Thread: Fox News - Ingenious Propaganda or Mindless Opinions

First of all, here's my opinion:
Fox News is biased towards the right. They most certainly do not have a pro-left bias, and their critique of the right is both rare and weak. Day in and day out they proclaim to be 'fair and balanced', but after watching them daily I have come to the conclusion that they are not. So anything I say in this thread will be based upon the assumption that Fox News is biased.

Now in this thread I want to discuss a few questions about Fox News;
1. What are the goals of Fox News?
2. Who does Fox News really care for? [Where do their interests lie.]
3. Does Fox News have a huge and elaborate long term plan to achieve its goals, or does it work on a more weekly/monthly basis?
4. Do their programs [Hannity & Colmes, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox & Friends] have talking points and detailed systems through which to hold interviews and make statements, or are these done on a more spontaneous basis?
5. Lastly, who are the real geniuses [or crazies, whatever you prefer] behind Fox News?

I hope this will turn into a fine discussion.

Originally Posted by Phresh

First of all, here's my opinion:
Fox News is biased towards the right. They most certainly do not have a pro-left bias, and their critique of the right is both rare and weak. Day in and day out they proclaim to be 'fair and balanced', but after watching them daily I have come to the conclusion that they are not. So anything I say in this thread will be based upon the assumption that Fox News is biased.
I watch Fox and CNN, I gave up on MSNBC because they are Obama sell outs. Having said that, There are shows on both Fox and CNN that I prefere not to watch. Now fair and balanced, and quantifing that , is subjective and open to interpretation based on what your prejudice is to define what that means to you. So I think that some shows are fair and balanced and some shows are not.
Now in this thread I want to discuss a few questions about Fox News;
1. What are the goals of Fox News?
I am not in their heads and I do not think that they have a goal. Again that is subjective and open to interpretation, if you perceive a goal then there it is. I do not. And any quality news organization will not have a goal outside of presenting the truth without bias. They are human, so good luck with that.
2. Who does Fox News really care for? [Where do their interests lie.]
Same.
3. Does Fox News have a huge and elaborate long term plan to achieve its goals, or does it work on a more weekly/monthly basis?
Same question differant words.
4. Do their programs [Hannity & Colmes, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox & Friends] have talking points and detailed systems through which to hold interviews and make statements, or are these done on a more spontaneous basis?
No, talking points are unethical and deceitful, Parties have talking points to keep their message in line, and is by definition "spin". Hannity on the other hand does use his own talking points, that is to keep himself on message, but, only for himself, he needs all the help he can get.
5. Lastly, who are the real geniuses [or crazies, whatever you prefer] behind Fox News?
Again, that is subjective and interprible by the thinker on the question.
I hope this will turn into a fine discussion.

Not every thing is a conspiricy to missinform or trick. Discerning the message and the messenger and weighed against your own common sense and what you already know to be true, and if you are truely open minded it is easy to pick out.
For me on CNN I will watch Anderson Cooper and Lou Dobbs, but not Nacy Grace, or Campbell Brown, Larry King, and others. On Fox I will watch Bill O'Rielly, in context he is Ok but I do not agree with him on every subject, Fox and Freinds, Brit Hume, Shepperd Smith, But not Hannity and Colmes, Gretta Van Sustren, Heraldo Rivera, and others.
It might be helpfull to know that I think of my self as an Independant and not for the party. But I am not a wishy washy thinker on issues. If it is wrong, I have no problem sating so. If it is right, I have no problem saying so. If you think I am wrong, Ok, I am listening and willing to be convinced but not at the expense of common sense and know what I beleive.

They(Fox News) are aiming for a specific audience, being those who lean to the right of center. Likewise, MSNBC, CNN, and other News organizations target a specific audience. I've yet to see any that are completely neutral or unbiased, although some do come closer then others. Myself, I have Fox and MSNBC along with some other news sources bookmarked. By reading several sources for my news, I can usually piece together a fairly acurate account of what's going on. As far as the opinion pieces, I usually ignore those. I can come up with my own opinions, and don't need someone else to do my thinking for me.

Originally Posted by Phresh

First of all, here's my opinion: Fox News is biased towards the right.

OMG, that must be illigal...

They most certainly do not have a pro-left bias,

Damn them to hell.

and their critique of the right is both rare and weak.

Opinion.

Day in and day out they proclaim to be 'fair and balanced', but after watching them daily I have come to the conclusion that they are not. So anything I say in this thread will be based upon the assumption that Fox News is biased.

How naive.

All the infotainment news channels are biased to some degree, in some
way.
If you cant realize that viewing a news comment where you agree with
the trajectory of comments represents a biased filter of your own on
what constitutes good reporting you are not worth debating.

Now in this thread I want to discuss a few questions about Fox News;

1. What are the goals of Fox News?

Cater to Conservative minded news viewers. It's actually very smart
because it's a huge demographic.

2. Who does Fox News really care for? [Where do their interests lie.]

They care for ratings, and they chose to program their content to
Conservatives.

3. Does Fox News have a huge and elaborate long term plan to achieve its goals, or does it work on a more weekly/monthly basis?

It must be the "vast Right Wing conspiracy" at work. It couldn't possibly
be a network focusing on a target audience.

4. Do their programs [Hannity & Colmes, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox & Friends] have talking points and detailed systems through which to hold interviews and make statements, or are these done on a more spontaneous basis?

There are several ways to look at this comment but I think the most
salient observation would be that you don't have a working concept of
sane, intelligent, people as having valid opinions when they diverge from
your own.

5. Lastly, who are the real geniuses [or crazies, whatever you prefer] behind Fox News?

People in the broadcast business who realized Conservatives represent
roughly half of the American viewing audience and there was an
opportunity to offer a popular product.

I hope this will turn into a fine discussion.

I doubt that.

You are quite obviously trying to portray Conservative media as some
sort of evil propaganda machine.


Go back to your light weight pseudo intellectual forums where this kind
of adolescent logic might get you some gratification.

It wont work here.

Originally Posted by Phresh

1. What are the goals of Fox News?

Profit.

2. Who does Fox News really care for? [Where do their interests lie.]

The wallets of investors.

3. Does Fox News have a huge and elaborate long term plan to achieve its goals, or does it work on a more weekly/monthly basis?

I'd imagine the company has a long term business strategy of some kind.

I can't really answer your specific questions about the programmes, because i haven't seen most. Fox News is a money-making organisation set up to steal market share from CNN. To do so, they had to be able to market themselves as offering something different and better, so they capitalised on the impression of a liberal media bias. They present a socially conservative, right-wing worldview which reinforces the prejudices of their target market and is inoffensive to advertisers and the business' owners. 'Come and feel validated by hearing people agree with you' is a poor advertising slogan, so instead they present themselves as 'fair and balanced'. This seems absurd to people with opposing worldviews, but makes perfect sense to the market they're aiming at - of course we see people who agree with us as presenting the more balanced and objective viewpoint and those who disagree as being biased. Very few people go through life believing themselves to have a distorted view of reality. Read the papers of the extreme left (as I used to do quite regularly) and they will also describe themselves as presenting the objective, balanced viewpoint - and probably believe it to be true.

Fox News - Ingenious Propaganda or Mindless Opinions?

Neither, they are a well planned out and operated business with their eyes on making a profit by catering to a certain audience.

Originally Posted by Phresh

1. What are the goals of Fox News?

All Rupert Murdoch medium must adhere to the advancement of Conservative political ideals while turning a tidy buck.

Originally Posted by Phresh

2. Who does Fox News really care for? [Where do their interests lie.

Rupert Murdoch has never spoken a sentence using the word care that I have heard. On the surface the pundits, senior this and that analysts, and so called "reporters"...all seem dedicated to the advancement Conservative political ideals.

Originally Posted by Phresh

3. Does Fox News have a huge and elaborate long term plan to achieve its goals, or does it work on a more weekly/monthly basis?

Rupert Murdoch has created Conservative media in Malaysia, The UK, The US, and Australia...all Conservative. His first ongoing goal as a business man is to continue to make a profit, and his other ongoing goal is to continue the advancement of Conservative political ideals.

Originally Posted by Phresh

4. Do their programs [Hannity & Colmes, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox & Friends] have talking points and detailed systems through which to hold interviews and make statements, or are these done on a more spontaneous basis?

My opinion is that individual employees of Rupert Murdoch wouldn't last long if they were effective advocates for the advancement of Liberal political ideals. Murdoch does employ ineffective Liberal pundits that contrast negatively with thier Conservative counterparts as seemingly willing fodder. Conservatives will NEVER walk away from a Fox News broadcast thinking Liberals are right about anything.

Originally Posted by Phresh

5. Lastly, who are the real geniuses [or crazies, whatever you prefer] behind Fox News?

Karl Rove and Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch provides the premises and the business model, and Rove creates the ever changing tone, content, and volume of all propaganda for the Conservative Media including Fox News, the White House Press Corp, The RNC, and The McCain/Palin campaign. Fox News is but one component of the most efficient political machine in US history.

Ofcourse Fox leans right, that's thier favored demographic. Just as MSNBC leans left, Fox has Hannity, MSNBC has Olberman. Both have moments of clarity, few and far between.

One thing to note however, Fox has higher ratings than MSNCB, CNN and ABC combined. Seems a smart business model.

Originally Posted by Akkaid

Ofcourse Fox leans right, that's thier favored demographic. Just as MSNBC leans left, Fox has Hannity, MSNBC has Olberman. Both have moments of clarity, few and far between.

So true my hillbilly genius mad man! Spot On! What I don't understand is why some Fox supporters are defensive about non accusatory observations regarding Fox News's Conservative orientation. Now if you are a Conservative and think that Fox News (not you Akkster) is fair, balanced, and right in the center of the political spectrum, while all other news organizations are far left...then you've clearly accepted thier marketing ordinances which are designed to keep you tuned in.

Originally Posted by Akkaid

One thing to note however, Fox has higher ratings than MSNCB, CNN and ABC combined. Seems a smart business model.

Fox has no competition for Conservative viewers on cable TV. I offer the following evidence from Nielson Ratings for cable news shows, which are audited by impartial outside agencies for accuracy, as support for my opinion that Fox has higher ratings because they are the only "Conservative" cable news network. The "Liberal" audience which has historicaly been smaller is divided up amongst three "Liberal" cable networks, and at 5:30pm three more broadcast news networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS. Here are the ratings for last Thursday

Thursday Sep 18, 2008
25-54 demographic (L +SD)


Total Day: FNC: 425 | CNN: 283 | MSNBC: 213 | HLN: 177

Prime time: FNC: 1093 | CNN: 565 | MSNBC: 589 | HLN: 342

www.mediabistro.com

Notice how in prime time:

CNN(Liberal) + MSNBC(Liberal) = Fox(Consevartive)
565 + 589 1093

=1155(Liberals) 1093(Conservatives)

Fox doesn't need a "good" business model to be successful, they are successful because they are the "only" business model of thier type. There is obvious hostility towards Fox from the industry. I think that comes from the Liberals of the industry that want to think they're still reputable in the way that Edward R Murrow, Walter Cronkite, and Woodward & Bernstein were percieved. That is tempered by the conglomerates that now own news and demand profitablilty above all, and that comes from ratings. It really makes you wonder why nobody has created a second Conservative cable news network?


The ratings are different all the time but it is a gross oversimplification for anyone to assume that Fox should be given any additional credibility towards any implied superiority of thier commentary or thier Conservative political orientation due to the high ratings they get. Maybe I should start a Conservative cable news network with my Goldwater inheritance = $10

Originally Posted by Akkaid

One thing to note however, Fox has higher ratings than MSNCB, CNN and ABC combined. Seems a smart business model.

Seems to me like America is a ship of fools. :whistling: