Fox news

**northpaw** · 11-28-2009, 05:25 PM

There have been periodic revolutions in the news media. One could point to the rise of the anchorman, feature stories a la 60 Minutes, the 24-hour news cycle, the rise of infotainment (or "opinion" shows on a supposed news network), etc.

Without (or before) turning this into too much of a Fox-slamming post, let me say where I'm coming from. For the last 13 years or so, I've only had sporadic access to TVs. I didn't have one in my dorm room in college. There was one in my first apartment (shared with 3 other people), but I watched little other than occasionally flipping to CNN to catch the headlines. I didn't have one in the first house I shared. I don't have one now.

That's not to say that I never watched television. The one in the kitchen at my parents' house was often on when I'd visit. Many of my friends had the TV running when we'd get together, and it seems there's usually one somewhere in the background in many pubs.

However, without tuning in consistently, I was almost always shocked each time at how something had changed. Imagine seeing a young child only several times a year - "wow, he's really grown". Except, in this case, it was almost always, "ugh, what the hell is that?!" I don't know if Fox started it first, but I find the push towards WHOOSHing transitional graphics (i.e. waving flags and explosions) and whatnot between stories almost as infuriating as seeing veins bulging on a talking head. Nevermind the way content might be slanted, it's the other constant attempts to sway the viewer's emotions back and forth that really p*sses me off. Why does the news need to tell us how to feel about something?

Other problems I have with the news in general, or Fox specifically:

1. Most issues are NOT simple. Reducing any dialogue to a heated argument, shout-you-down format means that viewers lose site of the fact that anything could be nuanced. Instead, they're simply grinning and cheering clever, often mean-spirited retorts. This is a dumbing-down.

2. Mixing basic news services with opinion shows on the same network, then ensuring continuity between the two based on similar topics, graphics (i.e. the ticker at the bottom), etc. only serves to further blur the already blurry distinction. This is dishonest (and a dumbing-down).

3. I saw blatant partisanship on Fox first. Might have been an opinion show, the news service, or some bastard offspring, but I could watch for three seconds and tell you that it was grossly manipulative, then another three and see that it was clearly, hugely right-wing. Talking heads were snarling about Democrats and liberals ages before I heard the likes of Maddow or Olberman mention anything specific about Republicans or conservatives. I believe Fox is so consistent about this that the balance between the two is still out of balance - even stacking Fox up alone against the 3 or 4 other major networks.

4. The sudden advent and meteoric rise of the young, glamorous, ultra-conservative hotties. Puhleeze. I don't blame them personally for grabbing a mealticket and riding it for all it's worth, but the less they look like the love child of Margaret Thatcher and William F. Buckley, the less I believe a word they say.

I could go on, but I happened to eat a large quantity of bacon today, and this line of thinking can't be healthy. In conclusion, I feel the news media in America is so far removed from the way it ought to function in a healthy democracy that any attempt to defend any of it is laughable. That said, Fox is by far the worst offender of the bunch, so I have no problem using it as the scapegoat for most of my complaints.