November 6, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Bias In Cable News: Fox News vs. MSNBC
A recent New York Times article (“Dueling Bitterness on Cable News“) uses examples of news coverage on Fox News and MSNBC to make the case that both news networks are guilty of partisan coverage. The article cites a Pew Research study which found that “of Fox News stories about Mr. Obama from the end of August through the end of October, just 6 percent were positive and 46 percent were negative.” The same Pew Study also found that MSNBC gave Romney positive coverage only 3 percent of the time.
OK, so we’ve established that Fox News and MSNBC are biased, but didn’t we already know that? I think the more important question is, which cable news network more often engages in intentional deceit? Or in other words, which network more often reports what they know to be bullshit for the sake of fulfilling an ideological narrative? Of course I have no data on this, and it might be impossible to do a study because it’s nearly impossible to prove intent, but I think I still have a pretty good idea.
I believe MSNBC personalities like Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes pride themselves on getting the facts right. Do they cover stories with a liberal bias? You bet. Do Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes intentionally mislead their viewers to fulfill an ideological narrative? I think that is a bridge too far, but I’m not sure the same could be said of Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly. / photo by Talk Radio News Service
