Final Journal Article

Political Biasness in the Media: Who Do YOU Trust for Your News?  By Andrew Schreyer

        Since the invention of the television, people have been getting their news and information from various news outlets on TV. And while they all have an ultimate universal goal of presenting Americans with the news of the day, there are some other motives behind the scenes that you may not be aware of.  One of the main motives is getting viewers involved in the dreaded and feared world of politics. How are they doing this? Well, they are achieving this by having somewhat strange people on the air who do nothing but present opinions. While some of the stuff we see on their show is news, everything else is just fluff. The point of all of this is to reveal the truth, showing what the fluff really is and who delivers it the most. Since there are so many media outlets these days, we will focus on the two networks most notorious for their bias: FOX News Channel, and MSNBC.

        The first network we will look into is the notorious FOX News Network. Launched in 1996 thanks to the creator Roger Ailes, the network has been conservative in all things news and opinion since the very beginning. Although Ailes is the founder of FOX, he is not the owner. The real man in charge is Rupert Murdoch, owner of the world’s biggest media empire. Well, Mr. Murdoch has always denied any biasness that people see on FOX, even if it is apparent to least informed viewer. Murdoch stated during an interview with Salon on March 1, 2001: “I challenge anybody to show me an example of bias in FOX News Channel.” (Ackerman, 1) FOX is known for having some of the most biased anchors ever to step foot into a news studio. One of those anchors is Bill “We’ll do it live!” O’Reilly. Host of The O’Reilly Factor on FOX since 1996, Bill has been taking shots at those who disagree with him, and he does it with pleasure. He also has had a history of not knowing when it is time to stop talking. And while news anchors are supposed to neutral and unbiased, Bill has always sided with the conservatives and has been biased. Just watching his first two shows from this month, Bill has had a total of 17 guests, with 16 of them being conservative in political stance, and only 1 liberal. That is supposed to be fair and balanced? The obvious bias that Bill has is only exceeded by the words that come out of his mouth. Some of the things he says are lies, and others are just plain wrong. Citing one statement from one of his shows on July 7, 2000: “That’s my advice to all homosexuals, whether they’re in the Boy Scouts, or in the Army or in high school: Shut up, don’t tell anybody what you do, your life will be a lot easier.” (Ackerman & Hart, 2) In that statement alone Bill bashed gays on the air and showed how he feel about gay rights, thus by extension being partial instead of impartial. If you thought his delusions of granger were getting any better, think again. Since then Bill hasn’t really improved much, still making a complete fool of himself at times, and still unaware of when he should just stop talking.

        Bill O’Reilly is not the only crazy anchor you would see on FOX News since its inception in 1996. In fact, one man tops him by a long shot, and that man is Glenn Beck. Beck is best known for his tenures on FOX and CNN. He started on CNN in 2006, but then left in late 2008 for FOX, where he stayed until June 2011. Beck’ s show was always different from the others on FOX, being that it was in front of a live audience, and many of his shows were lectures rather than broadcasts. Beck, just like his pal Bill, has also opened his mouth on the air and said things that were not necessary. What’s worse is that he has opened his mouth on other shows. On a broadcast of Fox & Friends that aired July 28, 2009, Beck was speaking about how President Obama handled the wrongful arrest of Dr. Henry Louis Gates, when this statement came out of his mouth: “This president, I think, has exposed himself as a guy, over and over and over again, who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture. I don’t know what it is.” (Calderone) Beck stood behind that remark for over a year, but then on August 29, 2010, Beck had a change of heart. During an appearance on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Beck stated that: “It shouldn't have been said. I have a big fat mouth sometimes and I say things and that's not the way people should behave. And it was not accurate." He then immediately followed that with “He's not racist, he's just a Marxist." (Sheridan) 

        Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck are by far the two anchors on FOX who have received the most attention on other networks, mainly on those who do not share FOX’s conservative beliefs. There is one other anchor on has contributed to media mogul, and that man is Neil Cavuto. He is the host of Your World with Neil Cavuto on FOX News Channel, and although he is not as vocal as some of his colleagues on the network, Cavuto has done enough to be considered as biased. He is known the best for his stand on immigration, and the people that he books on the show to discuss the subject. One of his most frequent guests is Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce. Pearce has a record for making inflammatory remarks about immigrants, and while the worst may not have been on Neil’s show, the fact that Pearce has said what he has said makes this fact disheartening. Not long after the passing of SB 1070 in Arizona in April 2010, Pearce made a comment comparing immigrants to “cows with mad cow disease.” (Colleluori) What’s make this worse is that Cavuto never mentioned anything about Pearce’s dubious past on the air. In addition to that, of the 77 guests Cavuto has had on his show discussing immigration since April 2010, 84% have had an anti-immigration slant. (Colleluori) There is one bright side to all of this, and that is the fact that Cavuto has admitted to being biased on the air, but also has informed his viewers that if they disagree with him, that’s just fine.

        While FOX may be clearly biased on the conservative side of the spectrum, MSNBC is unfortunately also very biased, but on the liberal side. The network was established by NBC executive Tom Rogers in 1996. At the start, it was strictly a network that delivered news as it happened, but as time went on, and ratings began to fall, MSNBC began to follow suit with FOX and began to deliver political news. Once this started, there was no going back. MSNBC quickly became a fierce competitor in the ratings war, and made itself out to be a liberal sided network, although they have frequently had conservatives on the air. They have also had conservative hosts, as well as moderate hosts, as a way to balance things out, plus their liberal hosts are not afraid to point out flaws in liberal based politicians. However, even considering all of this, the network proves itself to be more biased than balanced.

        The man who can be considered responsible for the spark that lit the political fuse at MSNBC is Keith Olbermann. Although he left the network in January 2011, he is still remembered for what was the most popular cable news show for 3 years straight, Countdown with Keith Olbermann. On his program, Olbermann made no friends with the conservative FOX anchors, often putting them as some (or all) of the three nominees for his “Worst Persons in the World,” a segment that often had as his number two story out of five during his broadcast. Two people from FOX is especially chewed up during his tenure were Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck. Olbermann called O’Reilly out numerous times, and things got so bad between the two that O’Reilly eventually banned Olbermann from ever appearing on his show (and did it on the air two!). Olbermann gave him the nickname “Bill-O the Clown” as a reference to him saying things that were downright foolish. Beck meanwhile suffered at Olbermann’s mouth by being called “Harold Hill” and “Lonesome Rhodes.”  Needless to say, while Olbermann presented the day’s “news” with a sense of humor, he has made some comments on his show that were controversial. One that still stands the test of time is from his broadcast on September 13, 2007. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards had purchased airtime to deliver a commercial like message as a response to President Bush’s troop surge in Iraq. Following the commercial, Olbermann told guest Rachel Maddow “I don’t want to be diverted by talking about commercials in the middle of the show but, Rachel, why on earth did he buy that commercial? I don’t think I’m saying anything unknown to the audience; I don’t think he would have gotten a hard time from this particular network. Why on earth did we do it that way?” (Sheppard) Olbermann publicly admitted to the network being liberally biased, and also questioned the network’s decision to run the ad in the same evening. The more incredible thing was the executives from his network did nothing to him for saying it. Olbermann was able to get away with saying many controversial things during his tenure on the network, which caused the network to receive much criticism from the right about him. Nonetheless, Olbermann eventually left the network in 2011, bringing the war between FOX and MSNBC to a bit of a ceasefire. Olbermann currently is working for Current TV, still hosting Countdown, and still picking at FOX, but in a less over the top way.

        MSNBC has proven to be less biased than FOX, hands down. But when of your anchors calls out the Sunday morning talk shows for being too conservatively biased, something is wrong. Rachel Maddow, host of the show that is named after her on the network, did just that. On May 9, 2011, Maddow made a comment on her show criticizing talk shows on all networks that air on Sunday mornings for being “conservatively biased.” Quoting her from her broadcast: “The Sunday shows are supposedly the apex of political debate. The pulsing, throbbing heart of what’s going on in American politics. Is the biggest story in American politics right now retirees from the Bush administration and how they feel about stuff, plus Dick Luger? Honestly this is the roster, this is Sunday morning in all its thundering seriousness?” (Easley) Now even though that may be true to some degree, the problem with that statement is the fact that her network is biased as well. Playing the blame game is not necessary in this situation. Admit that your network has biases first, and then call out others.

        As you have read, FOX and MSNBC are both guilty as charged when it comes to being biased. This bias not only affects what they present, but how they present it as well. In addition to that, this bias can create rifts between anchors, as in the case with Olbermann and O’Reilly. The question ‘Can’t we all just get along?” comes into play here. Their one-sidedness has affected their ability to properly do their job in the first place, and that job is to bring Americans the news. The important stuff is the actual news story, and all of the commentary is the fluff. Americans today should stand up and plead that the networks go back to being neutral, like all news anchors are supposed to be. In the mean time, it’s time to decide. Who will YOU trust for your news?

Works Cited

Ackerman, Seth. "The Most Biased Name in News." Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1067>.

Ackerman, Seth , and Peter Hart. "Bill O'Reilly's Sheer O'Reillyness." Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR). N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1070>.

Calderone, Michelle. "Fox's Beck: Obama is 'a racist' -  - POLITICO.com." Politics, Political News - POLITICO.com. N.p., 28 July 2009. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/0709/Foxs_Beck_Obama_is_a_racist.html>.

Colleluori, Salvatore. "How Neil Cavuto Encapsulates Fox's Anti-Immigrant Bias | Media Matters for America." Media Matters for America. N.p., 27 Oct. 2011. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <http://mediamatters.org/blog/201110270010?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MediaMattersForAmerica-CountyFair+%28Media+Matters+for+America+-+County+Fair%29>.

Easley, Jason . "Rachel Maddow Calls Out The Media's Conservative Bias." PoliticsUSA. N.p., 10 May 2011. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <www.politicususa.com/en/rachel-maddow-conservative-bias>.

"MSNBC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSNBC>.

Sheppard, Noel. "Keith Olbermann Admits MSNBC Is Liberally Biased | NewsBusters.org." NewsBusters.org | Exposing Liberal Media Bias. N.p., 15 Sept. 2007. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/09/15/keith-olbermann-admits-msnbc-liberally-biased>.

Sheridan, Michael. "Glenn Beck: I shouldn't have called Obama 'racist,' he's really just a liberation theology Marxist - New York Daily News." Featured Articles From The New York Daily News. N.p., 29 Aug. 2010. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. <http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-08-29/news/27073976_1_liberation-theology-glenn-beck-fox-news>.

MLA formatting by BibMe.org.