Fox News Channel

Type	Cable television network
Country	United States
Availability	United States and others; see "International transmission" section below for other availability
Slogan	"We Report, You Decide", "Fair and Balanced"
Owner	News Corporation
Key people	Roger Ailes, Chairman & CEO
Launch date	October 7, 1996
Website	foxnews.com

Since its inception, the Fox News Channel has faced accusations of political bias, accusations the network has stedfastly denied. ([1]) Critics of the Fox News Channel point to the following issues as obvious evidence of bias: Fox News logo This is a copyrighted and/or trademarked logo. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... The Fox News Channel the leading American cable and satellite news channels. ... Advertising slogans are claimed to be, and often are proven to be, the most effective means of drawing attention to one or more aspects of a product or products. ... Fair and Balanced is a slogan used by the American news channel FOX News Channel. ... News Corporation (abbreviated to News Corp) (NYSE: NWS) is one of the worlds largest media conglomerates. ... Roger Ailes President of Fox News Roger Eugene Ailes (born May 15, 1940) is Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President, of FOX News. ... A chief executive officer (CEO) or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or executive officer of a corporation, company, or agency. ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The front page of the English Wikipedia Website. ... The Fox News Channel the leading American cable and satellite news channels. ...

Ownership and management

• Media mogul Rupert Murdoch is owner of the Fox News Channel. He has been subjected to controversy and criticism as a result of his substantial influence in both the print and broadcast media. Accusations against him include the "dumbing down" of news and introducing "mindless vulgarity" in place of genuine journalism, and having his owned outlets produce news that serve his own agendas, both political and financial. According to the BBC website: "To some he is little less than the devil incarnate, to others, the most progressive mover-and-shaker in the media business." [2]. In America, he is the publisher of the conservative New York Post tabloid and the conservative magazine of opinion, The Weekly Standard.

• Photocopied memos from Fox News executive John Moody instructing the network's on-air anchors and reporters on using positive language when discussing anti-abortion viewpoints, the Iraq war, and tax cuts, as well as requesting that the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal be put in context with the other violence in the area; by contrast, these memos instruct personalities to give negative press to Democratic or liberal politicians or candidates, anti-war activists, or any public figure or celebrity who disagrees with the policies of President Bush. Anchors and reporters are also expected to give unprecedented attention to wedge issues like abortion, gay rights, or the separation of church and state. [3] Former Fox News producer Charlie Reina explained, "The roots of Fox News Channel's day-to-day on-air bias are actual and direct. They come in the form of an executive memo distributed electronically each morning, addressing what stories will be covered and, often, suggesting how they should be covered. To the newsroom personnel responsible for the channel's daytime programming, The Memo is the bible. If, on any given day, you notice that the Fox anchors seem to be trying to drive a particular point home, you can bet The Memo is behind it". [4][5][6]
• CEO Roger Ailes, formerly a media/image consultant for Republican Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. Ailes was a significant player in the Willie Horton ad for Bush's 1988 Presidential campaign.

• George W. Bush's cousin, John Ellis, was Fox News' projection team manager during the general election of 2000. After speaking numerous times on election night with his cousins George and Jeb, Ellis reversed Fox News' call for Florida as a state won by Al Gore. Critics allege this was a premature decision, given the impossibly razor-thin margin (we now know it was 537 of 5.9 million votes [7]), which created the "lasting impression that Bush 'won' the White House - and all the legal wrangling down in Florida is just a case of Democratic 'snippiness'." [8]

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KCSG, (born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born media proprietor based in New York City who is a major shareholder and the Chairman and Managing Director of News Corporation. ... The New York Post is one of the oldest newspapers published in the United States. ... The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative political magazine published 48 times per year. ... John Moody (1868 - 1958) was a U.S. financial analyst and investor. ... ... A tax cut is a reduction in the rate of tax charged by a government, for example on personal or corporate income. ... Map of Iraq highlighting Abu Ghraib The city of Abu Ghraib (أبو غريب in Arabic) in Iraq is located 20 km (12 miles) west of Baghdad just north of the Baghdad International Airport. ... Democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the laws and structures of government lies, ultimately, with the citizenry. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as involvement in action to bring about change, be it social, political, environmental, or other change. ... Public figure is a legal term applied in the context of defamation actions (libel and slander). ... A celebrity is a person who is widely recognized (famous) in a society and commands a degree of public and media attention. ... President Bush may refer to two different people who were Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, 1989 - 1993. ... The gay rights movement is a collection of loosely aligned civil rights groups, human rights groups, support groups and political activists seeking acceptance, tolerance and equality for non-heterosexual, (homosexual, bisexual), and transgender people - despite the fact that it is typically referred to as the gay rights movement, members also... The separation of church and state is a political doctrine which states that the institutions of the state or national government should be kept separate from those of religious institutions. ... Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the job of having the ultimate executive responsibility or authority within an organization or corporation. ... Roger Ailes President of Fox News Roger Eugene Ailes (born May 15, 1940) is Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and President, of FOX News. ... Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... George Herbert Walker Bush, GCB, (born June 12, 1924 in Milton, MA) was the 41st President of the United States (1989–1993). ... William R. Horton Jr. ... George Herbert Walker Bush, GCB, (born June 12, 1924 in Milton, MA) was the 41st President of the United States (1989–1993). ... Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. ...

Reports, polls and studies

According to a journalism.org survey of 547 journalists from various publications and news outlets, Fox News Channel was found to be most easily identifiable for serving a partisan ideological position:

'At the same time, the single news outlet that strikes most journalists as taking a particular ideological stance - either liberal or conservative - is Fox News Channel. Among national journalists, more than twice as many could identify a daily news organization that they think is "especially conservative in its coverage" than one they believe is "especially liberal" (82% vs. 38%). And Fox has by far the highest profile as a conservative news organization; it was cited unprompted by 69% of national journalists.' [9]

The 'signature political news show' of the Fox News Channel, Special Report with Brit Hume was found to have a strong bias in their choice of guests, overwhelmingly choosing conservatives over 'non-conservatives' to appear in interviews. This was the finding of the progressive watchdog group Fairness And Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), noted in a study taken across a 19 week period from June 2003 to December 2003. They found the ratio of conservative guests to liberals to be 50:6. [10] Special Report with Brit Hume is an American television program appearing on Fox News Channel. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for June, 2003. ... December 2003: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December - → Events December 31, 2003 In Taiwan, President Chen Shui-bian signs a law that allows referendums to be held. ...

A study by the Program on International Policy Attitudes, in the Winter 03-04 issue of Political Science Quarterly, reported that viewers of the Fox Network local affiliates or Fox News were more likely than viewers of other news networks to hold three views which the authors labeled as misperceptions:[11] (PDF), The Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) is an institution devoted to research on the public opinion of international politics. ... Political Science Quarterly (PSQ) is an American scholarly journal covering government, politics and policy, published continuously since 1886. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

• 67% of Fox viewers believed that the "U.S. has found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam Hussein was working closely with the al Qaeda terrorist organization" (Compared with 56% for CBS, 49% for NBC, 48% for CNN, 45% for ABC, 16% for both NPR and PBS). However, the belief that "Iraq was directly involved in September 11" was held by 33% of CBS viewers and only 24% of Fox viewers. Bill O'Reilly personally responded to this study, when it was mentioned on air by Peter Beinart, editor of the neoliberal The New Republic, calling it "absolute crap" on February 22, 2006 edition of The O'Reilly Factor.

• 33% of Fox viewers believed that the "U.S. has found Iraqi weapons of mass destruction" "since the war ended". (Compared with 23% for CBS, 20% for both CNN and NBC, 19% for ABC and 11% for both NPR and PBS)
• 35% of Fox viewers believed that "the majority of people [in the world] favor the U.S. having gone to war" with Iraq. (Compared with 28% for CBS, 27% for ABC, 24% for CNN, 20% for NBC, 5% for both NPR and PBS)
• Fox viewers were unique in that those who paid greater attention to news were moderately more likely to have these misperceptions than those who paid less or no attention to news. However it is debatable as to which way the causation runs - it might not be that people who watch Fox News are more likely to hold conservative views, but that people with conservative views are more likely to watch Fox News.

Two notable people are named Bill OReilly: For the anchor of The OReilly Factor, see: Bill OReilly (commentator) For the Australian cricketer, see: Bill OReilly (cricketer) This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Peter Beinart is the current editor of The New Republic. ... The term neoliberalism is used to describe a political-economic philosophy that had major implications for government policies beginning in the 1970s – and increasingly prominent since 1980 – that de-emphasizes or rejects positive government intervention in the economy, focusing instead on achieving progress and even social justice by encouraging free... For other uses, see the disambiguation section. ... OReilly Factor promotional image from Fox News. ... Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) generally include nuclear, biological, chemical and, increasingly, radiological weapons. ...

Criticisms of Pundits

• Bill O'Reilly is one of Fox News' most well-known and popular personalities, and he often faces criticism for a perceived pro-(Iraq) war, conservative slant, and for allegedly using his show to "serially misinform his audiences." [12] O'Reilly himself maintains that he is politically independent (due to libertarian positions on social issues like homosexuality and marijuana legislation). Some critics accuse O'Reilly for frequently using incendiary, emotive, or nationalist rhetoric toward those who hold disagreeing positions. Some examples include:

1: O'Reilly demonizing public figures and celebrities who oppose his views, such as declaring them "enemies of the state" in danger of being "spotlighted," and accusing liberals of such things as treason. Commentator Bill OReilly has been involved in numerous controversies. ... Bill OReilly William James Bill OReilly, Jr. ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... The word homosexuality had acquired multiple meanings over time. ... Species Cannabis indica Cannabis ruderalis Cannabis sativa Cannabis is a genus of flowering plant that includes one or more species. ... Bold textJAMES CHECKLEY Legislation (or statutory law) is law which has been promulgated (or enacted) by a legislature or other governing body. ... Demonization is the characterization of individuals, groups, or political bodies as evil for purposes of justifying and making plausible an attack, whether in the form of character assassination, legal action, circumscribing of political liberties, or warfare. ... Public figure is a legal term applied in the context of defamation actions (libel and slander). ... For the 1998 movie, see Celebrity (1998 movie). ... In politics, the term liberal refers to: an adherent of the ideology of liberalism or a state or quality of this ideology. ...

2: O'Reilly telling his opposing guests to "shut up." While O'Reilly has claimed he has only said the line "once in [the first] six years [of The O'Reilly Factor, his primetime show]" (on the Factor in 2003) or that he said "shut up" six times during those first six years (on CBS' 60 Minutes in 2005), research shows that he has said "shut up" to guests up to twenty times since his show's debut in 1996. OReilly Factor promotional image from Fox News. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... CBS (an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, the former legal name of the network) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ... Sixty Minutes was also the replacement for the BBC current affairs programme Nationwide. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

3:*O'Reilly has stated, "I don't do personal attacks here", but after a review of that statement, Media Matters has done a brief expose concluding O'Reilly constantly does personal attacks[13]. Media Matters for America is a non-profit organization founded by former conservative (now liberal activist) David Brock to refute and/or otherwise analyze conservative influence on the media. ...

O'Reilly acknowledges his show is not so much news, but more an editorial program. [14]

• John Gibson is the host of an afternoon block of news coverage called "The Big Story", and is frequently cited as an example of Fox News blurring the lines between objective reporting and opinion/editorial programming. Gibson angered some liberals immediately after the 2000 presidential election controversy when, during the opinion segment of his show, Gibson said: "Is this a case where knowing the facts actually would be worse than not knowing? I mean, should we burn those ballots, preserve them in amber, or shred them?" and "George Bush is going to be president. And who needs to know that he's not a legitimate president?" [15]. An opinion piece on the Hutton Inquiry decision, in which John Gibson said the BBC had "a frothing-at-the-mouth anti-Americanism that was obsessive, irrational and dishonest" and that the BBC reporter, Andrew Gilligan, "insisted on air that the Iraqi Army was heroically repulsing an incompetent American Military" [16]. In reviewing viewer complaints, Ofcom (the United Kingdom's statutory broadcasting regulator) ruled that Fox News had breached the program code in three areas: "respect for truth", "opportunity to take part", and "personal view programmes opinions expressed must not rest upon false evidence". Fox News admitted that Gilligan had not actually said the words that John Gibson appeared to attribute to him; OfCom rejected the claim that it was intended to be a paraphrase. (See Ofcom complaint, response and ruling). Gibson has also supported Karl Rove for outing Valerie Plame, called Joe Wilson a "liar", claimed that "the far left" is working for Al Qaeda [17] and openly admitted that he wished that Paris had been host to the 2012 Olympic Games, because it would have subjected the city to the threat of terrorism instead of London[18].
• Business anchor Neil Cavuto, who is also Fox News' vice president of business news and a current member of the network's executive committee, has been described as a "Bush apologist" by critics [19] after conducting an allegedly deferential interview with President George W. Bush. Democratic strategists and politicians boycotted Cavuto's show in 2004 after he claimed, on air, that Bin Laden was rooting for John Kerry in the presidential election, critics contend, in an attempt to create a backlash among voters casting ballots for Bush, against Bin Laden's alleged pick [20]. Cavuto has also received criticism for gratitious footage and photos of scantily clad supermodels and porn stars on his show, Your World with Neil Cavuto.
• Brit Hume created controversy, particularly with watchdog groups such as Media Matters for America, when he made the factually incorrect claim that "U.S. soldiers have less of a chance of dying from all causes in Iraq than citizens have of being murdered in California". In fact, a United States soldier in Iraq is actually 60 times more likely to be killed than an individual in California. [21][22]. Hume also drew criticism from Media Matters, Al Franken, and Keith Olbermann when he allegedly distorted a quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt in early 2005 to make it sound like Roosevelt would have supported President George W. Bush's Social Security privatization plan.
• Alan Colmes is touted by Fox as "a hard-hitting liberal" ([23]), but he admitted to USA Today that "I'm quite moderate" and most left-wing activists consider him too weak to provide an effective balance for self-professed "arch-conservative" Sean Hannity. Liberal viewers have long found Colmes' style infuriating, particularly in contrast to the outspoken Hannity; and Colmes himself has sometimes taken more right-leaning positions, such as supporting Rudy Giuliani for mayor of New York City and defending Mississippi Senator Trent Lott after the latter made racially insensitive remarks at the 100th birthday party for the late Sen. Strom Thurmond. He has been characterized by several newspapers as being Sean Hannity's 'sidekick'([24]). Liberal commentator Al Franken lambasted Colmes in his book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, accusing him of refusing to ask tough questions during debates and neglecting to challenge erroneous claims made by Hannity or his guests. [25]

John Gibson John Gibson is a conservative American commentator and host of the weekday show The Big Story on FOX News since 2000. ... The Big Story is an American news/talk television program appearing on Fox News Channel. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the British government to investigate the death of a government weapons expert, Dr. David Kelly. ... John Gibson John Gibson is a conservative American commentator and host of the weekday show The Big Story on FOX News since 2000. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the largest publicly-funded radio and television broadcasting corporation of the United Kingdom (see British television) and the world. ... Andrew Gilligan Andrew Paul Gilligan (born 22 November 1968, Teddington, Middlesex, England) is a journalist best known for his report, while defence and diplomatic correspondent for BBC Radio 4s The Today Programme, about the British Governments dossier on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. ... The Office of Communications, usually known as Ofcom, is the UKs communications regulator. ... A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American political consultant, and is U.S. President George W. Bushs Deputy Chief of Staff, and heads the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the Office of Strategic Initiatives at the White House. ... For detail on the political scandal, see Plame affair Valerie Elise Plame Wilson (born April 19, 1963 in Anchorage, Alaska) was a United States Central Intelligence Agency officer, who was identified as a CIA operative in a newspaper column by Robert Novak on July 14, 2003. ... There is more than one person referred to as Joe Wilson: Addison G. Joe Wilson is a Representative from South Carolina. ... Neil Cavuto Neil Patrick Cavuto (born September 22, 1958 in Westbury, New York) is a conservative television commentator currently hosting Your World with Neil Cavuto and Cavuto on Business on the Fox News Channel. ... John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. ... A supermodel is a highly paid fashion model in an elite group with a worldwide reputation. ... Pavonazzeto marble sculpture, see Erotic art in Pompeii Pornography (from Greek πορνογραφια pornographia — literally writing about or drawings of harlots) is the representation of the human body or human sexual behaviour with the goal of sexual arousal, similar to, but (according to some) distinct from, erotica. ... Your World with Neil Cavuto is an American business television program appearing on Fox News Channel. ... Brit Hume Brit Hume (born June 22, 1943) is the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel. ... Screenshot from Media Matters for America (Jan 6, 2006) Media Matters for America is a non-profit organization founded by former journalist David Brock. ... Al Franken (credit: Bill Hayward) Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, author, screenwriter, political commentator, and radio host, noted for his liberal politics. ... Keith Olbermann Keith Olbermann (born January 27, 1959 in New York City) is an American news anchor and radio sportscaster. ... FDR redirects here. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former governor of Texas. ... For specific national programs, see Social Security (United States), National insurance (UK), Social Security (Sweden) Social security primarily refers to a field of social welfare concerned with social protection, or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment, families with children and others. ... Alan Colmes (born September 24, 1950 in New York City, New York), is presented as the liberal half of the Fox News Channels popular political debate program Hannity & Colmes, along with conservative Sean Hannity. ... USA Today is a national American newspaper published by the Gannett Corporation. ... Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Rudy Giuliani III (born May 28, 1944) served as the Mayor of New York City from January 1, 1994 through December 31, 2001. ... Chester Trent Lott (born October 9, 1941 in Grenada, Mississippi) is a U.S. Senator from Mississippi and a member of the Republican Party. ... James Strom Thurmond (December 5, 1902 – June 26, 2003) represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 1954 to April 1956 and November 1956 to 1964 as a Democrat and from 1964 to 2003 as a Republican. ... Al Franken (credit: Bill Hayward) Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American comedian, author, screenwriter, political commentator, and radio host, noted for his liberal politics. ... Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right is a book of political commentary and satire by comedian and political commentator Al Franken, published in 2003 by Dutton, a subsidiary in the Penguin Group. ...

Other criticisms

• Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, a documentary film on Fox News by left wing activist Robert Greenwald, makes allegations of bias in Fox News by interviewing a number of former employees who discuss the network's practices. For example, Frank O'Donnell, a former employee identified as "Fox News producer", says: "We were stunned, because up until that point, we were allowed to do legitimate news. Suddenly, we were ordered from the top to carry [...] Republican, right-wing propaganda", after being told what to say about Ronald Reagan. O'Donnell actually worked for Washington, D.C. Fox affiliate WTTG, which while a local affiliate, is not the Fox News Channel cable network. Fox News has always stressed that affiliates are separate entities from Fox News Channel, and Fox News has no editorial oversight of any Fox affiliate. The network made an official response and a review of selected employees featured in the film and their employment (or non-employment) with Fox News.

• CNN founder Ted Turner accused Fox News of being "dumbed down", "propaganda" and equated the networks popularity to Adolf Hitler's rise to power in 1930's Germany, during a speech to the National Association of Television Program Executives. [26]

• A news article on the Fox News website during October 2004 by Carl Cameron, chief political correspondent of Fox News, contained three fabricated quotes attributed to Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. The quotes included: "Women should like me! I do manicures", "Didn't my nails and cuticles look great?" and "I'm metrosexual [Bush's] a cowboy". Fox News retracted the story and apologized, citing a "jest" that became published through "fatigue and bad judgement, not malice."

• Carl Cameron, chief political correspondent of Fox News was allowed to cover the Bush Campaign in 2000 despite the fact his wife was campaigning for Bush.
• In June 2004, CEO Roger Ailes responded to some criticism with rebuttal in an online column for the Wall Street Journal ([27]), claiming that Fox's critics intentionally confuse opinion shows such as The O'Reilly Factor with regular news coverage. Ailes noted that Fox News has broken stories harmful to Republicans, stating "Fox News is the network that broke George W. Bush's DUI four days before the election" as an example. The story was broken by then-Fox affiliate WPXT in Portland, Maine.

• Special Report with Brit Hume regularly features a panel of political commentators touted as an "allstar panel" and "diverse" by Fox News. The panel generally consists of three people: Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes, two self-described neoconservative hawks, and Mort Kondracke, a self-described conservative Democrat (Kondracke has said that he is "disgusted with the Democratic Party" and that the only reason he isn't a Republican is because "Republicans have failed to be true to themselves as conservatives", referring to deficit spending in the Ronald Reagan administration). In addition, Brit Hume himself maintains a conservative point of view, even taking up that position on the Sunday night equivalent of his own panel, arguing from the conservative Republican position against other, noticeably more liberal Fox News panelists such as Juan Williams, who is rarely featured on the Special Report. Critics contend this overwhelmingly tilts the so-called "diverse" political discussions into one-sided conservative commentary.[28]

• Fox has been criticized by a wide spectrum of cable news networks, newspapers, radio talk show hosts and blogs for its perceived pushing of the alleged War on Christmas. A notable slew of Fox news commentators, including John Gibson, Brit Hume, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity devoted much of the air time during the fall 2005 season to alleged acts of "anti-Christian" campaigns by the American Civil Liberties Union to have Christmas decorations removed from public display. Several of their claims were later revealed to be unfounded. [29][30][31][32] Fox, at first, defended itself, dismissing criticism from MSNBC hosts such as Keith Olbermann and the New York Times editorialists as "secular progressives". However, even amongst the pundits at Fox News there was a discomfort with the perceived campaign of their network, climaxing on a special of Fox News Watch with one Fox News pundit, Neil Gabler, aggressively attacking the network's other personalities for pursuing the story. In his words, "Fox News has been pumping the hell out of this thing." [33]

• Various media watchdogs have noticed a trend in Fox News reporting in which Fox News reporters, anchors and writers (for its website) alter their language to immediately adopt the rhetoric of the Bush administration. For example, in 2002 the White House began referring to suicide bombings as "homicide bombings", Fox immediately changed its own language to match while other media outlets continued using the traditional phrase[34]. The same can be said for "terrorist surveillance", referred to as NSA wiretapping by most commentators until the White House redesignated it[35]. Fox News commentators such as Bill O'Reilly, Neil Cavuto, John Gibson and Brit Hume have also been found to use terms popular within conservative circles, such as "the gay agenda", "abortion on demand", "activist judges" and "secular progressives"[36][37].

• During the Terri Schiavo controversy in early 2005, Fox came under attack for its coverage of the affair, which had been pushed by Fox news personality Sean Hannity when he camped outside of the hospital where Schiavo lay dying after her feeding tube was pulled. Every major personality on Fox News - Brit Hume, Bill O'Reilly, Neil Cavuto, John Gibson - called for her feeding tube to be reinserted, claiming that opposition to such a move was motivated entirely by non-religious, secular Americans and Democratic politicians whom Gibson and O'Reilly slammed for their opposition to Republican legislation being passed to move the case to federal courts, despite polls unanimously showing public support for the tube's removal to hover around 77% [38], with a majority of Republicans supporting it[39] [40][41]. The main controversy surrounding Fox's coverage of the event, however, centered around the refusal of the network to inform its viewers who one of the main players of the controversy was, namely Randall Terry, a notorious figure in conservative circles for his often violent acts, calls for the murder of abortion doctors and so-called activist judges[42]. When a Republican talking points memo went into circulation [43], suggesting that Republicans could use the issue to appeal to their base, Fox News personalities immediately attacked the memo and claimed that liberals/Democrats had forged the memo [44][45]. Later, after the true authors were revealed, Fox did not do a followup on it.

• Critics of the network contend that Fox specializes in "political sabotage" by putting up moderate to conservative "Democrats" as token liberals against more staunchly conservative Republicans. Examples of the so-called Fox News liberal include:
  • Alan Colmes - Who endorsed Republican Rudy Giuliani for mayor
  • Bernard Goldberg - Who has referred to liberals as "angry, nasty, closed minded, & not mainstream, but fringe." Goldberg has raised eyebrows in his claiming that the media has a liberal bias by openly admitting in an interview that Fox News is, in fact, a right-wing outlet.[46]
  • Pat Caddell [47]- Who has called the Democratic party a "confederacy of gangsters"
  • Susan Estrich [48]- Known for her opposition to liberal Democrats and support for the Democratic Leadership Council, and who once told Sean Hannity that she was his "biggest liberal friend."
  • Dick Morris [49]- Who virulently opposes Hillary Clinton and seeks to elect Condoleezza Rice to the office of the presidency
  • Zell Miller [50]- Wildly known for betraying the Democratic Party
  • Mort Kondracke [51]
  • See [[52]]
  • The network, additionally, has been criticized for instances in which it has stated false information to its viewers when identifying political guests. A recent example includes an interview on Hannity & Colmes in which two guests were brought on, one a Republican and the other a supposed Democrat, to debate an issue. However, the Democrat, former congressman Jimmy Hayes was, in fact, a former Republican politician who, along with neither of the hosts, acknowledged the misidentification of him as a Democrat.[53]

• Another point of contention among Fox's critics is its perceived habit of ridiculing, in some cases viciously, liberal protesters, while portraying conservative activists and protesters as more humble. Examples include Bill O'Reilly referring to protesters at the Republican National Convention in 2004 as "terrorists", or Fox columnist Mike Straka referring to anti-war protesters at the September, 24 2005 march in Washington, D.C. as "jobless, anti-American, clueless, smelly, stupid traitors" and "protesters from hell"[54][55][56].

• On the subject of polls Fox has also come under attack due to the remarkably different results it tabulates in comparison to virtually all other polling networks, newspapers, organizations, etc... For example, of 28 national polls conducted from January 1rst - March 2nd, Fox News produced three polls, two of which were the only polls that showed George W. Bush with disapproval ratings below 50%, as low as 47% disapproval with 44% approval, the smallest margin of difference of any poll taken in four months, despite polls within the exact same frame of time showing disapproval ratings as high as 59% and approval typically around 40%. A poll taken by Ap-Isos on the day after Fox's poll showed ten percent higher disapproval than Fox's.[57][58] Fox has once again defied the polling community with its latest poll, showing only 51% disapproval for George W. Bush, despite the fact that it remains the only poll in 2 months to show disapproval anything less than 57%.[59]

• The Simpsons has made a number of critcisms and spoofs of Fox News (and the Fox network in general). In the episode Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington, Republican and Democrat congress candidates appear on Fox News. The show's announcer opens with 'Welcome to Fox News, your voice for evil'. The Republican is shown with a halo above his head, whilst the democrat is depitcted with devil's horns and is shown upside down, with a USSR flag in the background. There is also a 'news-ticker' at the bottom of the screen including, amongst others, stories such as 'Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com' and 'Coming up next: Hannity & Idiot' [60].

• An alleged continued theme of Fox News is to misrepresent editorial pages, and provide false information to their viewership[61], [62].

• Another alleged theme is the use of graphics that push the envelope and that other news organizations would consider tasteless and would never think of putting on their own networks. For example, FOX News' coverage of the sniper rampage of John Allan Muhammed opened with a graphic reading "Serial Sniper" that featured rifle crosshairs. Another example is a regular daytime feature called "For Their [children's] Sake, Stop the Predators", which features baby photos and ominous lullaby music.

• John Gibson has argued that no matter the situation, every bit of information that is conveyed to his audience has right wing spin[63], [64], [65], [66], [67].

DVD cover of Outfoxed Outfoxed: Rupert Murdochs War on Journalism is a 2004 documentary film by Robert Greenwald that argues that the Fox News Channel has a right wing bias. ... Robert Greenwald (born August 28, 1945 in New York, New York) is an American film director and producer. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply The Right, are terms that refer to the segment of the political spectrum often associated with any of several strains of conservatism, the religious right, and areas of classical liberalism, or simply the opposite of left-wing politics. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... This article is the current U.S. Collaboration of the Week. ... WTTG, FOX5 DC is an owned and operated TV station of the Fox Broadcasting Company. ... Turner on the cover of TIME Robert Edward Ted Turner III (born November 19, 1938 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is an American media mogul and philanthropist. ... (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer (Leader) of Germany from 1934 until his death. ... The National Association of Television Program Executives is the worlds main TV supermarket convention, in which television executives buy or barter for TV programs that are up for syndication. ... Carl Cameron is a television journalist for FOX News in the United States, and has served as political correspondent following presidential candidates George W. Bush in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States, the other one being the Republican Party. ... John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with an average daily circulation of 1,800,607 (2002). ... OReilly Factor promotional image from Fox News. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former governor of Texas. ... Driving under the influence, drunk driving, or drink-driving, is the act of operating a motor vehicle (and sometimes a bicycle or similar human-powered vehicle) after having consumed alcohol (ethanol) or other drugs, to the degree that mental and motor skills are impaired. ... WPXT is a local affiliate of The WB, based out of Portland, Maine. ... Official website: www. ... Special Report with Brit Hume is an American television program appearing on Fox News Channel. ... Charles Krauthammer received by the Center for Security Policy Charles Krauthammer (born March 13, 1950 in New York City to Jewish parents but raised in Montreal before returning to the United States), is a syndicated conservative columnist who appears in the Washington Post, Time Magazine as well as other publications. ... Fred Barnes may be: Fred Barnes (1885-1938) was an English music hall artist. ... Neoconservatism describes several distinct political ideologies which are considered new forms of conservatism. ... For the politican faction referred to as hawks see Bush administration. ... Morton M. Kondracke (born April 28, 1939) is an American political commentator and journalist. ... In American politics, Conservative Democrat is a term referring to a member of the Democratic Party who holds some conservative political views. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Brit Hume Brit Hume (born June 22, 1943) is the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel. ... Juan Williams is an Emmy Award-winning writer, radio, and television correspondent. ... A Macys storefront in San Francisco, California during December of 2004. ... John Gibson John Gibson is a conservative American commentator and host of the weekday show The Big Story on FOX News since 2000. ... Brit Hume Brit Hume (born June 22, 1943) is the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel. ... Two notable people are named Bill OReilly: For the anchor of The OReilly Factor, see: Bill OReilly (commentator) For the Australian cricketer, see: Bill OReilly (cricketer) This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Sean Hannity on the cover of his book, Deliver Us From Evil Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961, in New York City, New York) is an American conservative talk radio host and the co-host of Fox News Channels program Hannity & Colmes. ... The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a major national non-profit organization based in New York City that defends individual rights in the United States through litigation. ... MSNBC (a portmanteau of Microsoft and NBC) is a 24-hour cable news channel in the United States. ... Keith Olbermann Keith Olbermann (born January 27, 1959 in New York City) is an American news anchor and radio sportscaster. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Fox News Watch is a current events debate program airing on the Fox News Channel. ... Neal Gabler Neal Gabler is an active Jewish journalist, author, and political commenter. ... George W. Bush administration is the administration of the 43rd president of the United States of America, 2001-present George H. W. Bush administration is the administration of the 41st president of the United States of America, 1989-1993 This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise... A suicide bombing is a bomb attack on people or property, committed by a person who knows the explosion will cause his or her own death (see suicide, suicide weapons). ... A suicide attack is an attack in which the attacker or attackers intend and expect to die (see suicide). ... The NSA warrantless surveillance controversy is a dispute questioning the power of the president to authorize the NSA to conduct electronic surveillance secretly and without court authorization. ... Two notable people are named Bill OReilly: For the anchor of The OReilly Factor, see: Bill OReilly (commentator) For the Australian cricketer, see: Bill OReilly (cricketer) This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Neil Cavuto Neil Patrick Cavuto (born September 22, 1958 in Westbury, New York) is a conservative television commentator currently hosting Your World with Neil Cavuto and Cavuto on Business on the Fox News Channel. ... John Gibson John Gibson is a conservative American commentator and host of the weekday show The Big Story on FOX News since 2000. ... Brit Hume Brit Hume (born June 22, 1943) is the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel. ... The term gay agenda is primarily a talking point (a political tool) used by those who oppose gay rights. ... ... Terri Schiavo before her 1990 collapse. ... Sean Hannity on the cover of his book, Deliver Us From Evil Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961, in New York City, New York) is an American conservative talk radio host and the co-host of Fox News Channels program Hannity & Colmes. ... Brit Hume Brit Hume (born June 22, 1943) is the Washington, D.C. managing editor of the Fox News Channel. ... Two notable people are named Bill OReilly: For the anchor of The OReilly Factor, see: Bill OReilly (commentator) For the Australian cricketer, see: Bill OReilly (cricketer) This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Neil Cavuto Neil Patrick Cavuto (born September 22, 1958 in Westbury, New York) is a conservative television commentator currently hosting Your World with Neil Cavuto and Cavuto on Business on the Fox News Channel. ... John Gibson John Gibson is a conservative American commentator and host of the weekday show The Big Story on FOX News since 2000. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Randall Terry Randall Terry (born 1959) is an American political and conservative religious activist and musician. ... This article needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Democrat in Name Only. ... Alan Colmes (born September 24, 1950 in New York City, New York), is presented as the liberal half of the Fox News Channels popular political debate program Hannity & Colmes, along with conservative Sean Hannity. ... Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Rudy Giuliani III (born May 28, 1944) served as the Mayor of New York City from January 1, 1994 through December 31, 2001. ... Bernard Goldberg (1945 - ) is a writer and television reporter. ... Fox News Channels slogan is We Report, You Decide The Fox News Channel is a U.S. cable and satellite news channel. ... Pat Caddell is a former United States Democratic Party pollster who has had harsh words for his party. ... Susan Estrich is a lawyer, professor, author and frequent Fox News guest. ... The Democratic Leadership Council is an influential non-profit corporation that argues that the United States Democratic Party should shift away from the its traditionally liberal positions. ... Sean Hannity on the cover of his book, Deliver Us From Evil Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961, in New York City, New York) is an American conservative talk radio host and the co-host of Fox News Channels program Hannity & Colmes. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... Dick Morris appears on TVs FOX News channel. ... Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947), was First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001, as the wife of President Bill Clinton. ... Condoleezza Rice (born November 14, 1954) is the 66th and current United States Secretary of State, and the second in the administration of President George W. Bush. ... Zell Bryan Miller (born February 24, 1932) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. ... The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States, the other one being the Republican Party. ... Morton M. Kondracke (born April 28, 1939) is an American political commentator and journalist. ... Hannity & Colmes Hannity & Colmes is an American television program on the Fox News cable television network featuring conservative host Sean Hannity and liberal host Alan Colmes. ... James Allison Jimmy Hayes (b. ... The Republican National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the United States Republican Party, is held every four years to determine the partys candidate for the coming Presidential election and the partys platform. ... Mike Straka is a commentator on Hollywood and celebrity topics, as well as sports, whose column runs on the Fox News website. ... This article is the current U.S. Collaboration of the Week. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former governor of Texas. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former governor of Texas. ... The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening. ... Mr. ... A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. ... Evil is a term describing that which is regarded as morally bad, intrinsically corrupt, wantonly destructive, inhumane, or wicked. ... Halo around the sun at the South Pole (NOAA) A halo (also known as a nimbus or Gloriole) is a ring of light that surrounds an object. ... The Devil is the name given to a supernatural entity, who, in most Western religions, is the central embodiment of evil. ... Hannity & Colmes Hannity & Colmes is an American television program on the Fox News cable television network featuring conservative host Sean Hannity and liberal host Alan Colmes. ... Fox News Channels slogan is We Report, You Decide The Fox News Channel is a U.S. cable and satellite news channel. ... The term sniper is attested from 1824 in the sense of sharpshooter. The verb to snipe originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India in the sense of to shoot from a hidden place, in allusion to snipe hunting, a game bird known for being difficult to sneak up... A crosshair or reticle is a shape superimposed on an image that is used for precise alignment of a device. ... A sexual predator is a person who obtains sex in a predatory manner. ... A lullaby is a soothing song sung to children before they go to sleep. ... John Gibson is a common name, shared by: John Gibson (1790-1866) - British sculptor John Gibson - Territorial Secretary of Indiana Territory John Gibson - Host of cable TV shows on MSNBC and FOX News John C. L. Gibson - Linguist and Bible scholar. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... In public relations, spin is a usually pejorative term signifying a heavily biased portrayal in ones own favor of an event or situation. ...

O'Reilly's Prohibited Words

• On the March 2 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor, host Bill O'Reilly cut off a caller after the mentioning of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and announced that their personal information would be turned over to "Fox security". O'Reilly then added that future callers, making obscene or untoward remarks, should expect to have their local authorities informed. [68].

Two notable people are named Bill OReilly: For the anchor of The OReilly Factor, see: Bill OReilly (commentator) For the Australian cricketer, see: Bill OReilly (cricketer) This is a disambiguation page—a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Keith Olbermann Keith Olbermann (born January 27, 1959 in New York City) is an American news anchor and radio sportscaster. ...

Allegedly false Reports

On March 23, 2003 the FOX News channel headline banners were rolling: "Huge chemical weapons factory found in Iraq... Reports: 30 Iraqis surrender at chem weapons plant... coal. troops holding Iraqi in charge of chem. weapons." On the next day the Dow Jones Newswires reported, that, U.S. officials had admitted that morning that the site contained no chemicals at all and had been abandoned long ago. March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dow Jones Newswires is the real-time financial news organization owned by Dow Jones. ...

During the 2004 presidential campaign, FOX News senior political correspondent Carl Cameron wrote a story on FOX News' website which was later proven untrue. In the fake article, Cameron claimed that Democratic candidate John Kerry described himself as a metrosexual and that he frequently had manicures. Though FOX News pulled the story later on, the article was endlessly mentioned during coverage of the presidential debates on Special Report with Brit Hume. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Carl Cameron is a television journalist for FOX News in the United States, and has served as political correspondent following presidential candidates George W. Bush in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. ... John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the junior United States Senator from Massachusetts. ... Metrosexual (along with the concept, metrosexuality) is a term coined in 1994 in an article in the The Independent by British journalist Mark Simpson, shortly after the publication of his book about contemporary masculine identity In his seminal essay, Simpson described the effect of consumerism and media proliferation, particularly the... A manicure is a cosmetic beauty treatment for the fingernails and hands enjoyed by both sexes. ... Special Report with Brit Hume is an American television program appearing on Fox News Channel. ...

Polls

Fox has come under attack for its polls. A review of its polls at the website "polling report" [69], specifically on the approval rating of George W. Bush, have shown that Fox consistently pulls in the highest approval ratings for the president and the lowest disapproval ratings, with a high number of "undecideds", almost always in double digits, which is a feat that no other pollster has matched. Respond to these allegations, Fox News has stated that there are more Republicans in the United States than Democrats, and notes that it does not weigh its polls accordingly. Most polls, however, illustrate that Democrats have never held a smaller percentage of the population than Republicans, and generally are head by about 3-5% on average, which would make a huge difference in polling results if Republicans and Democrats are given equal footing.[70] George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former governor of Texas. ...

External links

• Official Site
• News Corporation - Fox's parent company.
• Museum of Broadcast Communications: Ailes, Roger
• News Hounds - Watchdog blog critical of Fox News Channel.
• Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism - The critical documentary's website.
• Outfoxed streaming Dutch VPRO documentary by Tegenlicht. Introduction, several seconds, in Dutch with story itself in English and Dutch subtitles; 50 min. Broadband internet needed.
• Guardian Unlimited special report: Fox - the naked truth, October 5, 2004, Zoe Williams, The Guardian
• The Fifth Estate: Sticks and Stones, CBC - Bob McKeown investigates Fox News for The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 45 min.
• "The Most Powerful Smell in News" - Origin of the "Faux News" logo.
• SimFaux - Faux News interactive TV news network simulation.