You're Only Getting Part Of The Story

I have been writing a fair amount about bias in journalism and how it's leading to more polarization. One such piece received a couple of (fair) remarks about how NPR had the most journalistic integrity out of the organizations I singled out. In terms of bias, I don't think NPR is the worst offender, but I can see clearly that the organization's view of the world shapes what it reports on and how those things are reported. I included NPR and Fox News in the same sentence on bias, and perhaps that was a bit unclear. After all, my wife and I are sustainers of our local NPR affiliate, WUNC, and I would certainly never say the same of an organization like Fox News (even if it was using a publicly sustained model).

After getting pushback about the comparison between the two very different news outlets, I thought about expanding my thoughts on the subject to illuminate where I see some similarities. I'll leave Fox News alone because I'm not really that familiar with them, at this point, but I've seen enough to know that their intentions are evident to most clear-thinking people. Despite "fair and balanced" being a previous slogan of Fox News, I don't think they get even close to approaching either. They've proven time and time again that they have a strong bias towards Republicans. I deliberately say Republicans and not conservatives because much of what comes out of the Republican Party these days bears no resemblance to traditional conservatism. Where the road splits, Fox follows the Republicans. If that includes giving airtime to baseless conspiracy theories or political insurrection, then that is where they happily go. It's not for nothing that they are being sued by Dominion, the maker of voting machines — and losing key verdicts in the case — for deliberately spreading lies about the company. I think the argument against Fox News fairness has been thoroughly made by the obviousness of their reporting slant.