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Cathy4017 · 08-07-2010, 11:51 AM

Compared to years ago, Fox is more liberal than it (meaning Fox) once was. It's still relatively conservative alongside all of the others. It is the one standalone that even comes close to being conservative, so I don't see why so many liberals seem to resent it, when they have so many other programs to choose from.

TT Dave · 08-07-2010, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Compared to years ago, Fox is more liberal than it (meaning Fox) once was. It's still relatively conservative alongside all of the others. It is the one standalone that even comes close to being conservative, so I don't see why so many liberals seem to resent it, when they have so many other programs to choose from.

I don't get the liberals hatred for Fox News either. Like you said, just about every other network leans to the left so if you liberals out there don't like Fox News, don't watch it!...lol. I'm very thankful for Fox News, if I couldn't watch that channel I wouldn't even know what's going on. The other networks used to report everything then give it a leftist slant. These days, many of the other networks don't even report a story at all if it makes anyone on the left look bad.

BigDGeek · 08-07-2010, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

So what do you read online to balance out NPR/NBC?

Various sources; most of what you see on any news site is AP/Reuters feeds anyway.

BigDGeek · 08-07-2010, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Compared to years ago, Fox is more liberal than it (meaning Fox) once was. It's still relatively conservative alongside all of the others. It is the one standalone that even comes close to being conservative, so I don't see why so many liberals seem to resent it, when they have so many other programs to choose from.

I will speak to that because I do not consider myself a "flaming liberal", I usually vote Democrat.

I do not have an issue with Fox News's conservative slant. I do have a problem with their "fair and balanced" slogan. They are not fair and balanced. You need to get news from another source to "balance" their slant. They try to make themselves sound like they're unbiased. I have an issue with that.

Sandstorm214 · 08-07-2010, 02:03 PM

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Originally Posted by TT Dave

I don't get the liberals hatred for Fox News either. Like you said, just about every other network leans to the left so if you liberals out there don't like Fox News, don't watch it!...lol. I'm very thankful for Fox News, if I couldn't watch that channel I wouldn't even know what's going on. The other networks used to report everything then give it a leftist slant. These days, many of the other networks don't even report a story at all if it makes anyone on the left look bad.

Liberals don't like Fox for the same reasons conservatives don't like MSNBC--not sure what's not to "get" about that. It's too bad you don't feel like you could get your news from anywhere but Fox, since they don't run stories that make anyone one the right look bad. I like to get my news from several sources--left, right, and in the middle.

Cathy4017 · 08-07-2010, 02:25 PM

I like to get my news from several sources--left, right, and in the middle.

Now I have a question...which source do you consider "in the middle?"

That's not meant to put you on the defensive. It's an honest question.

Sandstorm214 · 08-07-2010, 03:17 PM

Totally fair question. If I want news without spin, my favorite places to go are to the newswires--this is where everyone all of the media outlets get their stories from and then add their slant. The Reuters, AFP, and AP feeds are my favorites. So often I will read the original story on one of those sites and then see it reported with a focus on one aspect of the story or another to satisfy the spin on the conservative and liberal news outlets. Overall, though, I try to read as much as I can and get the whole picture.

Cathy4017 · 08-07-2010, 03:38 PM

Thanks for the response.

I really don't think that there is anything such as "unbiased" reporting. It's just human nature, I think.

BigDGeek · 08-07-2010, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

I like to get my news from several sources--left, right, and in the middle.

Now I have a question...which source do you consider "in the middle?"

That's not meant to put you on the defensive. It's an honest question.

To me, AP/Reuters feeds are "middle"; that is most of what Yahoo! News is.

"Liberal" is MSNBC, CNN, and ABC News.

"Conservative" is WSJ, Jewish World Review, NRO, etc.

TexasReb · 08-07-2010, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Compared to years ago, Fox is more liberal than it (meaning Fox) once was. It's still relatively conservative alongside all of the others. It is the one standalone that even comes close to being conservative, so I don't see why so many liberals seem to resent it, when they have so many other programs to choose from.

Very well said and summed up, Cathy!

The root of the hostility many liberals have against it (IMHO) is that, to them, they see view it (FOX News) as a threat to their own ideological monopoly on the MSM.

At the same time, to be fair, for some of the left-leaning, it is not out of a desire to stifle the opposing viewpoint, but because they truly do see it as extremist. That is, the opinion is filtered thru their own ideological and world vision. They honestly do not see their own biases.

Bernard Goldberg (of CBS fame and renown) wrote several books on this subject. As he said, it is not that the folks at CBS, or NBC, or ABC get together and say, "hey, lets see how we can spin this story with a liberal slant." No, it is just that these figures live in an isolated world very much removed from mainstream America and life of the average citizen.

Thus, they honestly think they represent the "mainstream "... because they are so cloistured into the universe of the beltway and left coast, they have no basis of comparisson. So, as Goldberg sees it, it is not so much a left-wing conspiracy to slant the news, as it is just they cannot fathom another viewpoint. A good illustration -- which he brought up -- was the story of the Fifth Avenue party when a woman remarked she just couldn't believe Nixon won over McGovern. After all, nobody SHE knew voted for Nixon! LOL

Anyway, it is interesting (and if I recall, Goldberg brought this out also), one of the things those who deny a liberal slant in the MSM, point out is that studies show most commenters self-identify as "moderate." But...when further surveys are done, the same who believe themselves "moderate" answer ideological questions in a way of which is not at all distinguishable from "liberal."

Here are a couple of links and an excerpt from an interview related to the point:

Amazon.com: Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the…

Bernard Goldberg speaks out on his book "Arrogance", media bias, liberal authors, journalism magazines, Andy Rooney, and Andrew Heyward

GOLDBERG: Let me do it this way. Let me tell you what it's not. It is not a conspiracy. Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw do not go into their offices in the morning, summon their top lieutenant, lock the doors, pull the shades, give the secret handshake, and say, 'How are we going to stick it to conservatives?' it does not happen that way. I was with one news organization for 28 years, and I'm telling you, I've never, ever seen anything like that. What happens is arguably worse, because what I just described is so unacceptable that they'd have to stop. I mean if somebody said, 'You guys are going into a room here and making up an agenda,' they'd have to stop. But what they do is worse because it's far more subtle. They live in this bubble. They live in Manhattan and Washington, the media elites, overwhelmingly.

RATHERBIASED.COM: So you're saying it's subconscious mostly?

GOLDBERG: Yeah, because it's not a conspiracy. It's that they're unaware of it. Here's what happens: They don't think that their positions on the most controversial issues of our time are liberal positions. They think they're mainstream positions, because all their friends in the bubble think the same way as they do. They think everything to the right of center is conservative. Correct. And everything to the left of center is moderate and mainstream. That's how crazy it is.

And that's why you can go up to these people and say, 'Well, there's a liberal bias.' And they'll say, 'No there isn't. And anybody who says there is, is a conservative ideologue and that's the only reason they're saying it.' They don't look at themselves because it's as if you asked a fish what it's like to be wet all day. And the fish says, 'What do you mean wet? What's wet?' The fish has no concept of wet because he has no other frame of reference. Well, these people live in the same type of environment. And that's why--that's why fixing the problem themselves is so incredibly difficult.