Comments on: Fox News Cancels Democrat-Snubbed Debate

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 21:58:23 +0000

So let me get this straight, they canceled a debate that non of the serious contenders were going to attend? I would have done the same.

By: lurxst

lurxst — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:49:12 +0000

All the cable news channels have had to resort to editorializing talking heads to fill up the space in their 24 hour programming, but at least the other stations attempt to get their actual facts and news straight.

I can only imagine the line of questioning at a Fox “news” sponsored debate for Dems being along the lines of “when did you stop beating your wife” type questions.

By: domajot

domajot — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:54:06 +0000

“Seems to me, all the other cable â€œnewsâ€ stations are copying that same business modelâ€¦â€¦.just less effectively.”

Exactly. And it’s frightening.
To keep my sanity, I’ve been sticking to NPR’s Jim Lehrer. When I tune in to CNN, I’m shocked at how much they change in this direction between my visits.
Soon, I think, MSNBC and CNN will be FOX’s clones.

By: Entropy

Entropy — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:50:35 +0000

I think a large issue is that most cable news outlets have turned to opinion and so-called “analysis” in many of their shows rather than news. The most popular shows are not actually news at all, but hour-long editorials and “debates.” For Fox, these shows are definitely on the partisan right for the most part, but on MSNBC the editorialists are almost universally left.

I used to watch Fox News a lot but the only shows I can stand now are Shep Smith’s and Brit Hume’s. Fox used to do some quality reporting neglected by the other networks, but now everything is more akin to tabloid journalism – the latest on Lindsay Lohan, live reporting of car chases, fires, etc. – stuff that is not really “news” of consequence to me.

And that’s a serious problem that affects Fox the most, but also affects the other networks. News is a business and it appears that we, the customer, is more interested in these types of biased opinion shows masquerading as news and tabloidism that a cogent look at the important issues of the day.

So I’m back to CNN and the New Hour when I watch TV, but mostly it’s NPR and the Internet.

By: casualobserver

casualobserver — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 14:20:27 +0000

Part of the problem is Fox Newsâ€™ business model: itâ€™s essentially highly partisan, polarizing talk radio transferred to the TV screen coupled with a news operation.

And MSNBC isn’t??? And HBC? And Paula Zahn and “God’s Warriors” on CNN are politically dead-neutral news shows??

Seems to me, all the other cable “news” stations are copying that same business model…….just less effectively.