Fox News

Originally posted on Facebook on 2/24/11

As today's status update noted, I was recently trapped in front of a large flat screen TV with Fox News channel blaring. 

I generally avoid the channel, and it's not because I'm what some (all) of my Republican friends would call a raging Liberal beast. It's because I think journalism should be unbiased. I realize that most journalism has some level of bias to it. We are all people after all, with experiences that make up our being and flow out through whichever medium we use to express ourselves.

Sometimes those opinions come out when we write or speak, regardless of what we are told to write or who is paying us to write it. For example, on good days, I get paid to write. I once worked for an excellent company who used common sense to make decisions, and even when it was required by business standards to change something that would adversely impact the customer, care was taken and employee feedback was appreciated. At one point, a different company took over and asked me to write some things I didn't agree with, and I had some of the worst writer's block ever as a result. My point is that even though many of us who are trained in journalism actually get paid to do it, sometimes our meager brains won't let us type if we don't agree. This, however, should be something we recognize and, when trusted with the task of delivering information under the banner of "news," our neutral gear should not be opinion unless we clearly state such.

First, I tried to change the channel. Not because I saw something I didn't like, I just wanted to watch a different news channel. I couldn't find the remote control for my treadmill's TV. I went to the next treadmill, and the remote was there, but it wouldn't work. That TV was featuring a sports channel. I had to make a choice, and as much as I hate biased journalism, I figured at least I wouldn't be bored into numbed oblivion. Besides, I had my iPod and figured I'd just listen to music and hey, just watching the closed captioning couldn't be that bad, right? It was 5:30 a.m. and I was wearing two different shoes so I figured it couldn't get much worse.

I tried not to watch, but I was facing a blank white wall with dark windows on either side. The music helped, but I need to look at something, especially when I'm having a tough time getting into the run. So, yes, I started watching. I watched as the "journalists" made fun of the protesters in Madison. I watched as a "journalist" hosted a "fair and balanced" debate (they really called it that) while asking questions that were so insanely biased, he even laughed while he asked them. I watched while the "journalists" used an abundance of adjectives, something that my journalism professors would have given me an automatic fail for even thinking of doing.

This all brings to mind my 'History of Mass Communications' class, shout out to Prof. Ellen Mrja, where we talked about how dangerous it is to listen to politicians and not question the lines they feed us, like say, Vietnam, where for years journalists took what was fed to them and reported it without question. This did a tremendous disservice to both our country and veterans who served in Vietnam. I see biased journalism of the sort one finds on Fox News as the same thing. Not reporting the facts and instead reporting what our elected officials tell us to report, adding adjectives and hate, does nothing for your cause.

In summary, I chuckled a bit as I walked away from my treadmill, because I get to live in a place where Fox News can exist, in all its insane glory. I am happy and grateful every day for that. I just don't think we should accept it at face value. To do so is lazy.

I shall leave you with the text of my favorite amendment. There's a reason it's the first one:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."