

DjaugheOld · July 18th, 2005, 02:07 AM

Is FOX NEWS fair and balanced?

What do you think?

Kolo · July 18th, 2005, 02:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Djaughe

What do you think?

I think insomnia sucks. And of course Fox News is biased.

DjaugheOld · July 18th, 2005, 02:36 AM

There's no denial that Fox News has great ratings...I doubt 41yearfan is the only one watching - someone has to be watching them consistently.

I watch Fox News (along with msnbc, cnn, cspan)...and I have to say that Hannity and Colmes makes me laugh on how they portray the image of conservative and liberal views.

On one side you have Hannity who is very outspoken (in a loud way) and physically imposing in the camera, while Colmes looks like a skittish mouse trying to navigate through a dog pound.

On the flip side they do have left leaning commentators like Geraldo...Juan Williams...

Dback Jon · July 18th, 2005, 06:05 AM

Easy question - Fox is the most biased of the major news outlets.

DjaugheOld · July 18th, 2005, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dback Jon

Easy question - Fox is the most biased of the major news outlets.

Yeah..I figure I'd toss a softball to start a monday.

But I would like to hear from the the 2 'yes' votes to get their perspective.

CaptTurbo · July 18th, 2005, 06:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dback Jon

Easy question - Fox is the most biased of the major news outlets.

I voted not balanced. But John thispost is the funniest thing i read in awhile on here.

Dback Jon · July 18th, 2005, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swd1974

I voted not balanced. But John thispost is the funniest thing i read in awhile on here.

How so? Fox is easily more biased than NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN etc

40yearfan · July 18th, 2005, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dback Jon

How so? Fox is easily more biased than NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN etc

Jon, do you watch Fox? It's hard to critique something if you refuse to watch it.

I watch CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. I think CNN is much more biased towards the left than Fox is toward the right. At least Fox will invite participants from both sides of the question when they are discussing something. CNN doesn't even make that pretense.

DjaugheOld · July 18th, 2005, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 40yearfan

Jon, do you watch Fox? It's hard to critique something if you refuse to watch it.

I watch CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. I think CNN is much more biased towards the left than Fox is toward the right. At least Fox will invite participants from both sides of the question when they are discussing something. CNN doesn't even make that pretense.

I think 41 has a point about participants...

btw...what republican participants does CBS have?

Dback Jon · July 18th, 2005, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 40yearfan

Jon, do you watch Fox? It's hard to critique something if you refuse to watch it.

I watch CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. I think CNN is much more biased towards the left than Fox is toward the right. At least Fox will invite participants from both sides of the question when they are discussing something. CNN doesn't even make that pretense.

I have no choice but to watch Fox - it is on in the break room at work all the time (unless I can find the remote and change the channel to MSNBC, which is not much better.

You are thinking of the old CNN -the new CNN (since Ted left) is a very pro-big business, pro-Republican channel. MSNBC is probably the most balanced of the three.

LoyaltyisaCurse · July 18th, 2005, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 40yearfan

Jon, do you watch Fox? It's hard to critique something if you refuse to watch it.

I watch CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. I think CNN is much more biased towards the left than Fox is toward the right. At least Fox will invite participants from both sides of the question when they are discussing something. CNN doesn't even make that pretense.

Yeah, Fox lets the other side appear... so they can ridicule, shout them down, and take political and personal jabs as they go to commercial break. Fox lets the opposing side on in attempts to try and make them look redicoulous or shout them out.

Instead of "Fair and Balanced" is should be "Tilted and Malaced"

DjaugheOld · July 18th, 2005, 07:09 AM

Question for the libs.

Taking out the part about "Tilted and Malaced"..are the liberal participants viewed as decent representatives?

krepitch · July 18th, 2005, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Djaughe

Question for the libs.

Taking out the part about "Tilted and Malaced"..are the liberal participants viewed as decent representatives?

No. Your comment about Colmes was dead on. That is exactly why they picked him to be on that show.

40yearfan · July 18th, 2005, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Djaughe

Question for the libs.

Taking out the part about "Tilted and Malaced"..are the liberal participants viewed as decent representatives?

I've seen some of the participants in the O'Reilly show rip him to shreds. That means one of two things. Either thay have good rebuttal participants or O'Reilly is dumber than he looks (if that's possible).

Hannity and Colmes have some very good people on at times. Hannity is well meaning and very stout in his defense of conservative issues, but he has this very annoying habit of repeating the same question over and over again. It's obvious that Colmes is the more intelluctual of the two and gets his point across without belaboring the question. Colmes is always zinging Hannity but Hannity never zings back. He has a lot of respect for Colmes.

DjaugheOld · July 18th, 2005, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dback Jon

...You are thinking of the old CNN -the new CNN (since Ted left) is a very pro-big business, pro-Republican channel. MSNBC is probably the most balanced of the three.

Actually, I'm wrong about ratings. Even though Fox News has a large viewership...it looks like their ratings have been sliding.

Quote:

National editor, The Washingtonian

CNN Gains in Prime Time Among Prized 25-to-54 Demographic While Fox Expands Overall Lead

July 16, 2005 - Fox News Channel talkmeister Bill O’Reilly had to cancel his planned boat cruise, “Battle for American Values,” for lack of interest.

Now it seems the mighty ship that has been Fox News Channel might be springing a few leaks—and viewers. FNC’s heavy hitters—O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Shepard Smith—all dropped in the coveted 25-to-54 age demographic, according to ratings figures for June and the second quarter of 2005.

The O’Reilly Factor took a dive between last year’s second quarter and the same quarter this year; the host lost about a quarter of his viewers in the age range that advertisers crave. Last year he had 640,000 viewers in the 25-to-54 demographic; the number dropped to 468,000 this April, May, and June. Comparing June 2004 to June 2005, he dropped from 645,000 to 511,000.

Sean Hannity in the 9 pm time slot also lost among these viewers. He dropped 20 percent of his 25-to-54 audience in June and 24 percent through the quarter when compared with 2004.

But the biggest loser was Shepard Smith at 7 pm. Comparing the two Junes, Smith’s 25-to-54 viewers went from 514,000 to 348,000. His second-quarter numbers were not so dire, a drop of 29 percent.

Fox News pushes a different set of numbers to media writers, and for good reason. The “P2+” ratings count overall viewers rather than carving them up by age. Overall, Fox’s numbers are strong—far above CNN’s.

But for advertisers, who will pay a premium to get their products before the eyes of baby-boom and younger viewers, Fox’s grip on this crowd is loosening.

Paul Schur, Fox News’s PR man in Washington, said he would not comment on ratings, especially those in the key demographic.

“Call CNN,” said the testy Schur. “I’m sure they would be happy to discuss their horrific ratings in June.”

For total viewers, reflected in the P2+ ratings in prime time, CNN was down 13 percent in the second quarter, dropping from 829,000 to 721,000. By that same measure, Fox News gained 9 percent, from 1.408 million to 1.534 million.

But sticking to the 25-to-54 demographic ratings for the second quarter, CNN saw its prime-time shows do better: Paula Zahn’s numbers were up 19 percent, from 165,000 to 196,000; Larry King’s ratings rose 3 percent, from 287,000 to 296,000; and Anderson Cooper’s increased 5 percent, from 158,000 to 166,000.

Though CNN is making some advances in the 25-to-54 age range, make no mistake: Fox News still draws twice as many viewers overall as CNN.

The question remains: Why is the hot demographic losing interest in Fox? Could it be that Fox’s prime-time ratings rise and fall with President Bush’s numbers? As Americans become less enamored of the war in Iraq, perhaps they are less interested in Fox’s cheerleading.

Or it could just be that Americans are taking a vacation from the political and cultural wars featured by Fox. In that case its ratings could recover as one or more Supreme Court nominations dominate the news.

Maybe Bill O’Reilly will be able to take his Caribbean cruise after all.