Fox News: Difference between revisions
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The network was launched on [[October 7]], [[1996]]<ref>[[Roger Ailes]]: [http://energycommerce.house.gov/107/hearings/02142001Hearing216/Ailes320.htm Statement before the ''Committee on Energy & Commerce'' (February 14, 2001)]</ref><ref>[[American Public Media]]: [http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/1996/10/07_mpp.html News Archive for October 7, 1996]</ref> to 17 million cable subscribers under the guidance of [[Roger Ailes]]. The network slowly rose to prominence in the late 1990s as it started chipping away at the ratings of competitor [[CNN]]. In the United States, Fox News Channel is the top [[Nielsen ratings|rated]] cable news channel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2006/narrative_cabletv_audience.asp?cat=3&media=6|title=State of the news media}}</ref> |
The network was launched on [[October 7]], [[1996]]<ref>[[Roger Ailes]]: [http://energycommerce.house.gov/107/hearings/02142001Hearing216/Ailes320.htm Statement before the ''Committee on Energy & Commerce'' (February 14, 2001)]</ref><ref>[[American Public Media]]: [http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/1996/10/07_mpp.html News Archive for October 7, 1996]</ref> to 17 million cable subscribers under the guidance of [[Roger Ailes]]. The network slowly rose to prominence in the late 1990s as it started chipping away at the ratings of competitor [[CNN]]. In the United States, Fox News Channel is the top [[Nielsen ratings|rated]] cable news channel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2006/narrative_cabletv_audience.asp?cat=3&media=6|title=State of the news media}}</ref> |
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<!-- NOTE: please discuss changes to this paragraph on the article's talk page first. This has been the subject of extensive discussion and numerous RfC's. Current version is a compromise made to reach consensus. -->The channel was created by [[List of Australian Americans|Australian-American]] media magnate Rupert Murdoch, who hired Roger Ailes as its founding CEO. |
<!-- NOTE: please discuss changes to this paragraph on the article's talk page first. This has been the subject of extensive discussion and numerous RfC's. Current version is a compromise made to reach consensus. -->The channel was created by [[List of Australian Americans|Australian-American]] media magnate Rupert Murdoch, who hired Roger Ailes as its founding CEO. Critics see Fox News as advocating [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] political positions;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2006/journalist_survey_prc.asp|title=Project for Excellence in Journalism, Press Going Too Easy on Bush}}</ref> the channel denies allegations of bias in its news reporting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/5b77af92-548c-11db-901f-0000779e2340.html|title=Interview transcript: Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes|accessdate=2007-03-27|publisher=Financial Times|quote=People think we’re conservative but we’re not conservative.}}</ref> |
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== History == |
== History == |
Revision as of 23:49, 28 April 2007
File:Foxnewslogo.svg | |
Type | Cable television network |
---|---|
Country | |
Availability | United States and others; see "International transmission" section below for other availability |
Owner | News Corporation |
Key people | Roger Ailes, Chairman & CEO |
Launch date | October 7, 1996 |
Official website | www.foxnews.com |
The Fox News Channel (FNC), sometimes called "Fox News" or even just "Fox", is a United States-based cable and satellite news channel. It is owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, and is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. As of January 2005, it is available to 85 million households in the U.S. and further to viewers internationally, broadcasting primarily out of its New York City studios.
The network was launched on October 7, 1996[1][2] to 17 million cable subscribers under the guidance of Roger Ailes. The network slowly rose to prominence in the late 1990s as it started chipping away at the ratings of competitor CNN. In the United States, Fox News Channel is the top rated cable news channel.[3] The channel was created by Australian-American media magnate Rupert Murdoch, who hired Roger Ailes as its founding CEO. Critics see Fox News as advocating conservative political positions;[4] the channel denies allegations of bias in its news reporting.[5]
History
Rupert Murdoch established Fox News to fill what he saw as a niche in the market for news that, according to Murdoch, was "fair and balanced". In the opinion of Ken Auletta of The New Yorker, it was to counter a news media that Murdoch believed was predominantly liberal. A 2004 survey of journalists by the Project for Excellence in Journalism found that Fox was "the single news outlet that strikes most journalists as taking a particular ideological stance",[6] with 56% of national journalists citing Fox News as being especially conservative in its coverage of news.[7] Further research has shown that there is a correlation between the presence of the Fox News Channel in cable markets and increases in Republican votes in those markets.[8] Fox News has consistently denied any bias in their news reporting.[9]
News Corp had gained significant experience of rolling news when its BSkyB subsidiary started Europe's first 24 hour news channel, Sky News, in the United Kingdom back in 1989.
In February 1996, after Roger Ailes left America's Talking (now MSNBC), Murdoch called Ailes to start the Fox News Channel. A group of Ailes loyalists who followed him throughout the NBC empire joined him at Fox. From there, the CNBC expatriates, who joined a team already in place at Fox News, created the programming concept and proceeded to select space in New York. Ailes worked individuals through five months of grueling 14-hour workdays and several weeks of rehearsal shows before launch, on October 6, 1996.
At launch, only ten million households were able to watch Fox News, with none in the major media markets of New York City and Los Angeles. According to published reports, many media reviewers had to watch the first day's programming at Fox News studios because it was not readily available. The rolling news coverage during the day consisted of 20-minute single topic shows like Fox on Crime or Fox on Politics surrounded by news headlines. Interviews had various interesting facts at the bottom of the screen about the topic or the guest. The flagship newscast at the time was called The Schneider Report, with Mike Schneider giving a fast paced delivery of the news. During the evening, Fox had opinion shows: The O'Reilly Factor (then called The O'Reilly Report), The Crier Report hosted by Catherine Crier, and Hannity & Colmes. From the beginning, FNC has also had a number of different slogans it included in daily broadcasts including: "America's Newsroom," "The Most Powerful Name in News," "Fox Means Business," "Fair and Balanced," "Fox is Where The News Is," "We Report, You Decide," and most recently, "We Put the World in Context."
From the beginning, Fox News has had a heavy emphasis on the visual presentation of news. Graphics were designed to be colorful and attention grabbing, and to allow people to get the main points of what was being said even if they couldn't hear the host, through the use of on-screen text summarizing the position of the interviewer or speaker, and "bullet points" when a host was giving commentary.
After 9/11, Fox News added a waving American flag to the top left corner of the screen. It was eventually quietly dropped in April 2007.
Fox News also created the "FOX News Alert," which interrupted regular programming when a breaking news story occurred. Each News Alert was designed to be attention-catching with a swooshing graphic filling the screen and a piercing chime & later the jingle from the FOX Lab logo instead of the regular news music. On FOX Kids News Channel the piercing chime is replaced with a clap of thunder but the swooshing sound is still intacted. At the beginning of FNC, the FOX News Alert was used fairly rarely, giving the chime more cachet, but currently it is used regularly to announce scheduled events or repeat existing news instead of only breaking news stories, with Fox News Alerts sometimes several times each hour instead of just a few times a day.Most FOX News Alerts can be identified as "Breaking News",& some FOX News Alerts can be seen without the FOX News Alert title card. In fact, Your World with Neil Cavuto begins almost all of its broadcasts with a FOX News Alert, usually on the stock market changes of the day. During severe weather, the "FOX Weather Alert" is used with a slightly lower and less intense chime. Former Fox Music Supervisor David Hnatiuk created the Fox News alert in 1999 and has since expressed his disappointment in the network's use of the sounds and visuals in association with "news" about Bennifer and Martha Stewart. [10]
To accelerate its adoption by cable companies, Fox News paid systems up to $11 per subscriber to distribute the network. This contrasted with the normal practice, in which cable operators paid stations carriage fees for the programming of channels. When Time Warner bought out Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting, a federal antitrust consent decree required Time Warner to carry a second all-news channel in addition to Time Warner's own CNN. Time Warner selected MSNBC as the secondary news network, instead of Fox News. Fox News claimed that this violated an agreement to carry Fox News, and Ailes used his connections to persuade Mayor Giuliani to carry Fox News and Bloomberg Television on two underutilized city-owned cable channels, which he did.
New York City also threatened to revoke Time Warner's cable franchise for not carrying Fox News.
A lawsuit was filed by Time Warner against the City of New York claiming undue interference and for inappropriate use of the city's educational channels for commercial programming. News Corporation countered with an antitrust lawsuit against Time Warner for unfairly protecting CNN. This led to an acrimonious battle between Murdoch and Turner, with Turner publicly comparing Murdoch to Adolf Hitler while Murdoch's New York Post ran an editorial questioning Turner's sanity. Giuliani's motives were also questioned, as his then-wife was a producer at Murdoch-owned WNYW-TV. In the end, Time Warner and News Corporation signed a settlement agreement to permit Fox News to be carried on New York City cable system beginning in October 1997, and to all of Time Warner's cable systems by 2001, though Time Warner still does not carry Fox News in all areas.[11] In return, Time Warner was given some rights to News Corporation's satellites in Asia and Europe to distribute Time Warner programming, would receive the normal compensation per subscriber paid to cable operators, and News Corporation would not object to Atlanta Braves baseball games being carried on TBS (which normally would not happen because of the Fox television network's contract with Major League Baseball).
Management
The CEO, Chairman, and President of Fox News is Roger Ailes. After he began his career in broadcasting, Ailes started Ailes Communications, Inc and was successful as a political strategist for Presidents Nixon and Reagan and with producing campaign TV commercials for Republican political candidates. His work for former President Richard M. Nixon was chronicled in the book The Selling of the President: 1968 by Joe McGinniss. Ailes withdrew from consulting and returned to broadcasting in 1992, including Rush Limbaugh's television program during 1992-1996. He ran the CNBC channel and America's Talking, the forerunner of MSNBC for NBC. More recently, Ailes was named Broadcaster of the Year by Broadcast and Cable Magazine in 2003.
Fox News Channel programming
Fox News presents a wide variety of programming, with up to 15 hours of live programming per day. Most of the programs are broadcast from Fox News headquarters in New York City with its street-side studios on Sixth Avenue in the west extension of Rockefeller Center. Audio simulcasts of the channel are aired on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio.
Current shows
- Fox & Friends, the network's morning news/talk program, hosted by Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, and Gretchen Carlson
- America's Newsroom, a weekday news/talk program, hosted by Bill Hemmer and Megyn Kelly
- Fox News Live, FNC's daily hard news programming; hosts include Jon Scott, E.D. Hill, Jane Skinner, Jamie Colby, Page Hopkins, and Eric Shawn
- The Live Desk, a weekday program focusing on the news of the day and debate with a table of panelists, hosted by Martha MacCallum
- Studio B, a laid-back midday news show, hosted by Shepard Smith weekdays and Trace Gallagher weekends.
- Your World, the network's flagship business program, hosted by business managing editor Neil Cavuto.
- The Big Story, a news/commentary program, hosted by John Gibson weekdays and Julie Banderas weekends
- Special Report with Brit Hume, political news and discussion show, hosted by Washington managing editor Brit Hume from Washington, DC
- The Fox Report, FNC's fast-paced evening-news program, hosted by Shepard Smith weekdays and Trace Gallagher weekends
- The O'Reilly Factor, cable news's top-rated show [3], the taped broadcast features commentary and interviews from Bill O'Reilly
- Hannity & Colmes, Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes debate political issues of the day with guests and analysts
- On the Record, the network's primary show on legal matters and human interest stories, hosted by Greta Van Susteren
- Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, a late-night talk show, hosted by conservative blogger Greg Gutfeld
- Fox & Friends Weekend, the network's weekend morning news/talk program, hosted by Courtney Friel, Greg Kelly, and Kelly Wright.
- The Cost of Freedom, the network's signature weekend business block of programming
- Weekend Live covers the latest news, politics, Hollywood, and many other subjects from Washington D.C.
- The Beltway Boys explores the scene from inside the Beltway, hosted by Mort Kondracke and Fred Barnes
- Fox News Watch debates the media coverage of the news from the last week, with panelists from both the left and right of the journalist scene. Hosted by Eric Burns
- Geraldo At Large, a weekend newsmagazine, hosted by Geraldo Rivera
- Heartland with John Kasich gives perspective on the news of the day "with a no-nonsense midwest sensibility"
- War Stories, a program focusing around stories about people who served in wars, hosted by Oliver North
- The Lineup with Kimberly Guilfoyle covers the latest criminal stories of the day
- Hannity's America, a program featuring 2-on-2 debate, interviews with people on the street, and other elements; hosted by Sean Hannity
- The Half Hour News Hour, a half-hour television news satire show
- The Journal Editorial Report, where the editorial-board members of the Wall Street Journal debate and discuss news, society, and politics, hosted by Paul Gigot
Special programming
- All American New Year, the network's annual New Year's celebration program
- Fox News Specials, created by the network's documentary division
- Crime Scene, an in-depth program focused on specific crime stories, hosted by Greta Van Susteren
- You Decide, the network's biannual campaign and election coverage, culminating with Election Night
Previous programming
- Fox Online, a program connecting the network with its website, FoxNews.com, and hosted by Bill Hemmer
- Fox Magazine with Laurie Dhue, a newsmagazine that focused around in-depth reports, but also news of the previous week
- After Hours with Cal Thomas, a weekend talk show, focused around conversations with news makers and featured a weekly commentary by the host, named "Column One"
- Sunday Best with Jane Skinner reviewed the previous week's stories and commentaries that appeared on the network
- DaySide was a weekday news/talk program featuring a studio audience
- Judith Regan Tonight, a weekend talk program hosted by Judith Regan
- Pat Sajak Weekend, a weekend talk program
- Drudge, a talk program hosted by Matt Drudge
- Fox News Now, the first program to air on the network, focused on all the news in only fifteen minutes
- America At War, a continuous news/talk program covering the beginning of the 2003 invasion of Iraq
- Fox Wire, a news/talk program, hosted by Rita Cosby
- Crime Wave, a newsmagazine program focusing on crime, hosted by Jon Scott
- The Insiders, a talk program, hosted by E.D. Hill
- Beyond the News, a talk program, hosted by Dr. Georgia Witkin
- Entertainment Coast to Coast, a talk program about entertainment, hosted by Bill McCuddy and Juliet Huddy
- Only on Fox, a show featuring stories only FNC brought to its viewers that other networks didn't, hosted by Trace Gallagher
- 212 with Brian Kilmeade, a show focusing on New York City
- Hot Shots!, a compilation of videos from the Fox Report's "Across America" and "Around the World in 80 Seconds"
- The Edge with Paula Zahn, a talk program that featured celebrities and politicians
- The Schneider Report, FNC's original evening-news program, hosted by Mike Schneider
- Pet News, A two hour call in show that aired in 1996 [citation needed]
- Movie Tone News, an hour long show focusing on nostalgic news
- The Crier Report, a talk program that featured various personalities, hosted by Catherine Crier
- Money News Now,a weekend two hour business news broadcast that aired in 1996
- That Regan Woman an hour long interview show hosted by Judith regan [citation needed]
- Fox on... Fox news programming that focused on a specific topic such as religion, money, and health
- Fox x-country [citation needed]
Fox Network programming
Fox News Channel acts as the de facto news division of the Fox broadcast network. Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace currently airs on many Fox affiliates and is similar in format to other Sunday morning political discussion programs. FNC provides coverage of major breaking news and certain live events (such as the State of the Union) for the network. It also manages Fox News Edge, a distribution service of footage and reports for local Fox affiliates' news programs.
Fox News also produced several newsmagazine shows for its Fox affiliates including Fox Files and The Pulse, although both were canceled after short runs due to poor ratings.
Fox News chairman Roger Ailes is now also chairman of the Fox Television Stations division, and has been pushing for the network's O&Os to have a more uniform image and presentation in their newscasts. Ailes has denied any plans to create a national newscast for the Fox Network.[12]
In January of 2007, a morning show hosted by Fox News Channel's Juliet Huddy and Mike Jerrick (hosts of Dayside, formerly of Fox & Friends Weekend) aptly titled "The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet" premiered on all Fox-owned and -operated stations.[13]
The originally announced plans for Fox's new sister network, MyNetworkTV (which is also under Roger Ailes's control), included a Fox News-produced program, On Scene, which would have focused on crime-related stories. However, the network has subsequently decided to not air any non-telenovela programming.[14]
Fox News website
Fox News also boasts a website with a number of political columnists and weblogs. Fox News entertainment correspondent Mike Straka and Italian-American priest Jonathan Morris maintain their own weekly blogs. The following is an incomplete list of personalities that may appear regularly on Foxnews.com:
- Cato Institute writer - Ted Galen Carpenter, libertarian columnist, a fierce critic of the Iraq War and adamantly opposed to military strikes against Iran
- Cato Institute writer - Michael Tanner staunch advocate of laissez-faire capitalism, opponent of universal health care.
- Heritage Foundation writer - James Jay Carafano
- Heritage Foundation writer - David Muhlhausen
- Individualist feminist writer - Wendy McElroy, individualist anarchist/feminist and critic of liberal feminism, espouses a libertarian alternative.
- Tongue-Tied blog-writer - Scott Norvell, anti-political correctness columnist and humorist.
- Junk Science writer - Steven Milloy, outspoken opponent of environmentalism and global warming.
- Center for Security Policy - Olivia Albrecht, neoconservative columnist.
- Libertarian writer - Radley Balko, advocate of globalization, pro-life opponent of Roe v. Wade, supporter of federalism, Iraq War opponent.
- Real Clear Politics writer - Jed Babbin conservative pundit
- Real Clear Politics writer - Robert Tracinski
- Real Clear Politics pundit - Peter Brown, conservative columnist
- Real Clear Politics pundit - John McIntyre, conservative columnist
- Real Clear Politics pundit - Tom Bevan, conservative columnist
- Neoliberal writer - Martin Frost, former Texas Democratic representative, defeated in the United States House election, 2004.
- Blue Streak writer - Susan Estrich, feminist advocate, liberal commentator
Fox News Radio
In 2003, Fox News began syndicating one minute radio updates to radio stations. On June 1, 2005, Fox News Radio expanded to a full service news operation, employing sixty people and providing five minute newscasts at the top of the hour and a one minute newscast at the bottom of the hour. Fox News Radio is hosted by both FNC television personalities and others working solely for radio. At its launch, sixty stations participated in the network, with more joining under a deal struck between Fox and Clear Channel Communications converting many Clear Channel stations to carry Fox News Radio newscasts and allow Fox News Radio to use news content produced by Clear Channel and distribute it nationally.
Fox also produces Fox News Talk for both satellite radio services, with talk radio programs syndicated by and featuring Fox News personalities.
Fox News Channel personalities on radio
Fox News Radio also syndicates radio programs hosted by its TV personalities (All times Eastern).
- Brian and the Judge with Judge Andrew Napolitano and Brian Kilmeade: 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
- The John Gibson Show: 6:00–9:00 p.m.
- The Alan Colmes Show: 10:00 p.m.–1:00 a.m.
Two other radio programs hosted by Fox News Channel personalities are distributed by other companies. The Radio Factor hosted by Bill O'Reilly is produced by Fox News Radio but syndicated separately by Westwood One. This is because when Fox News started producing O'Reilly's radio show in 2002, they did not have the resources to syndicate, and thus outsourced the distribution to Westwood One. Fox and Westwood One have since renewed the agreement. (Because The Radio Factor is produced by Fox, it is available on Fox News Talk, Fox's satellite radio channel.)
The talk radio program hosted by FNC's Sean Hannity is syndicated by ABC Radio (which began in 2001).
Aside from Hannity, the Fox News Channel radio hosts also appear on the Fox News Talk satellite radio channel, along with the satellite-only program Fox Across America hosted by Spencer Hughes. Hannity's program, The Sean Hannity Show, appears on the ABC News & Talk satellite channel.
Personalities
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Regular guests and contributors
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Former personalities & contributors
- Dari Alexander (now at WNYW in New York, NY)
- Tiki Barber (now with NBC News)
- Joseph A. Cafasso
- Kiran Chetry (now at CNN)
- Rita Cosby (now at MSNBC)
- Catherine Crier (now at Court TV)
- Matt Drudge
- Jon Du Pre
- Darby Dunn (now at CNBC)
- Jennifer Eccleston (now at CNN)
- Donna Fiducia
- Rick Folbaum (now at WNYW in New York, NY)
- Karen Gibbs (previously a co-host of the now-defunct PBS program, Wall $treet Week from 2002-2005)
- Kit Hoover (now at TV Guide Channel)
- Juliet Huddy, now co-host of The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet
- Jonathan Idema (now in Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Afghanistan)
- Carol Iovanna
- Mike Jerrick, now co-host of The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet
- Chris Knowles
- Heather Nauert (now at ABC News)
- Barbara Olson
- Julian Phillips
- Judith Regan
- Pat Sajak (game show host)
- Mike Schneider (now at Bloomberg Television)
- Bob Sellers (now at WTTG in Washington, DC)
- David Shuster (now at MSNBC)
- Tony Snow (now White House Press Secretary)
- Linda Vester
- Paula Zahn (now at CNN)
- David Folk Thomas
Ratings
Fox News currently leads the cable news market in the United States, earning higher points ratings than its chief competitors CNN and MSNBC combined by average viewership.[15][16][17] While more people are actively watching Fox News Channel at any given time, CNN still remains the leader in unique viewers."[18][19]
The BBC reported that Fox News saw its profits double during the Iraq conflict. By some reports, at the height of the conflict they enjoyed as much as a 300% increase in viewership, averaging 3.3 million viewers daily.[20].
In 2004, the gain in ratings became more apparent. In September, Fox News Channel's ratings for its broadcast of the Republican National Convention beat those of all three broadcast networks. During President Bush's address, Fox News notched 7.3 million viewers nationally, while NBC, CBS, and ABC scored ratings of 5.9, 5.0, and 5.1, respectively.
However, starting in late 2005, Fox began to see a slight decline in the ratings. One of the most notable decline in ratings came in the second quarter of 2006, when compared to the previous quarter, Fox News had a loss in viewership for every single primetime program but retained their lead in the market. One of the most noteworthy losses of viewership was that of Special Report with Brit Hume. The show's total viewership was down 19% compared to the previous quarter. However, several weeks later, in the wake of the North Korean Missile Crisis and the 2006 Lebanon War, Fox saw a surge in viewership and managed to easily remain the #1 rated cable news channel.[21][22] Fox still held eight of the ten most-watched nightly cable news shows, with The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes coming in first and second places, respectively. .[23]
In August 2006 figures were released showing that in the period August 2005 - August 2006, Fox news lost 28% of its prime-time viewers and 7% of its total day viewers. This loss in viewers occurred during a time where rival networks CNN and MSNBC gained 35% and 26% respectively in their total day viewers.[24]
Logos
Unlike other news networks which generally have a standardized logo, Fox News uses a variety of logos in station identification and promotional material. The two most common variations, which are also used as the network's logo in the lower thirds, are seen below.
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Variation of the FNC logo used from 1996 to 2007; notice that the word "channel" is spelled in lowercase letters. This variation is still used on-air today.
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Variation of the FNC logo used from 2007 to the present; notice that the word "channel" now starts with a capital "C." in this variation.
Controversies
Fox News has been accused of promoting a conservative, right-wing, or Republican point of view at the expense of neutrality[25]. According to the results of a 2006 study by The Project for Excellence in Journalism, the network was most frequently cited by surveyed journalists as an outlet taking an ideological stance in its coverage, and most identified as advocating conservative political positions.[26][27] Murdoch, Ailes, and other personalities have denied allegations of bias, Murdoch saying that Fox has "given room to both sides, whereas only one side had it before."[28]
The network has been criticized by many figures within the United States Democratic Party, with Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean referring to Fox News as a "right-wing propaganda machine."[29] In 2007, several major Democratic Party presidential candidates (Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson) boycotted or dropped out of Fox News-sponsored or hosted debates[30][31][32], forcing their cancellation. Edwards has accused Fox News of having a "right-wing agenda" and lacking objectivity in their reporting[33], saying "there's just no reason for Democrats to give Fox a platform."[34][35]
CNN's Larry King said in a Jan. 17, 2007 interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, "They're a Republican brand. They're an extension of the Republican Party with some exceptions, [like] Greta van Susteren. But I don't begrudge them that. [Fox CEO] Roger Ailes is an old friend. They've been nice to me. They've said some very nice things about me. Not [Bill] O'Reilly, but I don't watch him."[36] Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Republican and conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg indicated his belief that Fox News was biased: "Look, I think liberals have reasonable gripes with Fox News. It does lean to the right, primarily in its opinion programming but also in its story selection (which is fine by me) and elsewhere. But it's worth remembering that Fox is less a bastion of ideological conservatism and more a populist, tabloidy network."[37]
These issues and others are addressed in the 2004 documentary, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, by progressive filmmaker Robert Greenwald. The documentary examines allegations of bias in Fox News reporting. In 2007, MSNBC Countdown anchor Keith Olbermann mocked them by first renaming the channel "Fox Nothing Channel", saying that they have nothing, then renamed it the next day as "Fox Noise Channel", in which he has used ever since.
Internal memos
As with many news sources, Fox News executives exert a degree of editorial control over the content of their daily reporting. In the case of Fox News, some of this control comes in the form of daily memos issued by Fox News' Vice President of News, John Moody. Critics of Fox News cite these memos as evidence of a conservative bias in Fox News reporting, and claim that information in these memos duplicates Republican talking points.[38]
For example, in a 6/3/03 memo, Moody wrote of President George Bush: "His political courage and tactical cunning ar[e] [wo]rth noting in our reporting through the day"[39]. In a 4/6/04 memo, Moody echoes Republican talking points on the goals of the Iraq war, stating "do not fall into the easy trap of mourning the loss of US lives and asking out loud why are we there? The US 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."[40]; during the Abu Ghraib prison torture scandal, Moody argued for a shift in focus away from Abu Ghraib and towards an American held hostage at the time, claiming a need to keep the Abu Ghraib situation "in perspective"[41].
Trademark disputes
In 2003, Penguin Books published Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, by comedian and Democratic writer Al Franken. The book criticized a number of persons and institutions, but singled out Fox with allegations of conservative bias. Before the book was released, Fox brought a lawsuit, alleging that the book's subtitle violated Fox's trademark on the promotional phrase "Fair and Balanced." On that basis, Fox moved for a preliminary injunction to block the publication of the book. The United States District Court Judge hearing the case denied the motion, causing Fox to withdraw the suit.
In December 2003, the Independent Media Institute brought a petition before the United States Patent and Trademark Office seeking the cancellation of Fox's trademark of the phrase "Fair & Balanced", on the grounds that is is "notoriously misdescriptive."[42] After losing early motions, the IMI withdrew its petition and the USPTO dismissed the case.[43]
International transmission
The channel is available internationally, though its world programming is identical to its American programming (with the exception of Fox News Extra breakfillers), unlike CNN International, which airs regional programming that is almost entirely independent of its U.S. broadcasts.
Fox News Extra
Until early 2002, Fox News replaced US advertisements with e-mails from viewers around the world who liked Fox News, as well as profiles of Fox News anchors, set to music. These were never updated and consisted of a small number of such segments. They, in turn, were replaced with international weather forecasts. In 2006, they replaced the weather segments with 'Fox News Extra' segments, various narrated reports from FOX Reports on a variety of topics. These reports are generally on lighter issues not related to current news events, and the segments are repeated. The segments are introduced by various Fox News anchors (mostly headline segment anchors), who in addition to introducing the segment, thank viewers from a chosen international location for watching Fox News.
When Fox News Extra segments run short, international weather forecasts are shown for the remaining duration of the break.
The Fox News feed in the United Kingdom does not feature Fox News Extra, and instead features break fillers from sister channel Sky News's International Variant. For a short period in 2001, a still of the Fox News logo replaced this other content.
Australia
In Australia Fox News Channel is broadcast on the three major Pay-TV providers, Austar, Optus Television and Foxtel. Foxtel is 25% owned by News Corporation, and the other two are just rebroadcasters of Foxtel content. The Australian syndication previously featured some local programming, including a John Laws current affairs program in place of "Fox & Friends". Local advertisements are aired in place of every second 'Fox News Extra' segment.
Brazil
Since 2002 Fox News has been broadcast to Brazil, but the commercials are replaced with weather forecasts and their own Brazilian ads. It is broadcast by Sky (satellite operator, a joint-venture between News Corporation and Globosat) and in the digital packages of NET.
Canada
On December 14, 2000, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved Fox News Canada on behalf of the Global Television Network, for broadcast in Canada. Fox News Canada was to be a domestic Canadian version of Fox News.[44] The channel, or specialty television service, was never implemented by Fox, and the deadline for commencement of the service expired on November 24, 2004. That same day, a similar license was granted to Rogers Communications for "MSNBC Canada", which went to air in September, 2001. During this period, it was speculated by some, and repeated by Fox News personalities, that the station was being "banned in Canada". The CRTC's previous refusal to grant Fox News an outright license had been contested by some Canadians, as well as American fans of the channel, who believed the decision to be politically motivated. However, it is rare for any American cable network to be licensed in Canada outright.
On November 18, 2004 the CRTC announced that a digital license would be granted to Fox News.[45] In its proposal, Fox News stated, with reference to Fox News Canada, that "Fox News does not intend to implement this service and therefore will not meet the extended deadline to commence operations."[46] On December 16, 2004, Rogers Communications became the first Canadian cable or satellite provider to broadcast Fox News, with other companies following suit within the next several weeks.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, Fox News is broadcast on Channel 92 of pay satellite operator Sky TV's digital platform. It is also broadcast overnight on New Zealand TV channel Prime, owned by Sky. Fox News parent corporation News Corp has a stake in both Sky and Prime.
Scandinavia
In Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries, Fox News is broadcast on TV8 for some 16 hours a day, since 2003. Fox News Extra segments replace U.S. advertising. However, in September 2006, Fox News was replaced by German news channel Deutsche Welle. This change resulted in Fox News losing all of its coverage in Sweden.
United Kingdom and Ireland
Fox News is also carried in the United Kingdom and Ireland by the British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) satellite television network (Sky Digital), in which News Corporation (the largest shareholder) holds a 38 percent stake. It is a sister channel to BSkyB's Sky News, which is more popular in the region and does not carry any such controversy. Fox News is usually broadcast as a VideoGuard encrypted channel but during major news stories it may be simulcast on Sky Active, which is free to air. A fault in certain Pace Micro Sky Digibox receivers, notably the DS-430N which was Sky's default issue for some years, has left them able to decrypt the channel with no active subscription card since March 1, 2006; although no reason is known as to why. As of September 2006 the channel has carried UK specific advertising, along with headlines and weather provided by Sky News between its breaks. These run under the brand of Fox News International.
Other countries
Fox News Channel is also carried in more than 40 countries. Although service to Japan stopped in the summer of 2003, it can still be seen on Americable (distributor for American bases),[47] Mediatti (Kadena Air Base),[48] and Pan Global TV Japan.[49]
Archive and licensing
Fox News Channel maintains an archive of most of its programs. This archive also handles the Fox Movietone newsreels. Licensing of the Fox News archive is handled by ITN Source, the archiving division of Independent Television News.
References
- ^ Roger Ailes: Statement before the Committee on Energy & Commerce (February 14, 2001)
- ^ American Public Media: News Archive for October 7, 1996
- ^ "State of the news media".
- ^ "Project for Excellence in Journalism, Press Going Too Easy on Bush".
- ^ "Interview transcript: Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes". Financial Times. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
People think we're conservative but we're not conservative.
- ^ Project for Excellence in Journalism, State of the News Media 2006: An Annual Report on American Journalism.
- ^ ""Broadcast News"". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 29.
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suggested) (help) - ^ DellaVigna, Stefano & Ethan Kaplan (March 30, 2006). "The Fox News Effect: Media Bias and Voting" (PDF). March 30, 2006. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2006-10-09.
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(help) - ^ http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/26/1098667750250.html
- ^ David Hnatiuk: Statement in the 2004 documentary Outfoxed (page 20-21 of transcript)
- ^ ""Time-Warner Cable channel list in Mt. Vernon, NY"" (PDF). Time Warner.
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- ^ [2]
- ^ Deborah Potter (01-01-2007). "The Secrets of Fox's Success". American Journalism Review. Retrieved February 06.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Kelly Heyboer (01-06-2000). "Cable Clash". American Journalism Review. Retrieved February 06.
{{cite web}}
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and|date=
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suggested) (help) - ^ http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2006/narrative_cabletv_audience.asp?cat=3&media=6
- ^ http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2005
- ^ http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.org/2006/narrative_cabletv_audience.asp?cat=3&media=6
- ^ ""War coverage lifts News Corp"" (PDF). The British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved November 29.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ FNC's 25-54 Prime "Downward Spiral", TV Newser
- ^ Cable TV : Content Analysis, The State of the News Media 2005
- ^ April 2005 Competitive Program Ranker (M-F 6a-11p programs), TV Newser
- ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/ratings/aug_s_total_viewers_vs_aug_2005_42895.asp
- ^ Timothy Noah, Fox News admits bias!, Slate, 31 May 2005, accessed 26 September 2006
- ^ Project for Excellence in Journalism, State of the News Media 2006: An Annual Report on American Journalism.
- ^ Project for Excellence in Journalism, Press Going Too Easy on Bush.
- ^ Interview transcript: Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes, the Financial Times, October 6, 2006
- ^ Dean On President Clinton Standing Up To Right-Wing Propaganda On Fox News Sunday, The Democratic Party, September 25, 2006
- ^ Fox News Boss Hits Edwards' Boycott, CBS News, March 9, 2007
- ^ Richardson backs out of Fox debate amid online protest, The Las Vegas Sun, March 9, 2007
- ^ Obama to Nix Fox Debate, ABC News's Political Radar, April 09, 2007
- ^ Statement on Edwards' Decision Not to Participate in Fox Debate, JohnEdwards.com, Apr 6, 2007
- ^ Edwards to Skip Nevada Debate Hosted by Fox, The Washington Post, March 7, 2007
- ^ Edwards Pulls Out of Fox News Debate, The New York Times, April 8, 2007
- ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/king_says_fox_news_is_a_republican_brand_but_theyve_been_nice_to_me_51252.asp
- ^ http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/03/fox_john_edwards_and_the_two_a.html
- ^ "33 internal FOX editorial memos reviewed by MMFA reveal FOX News Channel's inner workings". Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ http://mediamatters.org/static/pdf/foxmemo_060303.pdf
- ^ http://mediamatters.org/static/pdf/foxmemo_040604.pdf
- ^ http://mediamatters.org/static/pdf/foxmemo_050504.pdf
- ^ Independent Media Institute vs. Fox News Channel on Cancellation of "Fair & Balanced" trademark phrase, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Inquiry System
- ^ Official Documentation of Petitioned Cancellation of "Fair & Balanced" trademark phrase, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Inquiry System
- ^ "Decision CRTC 2000-565 - Registration with CRTC for Fox News Canada". Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ "Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2004-88 - Requests to add Fox News and NFL Network from the Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association". Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ "Broadcasting Public Notice CRTC 2004-45] - Call for comments on proposals for the addition of Fox News and NFL Network". Retrieved 2007-01-25.
- ^ "Americable".
- ^ "Mediatti".
- ^ "Pan Global TV Japan".
- Collins, Scott. Crazy Like a Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN. ISBN 1-59184-029-5.
- "FNC Ratings Soar as War in Lebanon Rages". MediaWeek.
- "Fox's Smith tops cable news ranks in ratings". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
- "Fox Factor". USA Today.
- "Q2 '06: FNC #9 On All Of Cable TV". Media Bistro.
See also
External links
- Official Site
- News Corporation - Fox's parent company.