Jed L recently posted this video of Bill Burton calling out Fox News on their obvious partisan agenda. I have some thoughts of my own. For one, it's so refreshing to see Democrats actually fighting back on media bias. Note how nervous and angry Megyn Kelly gets during this exchange.
Now the big question: is Fox News delusional, deceitful or simply demented?
I'm genuinely curious as to whether these clowns at Fox have actually managed to convince themselves that they're fair and balanced. Do they wake up every morning and think time to report some news! Because if that's the case, I recommend they get tested for schizophrenia. Actually, it wouldn't matter because if that was their attitude, they would get fired.
I mean, even radical right-wing crazies like Jonah Goldberg admit that Fox News "lean[s] to the right, primarily in its opinion programming but also in its story selection." He responds by accusing MSNBC commentators like Keith Olbermann of also having a slant, to which I have two points.
- There's a difference between journalism and commentary. Commentators are supposed to have opinions. The journalists on NBC News report the facts without bias. At Fox News, the conservative bias extends to the "journalists," the commentators, the executives and probably even the janitors.
- Yes, there's nothing wrong with having a point of view, but for the love of God, be honest about it. Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow have never claimed to be "fair and balanced" and have never denied their liberal views. They also don't incite hatred or consistently get their facts wrong. It's awfully disingenuous to opine (or report) with an inclination to a particularly ideology while claiming to incorporate both sides. Actually, that's called lying, which Bill O'Reilly - who most domesticated animals can discern is a hardcore conservative - does every time he claims the Fox tagline.
I would love to see this alleged Pew Poll that claims Fox is the least biased of all the mainstream news networks. Sure, Fox has managed to tap into the conservative audience better than ComedyCentral has tapped into the stoner audience, but that doesn't say anything about their accuracy.
Finally, Kelly's claim that Barack Obama "may have the rest of the media in the tank" while good ol' Fox "reports it straight, fair and balanced" reeks of self-pity and delusional thinking. This is the propaganda that Fox News has managed to embed in the minds of many viewers who don't know any better. But it's still ludicrous. And it's cynicism at its absolute peak-- spreading a message that you know is false but that you also know ignorant people will eat up.
In all honesty, I doubt there's any way Rupert Murdoch or Roger Ailes actually believe they're reporting news. They may be self-serving and deceitful about their intentions but they didn't get to where they are by being stupid.