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February 13, 2012
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Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
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January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
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Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
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Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
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Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
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Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
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Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
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Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
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Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
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Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
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January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Oct. 10, 2006
/ 18 Tishrei, 5767
Crazy like a Fox (News)
By
Debra J. Saunders
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
As Fox News celebrates its 10-year anniversary, media watchers should appreciate how Fox, which tilts right, has provided balance to major new operations such as CNN and The New York Times, which tilt left.
Go to most newsrooms and you'll find a staff that overwhelmingly voted for John Kerry in 2004, while the rest keep their politics to themselves lest they be considered biased. A survey of the Washington press corps found that 89 percent voted for Bill Clinton in 1992. It's true, most reporters do their level best to tell a story straight and present both sides. To use Fox-speak, most reporters I know strive to be "fair and balanced."
But they can't escape the presumptions that underlie their stories, and they are likely not to notice the presumptions when all the newsroom management thinks alike. That's how illegal immigrants became "undocumented workers" and global warming became a certainty.
Sometimes you'll see journalists talk as if opposition to same-sex marriage or support for the death penalty is a Republican position even though the liberal electorate of California supports the death penalty and voted to ban same-sex marriage. You see, the journalists are liberal, against capital punishment and for same-sex marriage, so they automatically assume that people who disagree with them on those issues must be Republicans.
The worst of it is: They have no idea that they're biased. They think their positions are neutral. New York Times court reporter Linda Greenhouse provided a perfect example last month when NPR broadcast remarks she made during a Harvard speech. Ignoring a Times rule that prohibits reporters from publicly stating personal views that could not run in stories, Greenhouse bemoaned the Bush administration's creation of "law-free zones" at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and Haditha, "the hijacking of public policy by religious fundamentalism" and the "ridiculous" proposed fence on the Mexican border.
Some might argue that the Times policy is silly, as all reporters have opinions. The paper's public editor, Byron Calame, argues that the rule demonstrates "a determination to be an impartial observer by keeping personal opinions separate and private not pretending they don't exist."
I am struck by the fact that Greenhouse, who parses Supreme Court decisions for America's paper of record, told Calame the Harvard remarks were not her opinion, but "statements of fact." If Greenhouse cannot distinguish between fact and opinion, why should I trust her reportage on court decisions?
Now don't tell me that Fox News is biased but The New York Times is not. Do I like everything on Fox? No. I hit the remote when feuding talking heads are spouting prefab talking points and I can get a real news story on CNN. (Other times, I turn to Fox to escape the same on CNN.) I also turn to Fox because its coverage on the war in Iraq takes the longer view and its coverage on intelligence eavesdropping does not read like an ACLU press release.
But I don't like how Fox News leads some conservatives to believe they should not be exposed to liberal media, just as some San Francisco Chronicle readers are indignant at the very thought that they or their friends should have to suffer exposure to a dissenting point of view (moi). When people have a strict diet of Designer News, they run the danger of thinking a la Greenhouse that their opinions are fact.
Besides, it's not as if Fox never reaches across the aisle. Its opinion shows feature partisans on both sides. Fox mogul Rupert Murdoch gave half a million dollars to former President Clinton's global confab and held a fund-raiser for Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. Nonetheless, Bill Clinton berated Fox anchor Chris Wallace for a "nice conservative little hit job" just because Wallace asked Clinton a question. In a respectful tone, Wallace told Clinton that Fox viewers wanted him to ask why the former president had not done more to stop Osama bin Laden.
A Bubba tirade followed, when an answer would have worked fine. As Wallace told The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz, the surprising thing was that he (Wallace) was the only TV interviewer among many to ask Clinton that question, even though Clinton had been complaining about an ABC miniseries that faulted his handling of bin Laden.
It is amazing no one else asked. It goes to show that Fox News keeps American media fair and balanced.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
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Debra J. Saunders Archives
© 2006, Creators Syndicate
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