If you have Campbell Brown fooled ... you might be Fox News
October 29, 2009 1:44 pm ET by Brian Frederick
So Campbell Brown is the latest journalist who fails to critically examine whether Fox News is any different than MSNBC. Eric Boehlert has done an excellent job taking down this argument here.
On her October 28 show, following an interview with White House adviser Valerie Jarrett, Brown stated:
So I am stating what I think is the obvious here. Jarrett seems loathe to admit that MSNBC has a bias, and that is where the White House loses all credibility on this issue. Just as Fox News leans to the right with their opinionated hosts in primetime, MSNBC leans left. I don't think anyone at Fox or MSNBC would disagree with that.
Of course, as Boehlert and Jamison Foser have repeatedly pointed out, those who call attention to MSNBC's primetime programming always seem to overlook that three hours of MSNBC's morning programming is dominated by unabashed conservative and former Republican congressman Joe Scarborough (who is often joined by old-school bigot Pat Buchanan).
But the problem with Brown's statement is even more fundamental. Brown -- like Jake Tapper and Howard Kurtz and others -- suggests that Fox News' conservative bias is merely the result of -- or exists solely in -- the network's opinion programming.
Brown states: "It would be great to talk honestly about how we draw important distinctions between the various media outlets." Okay, Campbell, let's break it down again. Here's an even easier way to distinguish between Fox News and MSNBC:
- If you regularly doctor quotes and videos to completely change the original meaning - sometimes to the complete opposite of the original meaning ... you might be Fox News.
- If you allow your hosts and contributors to use your airwaves to raise money for political organizations ... you might be Fox News.
- If your executives position your network as the "opposition" to (or defenders of) the administration ... you might be Fox News.
- If you repeatedly organize, promote and encourage political protests ... you might be Fox News.
- If you pass off the research and talking points (and typos) of a political party as your own reporting ... you might be Fox News.
- If you declare "Victory!" when legislation is defeated (or passed) ... you might be Fox News.
- If you advance baseless conspiracy theories ... you might be Fox News. (Or CNN, but more on that in a minute.)
The list goes on...
Note that Fox News as a "news" organization is guilty of all of the above breaches of basic journalist ethics. It's not just Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity.
Brown goes on to state:
Opinionated cable news hosts have a valid but very different role. They either cheerlead or criticize and in doing so they connect with those who agree with them. They validate the opinions of those on the left and on the right. They provoke one another, they fight with one another, and yes, they entertain us, and in a polarized country, that gets big ratings. I'm not critical of what my friends at Fox News and MSNBC do, but it is apples and oranges when compared to what we at CNN do and we should all just acknowledge that.
Brown completely ignores CNN's own "opinionated host in primetime," Lou Dobbs. "We should all just acknowledge that" Dobbs has repeatedly advanced conspiracy theories, including that the President of the United States hasn't released a valid birth certificate, spread numerous falsehoods about immigration, and associated himself and CNN with a right-wing hate group.
"We should all just acknowledge that" as long as Brown and others continue to advance this ridiculous false equivalency between Fox News and MSNBC -- while overlooking the problems in their own houses -- Fox News will continue with business as usual.
The other right-wing media mogul you should worry about
Palin's book and Obama's bow: a media week to forget
Media Matters: The Palin chronicles
It is all smoke and mirrors by the Obama admin. on this issue. But then again, his entire presidency has been smoke and mirrors, as the Golden Boy has demonstrated a complete inability to lead.
and where the smoke and mirrors you talk about?
fox is right wing
msnbc has a liberal viewpoint during primetime
cnn is looking to see which one is the best to mimic to help their ratings.
and so what if an obama advisor did not say msnbc was liberal?
you idiots won't even admit that fox it in the tank for the wingnuts.
Health Care
GITMO
The fall of the dollar.
Afghanistan
Unemployment
Don't Ask Don't Tell
Finance Reform
You know, it's interesting, I was not an Obama supporter and intended to vote for McCain until he named the Alaska airhead for his running mate; I don't know ANYONE who thinks of Obama as the "Golden Boy," nor do I know of anyone who calls him that except Foxbots like you. Has he made some decisions I didn't like? Yep. Has he made some I like? Yep. Is he a failure? Not by a long shot. He has gone a long way toward repairing the damage done to this country by eight years of Bush incompetence.
Turn off Fox and look around. You might find that this country's not as bad as you like to think it is.
Afganistan Attack
Sorry to be off topic.
This is not rocket science.
Jarrett's opinion on the topic is irrelevant.
Factual evidence doesn't back up any assertion that FoxNews and MSNBC are equivalent.
It's not our fault that facts have a liberal bias.
But FAUX is whole other kettle of fish...all rotting from the head.
~
It's a question of ACCURACY and TRUTH. If Fox were reporting things in a factual and fair way, the White House wouldn't care one whit about the political leanings of its personalities.
You can come up with a daily list (this site essentially does that) of the incorrect/untrue things Fox reports. There's no corresponding list of MSNBC errors and lies, because MSNBC isn't reporting errors and lies.
THANK YOU.
njguy93@yahoo.com
And this is the point.
As long as we let FoxNews' nonsense get credibility they don't deserve, our nation suffers. Instead of having the debates we need to have, we're stuck talking about death panels that don't exist. Instead of talking about how wonderful it was that the Nobel Peace Prize committee recognized our President's vision and leadership in making the world head towards being a more peaceful place, we're talking about how he supposedly has kowtowed to the rest of the world too much.
But you're right, they have too much power - they deserve lots less!
So the advertisers are left with a market of 1% of America vs everyone else. That is the only number that matters and Beckkk and his 80 fewer advertisers is all to familiar with the power of that fact!
What I said was "As long as we let FoxNews' nonsense get credibility they don't deserve..."
I never said ANYTHING about FoxNews asking my permission. It's that we won't let them get credibility they don't deserve for their nonsense. They can spew nonsense if they want to.
It's a gross distortion of what I said to claim that I ever suggested, or thought, that FoxNews needed my permission to do anything.
Man, you're lame.
But yeah, we sure can stop them from getting credibility they don't deserve! We can not let them get that credibility!
You lose. You're wrong. Again. As always!
Glenn Beck is not on in primetime.
Neil Cavuto is not on in primetime.
Major Garrett is not on in primetime.
Steve Doocy is not on in primetime.
Gretchen Carlson is not on in primetime.
We have to find a way to get the Campbell Browns of the world to recognize reality.
The White House’s hard pushback against Fox News has spawned a backlash meme of sorts: That whatever the excesses of Fox, the Obama administration has no trouble benefitting from an equally biased network on the left, MSNBC.
Come on, this is B.S. Bias is a very difficult thing to quantify or measure, but it’s a real stretch to claim that MSNBC, while left-leaning in many ways, is Fox’s left-wing equivalent.
This meme got a boost last night when CNN’s Cambell Brown grilled White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett on the Fox affair.
After Jarrett said that “of course” Fox is biased, Brown pushed back: “Do you also think that MSNBC is biased?” Jarrett demurred. Ben Smith dubs this the White House’s “MSNBC problem.”
Sure, MSNBC has Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, and Ed Schultz. But it’s debatable, to begin with, that they are polar opposites — in terms of their ideology or their relationship to reality — of Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck.
Insanity doesn't really have a politically ideological slant.
Sorry, I thought you were my buddy kydem! Didn't have my glasses on!
This whining that CNN shouldn't have expressed an opinion that differed from mm(fvl) is hysterically funny! It reminds me of the scene from monty python's holy grail when the urchin out in the street is calling, "Bring out your dead, bring out your dead." When someone throws a body on the cart the person says I'm not dead. This is an equally hysterical discussion about being nearly, soon-to-be, or not quite dead as yet. The guy pushing the cart will have none of it and hits the guy on the head to end the discussion.
mm(fvl) is telling CNN to believe about themselves, and spasing out when CNN doesn't play with the same toys from gorgy porgy's media pen. ;-( wah-wah!
Speaking truth to/about progressives
FOX "NEWS" CHANNEL's supposedly "straight news" programs, reporters, and hosts have all either shown opinion or said or advanced theories, stories, or arguments that are flat-out false or grossly exaggerated. They have literally used Republican National Committee talking points in several instances on the air and presented it as straight news. This has all been pointed out ad nauseum over the years. These people who draw the false equivalency are either ignorant to a staggering degree or deliberately dishonest.
THANK YOU.
njguy93@yahoo.com
Let us know when you're going to start doing that. proudconservative.
My kingdom for a literate, sensible, and mature neocon!
I'm not saying that 100% of what Olbermann and Maddow say is true every single time on every single show, but the majority of the time they are supported by the facts, which is a lot more than you can say for Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. That is why conservatives hate Olbermann and Maddow ten times more than they normally would, because they use facts to back up their arguments and there's nothing they can do to prove them wrong, because most of the time they aren't. Unlike Limbaugh and Beck. If I had a dollar for every time they said something that was flat-out false or manipulated, I would make Bill Gates look like a beggar.
THANK YOU.
njguy93@yahoo.com
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/29/new.jersey.dobbs.gunshot/index.html
Look what your web site has caused? Are you happy? I seem to remember you all implying that O'Reilly "caused" the death of that baby killer.
Cousin it says pyhrnmmedhgkj! Which I think we should all take to heart.
Don't let that stop you from pretending MMFA wants Lou Dobbs dead. Nothing makes a wingnut mader or sadder than when they're forced to face unpleasant facts.
Back 3 weeks ago, a bullet rolled off Dobbs' house. It almost certainty came from far away from a hunter, and only had a tiny bit of momentum left by the time it got to Dobbs' house out in the middle of the country.
And you're lying when you said what you say about Tiller and O'Reilly and MMFA. I have read the other comments - it didn't happen that way here. On top of that, what has been said here about Dobbs has been truthful and relevant. What O'Reilly said about Dr Tiller was inflammatory and dishonest. Again with the false equivalencies!
What a tool.
I believe Brown hit the nail on the head in her piece on cnn.
Fact:
Fox leans right (alright sheapard smith, Geraldo Rivera, and Chris Wallace. I won't say they are "liberal" but they are hardly "right wing" fanatics.
MSNBC leans left (exception being the morning show)
CNN is all over the place. A few conservatives and a few liberals.
Need more proof?
83 percent of liberals watch MSNBC and 8 percent of conservatives
Interesting enough 74 percent of conservatives watch fox news and 21 percent of liberals.
I will disagree with Campbell Brown on one thing:
The American public could care less on what is "honest journalism". They want opinions placed down there throat so they don't have to think for themselves.
Bottom line:
In the Bush years, Fox portrayed Bush as GOD and MSNBC could never say nothing good about him
In the current Obama administration, MSNBC refers to Obama as the savior and Fox would not give him credit if he praised the news organization. My libertarian roots come out though on this point... Regardless of the message and regardless of the administration, the government has NO RIGHT to deny the opinions of our government. That is what makes America, AMERICA!
You didn't provide any proof, and your portrayal of who watches these networks is even less convincing than your earlier statements. Above all, Campbell Brown missed the point--and you did also--that Fox's political leaning is not the issue, it's Fox's pathetically poor journalism. If you can't address that, then try to post something relevant on a different thread.
What garbage, MMFA spits it out again. MSNBC puts on Joe in the morning when no one is watching and drags out tired old Buchanan just to say they have a conservative presence on the air. Their prime time line up is 100% lefties. The only righty Olberman has ever even spoken to goes back to his ESPN days when he was talking to a right handed pitcher. And Maddow is not much better, she gets "talked down " by such far right personalities like Paul Krugman and Howard Dean. Wow what ground breaking journalism!
Fox on the other hand always has lefties on, even partisans like Hannity . And when the dems are not hiding, O'Reilly has many on too. But most dems, including our illustrious President are afraid of real questions, they prefer news networks that fact check comedy skits for them.
It's all a fraud.
The only similarity I see is that each network leans towards a certain political spectrum, however the extent of which does vary. At least on MSNBC they don't lie or distort things in the ways that Fox does, or even call for people to be poisoned, or say they're racist.