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"Fair and balanced" Fox Nation shuts out progressive and pro-Obama commentaries

May 15, 2009 6:22 pm ET
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SUMMARY: Between May 1 and May 15, FoxNation.com linked to 15 newspaper op-eds and columns in its "Politics" section, but not one was from a progressive figure or presented a favorable view of the Obama administration.

25 Comments

Between May 1 and May 15, FoxNation.com linked to 15 newspaper op-eds and columns in its "Politics" section, but not one was from a progressive figure or presented a favorable view of the Obama administration. Thirteen of the 15 commentaries were either written by conservatives or included criticism of Obama. The other two commentaries were an obituary for former Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp written by former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson and a column by sportswriter Mike Lupica criticizing golf commentator David Feherty and comedian Wanda Sykes for "tasteless joke[s]."

While Fox Nation has claimed to be a fair and balanced alternative to "biased media," Media Matters for America has extensively documented Fox Nation's propensity for conservative misinformation and attacks on progressives and Democrats.

Media Matters examined all of the links in Fox Nation's politics section between May 1 at 12 a.m. and May 15 at 5 p.m. The following are those commentaries' headlines, the date Fox Nation linked to them, and a brief description of the author:

Noonan is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal and a former aide to President Reagan.

Rove is a Fox News contributor, Wall Street Journal columnist, and former aide to President George W. Bush. (As Media Matters noted, Rove's claim that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was an "accomplice" to torture is inconsistent with the definition of "accomplice," as well as with the reality of Pelosi's ability to affect the Bush administration's actions in any way.)

Peyser is a New York Post columnist and author of Celebutards: The Hollywood Hacks, Limousine Liberals, and Pandering Politicians Who Are Destroying America (Kensington, February 2009).

Sowell writes for Creators Syndicate, which characterizes him as a conservative.

Lupica is a columnist for the New York Daily News and a sportswriter.

Burlingame is the "director of the National September 11 Memorial Foundation" and "the sister of Charles F. 'Chic' Burlingame III, the pilot of American Airlines flight 77, which was crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001." As Media Matters has noted, Burlingame spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention, publicly supported Bush's re-election on numerous occasions, and vigorously defended the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program. Fox Nation linked to her op-ed twice on May 8.

Macintyre is a columnist for The Times of London.

Barone is a columnist for Creators Syndicate, which characterizes him as a conservative.

Mooney is a Washington Examiner commentary staff writer and columnist who has also contributed to the conservative websites CNSNews.com and NewsBusters.org.

Goldberg is a Fox News contributor and National Review contributing editor.

Watts is a columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and former Republican congressman.

Breitbart is a columnist for The Washington Times and launched the blog Big Hollywood "on Hollywood and politics from the center/right perspective."

Will is a conservative columnist for The Washington Post.

Gerson is a columnist for The Washington Post and former chief speechwriter for George W. Bush.

Krauthammer is a conservative columnist for The Washington Post.

— E.H.H.
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    • Author by wzwriter (May 15, 2009 6:34 pm ET)
      2  
      Sowell writes for Creators Syndicate, which characterizes him as a conservative.


      I characterize Thomas Sowell as a totally useless sad excuse for a human being.
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      • Author by Hillary1 (May 18, 2009 8:32 am ET)
        2  
        He also seems to be the angriest person on the face of the palnet, as well as clinically insane.
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      • Author by NiceguyEddie (May 18, 2009 11:55 am ET)
        2  
        Tom Sowell is a douchebag. He was also an autism denier years before Savage and Leary took up the act.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by manndan (May 15, 2009 6:40 pm ET)
      5 1
      Fox never has put voices on who would challenge the views that they are trying to project. The few progressives that they put up are Colmes-types who fulfill a New York Generals role as a stooge team. This is done because the average Fox viewer is only watching to have is pre-conceived notions confirmed and never challenged.
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      • Author by markbfoot199 (May 18, 2009 3:22 pm ET)
          1
        And the other news channels put whom on? Oh wait no one, they just run off at the mouth of Pro Obama all day long. At least Fox gives Dems a place to talk. Hillary was given air time during the campaign to talk and she took it, unlike the current President. I guess he was unable to have his teleprompter ready in time. He was given many chances to come onto Fox and answer questions. I see stories every day where a right and left side are given a voice on Fox, unlike the other news channels. Last time I checked Fox was handing all the other news channles the lunch and telling them to go home. Ratings speak for themselves.
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    • Author by jillaineb (May 15, 2009 7:37 pm ET)
      1  
      I decided to check out FoxNation.com to see if it is as absurdly biased as Fox News. I ended up scrolling through postings for a couple hours, disturbed by what I saw. Here's a small sampling:

      "Powell is an abomination against God Almighty. Filthy inferior Negros should never have been allowed to serve in our blessed armed services from the start. God Almighty is punishing this nation for pandering to the Negro, Christ-Killers, and the filthy homosexuals."

      "I wouldn't want to incite anything, but all those that aren't willing to adhere to the Constitution as it was originally intended and not some abstract interpretation of it, should be thinking of safety concerns. A tsunami of such huge proportion is on it's way to sweep the landscape of the USA clean once again."

      This is just a small sampling of the kinds of comments you can read on FoxNation.com. It would be easy to laugh this stuff off, but it scares me a little.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by tethepj (May 15, 2009 9:25 pm ET)
      1 1
      Well...given that most media coverage of Obama is positive...it's only "fair" that Fox reports what might be considered negative...I want ALL the news...not just from one source whom I know is bending it to the networks outlook...

      All my best brothers and sisters...we're in this together...please be civil and I respect you all.

      v/r,

      SMSgt James Thede
      USAF Pararescue
      ODS, OPC, OEF, OIF
      Report Abuse
    • Author by terrapin53 (May 15, 2009 10:37 pm ET)
      3 1
      are we supposed to be surprised by this? The giveaway to this is the word Fox.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by markbfoot199 (May 18, 2009 3:25 pm ET)
          2
        Terrapin, I see your a very non-tolerent person. You only accept the left side anyway. Sure your one of few people that even watch MSNBC. I think their viewship is around 10 people. I am sure they thank you.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by JamesCraven (May 16, 2009 12:59 am ET)
      3 1
      Fair and balanced.

      NOT!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by mattcable250650 (May 16, 2009 1:36 am ET)
      2  
      The J.C. Watts piece is pretty pathetic. He goes on and on and on about how he and the tea party participants are so very, very deeply concerned about all of the "excessive" spending Obama is doing.
      Well, okay. What was the Republican solution? Why, it was to produce a budget without numbers! Uh, yeah, that does a lot of good!
      His last point is a really cheap shot against Cindy Sheehan and her protest in Crawford, TX in 2005. Sheehan's protest was very focused and had a very precise question. Is she at all comparable to the teabagging party protesters? Not in the slightest.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by markbfoot199 (May 18, 2009 3:28 pm ET)
          1
        Matt, did you miss the story about Obama saying the same thing? President Obama even came out and said this spending it hurting the nation. I guess Obama can lead the next tea party, since he seems to agree with what they were saying at the rallies.
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      • Author by markbfoot199 (May 18, 2009 4:54 pm ET)
          1
        Cindy was not focused, she was out there for herself. What was the question? Do you even know? No, she is not comparable to the Tea Party Protesters, she was in it for herself, those at the rallies were in it for the country. Now that Obama agrees with those at the Tea Parties, too much spending is going to hurt this nation, guess the Tea Party Protester were right.
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    • Author by mary59 (May 16, 2009 11:26 am ET)
      5  
      What a grand array of GOP talking points all-stars. Dissemblers, liars, obtuse pontificators, & fools. They think they're all making such great arguments on that garbage scow of theirs.
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    • Author by cpinva (May 16, 2009 11:28 am ET)
      5  
      i wondered if it was just me, or had others noticed that FOX no longer even makes a pretense of "balanced" any more? they seem to have publicly conceded that they are the republican party tv network.
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    • Author by latanza (May 16, 2009 2:08 pm ET)
      1  
      And you didn't notice the coverage during the election? Which network was the picture of O'Bama in Taliban garb release on? I,m not sure.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by pretarvis9399 (May 16, 2009 2:37 pm ET)
      3  
      O'Reilly's always complaining that the NY Times doesn't have enough conservative voices on the editorial page. Should they follow Fox's example of only containing the voices of 1 political party?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by markbfoot199 (May 18, 2009 3:23 pm ET)
          2
        Please the do only have one side news stories in the Times, sure that is why they are in deep debt.
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    • Author by Chiara (May 17, 2009 3:36 am ET)
         
      Fox News should be banned! Then we could all get the real news; the truth, from the unbiased, objective, and integrity based news sources like MSNBC. What a more harmonious and humane world this would be.

      To dream the impossible dream....
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      • Author by markbfoot199 (May 18, 2009 3:32 pm ET)
          2
        Then we could get out news from an organization like the Times? Really, the same "Times" that did the following, sure they are non-bias.

        The New York Times confirmed yesterday that it killed a story in October that would have shown a close link between ACORN, Project Vote and the Obama campaign. The NY Times killed the investigation before the election that would have shown that Barack Obama’s campaign and the Far Left ACORN Organization were guilty of technical violations of campaign finance law.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by einreb (May 17, 2009 10:19 am ET)
      2  
      The addition of Dana Perino and Tucker Carlson to the Fox list of "journalists" perfectly underscores the point of this story.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by seeryer (May 17, 2009 8:58 pm ET)
      2  
      Fox News: We distort, you deride. I love it.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Markus10527 (May 18, 2009 6:56 am ET)
         
      What one forgets is that Fox News was really created for conservatives - because so many have complained that they're not fairly represented in mainstream media, which they collectively call, "The Liberal Media". Thus, what Fox News calls "Fair and Balanced" is their right-wing programming balancing out the many "left-wing" media sources being broadcast over the airwaves.

      I whole-heartly agree that the channel itself is anything BUT "fair and balanced". They most definitely cater to a conservative/Republican base. I also agree with manndan who wrote:
      Fox never has put voices on who would challenge the views that they are trying to project. The few progressives that they put up are Colmes-types who fulfill a New York Generals role as a stooge team. This is done because the average Fox viewer is only watching to have is pre-conceived notions confirmed and never challenged.

      Which is kind of funny on how he describes the "average Fox viewer" is what people like Sean Hannity describe those that watch CNN, MSNBC and all the other "Liberal Media".

      I think that Fox News was created so that conservatives can say to liberals, "See? We can be one-sided too! Nyaaaaah!!!"

      If you truly want "fair and balanced" news reporting, you have to look outside the United States media and watch the BBC. They have no real stake in our country so they can be unbiased and hyper-critical of BOTH parties - which then Americans will see just how FUBAR our government and society really is! ;-)
      Report Abuse
    • Author by markbfoot199 (May 18, 2009 3:38 pm ET)
        1
      Hey the "Times" must be proud.

      I am sure you all just love the cheats at the "Times" these are stories you just want see headlined at MM.

      Plagiarism At The NY Times ...Maureen Dowd Steals From Blogger

      Far Left columnist Maureen Dowd is busted.

      UPDATE: Apparently, Dowd has admitted to the charges.
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