Fox News: The Most Trusted Name In TV News

What it says here is the Republicans and right-leaning independents are thrilled with news they already agree with and thus trust” it, while Democrats and left-leaning and centrist indies are fed up with the entire media landscape. Not a great endorsement of Fox as trusted news, but rather an indictment of everyone else.

http://www.political-buzz.com/

The mid-point between the claims of a paid conservative flack and a paid liberal flack is not “objectivity” either. CNN has captured the bankruptcy of the MSM with their Friday “Wingnut of the Week” award.

Can we prohibit anyone from voting who is incapable of recognizing the fact that ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, MSDNC, ESPN, Oprah, Entertainment Tonight, Extra, NPR, the New York Times-Democrat, the Washington Post-Democrat, the Associated (with terrorists) Press, Sports Illustrated, Time magazine, et al., are all militant, virulent leftist political advocacy and lobbying groups?

I think not.

I’m not a big fan of Fox News but I can certainly understand why it’s popular.
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There are a number of issues that the mainstream media is blatantly biased on. Gun control comes to mind. I’ve watched discussion panels on several mainstream outlets regarding this issue. The moderator will sit mute while the pro-gun control person repeats his talking points and then aggressively attack the anti-gun control person when he attempts to rebut those arguments. On this issue it seems that many in the media don’t even pretend to be impartial.
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The irony of course is that the people watching Fox News because of this often don’t realize that Fox has it’s own agenda. Personally I don’t regard ditching one biased news source in favor of another one as any real improvement.
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Out of curiosity, will you be calling out MSNBC in the near future for their bias? They are at least as bad as Fox News. Why hasn’t anybody not named Jon Stewart taken them to task for this?

“There is a wholesale rejection of authority that is taking place, and Fox has cornered the market on the not-being-an-authority-as-much-as-a-beset-rebellion-against-the-authority style of journalism. It’s a sort of variation on the irony that makes people like Jon Stewart so credible.”
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Nonsense. FOX viewers “trust” FOX because they are high RWA and that’s their sources for authority. Period. Stewart’s viewer like Stewart because he tells them the truths that the corporate press won’t. And consumers of other news organizations are simply showing a healthy skepticism of an obviously impaired system of providing the public relevant, trustworthy news.

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

shakrai, in a recent thread where MS posted the video of Jon Stewart taking down Olbermann many commenters took MSNBC to task. Most indicate they don’t watch much of it any more. I agree with Matt’s comment at #1.
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I have stopped watching the Sunday shows and don’t watch any of the cable news channels. I’m exploring all the many other channels I pay for.

Michael Scherer:
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It’s about trust, isn’t it?
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Isn’t trust obtained through repeated demonstrations that you’re on your audience’s side?
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Isn’t that the “objectivity” problem in a nutshell, that journalists’ methods and conventions don’t convey an alliance between the press and its users?
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Isn’t the problem that there isn’t an such alliance, that the press corps really isn’t on the side of the people who use it?
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It’s not, just the press, true, it is established institutions generally –and especially the ones that have most recently failed in spectacular manner– but the “rejection” you’re talking about comes down to lack of trust, doesn’t it?
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…And doesn’t establishing trust necessarily mean taking sides with the people, Michael Scherer?

Don’t forget the Comedy Channel.

all militant, virulent leftist political advocacy and lobbying groups
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LOL
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I can never tell anymore when they’re trying to work the refs or when they’re really into this nonsense.

CNN has a “wingnut of the week” award? how did I miss that?

LOL.

As for FAUX news, I’d rather set my head on fire and run down the street screaming than watch that nonsense.

Well, in that case I say: Remember the Alamo, Folks. Massachusetts was sweet revenge. Now let’s march on the entire Country!

It’s always been pretty simple for me: don’t pretend to be objective, just tell me honestly what you believe. It’s good to know enough about Michael Medved to know that I don’t care what he thinks about movies. For all Fox’s flaws everybody know where it’s producers are coming from. Roger Ailes is not an enigma in any way. So trust it? No. But I know what it is I don’t trust.

Americans now seem to see it as right to believe what they choose to believe irregardless of actual facts, and go to news sources that reinforce their beliefs. It may seem like ignorance or an incurious nature, but it’s also a kind of narcissism (and a dangerous one at that). Mr. Obama campaigned in part that he would tell us what we needed to hear, not just what we wanted to hear. How foolish of him to think that’s what we were looking for.

Yes they have a wingnut of the week award where they pick one liberal and one conservative and imply they are exactly the same. Some examples include comparing Oliver Stone to Pat Robertson, Ezra Klein to Chuck Norris, Grayson to Malkin, and other exact matches like that. CNN, of course, is right in the middle of the madness, traversing the thin line of reality, that runs up the middle of Being.

Faux does have a point of view. It sticks to it. It has a goal, elect Republicans. It does not worry about accuracy. It knows that its viewers will believe anything they say and will not look for dissent. Ailes is a smart guy.
I prefer objectivity in reporting. Unfortunately, I can’t get it from most traditional media sources. They are too busy trying to please everyone and pleasing no one. False equivalency rules their reporting.
If I want indepth reporting, I have to look to many sources.
Right now the Iraqi “surge” is failing. After the traditional media cheered on the “surge” as they did the war itself, most lost all responsibility in following up on its success. It has failed. Iraqi government denying positions for Bathists and Sunnis. Chalibi back in a power position (watch him working Iraqis and Iranis), many more bombings and deaths. We all new civil war was inevitable.
Now the right and probably some in the MSM and particularly Fox, when they notice it, will claim it is because Obama is withdrawing troops. However, this was a demand by the Iraqi government that Bush agreed to.

Of course part of the problem is the 30+ years of conservative complaints about a liberal media bias. After all, it was that evil liberal press that brought down Richard Nixon. In the 70s a Republican friend of mine was constantly complaining about the liberal media. This water torture drip drip drip has had an effect and now we have the endless he said, she said instead of fact based journalism.

It seems to me that is the main reason so many are disgusted with the so-called journalism that is available to us. In addition, MS, another reason Fox does so well in your poll above is that they have one specific audience while the rest of the audience is spread through the rest of those named.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer, Dick Polman did a column when Scott McClellan’s book came out. The whole thing is worth a read.

I am referring, of course, to the longstanding canard about how journalists, especially those in Washington, are by nature determined to destroy conservative presidents, supposedly because these members of the media hate the military and American values in general. This myth has been thoroughly refuted by a number of commentators – including Mark Hertsgaard (who documented the press’ subservience to Ronald Reagan several decades ago in his book On Bended Knee), Eric Alterman (whose book What Liberal Media? appeared four years ago), and Eric Boehlert (whose book Lapdogs was published two years ago) – but the myth perpetuators have ignored these well-documented works, largely by dismissing the authors as liberals…who are determined to destroy conservative presidents and hate American values in general. And thus the loop closes.

Yet now we have McClellan – the erstwhile Bush loyalist who spent years seeking to advance the Bush agenda, spinning the media for the boss, his flag pin always right where it oughta be – and even he thinks the canard is a crock. Consider these key passages from his book, What Happened:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/americandebate/19386344.html

Simple explanation of why Fox is most trusted and viewed.

Because people were sick and tired of the liberal bias and liberal agenda being jammed down their throat by the MSM ( NBC, ABC, CBS, MSNBC)

Stewarts take down of Olbermann was all over this blog and many other places. Olbermann played it on his program and apologized for being over the top.
What mainstream news channel did you watch the debate of gun control?
The dems have given up on gun control legislation because they know it is easily demigoged. As usual their Balls Beer is not being consumed.

http://tinyurl.com/ly6upm
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This is probably indicative of the political ideology of the country more than anything.

http://tinyurl.com/ly6upm

Thank you Ivy.

If Fox news has a goal it’s best summed up as: Make News Corp money. I don’t think electing Republicans is their primary or even secondary goal. Hell they get more viewers when the Republicans are in the opposition…..
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I’m also not sold on the idea that Fox News is a right-wing network. Yes, they have right-wing personalities. But if you watch the regular news shows it seems to be more tabloid than anything else. Again I think their primary goal is to attract more viewers.

4.2: The last one that comes to mind was Mayor Bloomberg’s interview on Meet The Press. He went off on his usual anti 2nd amendment rant and Mr. Gregory just let him repeat every single talking point without challenging any of them. Nobody was there to represent the other side of the issue.
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For example, he claimed that his police officers would be “at risk” if the Thune amendment (concealed carry reciprocity) had passed. A moderator who was remotely familiar with the issue and unbiased would have asked him why his police officers would be at risk from citizens that submitted to fingerprinting and background checks before being issued their carry permits.
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He also repeated the gun show loophole myth, which again wasn’t challenged. Calling it a “gun show loophole” isn’t accurate. It’s more accurately described as a “private party sale loophole” but that doesn’t sound as scary, does it?
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In addition, he called for the closure of the “terror gap” and wants to see legislation passed that would prohibit people on the no-fly list from purchasing firearms. Can you imagine the outrage that would ensue from the left if somebody suggested taking away other rights prior to a criminal conviction? Yet they (and Mr. Gregory) stand mute while members of their caucus advocate doing exactly that — stripping people of their rights prior to any criminal conviction or even indictment.
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Lastly, the Democrats haven’t given up on gun control because it’s “easily demigoged”. They’ve given up on it because they know it’s a loser at the ballot box. It would cost them dearly in swing states and red Congressional districts and they know it. Heck, the most outspokenly pro-gun Senators aren’t even Republicans anymore — they are the two Democrats from Montana.

shakrai: Thanks for the example of Bloomberg/Gregory exchange on gun control. I never watch MTP anymore because Gregory is one of the most dim bulbed interviewers on TV. He mishandles both Conservative and Liberal guests.
As far as gun control, my beliefs are contrary to yours. I have no desire to get into a long back and forth with you on gun control. I respect your opinion but choose to differ.

And they’re damn sure acheiving their goal!

I thought that too until I saw the actual split. 49% of support for Fox is an insanely high number…
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Fox is the leader in news insofar as it dictates what is and isn’t news. It’s the first out with scandals, it’s the first out with raising questions of motive. Sure, most of the scandals are crap, but no one is successfully refuting them – not CNN, not ABC, not NBC and shockingly not MSNBC. Sure, it blows the lid on all the Democrat scandals but not the Republican ones, but the Republicans aren’t having nearly as many scandals because they don’t have as many fabricated by some clown. And it proudly shows what is news like 70K protestors rallying on Capital Steps. Y’know, like the 70K that marged in support of LGBT rights. Oh wait….it missed that one. No, it was the tea party….and then took out an ad the next week pointing out how the camera crew for each of the other major stations being present meant that only Fox News covers the important news because it spent all day showing Democracy in action as the tea party protesters sat on Capital Hill.
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Is it just me, or should CNN, MSNBC, NBC and ABC have spent the next week when the LGBT activists were sitting on Capital Hill taping them and then taken out their ad saying “When 70,000 protesters storm Capital Hill, we’re there. When 70,000 Republicans storm Capital Hill, Fox is there”? Seriously, Fox gets every dig in that it can and the ONLY network that is effectively demonstrating that they are biased is the COMEDY NETWORK, and all they needed was interest and to be masters of the remix.

Sweet Jesus, this is the most depressing thing I have ever read here. Jim Lerher and PBS are excluded of course because they use big words, are unbiased, and get into real analysis. But then again, those Fox fans probably get their real knews on TBN. I would pray if I didn’t despise those who are into that.

“…And doesn’t establishing trust necessarily mean taking sides with the people, Michael Scherer?”
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Bravo! Along with an earlier reference to picking a side at all. Some say Sarah Palin is smart, some say she’s not… Advertising, sales, industry going into the tank and they seem to be doubling down on the baka.

As Senator Moynihan said, everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.
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The fact is that there is no “gun show loophole”. Any FFL (Federal Firearms License) holder who does business at a gun show is still required to run NICS checks on those who purchase from him. Private parties selling guns at these shows do not need to conduct such checks in most states but then private party sales aren’t regulated in most states. A private party sale at a gun show is no different than someone listing a gun for sale in the classifieds. One could argue that perhaps we should regulate private party transfers, but how can one have that discussion with people who refuse to accurately portray the issue?
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Another fact: Every year tens of thousands of people fail the NICS background check at point of sale. It’s a Federal felony for a disqualified person to attempt to purchase a firearm yet you can almost count on one hand the number of people who are prosecuted for this crime. We know these people are, we know that they’ve attempted to illegally purchase a firearm, yet we very rarely bother to prosecute them. What’s wrong with that picture?
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I respect that you have a differing opinion than I do on this issue and wouldn’t waste your time trying to change it. Just understand my frustration with the fact that many of the people on your side of the issue refuse to speak honestly about the issue and resort to fear tactics and outright lying to advance their agenda.

“I would pray if I didn’t despise those who are into that”
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Hyperbole much? I’m an agnostic Formerly, I’m pretty hostile to organized religion, but you hate every person who prays!? To any deity?

“Jim Lerher and PBS are excluded of course because they use big words, are unbiased, and get into real analysis.”
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This post actually dovetails nicely with Klein’s “Too Dumb To Thrive” piece yesterday that was so well validated by the wingnuts who watch FOX.

I do hope you all had the chance to see Glenn Beck’s show today. He vilified and beat down Joe Klein for his elistist remarks yesterday calling all Americans “stupid”.
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Now you realize why Fox News is on top, and gaining more and more viewership everyday. Doubling their market share each week.
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Goodbye TIME.com, goodbye liberal loons.
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Do you have your resume all shined up yet Michael?

jcapan, a gross exaggeration on my part. Many people I love, including the family of which I am a black sheep, are devoutly religious. Thanks for jerking my chain. But in return, I can’t help but say that “agnostic” is a cop out. No offense, as I mean no real offense to the religious crowd. I just want them to stop the offense to me.

rusty, if you really mean that I will miss you.
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But this reminds me of another Klein post defending the buttinsky American foreign policy and the issue of censorship in China. It is not at all thought out in my mind, but I have to say that I would have a tough time deciding between China’s censorship and the wanton idiocy of Fox.
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Also, rusty, say it ain’t so, please. We need a vigorous, and sometimes even lucid and coherent right wing voice here. Reconsider, please.

The analysis gets it wrong. The distrust of NBC, ABC CBS and even CNN is because they claim to be neutral while being very biased.

The same could be said of Time.

Fox is straight forward about its’ bias when reporting from a biased perspective.

that “agnostic” is a cop out
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Really, so to have doubt is like riding the political fence. Does it make me a centrist. I don’t have contempt for believers or nonbelievers. But I certainly respect those in either camp who have doubt. I find it a touch arrogant when I encounter Hitchens-like atheists or the devout on the other side. An agnostic is someone who simply doesn’t know and is unafraid to say so. I’d say it’s actually a very scientific position to take. But I’m off for the day, so we’ll have to adjourn to a later date.

Time is the same as Fox? You lost me there. But I did read on to discover your revelation of the Fox magic. Straight forward is good, biased is not. I think I need to set your thought aside before I go bat crazy.

I’m with you. Believing that there can be no “god” is only a little less irrational than believing that there must be one.

jcapan, in case you haven’t headed out the door yet, let me say first that I don’t use the most recent catch phrase centrists. I have lost track of what it means. Contempt for religion…yes. I direct it to religious theology and dogma. The issue of atheist/agnostic has to do with the existence of a supreme being which is the religionists money shot. I dismiss it, but would never object to those who embrace the concept of a supreme being or whatever explanation for life, so long as they do it privately. The key word is privately. When society, government, education, all that surround us is dominated by what I consider to be voodoo gibberish, when they suck the very oxygen out of life, yes, I object and will say so, until my dying breath, wherein I will pass into the black hole, or maybe be reincarnated. St. Paul sucked dead rats as far as I am concerned. I am of this world, not some imaginary world these fools tell us exists. I can be dramatic.
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I do enjoy your posts and observations. Thanks.

Sorry you misunderstood (or more likely I was not clear) Time is like the other non-trusted media outlets because, while they are obviously biased, they claim neutrality.

shepherd, I usually enjoy your comments as well, but this one I have no idea what it means.

I still don’t understand, mainly because I don’t believe that whatever bias exists at Time, NYT, WP, or PBS pales in comparison to that of Fox. We will leave it at that, I hope, and thanks for your courteous response.

4hairyLegs: ” .. CNN has a “wingnut of the week” award? how did I miss that? ..”

Maybe you have not watched the neocon rightwing trash CNN peddles in its satellite transmissions to foreign lands.

No, unfortunately I think they really believe it. This is obviously the demographic that was interviewed for this poll.

It’s rather frightening to witness this detachment from reality and logic among the American populace.

I guess the conservatives have achieved their dream country – a perfect oligarchy in which corporations can run the government an uninformed, undereducated populace is kept entertained by Faux News.

The other reason of course is that THINKING people (i.e. the people who get their news from a variety of sources including CNN, NBC, ABC, Time and the rest) know better than to trust ANY single source, and would NEVER answer a question that asked ‘Do you trust the XYZ networkl’ with a ‘Yes’.

The unthinking lemmings who watch Faux News on the other hand ….

Michael, you might want to add some context to your story. Like the fact that while Fox is most trusted by its viewers, those viewers do not appear to know any more about the political landscape:
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/993/who-knows-news-what-you-read-or-view-matters-but-not-your-politics
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http://people-press.org/report/319/public-knowledge-of-current-affairs-little-changed-by-news-and-information-revolutions
It begs the question: what do these viewers trust Fox News to do? Tell them what they want to hear, or keep them informed. Evidence points to the former more than the latter.

Please. Don’t encourage him to stay. We can get well thought out and rational (heh) conservative arguements from Exiled/Neo. Everything rusty posts is filtered through his belief that liberals are crazy and dangerous.
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To rusty: You are crazy and dangerous for our politics because you closed your mind to arguement and blindly follow what the rightwing talking heads say. The only real difference between Conservatives and Liberals is that Conservatives fear an Orwellian big brother state and Liberals fear a corporate oligarchy.

The combined viewpoints are neither cold nor hot, therefore I spit them both out of my mouth. It’s some sort of “independent” viewpoint which I mistrust more than one from where I know the person’s coming.

Unfortunately, the poll did not ask about PBS, my personal favorite.

Mission accomplished:

http://michaelfury.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/target-audience/

PBS is my personal favorite as well but I’ve got to say that I’m somewhat disappointed in the new format of the Newshour.

I realize it kinda had to happen with Jim Lehrer needing to hand off more responsibility but it seems like the show is mashed together now. It would be nice if they could find a single anchor for the program once Lehrer hangs it up for good. I don’t know who has the gravitas to replace him — Ifill perhaps — but I hope they find someone.

Fox most trusted ? This is a scary thought, just goes to prove how lazy we are. We insist on being spoon feed what to think, instead of thinking on our own.

Fox most trusted ?
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Most trusted to do WHAT?? If trusted to present one particular side of a position, then it makes sense.
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If by “trusted” we mean trusted to be “faithful to the facts of the matter”, that’s another thing…

ilikechips,
You are correct in your simple analysis. FOX overall actually shows less bias then any of the MSM. They usually have credible guests that will present the liberal view on the issues discussed. Something the MSM seldom ever does.

What a joke. Foxnews the most trusted news. They are strictly a propaganda arm of the GOP. They are the kings of spin and false reporting. The are No. 1 in misinforming the public and maintaining the ignorance of the un-educated population. Their best ability is the way the run “push” polls to get at the answers they want, like they being the most trusted news. Would like to see the push polls they used to arrive at that conclusion.

Steve Singeiser debunks this false meme — funny things those poll internals (might want to check into those, Scherer):

“Let’s be clear: with 61% of Americans (liberals made up 14% of the poll, and moderates made up 47%), Fox News is the least trusted name in news. And they are the least trusted outlet by a decisive margin.

“This confirms something that bloggers on the left have been arguing for years. The success of Fox News is not due to their superior product, nor is it the result of providing a valuable service to a center-right nation.

“It stems exclusively from the fact that liberals and moderates are willing to avail themselves of the entire array of media offerings available to them, while conservatives are so convinced of their own victimhood on all matters media-related that they will pledge unwavering allegiance to a friendly media outlet.”

http://steve-singiser.dailykos.com/

incandenzah
“Steve Singeiser debunks this false meme — funny things those poll internals (might want to check into those, Scherer):”
Are you serious? You would accept info from the daylykos to try and debunk the survey.

What planet are you from? The facts/data shows 49% of Americans trust FOX and few trust any other network. 49% no mater how hard you try and rationalize or you spin the data shows most Americans trust FOX.
The FOX viewers continue to grow and the MSM which is heavily biased left continue to tank. The reason is simple. When people watch FOX on a regular bases, they find out that FOX does in fact report the truth and the facts to back it up. They also have credible liberal guests to give opposing points of view. They don’t try and be political correct like the reporters of half truths on the MSM.
I find that people, including JK, who try to demonize FOX get their info on FOX from the far left websites like the daylykos or losers on MSM. If they actually watched FOX on a regular basis, they would find out the truth and why viewers are swithing to FOX for real truthful reporting.
The American people are a lot smarter then you liberal/progressive think as you will find out in the end of year elections.

It is fortunate for you L/P that they did not show separate numbers for NBC and MSNBC. The far left MSNBC would have scored in the teens.