The Sandspur

Issue date: 3/19/10 Section: Opinions

Yoni's take on the political environment of the nation and the world.

In the past two months, Fox News has had some serious PR problems. In the first case they doctored a digital video of the Tea Party demonstrations showing many more people than were actually there. They have also received a lot of flak for allowing vice presidential candidate and ex-governor Sarah Palin to be news commentators.

The last source of criticism against the network revolves around their eccentric commentator Glenn Beck. Yet while many people know of these incidents, Fox News' history is filled with questionable actions.

According to interviews with employees of Fox News, Fox News receives a daily message either from Robert Murdoch or someone else at the top relating the main issue of the day and the slant the news should take. Those reporters who decided to tell the facts were quickly fired.

Before and after every show, Fox News likes to repeat over and over that it is "fair and balanced." The phrase has become the mantra for the news network and is their validation that they are in fact a real news network.

When questioned as to a right-wing bias, they air all of the left-wing interviews they have. While they do host Democrats and liberals on the network, this is only done in a ratio of 5:1 Republican to Democratic interviewees.

On the O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly has a tendency to yell "Shut Up" at those he disagrees with, and often tells his video crew to cut the show if they continue to talk. This behavior is not only extremely rude, but absolutely unprofessional.

Not only is Fox News completely biased, but their way of relating the news is completely unethical. While telling a story the reporters and anchors frequently use the phrase "some people say" to create sources out of thin air. With no actual basis for their news, the entire show becomes an opinion-based show.

When showing the war in Iraq, Fox frequently aired the positive aspects of the American invasion: demonstrating new schools being built, democracy taking place, and the booming economy. They quickly forgot about the WMD's and the costs in American lives and dollars.

The type of news Fox delivers was clearly illustrated in a poll organized by the Program on International Policy Attitudes, showing that 33% of Fox viewers believed we had found WMD's in Iraq in 2003 compared to 11% of NPR and PBS viewers. As well, the poll showed that 67% of Fox viewers believed there was a connection between Al Qaeda and the Taliban compared to 16% of NPR and PBS viewers.

Unfortunately, the destructive way Rupert Murdoch runs Fox News extends beyond telling the news. The head of the election analysis division of Fox in 2000 was John Ellis, who happened to be the first cousin of then-governor George W. Bush. John Ellis was the first person to announce that Bush had won Florida and the other anchors soon followed his lead. Fox News had more sway in the final outcome of the 2000 election than any Supreme Court decision.

During the Bush years they worked closely with the White House and were in full support of the administration's policies. Their collusion with the White House completely reversed when Obama took office and they have been on the attack ever since.

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