Is Fox News fair and balanced?

[Gary Childress]

Fox news makes the claim that their news is fair and balanced. Do they back their words with deeds? If a person watched nothing but Fox News in their life, would they have a fair and balanced understanding of the issues? Or would they come away with an unfair and unbalanced view of things?

The poll is a simple yes or no poll but please feel free to elaborate on your choice in the thread. Definitions of what "fair and balanced" means are encouraged also.

Thanks for participating in this poll.

 

[Elear]

I've never met anyone in my life who isn't opinionated. I certainly am.

That's the use of multiple sources.

Just as Fox can get it right sometimes (although views will vary on what getting a story "right" means), they can also get it wrong.

When it comes to the media: "Don't trust, so there's no need to verify"

 

[LucyDuke]

No. There's not a single source on the planet that's fair and balanced.

 

[Bigfoot3814]

The answer to that question is no.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Rupert Murdoch, 'nuff said.

 

[mangxema]

Ahem:

Spoiler :

No. There's not a single source on the planet that's fair and balanced.

What she said.

 

[Gary Childress]

So far not a single person has voted that Fox News is fair and balanced. How then can Fox News make such a claim? Are they lying? What does it say about Fox News' credibility if they are overtly lying to us about being fair and balanced? Should Fox News be brought to court for false advertising?

 

[History_Buff]

Every other news outlet ever has some bias. It's impossible not to, because the writers and editors are biased to begin with - it's a human condition. Fox just happens to be more extreme in it's bias than other news outlets.

It's also interesting to note that news networks are routinely pressured to cover or not cover stories at the risk of having their advertising budget pulled.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Not the BBC.

 

[LucyDuke]

So far not a single person has voted that Fox News is fair and balanced. How then can Fox News make such a claim? Are they lying? What does it say about Fox News' credibility if they are overtly lying to us about being fair and balanced? Should Fox News be brought to court for false advertising?

Of course they're lying. It's called "marketing".

 

[Phlegmak]

You have to define fairness and balance.

 

[Luckymoose]

Yes, they are as fair and balanced as they can possibly be. They don't seem that way because all other news outlets are super liberal and Fox just sticks out for not being like them.

 

[Abaddon]

No. There's not a single source on the planet that's fair and balanced.

This.

Unless there is a world new channel, edited by a unbiased person from every country on earth...

Perhaps we need some aliens to report for us?

​

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Defining fairness and balance is pretty straightforward, on the BBC they have to have representatives from all sides in each debate and when it comes to political parties need to give fair coverage to all, including amount of time on air (this may be slightly proportional to amount of votes polled however).

There's also the Independent Press Complaints Commiiison in the UK which oversees the media as well.

 

[Gilder]

They're no more fair and balanced than any other news source. They just like to trumpet that they are more often by attacking the "liberal media."

 

[Elear]

It's also fair to note that there is a subjective aspect to it. Depending on where you fall in the so-called "political spectrum", you will have a different perspective. This is why a portion of America is convinced that there is a liberal media conspiracy and the other part is convinced that there is a conservative media conspiracy and most Americans are just saying

 

[Moss]

No, no other cable news station is either.

 

[Gary Childress]

So far one person, representing under 4% of the total who have responded so far says that Fox News is fair and balanced. Amazing. It sounds to me like they are indeed engaging in false advertising. Aren't there laws against misleading the public? Instead of saying they are fair and balanced, shouldn't they simply admit that they are giving their side of the story? Wouldn't that make them more credible? I mean should we even trust a news source which lies to us about the fairness of its views?

 

[Elear]

(I think) if you expect a prosecution of false advertising then it's going to take awhile because I want the government to go after Oxiclean first please.

 

[Bigfoot3814]

Sometimes they say: "We report, you decide", which is better.