If I hear "FAIR AND BALANCED" ONE MORE TIME....

[Tyler Durden]

...I am going to projective vomit on person uttering the phrase.

NEWS is not SUPPOSED TO BE "FAIR AND BALANCED." A REAL Journalist climbs fences, peeks in windows, and leaves messages that double as "...attempted to contact for comment."

The press is supposed to be FREE. I have never seen "Fair and Balanced" in the US Constitution or its amendments. The only place where there was ever any "balance" was in EDITORIAL OPINION under the "Fairness Doctrine," and we all know what shitter THAT was thrown into and flushed away.

If there was any REAL journalism out there, I'd watch it or buy it in a newspaper, instead of stealing what passes for it as I do now.

[unblock]

1. thank you for your fair and balanced opinion!

:hi:

[Tyler Durden]

2. BBBLLLLEEEAAAGGHHH!

You owe me a new keyboard and monitor.

[Skittles]

3. yeah but Tyler, it's backfiring and becoming a real cliche now

everyone knows FOX "News" is always on its knees for bush inc and that its fans LIKE being lied to; in short, regardless of how many people watch FOX, it's becoming a real jokke

[atommom]

5. But as Bill Moyers points out, many people now prefer "news" that

plays to their own preconceived ideas. Especially after a few years of Fox viewing, these people just aren't willing to hear the truth. (

[FreedomAngel82]

18. Of course not

They just resort to name calling when you try to tell them the truth of the matter or make up some excuse.

[FreedomAngel82]

17. Yep

On this Christian board I like to frequent even they know that Fox is a conservative network. Some on there still claim they are fair and balanced but I asked them to name one democrat on the network who has his own show. Never got anything. :eyes: Go figure. And I also have been in arguments about the "liberal media" and told them as a liberal I know there is no such thing. I asked them to name me one person on MSM who is democratic and has his own show. Nobody said anything. This one person told Al Franken and Jerry Springer but they are not on MSM and Springer's tv show is NOT political and not supposed to be. There are only two people I know of on MSM who are "fair and balanced." Jon Stewart and Keith Olbermann.

[DrDebug]

4. That is

and

[lala_rawraw]

6. Um... i would like to think we are n/t

[bryant69]

7. This argument isn't going to fly

Although I understand Bill Moyers said the same thing yesterday (where I would have been, if not for my flight schedule). In truth being fair to one's subject is something the media should strive to be. Being balanced in presenting arguments (assuming that applies) is a good thing too. Its just that these principles are being used to justify crappy news - the highest standard should be the truth, not balance.

A fair piece about George W. Bush's social security reform could certainly point out where his statements contradict reality. There's nothing unfair about that. If President Bush doesn't want to be called a liar, let him stop lying.

As for Balance, we see a wide range of opnions from the moderate or apolitical liberals all the way to the extreme right wing. Did you notice which section of the spectrum does not get to participate in the debate?

But just attacking fair and balance as a reflex is going to turn people off. In part because they personalize abstract concepts? Just like they would like to be around fair and balanced people, they would like to have fair and balanced news. I think a stronger line of argument is pointing out how the current news is neither fair nor balanced.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Tyler Durden]

10. Who's making an argument?

I'm just venting spleen, as it were; there's no "reflex" involved: more like "REFLUX."

And as to "Balance," I haven't watched an Op-ed on the idiot box since Dan Shore retired and went to NPR.

I'm not out to convince anyone, as I have no more illusions about where the country is going: VIVA LA REVOLUCION!

[bryant69]

23. So are you are defeatest or a revolutionist?

[Blue Belle]

8. I know... I'm with you.

I finally watched "OutFoxed" this weekend (I know... that movie was SOOO 10 months ago!). The state of our fourth estate is pathetic. What happened to our journalists anyway?? Has fear got the better of them?

[HockeyMom]

9. Gotta get that Tshirt

Can't find it online anymore. "Faux News Channel. We Distort, You COMPLY"

[Blue Belle]

12. Let me know when you do...

I'd buy them up.

[FreedomAngel82]

19. That movie was a real eye opener

I knew I didn't like Fox but after watching that... Wow. What O'Reilly did to that kid was disgusting. He's shit and nothing else.

[Blue Belle]

22. O'Reilly is pathetic.

He's a petulant child with his own TV show... that's all.

[IChing]

11. What about "We report you decide"?

That one makes me sick also.

[ovidsen]

13. Yes indeed!

"We report, you decide" is right down there with "fair and balanced".

The constant droning of these two mantras by Faux Snooze shows that if you repeat innacurate cliches often enough, people WILL believe them.

I admit to a grudging, cynical respect for Roger Ailes and Co... they have truly mastered Orwellian doublespeak.

(edited for spelling)

[Tyler Durden]

14. More like "Shock and Awe."

You don't respect Joseph Goebbels. You FEAR him.

[ovidsen]

24. How about respect AND fear?

And come to think of it, maybe more fear than respect.

Thanks for you educational clarification.

[FreedomAngel82]

15. Exactly

As I've told people a reporters job is to find the facts of the story and report it no matter what! I had some rightwinger try to tell me other wise but according to the dictionary I'm right. ;)

[KharmaTrain]

16. Objective...A Different Animal

Ah memories from Broadcast Journalism class xx years ago...

First you write the facts as they are presented...the who, what, where, why and when...then you go back and say it again.

The goal is to try to present a story from a neutral starting point...where that story leads is another story, but at least you can document you started with a simple question and the facts have led you to draw certain conclusions. But that's not a story, that's analysis.

"Fair and Balanced" is a strawman used to hide spin and justify it. Just as a good statistician can cook numbers to show black is white, fair and balance is the "license" to slip in a spin point or other distortion...using snipets of facts and drawing inferences or leaving holes in the story and leading viewers/readers to a conclusion.

The great thing about the Internet and new media is you, me and everyone can be their own editor. We have access to a world of sources and aren't limited to just a few voices and their chosen words. Sometimes it's what we want to hear, many times it's not, but it's the parts that make for an informed person...and hopefully more and more people are reaching out for their information in a similar way.

[Cleita]

20. I thought you were talking about Laurie Dew's bosom.

:silly:

[SoCalDem]

21. The whole issue of fair and balanced is a sharp stick into the eyes

of people who understand language. To the casual observer, it "sounds" like good idea, but like other platitudes, they are hollow adjectives..

Fair? according to whom?
Balanced? who calibrates the scale?

News just IS... When someone SEES something that has happened or reads or hears about it, they have the facts, and can draw their own conclusions..That's usually the end of it..and on to the next bit of news..


Fair and balanced, as a phrase is just like "Honest to God".."No kidding"..."You gotta believe me"...

Most people understood the Fairness Doctrine, but took it for granted. When it was dismantled, most never even knew it was gone. When Fox started the whole "Fair & Balanced" thing, it was a deliberate attempt to get people to believe that THEY were the SOLE purveyors of truth..By inference, they labeled the "others" as biased liars..

Repeat the big lie often enough, and people will believe it. The gullible ones don't even need that much repitition.:(