What's so bad about Fox News?
At Fox News, ideology comes firstHaving a conservative voice among the news channels to question assumed wisdom and counter perceived bias makes sense in theory. But at Fox, winning over conservative viewers has meant lowering news standards.At its worst, this has led the network to promote baseless conspiracy theories, such as since-retracted claims regarding the death of former Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich and bogus accusations that former President Barack Obama was born in Kenya. Perhaps more damaging is the reflexive partisanship, which in recent years has manifested itself in a constant vilification of Obama and uncritical defense of President Trump.It creates an ‘echo chamber’Conservatives have long disagreed with the mainstream media’s liberal tilt. But before the launch of Fox News, they were at least forced to engage with the news seen by a major share of Americans. With many right-leaning viewers now getting their information from Fox News (along with the rise of partisan online media sites), though, they are not exposed to the viewpoints many Americans take for granted. Not only does this stop them from challenging their own perspective; it also limits their ability to persuade and engage others. Trump’s presidency has highlighted this challenge. Having an additional viewpoint is a positive, but creating a bubble (a phenomenon present on both sides of the partisan divide) is not.It is low-quality journalismThe difference between Fox News and other networks is not simply where they fall on the political spectrum. Fox may also be less committed to accuracy and journalistic standards than its competitors. Politifact, a non-partisan fact-checking website, rated more than 150 statements made on Fox News by pundits or their guests. Sixty percent were rated Mostly False, False, or Pants on Fire. This compares to just 27 percent for CNN, and 41 percent for MSNBC, the network’s liberal competitor. Fox News has also never won a Peabody Award (though other Fox affiliates including FX have). There’s a place for punditry, but at other networks, it takes a backseat to journalism. That is not the case at Fox.Source: The Perspective on Fox News
Why is FOX News turning on Donald Trump?
There has always been a bit of tension within Fox News between the actual journalists they employ — people like Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace, who had journalistic careers before joining Fox and think of themselves as journalists first and foremost, even if they either agree with or at least accept Fox’s deliberate conservative editorial bent — and the talk show hosts and entertainers on Fox, like Sean Hannity or Bill O’Reilly.The real journalists are more likely to challenge Trump when he says something like “the media are the enemy of the American people.” And if there are real, sourced stories being reported that suggest wrongdoing by the Trump administration, these Fox journalists are not likely to ignore them. But the programs on which they regularly appear air at less widely watched times of day.Meanwhile, people like Hannity and O’Reilly openly admit they are not journalists (at least, Hannity does) but their shows get a lot more viewers, and they are more or less the faces of Fox News. And they (especially Hannity) have made clear that they will defend Trump about almost anything he does or says. I wouldn’t expect this to change any time soon.So has Trump lost Fox News? I don’t think most people who watch Fox will see it that way, since what they watch mostly are the non-journalistic shows that air in prime time. But Fox does employ some people who are legitimate journalists even if they spend their time reporting within the stilted Fox News landscape. You can expect to see them being more critical. And less noticed.
Why is Fox News so blind to GOP lies and so blatantly biased against the truth?
Fox News was founded by Rupert Murdoch who hired a former GOP operative Roger Ailes as CEO. Ailes was a television executive who got into politics by working with Richard Nixon. Roger Ailes - WikipediaI cannot answer why Murdoch decided to create a News Network with a specific political direction but when he hired Ailes, that is what he got. I rarely watch Fox News, but when I have seen stories that I was familiar with, those stories often contain ‘facts’ that are probably true, but irrelevant. So, a story about a shooting in NYC near the Empire State Building, stressed that the gun was purchased legally (how did they know that?), but if you are familiar with NYC you know that it is not legal to carry guns in Manhattan without permission. Gun laws in New York - WikipediaSo, they play to a specific base and bias their stories to fit a need.
Why is FOX News so successful?
Ex Fox employee here. I've worked at CNN, HLN, and CBS NEWS. Fox is only successful because of the elderly. The elderly do not like their views to be challenged and are the easiest to lead. Believe it or not most young people get their news from twitter, Facebook, and await for ittttttt Comedy Central.Fox is the only "news" station I know that sued to for the right to lie.Fox news sued for the right to lie, so they can take facts and frame it however, they want. I have to admire how they can morph any fact into political propaganda. Their marketing skills are strong.However, Fox News is not the worst. CBS news is the worst. They are biased to the tee for the GOP. They talked in the office of assassinating the president. Racist remarks were flung daily. As a black guy in the office, I fled fast. I wasn't the first either.
Why does Fox News have a right-wing bias?
It isn't. There is a difference between the FOX NEWS division and FOX Opinion shows. FOX NEWS may seem biased to the casual observer who consumes most his “news” from CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, NPR, the New York Times, Univision and all the rest. That is because one generally gets both sides of the story on FOX and generally does not from all the rest of the aforementioned which ARE agenda driven.Daily programming on the FOX NEWS network generally presents a story. If further comment is desired, which it almost always is for ratings, FOX will present two or more guests to add their spin, one from the Left and one from the Right. One will likely see the broadcaster end a segment with “Great debate . . .we'll have to leave it at that” or some such. One may observe either guest on split screen laughing at the other as the other is talking. Sometimes if a guest utters something particularly untenable one might observe the FOX host laughing along as well.That is healthy for everyone. Present a topic, let both sides offer their spin, move to the next topic.Hence the FOX slogan Fair and Balanced.Prime Time on FOX is primarily Opinion. That is and never has been a secret. For the polically inclined that lean Right, the opinion portion of FOX is our equivalent of all of the other networks' 24/7 broadcasts.If one consumes his news from MSNBC or CNN, almost every story is presented by a Left leaning newsreader reading Left leaning text to a left leaning guest. Constantly. That is fine. As long as the consumer is aware of that agenda. What isn't fine is when the cable networks pretend that they are not what they are and do not do what they do. Or pretend they are committing journalism, which for the most part they are not.Let's assume FOX NEWS is biased for the purposes of this answer to a loaded question to begin with. So what? Don't watch it. Let the Right have our one little unsuccessful network on inconsequential cable TV.In a country where the “news” is dominated in print, broadcast and cable by the agenda of the Left isn't one network that isn't a fairly good example of fair and balanced?
How come Fox News is still so popular, even though they have been proven to be making up facts and are clearly very biased (conflict of interest-Rupert Murdoch)?
FOX NEWS is popular because it is one of a kind, and when you are one of a kind there is not much competition.As has been pointed out by several others here FOX fills a niche market…and rather large niche market, too. I would agree to the slant of the network for conservative issues, but not much more than most of the other media outlets are slanted for liberal issues.I remember recently when Bloomberg’s organization, Everytown, put out information immediately after the Florida shooting stating that there had been 18 school shootings in 2018. This was picked up in a matter of minutes by every major media outlet in the country…newspapers, internet blogs, TV, cable, radio, and millions of reposting on social media. The problem: the numbers were fake. Politifact and the Washington Post had to come out and admit the information was incorrect, but the damage had already been done and the headline was widely believed. Mission accomplished: the facts be damned!FOX is absolutely capable of committing the same miscarriage of info sharing, but many of their programs are not news, per se, they are opinion shows. Now, we might not like the opinions and that is what the channel clicker is for.I would challenge anyone to demonstrate how a Sean Hannity on FOX is anymore biased than a Rachel Maddow on MSNBC or Chris Cuomo on CNN.I find that most local news stations at the dinner hour are more geared towards local news and thus perhaps a bit less biased in their coverage.The key is to watch them all. I read the Washington Post and the Washington Times every day. One is to the left and one is to the right. Somewhere in the middle is the real story.
Why is Fox news so biased towards right wingers?
Why is Fox news so biased towards right wingers?In reality, Fox is just right of center, but in comparison to the extreme bias of most journalists they merely seem to be on the opposite extreme.90% of journalists, reporters, etc. are Liberals.This makes for a stark contrast that distorts your perception.
Why is Fox News so biased towards the Republicans and Tea Party?
Since News Corp has been in America they have always catered to a market that was being overlooked. Thats why we have such innovative television series such as Married With Children, The Simpsons, and COPs. These three shows alone paved the way for Two and Half men, Family Guy, and pretty much any reality TV cop show you see today. These shows were designed to hit middle america who could not identify with upper middle class standards of NBC,ABC,CBS. Those people in middle America also tend to share the same views towards religion and politics. Murdoch was brilliant at entertaining and creating "news as entertainment" Hence A Current Affair and now TMZ. As another poster has stated most of the other major networks tend to lean left. So that leaves a huge void for Fox News to fill. And by them being the only one their ratings are extremely high and everything they do is polarized. While the other stations fight for the left leaning viewers. Fox News has no competition for that demographic. Theoretically Fox News loses viewers when Republicans are in office because there base is not fired up. So in order for them to fire there demographics they have to hit the extremes. Fox does this extremely well. They have very talented people who understand human psychology and behavior. All modern media is propaganda to some extent because they are beholden to advertisers who want to influence their audience. You also have to realize that people like Murdoch have very large influences over what the world perceives as fact. He is competing with other Billionaires who have agendas of "fact" that they would like to push as well. All in the name of advertising. Larry Page/ Sergy Brin google; Warren Buffet General Electric/Washington Post, Carlos Slim New York Times. All these men have agendas globally. Murdoch is playing his position and that is why he must back the Republican party.
Why does Fox News enjoy better ratings than CNN and MSNBC?
Fox has better ratings because there is no other channel where a Republican can go for news and get through a half hour without throwing up their hands in disgust and amazement. When you have a single choice that is in better alignment with half the market, competing against an array of a half dozen or more channels (not to mention other media like web sites and print media), it's not hard to capture a big audience.The questioner almost certainly believes that conservative political philosophy is itself selfish and hate filled. I suspect they don't spend a lot of time watching Fox News, but that is my suspicion only. If they could work not from some particular single quote by a guest interviewee, but that a transcript of a news broadcast, and point out the selfish, manipulative and hate-filled parts, I would be glad to respond. No channel is telling lies. Working media professionals try to be objective. But they see the world through their own political philosophies. The editors and writers and owners of NBC, ABC, CNN, CBS, The Washington Post and the New York Times can all jump up and down and go red in the face and swear that they are not partisan. All I would ask is for anyone to make me believe that if you took all those people and made them into a voting precinct, they would have given the House of Representatives to the Republicans in 2010. If you believe that they would not have, as I believe they would not have, then they are not representative of the voters and just simply see the world differently.If anyone is having trouble believing that I'm serious, pick a transcript from a newscast, or the front page of one of those two newspapers from any given day, and I will walk you through the significant number of judgments that I see based on the political views of the media. Of course I'd be glad to do the same with Fox. My point isn't that anyone is good or bad. My point is that philosophy informs perception.