Conservative-Funded Study: Fox News Gives Most Balanced Coverage

A study released this month by the Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) at George Mason University found that Fox News Channel's evening coverage was more "balanced" than that of the broadcast networks. However, the objectivity of the CMPA, which bills itself as a nonpartisan media watchdog group, is questionable, as the Center for Media and Democracy's SourceWatch found that "nearly all its funding comes from conservative foundations."

The conservative-funded study, which also claimed that TV election news has been most critical of Hillary Clinton and friendliest to Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, found the following on the balance of Fox's coverage:

Who's Fair and Balanced?: Fox News Channel's coverage was more balanced toward both parties than the broadcast networks were. On FOX, evaluations of all Democratic candidates combined were split almost evenly - 51% positive vs. 49% negative, as were all evaluations of GOP candidates - 49% positive vs. 51% negative, producing a perfectly balanced 50-50 split for all candidates of both parties.

On the three broadcast networks, opinion on Democratic candidates split 47% positive vs. 53% negative, while evaluations of Republicans were more negative - 40% positive vs. 60% negative. For both parties combined, network evaluations were almost 3 to 2 negative in tone, i.e. 41% positive vs. 59% negative.

To download a PDF of the report, click here.

Comments

[ihavenobias]

Here's another good site that calls out Fox News on a daily basis on a variety of issues:

http://www.newshounds.us/

PS---I love how O'Reilly is the "No Spin Zone" and claims to be an inde. Yet over and over (and over) again on his show he finds ways to mention the "loony left" or "radical left" with barely a mention of the "loony right" or radical right". Surely a radical right exists, right?

No spin zone my ass.

www.theyoungturks.com

[tinkaboutit]

LOL

[PublicusOrator]

LIBERAL FUNDED STUDY:
CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC Give Most Balanced coverage.

[leatherneck]

The good thing about the delusional right wing is they really believe the garbage their think tanks spin out as fact, just like the 2006 election, the brain of the GOP, and Bushites, kept saying they had some fuzzy math showing they would not loose congress or senate..., they really are so blinded with nightly dung fed dinners from the likes of Sean Hannity, Bill Orielly, and thier many shills, that the GOP is doing great just like their constant claims Iraq is going well...., but reality eventually will bite them in the tail, in 2008 when even with election fraud they cannot win a election..­.., then it will dawn on them that maybe "the folks" as Bill Orielly likes too say are fed up with their rhetoric and lies..

[hydenorhare]

But anyway, the structure of the story here on Huffington would be peculiar if not biased in and of itself.

They show "Center For Media And Public Affairs" to be the source as though everything that follows is part of its content.

But Huffington starts with its own critique just as long as the excerpt from the report.

That's the Rather school of journalism.

[ClevelandTom]

This study was issued under the color of an academic, scientific study. Below is the extent of the information contained in it about their methodology. In other words, they aren't saying how they arrived at their numbers.

I haven't looked it up but I'm guessing NewsCorp is a major funder of CPMA.

From the report:
"Methodology
The Center for Media and Public Affairs is a media research organization that uses scientific content analysis to study news and entertainment media content. CMPA is affiliated with the George Mason University, where CMPA President Dr. S. Robert Lichter is Professor of Communicat­ions."

[SILVANUS]

Balanced?
As in Reichstag TV.

Laughable. Scary.

Bill O'Reilly: Old Drag Queen of the Year.

[JTurn]

First of all, Fox is the most biased of them all, second, all MSM has an agenda....

I have to say... I don't get it. People just sitting around in front of "news" that a certain group of people want to feed you, leaving out some of the most important.­... vans found with explosives and suspects in New York on 9/11, "dropped".­... those guys (suspects) just went home, believe it or not.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7-hSEyVDz0

etc... etc....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E-5KivgwO4

At least, watch this, this video says it all, MSM.......

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4467655342219448521&q=orwell

[swift goat pet for truth]

I like what Krugman said.

(paraphrase): I say I am 6'2" and slim. Others say I am 5'7" and fat.

See how fair and balanced that was?

[markdale25]

They have got to be kidding!!! I guess the study was every bit as balanced as FoxNews. What a joke. And we're supposed to take these people seriously. Anyone with even a grain of intelligence cannot possibly believe that Fox is even real news. This country is toast. These are the kinds of idiots that we have to deal with. God save us...

[ihavenobias]

All right, enough nonsense. It's time for everyone to go FoxAttacks.com and check out the many clips showing just how "fair and balanced" Fox is.

Here's one my favorite clips (on Obama and Edwards):

http://foxattacks.com/blog/22158-fox-attacks-edwards-and-obama

[hootie1fan]

Fox News still gets it more wrong more times than anyone else. Thar doesn't mean you should ignore the other guy's foibles, but people who live in glass mansion like Roger Ailes, Brit Hume, Sean Hanity, Bill O'Reilly and friends who cann't produce more news than Jon Stewart are the last ones to be put on a pedestal.

[swift goat pet for truth]

Laff of the day.

[chendri887]

Oh, god, this must be some kind of joke. It is, right? Like most things "conservative," this "survey" was just put out to create more divisiveness in the country. Thanks "Center for Media and Public Affairs." Really.

Fox News is "balanced?" That's like saying "Fox and Friends" isn't so annoying that getting a colonoscopy is more pleasurable. It's like saying Bill O'Reilly is "looking out for me" and Sean Hannity isn't an intellectual moron of immeasurable proportions.

[hootie1fan]

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=319