I started watching Fox News a lot in about 2002. Being a good liberal - i.e. seeking a variety of information and viewpoints - I watched not only the commentators but also the so-called news anchors on Fox News. Eons ago, I detailed the slanted news I saw on Fox during the era of Presidents GW Bush and Obama.
I started watching Fox News a lot in about 2002. Being a good liberal - i.e. seeking a variety of information and viewpoints - I watched not only the commentators but also the so-called news anchors on Fox News. Eons ago, I detailed the slanted news I saw on Fox during the era of Presidents GW Bush and Obama.
Once - I think it was during Pres. GW Bush's time - three Fox "news" anchors discussed a news story. It was reported to make certain prominent Democrats look bad. Finally, one of the anchors said "To be fair..." then reported the one omitted factoid that showed those Democrats in a favorable light IN THAT SAME STORY. To this, one of the other anchors reflexibly quipped "Who wants to be fair?"
During the Tea Party movement Fox News anchors made it seem like Pres. Obama had raised people's taxes, when just the opposite was true. The anchors touted Pres. Obama's stimulus as "the almost trillion dollar" give away, when one-third of the approximately $780 billion stimulus were tax breaks - a fact I did not hear reported on Fox News.
Almost as soon as Obama assumed office, the Fox News anchors repeatedly reported on the increasing budget deficit and the national debt - which reached an all-time high during Pres. GW Bush's terms. Not once did I hear it reported on Fox News that the projected budget deficit was $1.2 trillion when Obama first assumed office in January of 2009. I'm pretty sure that it was during Pres. Obama's first term that Fox News started repeatedly displaying the debt clock. This coincidentally (wink, wink) followed the national GOP's crusade against Pres. Obama and the Democrats.
During this period, Fox News anchors like Greg Jarrett did not even bother to hide their politics. When they had a conservative and a liberal discuss an issue, they would first have a love fest with the conservative. Then, after sometimes saying "Because we're fair and balanced we have the liberal point of view," they hurled hardballs at the liberal and interrupted him before he could complete his point.
In the build-up to the Iraq invasion in late '02 and early '03, the anchors had opinions pro and con about the invasion. To the best of my knowledge, they always presented the opponents of the invasion as liberals. Never once did I see a conservative on Fox News oppose the invasion, nor did I hear Fox News report that some conservatives - e.g. Tucker Carlson, William F. Buckley Jr. and almost the entire staff at National Review - opposed the invasion.
Although Bill O'Reilly's show was clearly opinion oriented, Mr. O'Reilly is not free of blame. In other posts on this website I've detailed Mr. O'Reilly's slants and deceptions. During this early period, Mr. O'Reilly repeatedly said he was right down the middle. Yah right!
In August or September of 2004, he claimed he hadn't made up his mind who he was voting for - John Kerry or Pres. GW Bush. Poppycock! He had already repeatedly stated that he agreed with Pres. Bush on the war in Iraq, his picks for SCOTUS and federal judges, and his tax policy. The only criticism I heard O'Reilly make of Pres. Bush was that Pres. Bush didn't have what it took to go after his critics. But O'Reilly sure went after Pres. Bush's critics.
Several months into Pres. Obama's first term began, Mr. O'Reilly had anti-Obama guests on his
show. On at least two different shows he said to his guest, "Surely Pres. Obama knows his policies are damaging the nation, why do you think he pushes them?" Not taking the bait, the anti-Obama guests simply demurred. Later, O'Reilly asked Brit Hume the same question. Only Mr. Hume had the common decency to tell Mr. O'Reilly what O'Reilly surely knew, that Pres. Obama did think his policies - which, by the way, were passed by the House and the Senate - were helping the nation.
Years later Mr. O'Reilly had the gall to write a piece on this website bemoaning all the hate in American politics and the purveyors of hate. Who wouldn't hate Pres. Obama if he really did push policies and sign them into law knowing that they would hurt the nation?
<It wasn’t the first time, as a Fox News contributor, I criticized others at the network (and it wouldn’t be the last). Some at Fox certainly didn’t like when I’d do it. But as I’ve written before, when I reached out to then Fox CEO Roger Ailes about the matter, he gave me his blessing to take his network to task when I felt it was warranted.>
<“I think liberals are the biggest offenders but conservatives need to be held accountable when they’re not doing the right thing,” he said in an email. “Don’t worry about me, I’m actually in favor of free speech.”>
Bernie, I believe you that Roger Ailes actually told you this. But Mr. Ailes' notion of holding conservatives accountable seemed, shall we say, limited. Also, Mr. Ailes' comment seemed to equate "others at the [Fox News] network" with conservatives.
I started watching Fox News a lot in about 2002. Being a good liberal - i.e. seeking a variety of information and viewpoints - I watched not only the commentators but also the so-called news anchors on Fox News. Eons ago, I detailed the slanted news I saw on Fox during the era of Presidents GW Bush and Obama.
Once - I think it was during Pres. GW Bush's time - three Fox "news" anchors discussed a news story. It was reported to make certain prominent Democrats look bad. Finally, one of the anchors said "To be fair..." then reported the one omitted factoid that showed those Democrats in a favorable light IN THAT SAME STORY. To this, one of the other anchors reflexibly quipped "Who wants to be fair?"
During the Tea Party movement Fox News anchors made it seem like Pres. Obama had raised people's taxes, when just the opposite was true. The anchors touted Pres. Obama's stimulus as "the almost trillion dollar" give away, when one-third of the approximately $780 billion stimulus were tax breaks - a fact I did not hear reported on Fox News.
Almost as soon as Obama assumed office, the Fox News anchors repeatedly reported on the increasing budget deficit and the national debt - which reached an all-time high during Pres. GW Bush's terms. Not once did I hear it reported on Fox News that the projected budget deficit was $1.2 trillion when Obama first assumed office in January of 2009. I'm pretty sure that it was during Pres. Obama's first term that Fox News started repeatedly displaying the debt clock. This coincidentally (wink, wink) followed the national GOP's crusade against Pres. Obama and the Democrats.
During this period, Fox News anchors like Greg Jarrett did not even bother to hide their politics. When they had a conservative and a liberal discuss an issue, they would first have a love fest with the conservative. Then, after sometimes saying "Because we're fair and balanced we have the liberal point of view," they hurled hardballs at the liberal and interrupted him before he could complete his point.
In the build-up to the Iraq invasion in late '02 and early '03, the anchors had opinions pro and con about the invasion. To the best of my knowledge, they always presented the opponents of the invasion as liberals. Never once did I see a conservative on Fox News oppose the invasion, nor did I hear Fox News report that some conservatives - e.g. Tucker Carlson, William F. Buckley Jr. and almost the entire staff at National Review - opposed the invasion.
Although Bill O'Reilly's show was clearly opinion oriented, Mr. O'Reilly is not free of blame. In other posts on this website I've detailed Mr. O'Reilly's slants and deceptions. During this early period, Mr. O'Reilly repeatedly said he was right down the middle. Yah right!
In August or September of 2004, he claimed he hadn't made up his mind who he was voting for - John Kerry or Pres. GW Bush. Poppycock! He had already repeatedly stated that he agreed with Pres. Bush on the war in Iraq, his picks for SCOTUS and federal judges, and his tax policy. The only criticism I heard O'Reilly make of Pres. Bush was that Pres. Bush didn't have what it took to go after his critics. But O'Reilly sure went after Pres. Bush's critics.
Several months into Pres. Obama's first term began, Mr. O'Reilly had anti-Obama guests on his
show. On at least two different shows he said to his guest, "Surely Pres. Obama knows his policies are damaging the nation, why do you think he pushes them?" Not taking the bait, the anti-Obama guests simply demurred. Later, O'Reilly asked Brit Hume the same question. Only Mr. Hume had the common decency to tell Mr. O'Reilly what O'Reilly surely knew, that Pres. Obama did think his policies - which, by the way, were passed by the House and the Senate - were helping the nation.
Years later Mr. O'Reilly had the gall to write a piece on this website bemoaning all the hate in American politics and the purveyors of hate. Who wouldn't hate Pres. Obama if he really did push policies and sign them into law knowing that they would hurt the nation?
<It wasn’t the first time, as a Fox News contributor, I criticized others at the network (and it wouldn’t be the last). Some at Fox certainly didn’t like when I’d do it. But as I’ve written before, when I reached out to then Fox CEO Roger Ailes about the matter, he gave me his blessing to take his network to task when I felt it was warranted.>
<“I think liberals are the biggest offenders but conservatives need to be held accountable when they’re not doing the right thing,” he said in an email. “Don’t worry about me, I’m actually in favor of free speech.”>
Bernie, I believe you that Roger Ailes actually told you this. But Mr. Ailes' notion of holding conservatives accountable seemed, shall we say, limited. Also, Mr. Ailes' comment seemed to equate "others at the [Fox News] network" with conservatives.