News is supposed to be fair and balanced. News is supposed to show both sides of a story, and to be completely unbiased. Is it? Not usually.
When I was 17 I went to work for my local daily newspaper, as a clerk. I was the lowest on the totem pole, a "go-fer" [as in, "Go get me some coffee, Dee!"] etc. but it was a fascinating experience and it gave me an appreciation for how news works.
SO here are two startling facts, for those of you not in the news industry:
1. Newspapers and magazines [most of them, not all] are usually written on a 5th grade reading level. You don't see a lot of big words. They are trying to appeal to a large demographic.
2. What you get to see depends entirely on the Editor's mind. There are a million stories out there, and what gets presented is entirely subjective. For instance, and editor who finds local stories more compelling will cover those in more detail than an editor who prefers international stories. Bias is always present because human beings decide what news the public is presented with, and the coverage.
I noticed that the BBC presents news about a lot of countries other than Great Britain. They present stories which are important but pretty dry, like stories that center on economics. American news editors are increasingly asked to present "feel good" stories. I've seen newscasts that were 10 minutes of real news and the rest of it was fluff. A new panda cub is born. A baby giggles at something. You know the drill.
So Brits get real news and we often get infotainment.
When my mother moved in with me nearly ten years ago, she watched a lot of CNN and Animal Planet. She increasingly became more interested in Fox News, and now she watches it almost exclusively.
I know what you're thinking, if you're not a Fox News fan - all they do is bash the president. Their news is all one-sided. You're wrong.
Now, before I continue let me make something clear. I am not a person who only watches Fox News. I often watch the nightly news on NBC and ABC. I often watch the morning shows like Today and Good Morning America. I see a big variety of news shows.
Fox presents in-depth analysis on stories.
Fox News presents more than one side of a story. Bob Beckel usually disagrees with the other folks on Fox. He is the voice of dissent.James Carville is also on there a lot.
When Fox presents a news story that is critical of Obama, they present the other side of the story, too.
I have watched enough Fox News to be able to tell you this - there are some lively debates on there. Do I EVER see those types of debates on other news outlets? NO.
A new poll shows that 60% of Americans don't trust the news at all. I am not surprised. We know we are hearing lies, or at least not hearing the entire story.
Bill Maher used to be a guy I admired. I watched him on HBO all the time. I thought he was an incredibly bright guy. Not any more. I think he is a nutcase, to put it politely. He holds himself out to be objective but he is a HUGE Obama supporter, and he admits it. So how can he be objective?!
The Five Hits Bill Maher Over Blaming Fox for Dividing US is a story everyone should read - and watch the video. Maher now claims the country is polarized because of Fox News. HUH???
CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC - all those media outlets are pushing an agenda. Fox News is alone in its agenda, if there is one. And, as I said earlier, Fox gives both sides of most of their stories.
Is Fox News right-leaning? Possibly. However, I remember watching it during the Bush presidency, and they were taking him to task all.the.time.
CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC - all those media outlets are pushing an agenda. Fox News is alone in its agenda, if there is one.
Maher just hates competition. His butt is getting kicked so he screams "polarization!"
Now, do I agree with everyone on Fox News?? No.
I am in favor of gay marriage, for instance. I have dear friends who are gay. [Fox News has several openly gay folks on camera, BTW, like Shephard Smith, so they are not anti-gay.]
But if I never watched Fox News, I would have a very skewed view of the world. I might just ignore all the many scandals the president has propagated while in office -- Benghazi, the IRS spying scandal, the Fast & Furious gun scandal, to name just a few.
If a Republican were in the White House and any one of those scandals hit the news, it would've been a nuclear bomb all over the airwaves. Obama gets a free pass from MOST news outlets.
ABC, NBC, and CBS all have reporters who are married to people who work in the White House. Check out this story.
"The list of prominent news people with close White House relations includes ABC News President Ben Sherwood, who is the brother of Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, a top national-security adviser to President Obama. His counterpart at CBS, news division president David Rhodes, is the brother of Benjamin Rhodes, a key foreign-policy specialist. CNN’s deputy Washington bureau chief, Virginia Moseley, is married to Tom Nides, who until earlier this year was deputy secretary of state under Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Further, White House press secretary Jay Carney’s wife is Claire Shipman, a veteran reporter for ABC. And NPR’s White House correspondent, Ari Shapiro, is married to a lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, who joined the White House counsel’s office in April."
So no wonder the regular news outlets give Obama a pass!!
Andrew Tahmooressi is a young marine who is being held in a prison in Mexico because he entered Mexico with a gun in his truck - simply for his protection. He didn't do anything criminal. He has been held for months and the president has done nothing about getting him home. Obama has talked to the Mexican president by phone recently and even then he didn't negotiate the release.
It's a humanitarian issue. Tahmooressi has served his country and now he has been abandoned by his country. It's disgraceful.
Fox News is airing stories trying to get Andrew released. The other news outlets aren't.
Do I always agree with everything on Fox News?? No. However, it's a lone voice in the wilderness on a lot of issues. It's holding the government accountable, and holding the president accountable.
If you are a hater of Fox News, I challenge you to watch it for four hours. Look at how many news stories it presents, and how it presents those stories.
Then watch CNN for four hours.
Then tell me which channel is more thorough and fair.
