New Sisyphus
The rise of Fox News has riled the MSM and all good-thinking liberals everywhere. Especially risible to opponents of Fox is its motto of bringing "Fair and Balanced" reporting to American television. As everyone knows, Fox is most un-fair and definitely un-balanced in that it makes an attempt to understand the views, values and concerns of the roughly 50% of the American public that tends to be conservative and vote Republican. These people, being morons, have no place in public discourse, let alone in real journalism, as any New York Times or BBC reporter would be happy to explain to you.
But is Fox News really "Fair and Balanced?"
Debate on this topic has gone round and round with (surprise, surprise!) conservative groups concluding that Fox News is mostly fair and balanced while liberal groups have come to the conclusion that the network's aggressively conservative outlook skews its reporting.
Fortunately for us, there is an objective way to measure the claims of the various networks to journalistic integrity and fairness. All it takes it to accept two general propositions, neither of which will excite (we trust) much controversy:
General Proposition One: The most important story and political topic of 2004 was the War in Iraq.
General Proposition Two: The most important news programme in a news network's lineup is its Sunday morning show.
Working from those general propositions, let us take a look at the make-up of the Sunday news shows and their hosts' and panels' stances on the War in Iraq. Each participants profession, politics (when not known, the widely-assumed designation is given) and stance towards the Iraq War are listed:
ABC News: This Week
Host:
-- George Stephanopoulos, Journalist, ABC News, Democrat (former Senior Advisor to President Clinton), Opposed Iraq War.
Panel (Regulars):
-- Sam Donaldson, Journalist, ABC News, Probable Democrat, Opposed War in Iraq.
-- Cokie Roberts, Journalist, NPR, Probable Democrat, Opposed War in Iraq.
-- George Will, Columnist, Republican, Opposed War in Iraq.
-- Fareed Zakaria, Journalist, Newsweek International, Opposed War in Iraq.
NBC News: Meet the Press
Host:
-- Tim Russert, Journalist, NBC News, Democrat (special counsel on Democratic side of the aisle in the US Senate), Opposed the War in Iraq.
CBS News: Sunday Morning
Host:
-- Charles Osgood, Journalist, CBS News, Probable Democrat, Stance on War in Iraq unknown.
CNN: Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer
Host:
-- Wolf Blitzer, Journalist, CNN, Political Affiliation Unknown, Stance on War in Iraq unknown.
Fox News: Fox News Sunday
Host:
-- Chris Wallace, Journalist, Fox News, Probable Republican, Supports War in Iraq.
Panel:
-- William Kristol, Journalist, Weekly Standard, Republican, Supports War in Iraq
-- Juan Williams, Journalist, NPR, Democrat, Opposes War in Iraq
-- Brit Hume, Journalist, Republican, Supports War in Iraq
-- Mara Liasson, Journalist, NPR, Probable Democrat, Opposes War in Iraq
Okay, those are the players and those are the facts. What can we deduce from this list?
First, it is clear that ABC News isn't in the ballpark when it comes to ideological parity. Stephanopoulos is a very partisan Democrat, and was so at the height of modern inter-party tension during the Gingrich years. The rest of the This Week panel is very liberal, with the exception of George Will. Will is an authentic conservative voice and a strong advocate for his views. However, Will is one of a mere handful of conservatives (other than the so-called Paleo-Conservatives, who are out of the political mainstream) who vehemently opposed the War in Iraq. On the most crucial issue of the day, there is no dissent at ABC News.
Second, at Meet the Press, the host is all. Russert is the show and the show is Russert. Russert is by far and away the most hard to pin down of the Sunday anchors in that he is equally comfortable talking with Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken. However, he is a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat and his questions certainly reveal that mindset. Meet the Press is fairer than ABC, but that isn't saying much.
CBS' Sunday Morning is a special case in that it aims to be a general interest programme and not a hard news show. Still, given the recent events around Rathergate, it is hard to argue that CBS has a conservative bent.
CNN's Wolf Blitzer similarly strives to maintain neutrality, at least by CNN standards. However, we do not think we'd be exciting too much controversy to suggest that CNN is basically and fundamentally liberal. One can always count on CNN to give us the liberal boilerplate.
Which leaves us with Fox News. All the other shows are liberal-dominated and, if they present a conservative viewpoint, they present one which is not in touch with mainstream conservative opinion and is very much against the War in Iraq. However, Fox News Sunday presents a true cross-section of opinion: on the panel there are two bona fide conservatives, with pro-Bush positions, and there are two bona fide liberals, with anti-Bush positions. Each is a credible and respectable representative of their particular beliefs. And while the host may tilt Fox News Sunday towards the conservative end of the spectrum, it is also true that Fox News, alone among the majors, has at least made an effort for real spokesmen for the various positions to participate in the debate.
So, we see clearly that the only Sunday news show that even makes an attempt at presenting a cross section of real American political opinion is, in fact, Fox News. None of the others comes close. The drab conformity of the rest stands in stark contrast to the bold and diverse opinions offered on Fox News Sunday.
"Fair and Balanced"?
You bet. |
