Fox News or Faux News

To be honest, I stopped watching Fox because I didn't like O'Reilly. I thought he was a boob that would do anything for attention.

Are they fair and balanced? I'd hope so. Most journalists have ethics, and there for attempt to take a middle of the road approach.

Also, to me Liberal media is stuff like Revolution News (the Revolutionary Communist Party news paper) and like you said Mother Jones. I go to those sources not expecting good news coverage, but new topics to research and decide on my own.

Interesting...the two people mentioned aren't journalists on Fox. They are commentators, and have opinion shows. Also interesting that you don't mention that Sean Hannity's show is Hannity and Colmes, with Alan Colmes being rather liberal in his views. Also not mentioned was that many times when they do discuss any bit of political or legal news, they do have people from both sides to express their views.

I'm not saying they don't have a slant. They do. It's more conservative than any other network. But that doesn't mean the others are any more biased or unbiased than Fox.

Now, CNN has turned into some sort of weird celebrity gossip channel like E!, so I've stopped watching that too.

All media is going to be biased in some way I think one just has to learn to filter it out on their own.

80% of journalists identify themselves as democrat; 21% as atheist (compared to 9% of the population). (I mention atheist, because they self identify with "progressive" and are 99% liberal). Are the mainstream media fair and balanced? Not a chance. They are left leaning as can be. The ONLY conservative editorial page in the COUNTRY is in the Wall Street Journal of the major newspapers. Those on the left may disagree. But they wont be convinced anyway.

BTW, OReilly is a registered independent. He is also a traditonalist (small government, individual responsibility and accountability), not a conservative. There is a difference but not enough space here to adequaltey define it. But he disagrees with many conservative positions. FOX appears tilited right because of the decades of bombardment of the other left leaning media. And if FOX is tilted right, it doesnt mean it is not fair. If it did, then what would that say for the 90% of left leaning media outlets? The biggest joke was the dem candidates for Pres refusing to debate on FOX because it was "biased to the right", yet Repubs had to debate on MSNBC which is practically modelled after Cuba, it is so left. What a joke. Just my 2 cents.

lol 50% of the time oreilly is a loon, but he is not the news he is talk show. half of what he does
is just a show. i was going to bring up the Colmes thing but hedi already said it.

over all really telling the news, i think fox does a better job, they also do a
better job of having people from both sides then the others do.

NBC is so liberal they make my teeth hurt. i am shocked they have not been brought up on charges for supporting the terrorists, they are just one step behind aljazeera.

the others, yea, if find them to be a little to liberal, they do a great job at only telling half the story.

but really most of the people i knew in college that wanted to be news people almost all where ulta liberal, border line supporting socialism and communism. which really funny, since the first thing both of types of goverment do is remove the media lol

I associate Fox news with the British Sunday tabloids, which means I equate them with "won't somebody think of the children!" hysteria, and the vague idea that we're all seconds away from being blown up by a jihadist who has escaped from jail, leaving a trail of mugged pensioners and dangerous nuclear facilities in his wake, whilst somehow implicating a dodgy cash-for-honours politician. Oh, and page 3 models. No-one really takes them seriously.

Since you studied journalism (it was also part of my major of Language Arts) then you know as well as anyone how it's often the editorial choices that show the bias. It isn't the commentators themselves - they are based almost soley on ratings, which often means that the more controversial they are, the better. The fact that you've heard of and discussed with others (at your office) Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity speaks to that. O'Reilly is a loon half the time. And he's rude to his guests that he disagrees with. Hannity and Colmes go off on each other like an old married couple.

The real difference between the cable networks is what they choose to report. Of course they will all cover the big stories, and basically cover them in a similar fashion. I mean, how much of a slant can you put on a famous person's death? If you look on cnn.com and foxnews.com the stories on Heath Ledger are almost all the same. The main ones are just from AP, with commentaries by their own people. The differences come in the choices made about reporting about political issues, i.e. Iraq. Fox does tend to report more positive stories, or at least neutral stories, from Iraq. But they certainly do report the negative stories. They tell the latest death tolls, and the latest bombings, etc. CNN (I really can't speak to MSNBC) tends to focus more on the negative stories from Iraq, more on death and destruction. I figure somewhere in between is actually where the reality lies.

Like I said, yes, Fox does have a conservative slant in the way they do the news, but you do still get the news. CNN has more of a liberal slant, but you still get the news. I actually watch and read both. It is especially interesting to see how they will treat the exact same politically meaningful story. Right now is a bad example because they are both leading with Heath Ledger. But for those who don't see the slants of either one, check the headlines on both sites on a regular basis. You'll see it on both sides.

GE owns NBC,

GE has been taking flak for some NBC stuff as of late.
which is a good thing.

The most of the main line media will report anything that makes america or REP look bad. how doing anything they can to make the DEM look good. etc etc etc, I am a independent i vote for who i think is the best choice, I hate people that just vote down the party line. But for the last 10 years or so, i just cant relate to the Dem views. i dont think people like hillary or bill really have in mind what most amerian people think.

most of main line media i see as anti-American, who dont understand where there dinner is coming from.

I am so glad it wasnt me going loony wondering what happened to CNN

that why i dont watch the local news here, half if is celebrity news, now.. but since we live in the same area i am sure you already know that.

Bruce our local news is total trash. I can't even stand to watch it.

To be very honest I get most of my national news from NPR, and most of my international news from the BBC.

Ahhhh, G.E., General Electric. I just heard on Bill O'Reilly last night that G.E.
does mucho business with IRAN and SYRIA, nice, both countries with state sponsered terrorism.

But, of course, if O'Reilly said it, it must be a lie.

Yeah, the "fair and balanced" thing comes into play due to the other networks being leftists, or so the perception FOX sees it as. I tend to be moderately liberal and often agree with Bill O'Reilly, so I don't think he is an extreme right winger or anything. He just appears so because he gives democratic candidates more of a hard time sometimes, like he has recently with John Edwards. I watch his show for entertainment value ONLY. He doesn't openly endorse ANY candidate. He's uncomfortable doing so because he has a lot of influence and thinks people should make up their own minds. He's helped bills like Jessica's Law get passed in state legislatures etc.

Hannity and Colmes displays both extremes. Hannity does have his own show and can seemingly dominate political discussions, so I can see where he's seen in that light, but I'm not sure if that's his intent.

To me it's people like Rush Limbaugh and Al Franken who are in their own little universes....

I don't talk about or mention Fox News or any commentators and such from that channel where I work. I consider myself more moderate than conservative, but I keep my trap shut because I don't feel like getting into politcal debates with my more liberal coworkers.

Everyone is conservative where I work, thank goodness.

I don't talk about politics in the work place unless some one asks me a direct question. With all the political work I do on the side, I don't feel comfortable discussing it.

I rarely watch CNN, Fox, or MSNBC as they tend to report on local US stories - celebs, kipdnappings, etc. I now watch BBC news on BBC America as it gives you a real view into the world. (They have reporters that actively travel and report in different countries.)
I also watch Jim Lehrer news hour and Washington Week on PBS. As to the one US reporter who impresses me with his tough questions and lack of party bias is George Stephanopoulos. Any politician going to an interview with him should be ready to answer tough questions.

And the Wall Street Journal now also belongs to Rupert Murdoch.

Since I'm the one who has always referred to "Faux News", a designation I stole from a British colleague, I feel I have to comment.

I agree with Heidi (valanhb) that you cannot depend on just one source of news, but should look to many. The "truth" usually lies somewhere between the "slants".

"Faux News" has been banned from our household for quite awhile, because I got so upset about the positive spin that was being put on the Iraq debacle.

I live in Europe, and get much of my news from the BBC website/newsletter and news channel, as well as from "Die Welt", a rather conservative, but quality, German newspaper, and the English and/or German editions of the Financial Times. I get the CNN daily newsletter and Breaking News alerts, and tune into CNN International whenever there's some kind of crisis in the world, as CNN is usually the first with coverage.

Due to my job (I teach German-to-English translation), I have to read a wide variety of newspapers and magazines to find suitable teaching material, and try to achieve a "balance" between conservative and liberal.

Many news sources now concentrate too much on "infotainment". TIME magazine is a prime example. I've been a subscriber for nearly three decades, and have found that it has really deteriorated over the past decade.

Fox News aka (as Keith Oberman puts it) Fixed Noise is anything but "fair and balanced". CNN turned into Extra or E! tv so I watch mostly MSNBC. Keith Oberman is good for a few laughs. His pure hatred for Fox and Bill O are enough for me to tune in.. haha

For the most part, same here with me. I love Fox News and I love Bill O'Reilly, but I don't always agree with everything he says either.

i said it first, bill must be reading my wed site
sanctions? blah, did not stop the UN, or several other EU countries from doing business with them or IRAQ

I like Fox News and I watch them everyday. My bf Will watches and loves CNN and he does find Fox to be bias, I don't think they are though, to me they just provide more interesting news to me. I think they cover more up to date news and I find CNN to cover more world news, which does not interest me as much. I would rather hear what's going on here, which I feel FOX news provides better.

I do like Bill O'Reilly, he's going to be at The State Theatre tomorrow night which is two blocks away from where I live and his shows are sold out every year when he comes here.

Except for the BIG cats and the people who own them, the libs vote for bans almost all the time. Sorry, I couldn't help myself