Fox News
I was listening to Fox News for a bit today, and it really surprised me.
I don’t know what show it was or who was talking (I was listening via XM radio), but there were three hosts talking about the supreme court today finding that George Bush should have asked Congress before declaring that the prisoners in Guantanamo should be tried using the usual US legal system, and not a special secret military tribunal.
For a Fox News, a station whose motto is “Fair and Balanced”, I couldn’t believe how slanted their coverage was. It was incredible. They were basically painting it as some liberal judges wanted to play politics while the conservative judges just wanted to do the right thing. It was that slanted. And boy did they say “Liberal” and “Conservative” a lot. It was clear who the good guys are, and who the bad guys are.
But.. but.. shouldn’t the media be unbiased? Especially a station whose motto is “Fair and Balanced”?
It got worse. They had some lawyer on talking about how, basically, the supreme court did the right thing, and the interviewers were completely dismissive. How can you distrust the President? We’re at war! The President should be able to do anything he wants, without having to ask permission. They were arguing that case strongly.
They talked about why the trials had to not be secret trials, and the lawyer’s opinion is because the Geneva Convention prohibits it. Well, now the Geneva Convention was the enemy. “The Geneva convention covers terrorists?” they exclaimed in horror. They suggested that the US should pull out of the Geneva Convention so that they could torture the terrorists without being burdened by these human rights laws.
Wow.
This is a “free” society?
One of the pillars of this society is the openness of the justice system. If we have the evidence to convice these guys, then let’s see it. If we don’t, then let them go. That’s how it works.
The reason it works that way is to make sure we’re torturing the right guys. Is everyone in Guantanamo a terrorist? Are you sure? Should we torture them all, just in case some of them are?
If the government got word that there was a terrorist cell in some house on your street, would you be okay with them rounding up everyone who lives on your street (including you) for some good old fashioned torture, to help fight terrorism?
Is that the society you want to live in?
July 1st, 2006 at 6:45 pm
You may not realize this, living in Ottawa, but the US version of Fox News is always like that. It has an overwhelming slant towards whatever the current Republican message is. They make the implicit assumption that the term “conservative” and the current Republican platform are identical concepts, thus more traditional conservative issues such as the trade and budget deficits get relatively little time. Fox News does not attempt to present a balanced perspective, despite the somewhat Orwellian slogan “Fair and Balanced” and their continual reference to more mainstream, balanced news sources as “the Liberal media.” It’s worth listening to (or watching the US TV version via satellite) to get a richer understanding of contemporary American politics.
It’s similar to, but not quite the same thing as Canada’s National Post, whose editorial policy openly reflects the political positions of the Asper family. Fox News goes several levels beyond the National Post in its rhetoric, and it is more tightly aligned with a single political party.
July 18th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
“Manufacturing Consent,” look it up, watch it, ponder it…. hide… 8)