I'm just going to let the facts speak for themselves on this one -- to borrow a phrase, I'll report, and you decide.
At issue: the lead segment of Fox's first "news" broadcast after President Obama signed the landmark health care reform legislation into law.
The segment was almost eight minutes long, but less than half a minute was spent on the bill signing. There was no reporting whatsoever on the actual consequences of the legislation's passage or the road ahead on reconciliation.
Here's a tick-tock I put together so you can see at a glance what Fox covered:
First: Kelly spends 50 seconds teasing upcoming segments
- Release of 9/11 organizer?
- Brit Hume on attacks on Pelosi, Biden dropping f-bomb
- Volcanic eruption in Iceland
Second: Kelly spends six minutes reporting five stories
- Report on air travel overhaul (65 seconds)
- Attacks on climate legislation (35 seconds)
- Obama signs reform bill with Pelosi standing (25 seconds)
- New poll shows top Democrats like Pelosi are unpopular (60 seconds)
- ACORN national organization shutting down (175 seconds)
Third: Kelly spends another 50 seconds teasing upcoming segments
- 9/11 organizer released?
- Volcanic eruption in Iceland
As you can see, the story that received the most coverage (with nearly three minutes of airtime) was a report on ACORN folding its national operations. A report on a poll purporting to show the unpopularity of Democrats got more than twice as much coverage as the bill signing.
Watch the video here:
As I said, I'll let Fox's coverage speak for itself, but here's the question I think people should be asking: is Fox really a journalistic enterprise? Or is it all about entertainment and spin?
The question isn't whether the First Amendment applies to Fox. It's whether Fox judges itself first and foremost by the truth and accuracy of its programming, or whether it judges itself by the ratings it gets and the political influence it wields.
All good journalists put truth and accuracy first. That doesn't mean they don't have opinions, and it doesn't mean they don't try to build an audience, but it does mean they don't bend reality to fit whatever story they want to tell. And if there's any evidence that Fox puts truth and accuracy first, we're still waiting.
Poll
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Does Fox's "news" programming place truth and accuracy ahead of ratings and spin?
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Does Fox's "news" programming place truth and accuracy ahead of ratings and spin?
Yes, Fox holds itself to the same journalistic standards as other mainstream media outlets
No, Fox is basically a conservatainment spin machine focused on its ratings and political power
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