I don't thinkt heir bias is their problem - Edit 1
Before modification by random thoughts at 27/01/2010 03:14:01 AM
It is a center right country so it is hardly surprising that the only center right TV news show rates the highest. What is really more shocking to me is the other networks are so willing to allow Fox half the country uncontested while they fight with the Daily Show for the other half. I find it kinda of sad because with the exception of a few shows Fox is not a very good news source. I keep expecting on of the other news channels to step up and challenge Fox but they all seem to be racing to their left. CNN keeps acting like they want to but can't seem to pull the trigger.
That is a good point - the reason their news reporting sucks in the first place is that they seem to cater to the viewers' whims far too much, offering the news people want to see instead of that which they need to see, but then on the point of ideological bias, suddenly they ignore that fact you mention of there being more room for another channel on the right than on the left, i.e. of viewers wanting more center-right bias.
They are no more biased then most and less biased then say MSNBC. I think what makes them a mediocre news source is that they treat news as entertainment. The other news channels do it as well but Fox is more successful at it.
When I talk about bias I am talking about the actual news shows Hannity or Beck or any of the other morons they have on during prime time. The morning show I think is the worst since they actually bill that as a news show. The stuff between the morning show and prime time actually isn't that bad and I like Chris Wallace.
I think given the choice most people would claim to want unbiased news but since that really isn't and option most people choose a news source whose bias most closely resembles their own. Biases are much more noticeable and less tolerable when they differ from your own.
Most of the people with strong opinions of Fox News never actually watch it but instead they base their opinion on a few clips which are typically form the opinion portion of the programming. The actual news shows really are no worse then anything else out there and are often actually more balanced on their panels.
I expect so, yeah. I haven't seen remotely enough of any of them to reach a balanced judgement, myself - spent some time watching TV when I was over there a couple weeks ago, but not the news so much. Most of the anti-Fox comments do focus on pundits like O'Reilly (who I don't mind so much) and Hannity, more than on their actual news broadcasts. Of course, what I've seen of actual Fox news broadcasts did leave me distinctly underwhelmed, but I've no reason to assume the others are any better. Way too much focus on crime and random local stories, way too little on foreign news, those are problems that all your news broadcasts have, it seems. It's one of the distinct advantages of having a strong public broadcasting company, imho - not only is their own news decent, but they force their commercial rivals to offer something comparable.
Can't argue with any that. I can't watch the local news except for weather and sports. All of the cable news shows have good parts and bad parts. For all of my criticism of MSNBC its morning show is the only news show I watch regularly and CNN has the best international coverage by far. I get most of my international news from the BBC.