Petition to Bar Fox "Fair and Balanced" Slogan

Click here to sign.

Read the complaint. [PDF]

Basically, MoveOn.org is challenging Fox News' use of the phrase "Fair and Balanced" before the Federal Trade Commission as false, deceptive, and intentionally misleading advertising.

[Edited on Jul 31, 2004 by Keith]

About damn time.

MoveOn also stood outside theaters at "the day after tomoroy" yelling: "see, see! this is what will happen!" when even a 3 year old kid could take that film apart with ease.

this is just so they will get TV time, thats all.

So you think Fox News is fair and balanced then?

I guess it in how you take it. I know it balances out CNN.

Who is going to sue Chevy for saying their trucks are " like a rock"?
I know they do not look anything like a rock...<-

[Edited on Aug 01, 2004 by Mike]

Yeah, but "like a rock" is a simile. GM isn't claiming that their trucks are "rocks".

Now, if you want to make the argument that FOX News being "fair and balanced" is a metaphor, then go right ahead, but I'm certainly not going to believe it.

I always find it puzzling when FOX is portrayed as a counterweight of opinion to CNN. They don't strike me as all that different - FOX is like a rabid version of the CNN.

Australian, British, and Canadian news all cover aspects of events that are never seen on CNN. The last thing that CNN strikes me is being liberal. I'm sure there are Liberal news sources in the US - but CNN isn't one of them.

I think most people that watch FOX News think CNN is a liberial news channel. Not as liberal as many web news site but still a slant. <-

[Edited on Aug 01, 2004 by Mike]

<-

I think you are probably right - still puzzling though.

that's because the majority of opinions on FNC are so far to the right, that anything else appears "liberal" by comparison. and since the term liberal is flung around like a dirty word, it's an easy way to dismiss other news organizations without really commenting on actual content.

I really don't see the need for the petition. It's pretty obvious to anyone who's watched Fox News to see that it is anything but "Fair and Balanced" when compared to other news outlets. Those people who only watch Fox News aren't interested in facts, they just want confirmation of their beliefs. Is the title misleading? Yes, but the hypocrisy of it makes Fox News look like a joke.

Fox and Al Jazeera might be a better example of two news organizations providing balance for each other.

Maybe

one would think that Moveon.org would have better things to protest but I guess it just shows how pathetic they are that they have to attack a slogan

Meanwhile, I'm petitioning the United Nations to intervene in the genocide in Sudan. Instead of crying like a little bitch about some piddlyshit TV channel so that everyone will notice me.

Good for you.

Whats an american petition about genocide going to accomplish? You think the Sudan(ese?) give a shit what we think? Are they going to stop cuz 10 million (and lets face it, thats not going to happen) americans sign a petition? Dont get me wrong, I completely agree with you, and yes, the things going on in Sudan MIGHT out weigh a TV slogan that gets peoples panties in a bunch, but I dont see that accomplishing anything. But maybe theres something I dont know?

I think people misunderstand the "Fair and Balanced" slogan. It may be due to Fox's blatant misrepresentation of it, but it should be an individuals choice on whether to believe it or not. But I believe that appropriate meaning of Fair and Balanced is that Fox now offers a perspective from the other side of things which is a contrast to all other major news organizations, thus creating a balance in the industry and creating a view from all angles letting everyone choose their own opinion fairly. Obviously no one station is Fair and Balanced in the area of political reporting, but put all the stations together and you now can view all sides and pick what you wnat to believe.

find me a news station that's actually 100% fair and balanced.

yes, fox news is very far right. no, there's nothing wrong with that.

I object to most everything Moore's done, but I'm not gonna ask him to label his movies because that's how my friends and I feel; I'm simply not going to support him.

when all of you have your own tv stations, perhaps you can do things differently; the answer to objecting to Fox, though, is not to watch it.

Do you realize Fox National News was, for a time, referring to the upcoming election day as ‘the day bush gets reelected’?

Argue that bias does not = invalidity. Don’t argue that Fox is balanced. Thats just asinine, and hurts your credibility.



Oh god I hope your post was satirical.


[Edited on Aug 01, 2004 by TheRedBaron]

I see where you're coming from, but i really think thats a strech. Do you think thats really how NewsCorp meant it?

But as you suggest, Fox's use of the slogan 'Fair and Balanced' is dubious--- and the fact that they went so far as to try and sue Al Franken for using the phrase on his book is pretty frightening. Trying to claim ownership of the phrase 'fair and balanced' when you're anything but, is Orwellian doublespeak of the most despicable kind. Let's face it, commercial and political interests have the psychology of manipulation and suggestion down to an art from--- as much as we like to think we make our own choices, very few of us are capable of resisting subliminal suggestions.

That's true to an extent, but within the American mainstream media, Fox News only extends the political reporting spectrum from centre-right to further right. Until you get an outright leftwing channel, your general media still remains lopsided towards the rich and powerful--- the right wing.

Bear in mind, too, that Fox News' style (remembering that Rupert Murdoch is the owner), is designed to be incredibly popular, surpassing other outlets. Like the Sun newspaper in Britain (which Murdoch also owns), it does this through presenting 'news' as entertainment, or entertainment as 'news' (all fed through the lens of Murdoch's own political and commercial interests). Whether that's acceptable or not is a different debate, but to claim ownership of the phrase "Fair and Balanced" (which is really Fox claiming to have a monopoly on the truth), is an incredibly dangerous development for a democratic nation.


[Edited on Aug 01, 2004 by pedigree_chump]

I call it that too. But I say it a little more sadly.