Broadcast News
This week in the magazine, Ken Auletta writes
about Fox News, the all-news cable channel that,
since it was designed and launched in 1997 by
Rupert Murdoch with Roger Ailes at its head, has
become the cable-news leader, making media stars
of figures like Bill O'Reilly along the way. Here
Auletta talks to The New Yorker's Amy
Tübke-Davidson about Fox, its conservative political
agenda, its personnel, and its future.
AMY TÜBKE-DAVIDSON: You spent four
months watching Fox News. What did you
see?
KEN AULETTA: I saw a news network that was
not, as advertised, free of bias and "fair and
balanced." This is not to say that Fox News doesn't
do some things well. It is to say that the network,
like many political candidates, is not always what it
claims to be. The network proclaims, "We report.
You decide." But, too often, Fox both reports and
decides. The anchors are opinionated throughout
the day, not just in the evening hours, with Bill
O'Reilly or Sean Hannity. Too often, the
commentators tilt to the right and don't provide
both sides—certainly not the nonconservative
side—and many of the network's "liberal"
commentators are somewhat meek. Many Fox
reporters do offer opinions. In its desire to right the
excesses of what it sees as liberal press bias, Fox
often goes overboard.
[continued ...]
newyorker.com |
