I was flipping channels at lunch today in the break room while eating my chicken sandwich. I came across a live feed of a speech Barak Obama was giving in Berlin. The channel was Fox News. I am not a fan of Fox News. In fact, I usually won’t watch it. I will give you my reasons in a moment. Since the speech wasn’t just sound bites that Fox had edited together but the speech live in its entirety, I decided to watch.
My first thought was what a good speaker Obama is. He communicates from the stage well. He was giving a general overview of his philosophy of foreign affairs and America’s role in it. He was casting a vision of the kind of foreign policy he would lead if he were president. I was wondering if he can really pull it off – his vision. He wants to return America as leader in world politics – in diplomacy as well in waging war. I like talk like that. I want to believe in someone like that.
Obviously, his speech is rhetoric. He is trying to convince people he has the vision to be a world leader. He has a point of view and is trying to persuade others to join him.
After the speech, the Fox News anchor came on. Her first comments were about how well the event was pulled off and how well it fit into the news cycle for both Europe and the United States. Excuse me? Every president and presidential candidate in the last 80 years has played to the news cycle. Those comments are not news nor is it relevant. The anchor pitched to two Fox News commentators to ask their opinions about the speech. The speech that had just ended about 30 seconds previously – instant commentary. They spoke about how Obama’s comments were general, how he is aligning himself closer to McCain’s platform, and how he is trying to look more presidential.
My problem with this “news” is that it is not news. It is rhetoric and opinion. Fox News isn’t the only news channel to do this, but they are the one that does this most shamelessly.
Fox News has an agenda – the conservative agenda. They purposefully and regularly promote the conservative agenda. It’s not news. Period. Some people make the argument that every reporter and editor working in news has personal biases, so this behavior is common and accepted. As they teach in journalism school, a good reporter recognizes his biases and tries to overcome them. The goal is to be objective.
Not only does Fox News embrace their bias, they promote a point a view. Again, this is not news. This is rhetoric.
Those who think Fox News is news should watch the documentary “OutFoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War On Journalism.” Check out a trailer at: www.outfoxed.org
As we enter into the most heated part of the presidential campaign, voters should seek out alternative news sources. Let’s get away from the “us against them” mentality of partisan politics and doctored news. It’s our democracy. Let’s participate.
