posted March 17, 2011 11:14 PM            

One in four Americans believes "most or all" of what's said on Fox News, despite Fox's fabrication of everything from death panels to Climategate.

Email obtained by Media Matters reveals reporters were under orders to cast doubt on any mention of climate change

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Journalists at Fox News were under orders to cast doubt on any on-air mention of climate change, a leaked email obtained by a media monitoring group revealed today.

According to the email, obtained by Media Matters, Fox News's Washington bureau chief, Bill Sammon, imposed an order to make time for climate sceptics within 15 minutes of the airing of a story about a scientific report showing that 2000-2009 was on track to be the hottest decade on record.

Media Matters said the bureau chief's response to the report exhibited a pattern of bias by Fox News in its coverage of climate change.

It also noted the timing of the directive. The email went out on 8 December last year, when the leaders of nearly 200 countries met in Copenhagen to try to reach a deal on climate change.

The email reads: "We should refrain from asserting that the planet has warmed (or cooled) in any given period without IMMEDIATELY pointing out that such theories are based upon data that critics have called into question."

It goes on to say: "It is not our place as journalists to assert such notions as facts, especially as this debate intensifies."

Media Matters, which earlier this week released an email from Sammon to staff on framing coverage of the health care debate, said the directive on climate change reporting exposed the network's bias.

In addition to the email, it said Fox had tried to delegitimise the work of climate scientists in its coverage of the hacked emails from the University of East Anglia. The network had displayed a pattern of trying to skew coverage in favour of the fringe minority which doubts the existence of climate change, Media Matters said.

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Not content to spread misinformation and singlemindedly pursue an extreme agenda, Fox decided in 2009 it would contribute explicitly to the rise of a social movement. Fox spent disproportionate airtime rallying people to join the Tea Party, the radical right group that was formed in the wake of the presidential election in 2008. Over ten days in April of 2009, Fox aired 107 ads for its coverage of Tea Party protests and, in that same time period, featured at least 20 segments on the upcoming protests. By contrast, in the recent legislative battle over collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin, Fox called the protesting union supporters a "shrieking leftist mob".

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...The UK is currently faced with the prospect of full News Corp ownership of BSkyB. As political and opinion leaders think through what this would mean for their country, they should carefully consider not only Fox's worst instances of propagandising, but also the potential British audience for such misinformation. And, most likely, they need look no further than their flatmate. Seddon warns in Tribune that "America needs to wake up before people like Beck and his ilk has it by the throat." Let me end here with a counter-admonition: the UK needs to wake up before Murdoch and his corporation have the media -- and, by extension, British citizens -- even more in the palm of his hand than he already does.....

The Guardian / By Ilyse Hogue

Others have mentioned ->

the fact FOX has more viewers is a result of cable companies not offering MSNBC and CNN, let alone other news networks to ALL customers and the fact most FOX users subscribe to BASIC cable that is cheaper and only offers FOX.

posted March 17, 2011 11:42 PM            

Media Matters is the mouthpiece for the Socialist George Soros. David Brock conjures images of impotent little trolls sitting in their mother's basement in their underwear hurling insults and accusations.

Now, Fox News claims to be "fair and balanced". So, it appears that's exactly what the exercise was when that memo went out to get the opposing view when climate religionists were touting their religion.

"According to the email, obtained by Media Matters, Fox News's Washington bureau chief, Bill Sammon, imposed an order to make time for climate sceptics within 15 minutes of the airing of a story about a scientific report showing that 2000-2009 was on track to be the hottest decade on record."

posted July 20, 2011 05:16 PM            

More rocks to be upturned~ stay tuned.

posted July 20, 2011 05:59 PM            

they are soo fair and balanced that anything NOT on the conservative side ends up on air late at night or other times no one much will be noticing...like greta van susteren airing news about rupert murdoch's pickle - at 11pm..yes SOME people will be listening, but as long as their has been broadcast media, the scheduling has shown exactly what was considered "important" to the schedulers. and does to this day.

the WSJ did print some material about murdoch as well...way past the middle of the paper for those who really have NOTHING else to do but read the whole thing? you think?

posted July 21, 2011 10:07 AM            

The drooling O'Bomber press are "fair and balanced" in their reporting? You must be insane.

These clowns never asked THE ONE, THE MESSIAH, O'Bomber one, not one substantive question during his entire campaign...or since either.

But, these are the very same drooling clowns who poured over Sarah Palin's 25,000 emails and her tweets too, looking for something, anything..including spelling with which to ding her.

So far, the drooling O'Bomber...totally "out of balance" press haven't asked O'Bomber about his Illinois Senate office records...where the hell are they...haven't asked O'Bomber about his university admission records...haven't asked O'Bomber about his university grade transcripts, haven't asked O'Bomber about his medical records or his passport records.

And the drooling O'Bomber press sure as hell haven't asked O'Bomber...Where the hell is YOUR plan to cut the deficits, cut the spending and get American workers...back to work.

O'Bomber gives speeches and makes vague references to doing these things...but, it's clear there is NO O'BOMBER PLAN to make any of it happen. The O'Bomber Plan is a blank piece of paper.

AND, the drooling O'Bomber press is utterly silent on O'Bomber's total failure of leadership on this critical issue.