Korean Job Discussion Forums

[EFLtrainer]

We lie; you get brainwashed.

[enns]

Enough claiming that FoxNews is somehow different than other media outlets. They lean to the right, while most others lean to the left. Fox provides balance, why is this wrong?

Want some evidence? Look at a 2005 comprehensive UCLA study. Among its findings:

[Adventurer]

I get your point that there are Liberal networks and Fox is a conservative one. My problems with Fox is the fact that I've heard that the main host of that show harasses some of his guests in a very bad way. I actually think the obvious splintering between Conservative and Liberal in the American media in my mind is not very positive. I think having too much of an axe to grind rather than just reporting the news splits more and more Americans and there has been a general deterioration of the quality of news, I think. I think many people tune out both the Liberal and Conservative news. It is pretty obvious they are not so interested.
Both need to change big time.

[EFLtrainer]

[enns]

So there are studies that show that 18 of 20 outlets have a right-wing bias? I doubt it. But if you can find one as comprehensive as UCLA's, please post. The media as a whole is left-wing.

Partisan? Is the NY Times not a partisan outlet for the Democrats? Think of how many networks and newspapers portray George Bush in a negative light compared to a positive one. This has become normal in American(and even more so in Canadian) culture, it's almost shocking to find positive coverage of the President. Hence, you find FoxNews to be overly partisan: they provide positive coverage of Bush. More than half of American voters confirmed they supported Bush and his policies in the 2004 election. The media coverage of Bush, however, does not reflect this reality of American life.

The media is just one example of a left-wing slant in society. Look at colleges and universities. How many of your politics profs supported Bush and how many opposed him? At my university, I think all 30 politics profs opposed Bush and were very vocal in class.

Anti-Bush sentiment is everywhere in society. But one network attempts to provide a some balance and the left can't handle it?

And Adventurer, I agree with you for the most part. Fox is definitely aggressive, but they are the most watched news network(I believe) so there must be a segment of society that enjoys their coverage.

[Saxiif]

[EFLtrainer]

[enns]

The wire tap is one issue out of decades of left-wing coverage, look at any MSM analysis. The fact is left-wing news occurs at a much greater rate than right-wing news.

Are you actually going to dispute the reality that the media is left-wing or just hurl personal insults? When someone knows they are beat they tend to attack their opponent instead of providing credible evidence. Come on EFL, do it again, prove me right.

[Saxiif]

[Saxiif]

There's also this:


http://mediamatters.org/items/200602140002

[Vicissitude]

Fox News is not any more or less balanced than George W. Bush is balanced (pun intended). The news is brazen with the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Riely and that ultra conservative blond woman who took some heat a few weeks ago for saying Gore was gay. Those individuals have zero tolerance for different opinions on the news. It's not at all balanced. While most people think the US media is liberal, I tend to think it's far too conservative and censored, especially by conservative Christians who have a fit about sex, violence and swear words. Meanwhile they are the ones running about the world being the MOST violent, closeted sex obsessed and using the worst swear language there is in the privacy of their own homes. Yet they don't like to hear or see it on TV.

[Gopher]

BLT, there are many people and many perspectives in the United States and indeed in the world. Not all of them share your worldview. Not all of them discuss the news as you might.

Grow up and deal with it.

[Saxiif]

[gang ah jee]

[enns]

While I disagree with gang ah jee on almost everything, I always appreciate him debating the facts rather than resorting to anecdotal evidence or personal attacks.

I actually examined this study in great depth when it first came out and have already read much of the criticism you pointed out. Groups like Media Matters don't pull much weight with me, their sole purpose is to attack Conservative commentators(and yes, there are Conservative elements in the mass media). Check out Media Matters Watch (http://mediamatters.blogsome.com/), it provides a balance to MM.

Balance is all I am looking for in the Media. Foxnews is a right-of-centre channel but it serves a purpose in countering the generally left-of-centre mainstream media. The UCLA study has some flaws(I agree, Drudge is absolutely Conservative) but also provides useful information and demonstrates a general trend in the media: there are more left-wing outlets than right. However, if this study doesn't satisfy you, have a look at some more:


American Society of Newspaper Editors
61% of newspaper journalists claim to share the beliefs of the Democratic Party while only 15% favour the Republicans.
- The Drawback of this study is that it is 10 years old. However, I don't see a large enough of turnover in Newspapers for views to have shifted radically right since then.
http://www.asne.org/kiosk/reports/97reports/journalists90s/journalists.html

The Kuypers Study
A non-partisan expert on media framing, Jim A. Kuypers looked 700 news articles from 116 publications in his book Press Bias and Politics. In it, he finds that "the news media ignore far-left, moderate and conservative viewpoints in favor of a "narrow brand of liberal bias."
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200209/CUL20020917b.html

The Canadian News Directors Study
This study, conducted in 2002 on Canadian media outlets, found:

* Almost half of all Canadian television news directors, the individuals who have the most influence in determining what political news is covered on your favourite nightly newscast and how it is reported, vote Liberal.
* A TV news director working at the tax-funded CBC is almost three times more likely to vote for the NDP in federal elections, compared to his or her counterpart in the private sector.
* When this research was compiled in 2002, just over one in 10 (11.4%) of all private sector news directors said they would vote for the Canadian Alliance. However, not one news director at the CBC described himself (or herself) as an Alliance voter.
* The most influential person in Canadian TV newsrooms -- both public and private sector -- in determining how political news is covered, is a Liberal voter almost half the time. By contrast, he or she is (was) a supporter of the former Alliance party, with which Conservative Leader Stephen Harper is most closely identified, only one time in 10. And at the CBC, zero times in 10.
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Goldstein_Lorrie/2005/09/29/1240075.html

Mark Halperin
The political news director of ABC publicly admitted in October of 2006 that the "old media"(ABC, CBS, NBC) favours the left-wing. Here is the person that set the agenda for one of America's biggest news networks admitting that the media is leftist.


If these studies don't satisfy you of a general left-wing bias in the US(and Canada), then I don't know what will.

I do not dispute that Foxnews leans to the right. But I think you need to realize that the media as a whole is tilted to the left. Being a Conservative, I'm sure I notice it more than you. I am glad that Foxnews is around to provide some balance and options for Americans. No one is forcing people to watch this channel, people choose, in great numbers, to watch Fox. After all, America is a Conservative country and having a couple Conservative media outlets should not be blasphemous.

For more reading, check out: http://www.newsbusters.org/
Enjoy!

Give a liberal 95% of what he wants and all he'll do is complain that he didn't get the other 5%