Why Fox News is winning the ratings war

April 25, 2013

By Tom Quiner

Juan Williams uttered unforgivable, blasphemous, feelings on national television.

The blasphemy took place two years ago on FOX’s O’Reilly Factor. Here is what he said:

“I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.”

For daring to express feelings held by almost everyone in the country, but feelings oh so politically-incorrect in the eyes of the liberal elites in the media, NPR fired Mr. Williams.

Fox News immediately hired the liberal Juan Williams where he frequently agitates the conservative Charles Krauthammer on their “Special Report” show.

Last year, conservative icon, Pat Buchanan was fired by MSNBC, for writing:

 “Mexico is moving north. Ethnically, linguistically, and culturally, the verdict of 1848 is being overturned. Will this Mexican nation within a nation advance the goals of the Constitution—to ‘insure domestic tranquility’ and ‘make us a more perfect union’? Or has our passivity in the face of this invasion imperiled our union?”

For his politically-incorrect blasphemy, he, too, was fired.

I revisit these stories in light of a new poll conducted by Hufpost/YourGov. They asked a thousand adults the following question:

 “In following news about the Boston bombings, how believable is the news you see on CNN? “

 They asked the same question regarding Fox News, CBS, NBC, ABC, and MSNBC.
The network reviled for its “fair and balanced” moniker in fact, IS the most believable news source of those mentioned in the survey. People were specifically asked about their reporting on the “Boston Marathon bombing.”
When asked if their coverage was somewhat or very believable, here are the results:
Fox … 53%
CBS … 48%
NBC … 47%
ABC … 45%
CNN … 38%
MSNBC … 35%
Interestingly, when asked if their coverage was “not at all believable” or “not believable,” CNN was far and away the least believable at 21%, with the others clustered between 13% and 16%.
Also of interest, Fox News is the only network news outlet providing consistent coverage of Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s “house of horrors” murder trial.
Also of interest, the non-Fox networks either ignored, or provided cursory coverage, of the massive number of lawsuits against the federal government over Obama’s HSA mandate.
The non-Fox networks selectively cover news based on liberal ideology. A whole lot of viewers apparently are aware of it, and don’t like it. They don’t trust the coverage of the others as much as Fox.
Fox is now the must trusted name in the news with corresponding ratings that have buried their competitors.
They are delivering on their mission statement, which is stated in three crisp words:
Fair. Balanced. Unafraid.
What a refreshing contrast to the politically-correct crowd in the MSM.
Posted in Political Correctness, Politics and tagged , , , , ,

10 Comments

  1. illero on April 25, 2013 at 3:50 pm

    I must say, though, that even as a conservative I find myself railing at Fox News quite often for wearing conservative blinders and stating ridiculous “facts” or conclusions. The best I can do is call them “Fairer. More Balanced. Less Afraid.”



  2. shanesbookblog on April 25, 2013 at 4:10 pm

    Fox news is the only news I will ever watch or absorb…anything else is fabricated darkness.

    (Fox is my Flashlight) =[]



    • quinersdiner on April 25, 2013 at 4:11 pm

      Thanks for writing!



  3. Danny R. on April 25, 2013 at 9:38 pm

    When I read your post I had to check it out, and it’s totally true. FOX is the most trusted name in news. However they are also the most distrusted name. While most news stations have left people iffy about their level of trust, FOX seems to polarize it’s audience.

    Honestly every single news source has a bias one way or the other. I think the best test of who is reporting the truth is to look at who is most often corrected on the fact checking websites.



    • quinersdiner on April 25, 2013 at 9:41 pm

      Even the fact checkers are biased, as this blog has pointed out in the past. Thanks for writing.



      • Danny R. on April 26, 2013 at 12:13 am

        True, good point. Depending on you who talk to it seems that you cant trust news from anyone really. Thanks for replying.



        • quinersdiner on April 26, 2013 at 6:40 am

          “True, good point. Depending on you who talk to it seems that you cant trust news from anyone really. Thanks for replying.”

          Danny … I have the biggest problem with what the media chooses NOT to cover rather than how they cover it. I do have trouble with the actual coverage, depending on the issue. For example, the Associated Press is way left on global warming issues and skews their coverage accordingly. But the MSM is notorious of selectively covering issues, which I alluded to in my piece. Thanks again for weighing in.



    • illero on April 26, 2013 at 6:08 am

      I find the biggest problem with the fact-checker sites to be that they simply avoid checking, or publishing, the facts behind many statements or issues that arise from the “side” which the site tends to favor.



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