Fair & balanced?

When I first saw Fox News on US TV, I was quite taken aback by its obvious lopsidedness and apparent lack of intelligence. At that time, I just put it down to the diversity of the US media landscape. Little did I know that it seems to have become rather the dominant force in said landscape - which is a shocking insight from highly commendable documentary Outfoxed (thanks, Jay!). But again, it's absolutely in line with the current shutdown of critical discourse in the power circles of the USA.

However, from a Macchiavellian (or Orwellian, if you prefer) point of view, it is very well orchestrated! Already the network's slogan "Real journalism - fair & balanced" is amazing: they brazenly claim balanced journalism while they totally disregard any established journalistic best practice of differentiating between fact & personal opinion without batting an eyelash! Watch Outfoxed, it's quite an eyeopener!

Incidentally, this reminds me of a whole lot of parallels with our southern neighbours. Its banana republic style prime minister has direct control over the dominant media empire in Italy, and he seems to be a good friend and staunch supporter of the US president who for his part lives in a symbiotic relationship with Berlusconi's commercial alter ego Rupert Murdoch, who owns Fox. As it happens, I am very keen to hear about the outcome of Berlusconi's trial.

Fair & balanced? My backside ...

Obviously, this calls for the BOTD: "We thought we were protected forever from trade policy or terrorist attacks because oceans protected us." - Speech to business leaders at APEC Summit, Santiago, Chile, Nov. 20, 2004