Written by: Anonymous

Fox News is supposedly the balancing voice of the Right in television media, but I think that's giving them way too much credit. When it comes down to it, Fox basically regurgitates the same news cycle that the liberal media creates.

The problem comes down to what Fox reports, not how it reports it. There are an infinite number of events taking place around the world that a media outlet could report on, but only a certain number of those events can be considered newsworthy enough to be included in the news cycle. The items that make this cut, and the manner in which they are reported on, are subjective. That is simply a fact of human nature and will not change regardless of how much journalists like to think of themselves as champions of impartiality. Consequently, the resulting news cycle is largely shaped by two human desires; the desire to increase profits by reporting the news items with the highest shock and interest value, and the desire to further personal biases and agendas. Since the media is overwhelmingly made up of Left-leaning individuals, this second factor results in a news cycle that supports a Leftist agenda.

This is where Fox fails. Rather than do the reporting necessary to create its own news content, Fox reports the same information as the rest of the media, with the exception that they wear American flag pins on their lapels and use slightly less negative terminology when describing Bush, Iraq, etc. But that doesn’t change the most important fact, the news content is determined by the Left.

In Iraq, for instance, the vast majority of news reported seems selected to further the message of quagmire, chaos, and failure. But that doesn't have to be the case. There is plenty good to report. When I was in Iraq, I was always astounded by the difference in accuracy between reporting that came from embedded reporters and the reporting which came from reporters holed up in their Bagdad or Kuwait hotels. Fox could portray a much more balanced and informed view of the war by simply getting more of their reporters embedded with units and devoting more of their time and resources to actual journalism.

Fox's failure to provide much independent reporting means that many of their stories and information are purchased or picked up from liberal sources. I find this especially frustrating because Fox never seems to have any trouble getting its own information on the latest pretty, suburban white woman to disappear. Why can't they devote some of those resources to international affairs?

Take a trip to FoxNews.com. I'll bet you it will look startingly similar to CNN.com. As I write this blog, Fox is carrying the same three lead stories CNN is carrying, and two out of three of these articles were written by the Associated Press. This is supposed to be the Conservative media?

I hope we can do better. As Conservatives we are truly doomed if we are going to pin our hopes on Fox News to even out the media battlefield.