Faux News

It may have taken seven years, but the Democrats have finally found their political spine. Since their sweeping victory in the November elections, the Dems have stood up to President Bush on everything from the minimum wage to the war in Iraq.

The latest act of courage comes from the Democratic politicos vying for the White House. A proposed Democratic primary debate sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus and the Fox News Channel now looks to be all but irrelevant, because Clinton, Obama, and Edwards are boycotting the event due to Fox News’ anti-Democratic bias.

It is not surprising most of the top-tier Democratic contenders have decided to opt out of the debate. The “fair and balanced” news organization has been nothing more than a mouthpiece for the Republican Party since its inception in 1996. Created by Roger Ailes for the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corporation, Fox News quickly took its place beside CNN and MSNBC to provide the public with 24-hour news. What makes Fox News unique is its reliance on conservative pundits to spread right-wing propaganda.

Roger Ailes’ background reads like a Republican’s guide to becoming an operative. For nearly 40 years Ailes has been involved with the GOP. Starting from his humble beginnings producing television commercials for Richard Nixon to his position as the key media director for George H. Bush, Ailes has become one of the most influential men in the country. It’s hard to believe a man who has been closely associated with the GOP for nearly a half a century can immediately become the non-partisan producer of a 24-hour cable news network.

It’s hard to dismiss the evidence obtained by journalists and non-profit organizations that shows Fox News does present misinformation with a conservative slant. According to the media watchdog group Media Matter for America, “Fox News' programming features numerous on-air personalities who have furthered conservative misinformation.” Brit Hume, John Gibson, Bill O’Reiley and a host of other so-called “journalists” try to pass as non-partisan reporters and correspondents. The media watchdog organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting has documented a large number of cases that show Hume and Gibson conveying false “newsworthy” information. O’Reiley has even stated that Fox News “does tilt right.”

Since the network’s birth in 1996, several studies have been published and presented that prove Fox News is nothing more than a right-wing communication outlet. The University of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes published a year long study that, according to the Center for Media and Democracy, stated, “in general, people who watched Fox News were, more than for other sources, convinced of several untrue propositions which were actively promoted by the Bush administration and the cheerleading media led by Fox, in rallying support for the invasion of Iraq.”

The documentary filmmaker Robert Greenwald obtained several internal Fox News memos that were used to frame media stories for specific people and events. On June 3, 2003, Fox News reporters and anchors were to remember that George W. Bush’s “political courage and tactical cunning are worth noting in our reporting through the day.” In addition, Fox News correspondents were to keep in mind the 2003 tax cuts were “less than half what Bush originally proposed” but contained “some important victories for the administration.”

An April 6, 2004, memo declared Fox News “journalists” should not “fall into the easy trap of mourning the loss of U.S. lives and asking out loud why are we there? The U.S. is in Iraq to help a country brutalized for 30 years protect the gains made by Operation Iraqi Freedom and set it on the path to democracy. Some people in Iraq don't want that to happen. That is why American GIs are dying. And what we should remind our viewers.” With the reports by media organizations and studies published by nationally recognized universities, it seems the “fair and balanced” network looks to be less “fair” and more biased in its news coverage.

The Democrats have legitimate reasons to avoid a Fox News sponsored debate. Fox and its conservative pundits will no doubt spin and manipulate anything said by the candidates to further the conservative agenda. By shunning the debate, the Democratic candidates have rebuked a news network that provides an outlet for ultra right-wingers and other crackpots. The Democratic candidates have finally recognized what most of us have known all along, namely Fox News is Faux News.