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Fox News *IS* 'Fair and Balanced' - It's Official!
Posted by Psychocktail
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[Media]
[So-They-Say] |
| Rupert Murdoch has claimed his Fox News channel is not biased in favour of George Bush and that News Corporation, his global media empire, is a "fair and balanced" company. |
From The Guardian
Murdoch: Fox News does not favour Bush
Claire Cozens and agencies
Tuesday October 26, 2004
Rupert Murdoch has claimed his Fox News channel is not biased in favour of George Bush and that News Corporation, his global media empire, is a "fair and balanced" company.
Speaking at the company's annual general meeting in Adelaide, Mr Murdoch insisted Fox News' reporting was more balanced than that of other US networks.
"It's full of Democrats and Republicans, the others only have Democrats. We don't take any position at all," Mr Murdoch said in response to a question about Fox's impartiality.
"We're not in the least bit biased, we're a fair and balanced company."
Mr Murdoch's comments will astonish critics of the notoriously right-wing television network, which was the subject of the controversial US documentary, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism.
The film, which accused Fox News of abandoning traditional reporting values and ushering in an era of partisan news coverage, has become a cult classic, topping Amazon.com's list of bestselling DVDs.
It alleges presenters are encouraged to accentuate points that might be helpful to the Bush administration, and includes a claim from one former Fox contributor covering news from Iraq that he was ordered to "keep it positive" and "emphasise all the good we're doing".
But Mr Murdoch admitted News Corp newspapers, which include the New York Post as well as the Times, the Sun and the News of the World, had supported Mr Bush's foreign policy and said they would continue to do so.
"With our newspapers, we have indeed supported Bush's foreign policy and we remain that way," he said.
Mr Murdoch gave a clue to his view of John Kerry, when asked what would happen to the US economy if Mr Bush's Democratic challenger won the election.
"I have no idea. He says he has plans but he won't tell us what they are," Mr Murdoch replied.
He said financial markets would probably respond more favourably if Bush retained his presidency.
"I think you'll get a lift to the market and you'll get continuation of his tax reduction program, which will help, and interest rates will stay low, probably," Mr Murdoch said.
Fox News was widely criticised for its cheerleading during last year's war in Iraq. Its star interviewer, Bill O'Reilly, told viewers the US should go in and "splatter" the Iraqis, while US soldiers were referred to as "heroes" and "liberators".
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