Sorry but its true, you can pull out your best republican are stupid, conservatives are closed minded comments, but the reality is if there wasn't some bias in the major networks, Fox news would not have a market. Now, are they as unabashed as Fox in their bias? Probably not, which is what makes them so much worst in my view, they pretend to be fair and balanced while actually picking and choosing what to show based on what they believe rather than what is important. Again, it's not very realistic to say that one segment is completely different than you, I believe that even Republicans want fair and balanced News, they simply aren't buying into liberal networks, which of course democrats and other liberals buy into, because well, they already believe what is said, so of course it seems more accurate and balanced to them.

I partially agree with your assessment but I also think that Republicans enjoy the ideological comfort zone that FOX News provides and that is part of its appeal (and success), just as MSNBC reinforces liberal values on a daily basis. If, say CBS, were to suddenly begin presenting a truly balanced* news hour, I don't think that a significant number of conservatives would replace FOX News with CBS -- perhaps just add CBS to the mix instead.

*this would be a difficult thing to quantify in a bipartisan/universally accepted fashion.

I use the internet to scan for news I am interested in. NPR while I commute.

That's not true. People seek out validation for their viewpoints and communities of like-minded people. American conservatives are not seeking balance, they want the validation that's provided by Fox News.

patron002:

Sorry but its true, you can pull out your best republican are stupid, conservatives are closed minded comments, but the reality is if there wasn't some bias in the major networks, Fox news would not have a market. Now, are they as unabashed as Fox in their bias? Probably not, which is what makes them so much worst in my view, they pretend to be fair and balanced while actually picking and choosing what to show based on what they believe rather than what is important. Again, it's not very realistic to say that one segment is completely different than you, I believe that even Republicans want fair and balanced News, they simply aren't buying into liberal networks, which of course democrats and other liberals buy into, because well, they already believe what is said, so of course it seems more accurate and balanced to them.

Oh nonsense! "Balance" does not mean treating science and the "6,000 year old earth" as though they had equal intellectual respectibility. Nor does it mean assuming the "birthers" have as much credibility as those who decline to promote them. When an elected political leader cries out for secession of his state from the USA, it's neither responsible nor balanced to treat that as a manifestation of patriotism. It simply is not.

A news organization that declines to make responsible decisions about what constitutes a significant news event is neither fair nor balanced. And it does not merit any reverence from political leaders.

patron002:

but the reality is if there wasn't some bias in the major networks, Fox news would not have a market. Now, are they as unabashed as Fox in their bias? Probably not, which is what makes them so much worst in my view, they pretend to be fair and balanced while actually picking and choosing what to show based on what they believe rather than what is important.

I disagree with the beginning of your post. The reason Fox has a market isn't because of "other stations' bias", they have a market because of ignorance. Fox knows there's a large segment of the population that will respond positively to their "reporting" whether it's true or not. They've found their niche... I wouldn't mind them so much if they branded what they did as what it is: entertainment. Sure they sprinkle some legitimate news in there, but just because they report lies doesn't make them more "balanced". Fox says: "Oh well these other stations didn't report on 'X', so their biased!" Well, I say "Other news stations didn't report on 'X' because either 'X' is a lie cooked up to scare old and/or stupid people, or 'X' was deemed irrelevent by every other station." Now you could argue relevancy... but that's another story I guess. Bottom line is this: The entire media is aware of all the news, and they all report on what is universally deemed as news... Then here comes Fox with 5-10 other 'stories' that are purely BIASED– stories they KNOW will appeal to conservatives. You have "The media" and then you have "Fox news"– pretend media.

....That said, how come then, there are NO other stations like Fox? If fox is 'Fair and Balanced' and literally EVERY other station is 'biased', how come there aren't other 'brilliant pioneers' like Fox to 'Show America the truth and the Light' ? PLEASE!! Every other station has a duty to report for the American People, and Fox has their duty to Conservatives only. It's brilliant marketing for Rupert, but dangerous for the media, and gullible Americans.

The major news media culture leans way left. Fox news IS fair and balanced however their opinion shows are definately hard right.

At least Fox tells everybody up from wha ttheir opinion is and they merely report the news.

If the MSM is so biased, then where's all the coverage of the arbitration-rape vote? So much for that theory.

no fox isn't being upfront and honest. If your network leans hard right and beats up on straw men all day then you are in no way "fair and balanced." if their slogan was "Conservative news or Republican news" then fine thats being honest.

You are confusing the opinion shows on fox with the news on fox they are 2 different subjects.

TexasPete:

The major news media culture leans way left. Fox news IS fair and balanced however their opinion shows are definately hard right.

Define "way left" and provide 2-3 recent examples. Then provide counter-examples of FOX News' coverage of the same events. Then explain the difference to us.

okakura:

TexasPete:

The major news media culture leans way left. Fox news IS fair and balanced however their opinion shows are definately hard right.

Define "way left" and provide 2-3 recent examples. Then provide counter-examples of FOX News' coverage of the same events. Then explain the difference to us.

On 9/12 almost a million people arrived to protest healthcare reform in Washington DC. The major media culture covered a speech BHO gave in Minneapolis to 15000 people but spent 0 time covering the protests in Washington DC.

Fox News covered both and did not encourage or discourage an opinion in either (Beck is not part of Fox News he is an opinion show seperate from the news).

ABC, CBS, NBC and MSNBC all covered Barak Obama Minnesota speech but absolutely NOTHING was said of the protests in Washington.

That is just one example that is fairly recent and huge.

Another example is coverage of town hall meetings ABC, CBS, NBC and MSNBC all used sound bites of protestors to make them look radical however FOX played the comments made by protestors in context and let the person watching the news decide if the conduct was radical.

Last CBS did a story on armed protestors outside of a Barack Ovama speech in Arizona they showed footage of a man's torso, from the back, with a AR-15 slung on his shoulder. Their commentary was that the people who were doing this were racist and hated blacks. We later learned the man they filmed with the rifle on his shoulder was black nad they zoomed the shot so you could not see his skin color.

There are 3 right there....I could go on but why bother?

You had a week to complete this assignment and you still blew it.

1. The healthcare protests were covered prominently by all the major networks. (You claim they reported "nothing.") Takes exactly one Google search to verify this. What are you -- twelve?

2. The armed African-American guy at one of the town hall meetings was interviewed by at least one of the major networks. Please cite the transcript where either ABC, NBC, CBS or NBC News referred to him or other gun-toters as "racists." The town hall meetings were all but promoted by the FOX news AND Fox opinion shows. See Drudge for proof...

(<link>)

As for the town hall meetings, FOX and the non-FOX networks alike covered the "yellers' in depth because, in fact, there was an extreme amount of yelling and hyperbole at these events -- much of it coming from the Right but some also from the Left. Very few of these protesters were taken out of context. Screaming down the discussion leaders, elected officials, and other citizen attendees cannot be taken out of context. FOX was more than happy to show the level of anger.

Next time you try to defend your ficticious beliefs about the other networks, post the links to make your case. Just don't just try to float talking-point lies to see if they will go unchallenged. They won't, and you come off looking even worse.