Fair News or Foul News?

As reported, Fox News quotes themselves to be "fair and balanced". If you recall last week's blog, I spoke about fairness and balance being used to reinforce a point. Although someone or something, in this case fox news, claims to be fair, they usually tend to be the opposite.

The study provided explains that viewers of Fox news are less informed than those who are watching CNN, Jon Stewart, or no news at all. I believe that this is just a reinforcement of my previous point. Giving balance is just a way to help a journalist sway or direct viewers in their preferred direction. Although that seems to be very unethical, we all know that Fox News is highly popular and certainly does the job of a journalist. They "attract" the viewers regardless of "credibility" in information.

So the question is, does fairness lead to a misinformed audience or does it lead you down the path the news wants you to go? I believe that the news has a goal for the viewer and that fairness and balance is just a cover. If you see a fruit stand that advertises "the freshest fruit" versus one that advertises "Good Fruit", where are you likely going to go? The goal of the advertisement is to attract and portray a mindset that the information relayed is reliable and the "best". That, in no way, means that the information provided is credible or the most informing.

The goals of the media will certainly effect the audiences knowledge. It is pretty clear that there are die hard CNN or Fox News Fans, for example. People take the information by "their" trusted sources and use it to stay informed. If those outlets have a goal in mind, and that could be to omit information or sway a story to mold to their liking, then they will have a direct effect on those watching. People have a strong belief in their news sources and will even argue their side of the story versus the opposition. Whether the information is correct or not, people stand by their news source. If current knowledge is gained through news outlets then they legitimately have a foot in the door with how smart their viewers can be.