Fox News

Introduction

Fox News Channel is a conservative news television channel which broadcasts from the Rockefeller Center in New York. It is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group subsidiary of 21st Century Fox.

Rupert Murdoch founded the Fox News Channel and hired Roger Ailes as CEO. Rodger Ailes was a media consultant for the Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

Keith Rupert Murdoch is also the founder and CEO of the media group, the seconds-largest media conglomerate in the world. Throughout his life Murdoch expanded the power of his corporation. Rupert Murdoch inherited the Australian paper “NewLimited“ from his father Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch in 1952. He then took over several papers in Australia, New Zealand and the UK in the 1950s and '60s. In the 1980s and '90s he acquired and founded various television channels. The Murdoch News Corporation owned more than 800 companies in over 50 countries by the year 2000. The net value amounts to over 5$ billion. According to Forbes' 2013 list of richest Americans, Murdoch is the 33rd richest person in the US and the 91st richest person in the world. In 2014 Forbes declared Rupert Murdoch the 33rd most-powerful person in the world. His lifework was overshadowed when his companies were accused of hacking into the phones of celebrities, royalty and public citizens in 2011. He also faces investigations into bribery and corruption by the UK and the FBI. Because of these accusations Murdoch resigned as director of News International on 21 July 2012 and as CEO of 21st Century Fox on July 1 2015.

The Fox News Channel is very different from other news channels in the way of its programme. Fox News slogan is “fair and balanced“, claiming a neutral coverage. We would like to validate this claim on the basis of these three examples.

Fox News coverage of the climate change

In December 2010 Fox correspondent Wendell Goler reported on-air that the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization announced that 2000-2009 was "on track to be the warmest [decade] on record." Just fifteen Minutes afterwards Fox News Washington managing editor Bill Sammon send an email to the networks journalists. Although Wendell Goler accurately reported a scientific fact, Bill Sammon ordered him and the other journalists to "refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question."( Media Matters, 2010).

This was not an isolated case. The “Union of Concerned Scientists“ studied the accuracy of cable news coverage of the climate change in 2014. While CNN for example had an accuracy of 70% on the topic of climate change, Fox News only had 28% accuracy. More than half of Fox misleading coverage (53%) was from the programme the Five. Although a overall misleading coverage of 72% in 2014 on such an important topic seems too be shocking, the Union of Concerned Scientists did the same study in 2012. Fox News had astonishing 93% misleading statements on the topic of climate change.

Fox News coverage of the Obama administration

In September 2009, the Obama administration engaged in a verbal conflict with Fox News Channel. The reason was Fox News coverage of the Obama health care proposal. As a consequence Obama refused to appear on Fox News as did many other democratic politicians. This was not the first time the Democratic Party boycotted the Fox News Channel. In 2007 Democratic Party presidential candidates, among others Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, refused to take part in Fox News sponsored or hosted debates.

The host of the popular “The Daily Show“ Jon Stewart reported in November, 2009 that Fox News used false video footage to suggest a large participation in a health-care protest organized by Republican Michele Bachmann. Stewart showed that the footage used was from the much larger 9/12 rally which had occurred two month earlier. While Fox News estimated 20 000 protesters the Washington Post only 10 000.

In December 2010 Media Matters for America released a leaked Email from Bill Sammon to the network`s senior producers. In the email, Sammon instructed producers and journalists to avoid using the phrase “public option“ when talking about Obama’s Health Care Plan and instead used the term “government option“ to make the plan less appealing to he viewer.

Fox News coverage on the Charleston incident

There is no doubt at all that for its commentary on this horrific incident, hate filled Fox News should be inculpated in the court of public opinion for its role in this and other racist and discriminating acts. The news network undoubtedly was aware of what they were doing in assisting and abetting; they surely planned to furnish the perpetrator with an alibi concerning the exact nature of this dreadful homicide. In fact, there is no denying that fox makes money off this. This can be called as a classic example of sensationalistic yellow journalism. Actually it is even worse as it is ideologically motivated and it indicates a racist ideology. This combination of distorted mentality and the apparent profiting off tragedy is the characteristic feature of fox news, but the venom of the commentators is effective because it taps into a history of white racist belief that appears widely and mischievously among us in many guises.

Conclusion

Now in the face of all this, its is encouraging to see so much strong, righteous, smart commentary appearing, in both the mainstream media and from other sources. But that does not apply for Fox News. Fox news actually should have a balanced, neutral and primarily unbiased coverage. But that is quite evidently not the case. These three examples show pretty much the opposite of a reputable and unbiased news company. It simply can not be possible that Fox news is capable of warping actual facts to the disadvantage of minorities. Fox news is solely aiming for their own success. The longer the warping coverage of fox news persists, the more they will keep spewing its garbage and hatred. It is time to do something against that .

Sources

• http://mediamatters.org/blog/2010/12/15/foxleaks-fox-boss-ordered-staff-to-cast-doubt-o/174317
• http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/fight-misinformation/cable-news-coverage-climate-change-science.html#.VZ1mU_ntmko