War Takes Up Less Time on Fox News

[zimv20]

AP (http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=3263721)


Study Shows That Fox News Spends Less Time Covering War in Iraq Than Cable-News Competitors

On a winter day when bomb blasts at an Iraqi university killed dozens and the United Nations estimated that 34,000 civilians in Iraq had died in 2006, MSNBC spent nearly nine minutes on the stories during the 1 p.m. hour. A CNN correspondent in Iraq did a three-minute report about the bombings.

Neither story merited a mention on Fox News Channel that hour.

That wasn't unusual. Fox spent half as much time covering the Iraq war than MSNBC during the first three months of the year, and considerably less than CNN, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The difference was more stark during daytime news hours than in prime-time opinion shows. The Iraq war occupied 20 percent of CNN's daytime news hole and 18 percent of MSNBC's. On Fox, the war was talked about only 6 percent of the time.

The independent think tank's report freshens a debate over whether ideology drives news agendas, and it comes at a delicate time for Fox. Top Democratic presidential candidates have refused to appear at debates sponsored by Fox. Liberals find attacking Fox is a way to fire up their base.

"It illustrates the danger of cheerleading for one particular point or another because they were obviously cheerleaders for the war," said Jon Klein, CNN U.S. president. "When the war went badly they had to dial back coverage because it didn't fit their preconceived story lines."

Fox wouldn't respond to repeated requests to make an executive available to talk about its war coverage.

So how to explain the divergent priorities? Different opinions on what is newsworthy? A business decision?

A mere coincidence?

Fox News Channel viewers argue that their favorite network is simply the most fair. Fox has long objected to suggestions that its newscasts go through a conservative filter. Surveys have shown its audience is dominated by Republicans.

There are no similar differences in priorities among the broadcast evening-news programs, where Iraq was the top story between January and the end of March. NBC's "Nightly News" spent 269 minutes on Iraq, ABC had 251 and CBS 238, according to news consultant Andrew Tyndall.

Another story that has reflected poorly on the Bush administration, the controversy over U.S. attorney firings, also received more attention on MSNBC (8 percent of the newshole) and CNN (4 percent) than on Fox (2 percent), the Project for Excellence in Journalism found.

Tim Graham of the conservative Media Research Center, said Fox has always claimed to report from an American perspective and to not follow the pack. While Graham said he may have questions about the PEJ's methodology, he doesn't dispute the results.

His group published its own study last year about the content of coverage. Fox didn't have its head in the sand; there were more negative stories about what was happening in Iraq than positive. But his group's view was that Fox was more balanced while CNN and MSNBC were relentlessly pessimistic. Between May 15 and July 21 of last year, Fox aired nearly twice as many stories about successes in Iraq as CNN and MSNBC combined, he said.

[...]

So with less on-air attention being paid to Iraq during the first few months of the year, what filled the void for Fox? PEJ's report said the network gave the death of Anna Nicole Smith significantly more air time than its rivals.

[samh004]

No matter who their audience is dominated by, I think everyone is sick of the "war" by now. Perhaps if more TV stations moved onto something a bit more cheerful, the terrorists would realize they have no more audience, and thus have to find another way to be heard.

[zimv20]

Perhaps if more TV stations moved onto something a bit more cheerful, the terrorists would realize they have no more audience, and thus have to find another way to be heard.

don't you think you're being just a little bit naive?

[latergator116]

"When the war went badly they had to dial back coverage because it didn't fit their preconceived story lines."

Absolutely shocking.

[skunk]

No matter who their audience is dominated by, I think everyone is sick of the "war" by now. Perhaps if more TV stations moved onto something a bit more cheerful, the terrorists would realize they have no more audience, and thus have to find another way to be heard.Those Iraqis who are fighting are fighting for possession of their country. You don't seriously think they're doing it for the Nielsen ratings, do you?

[geese]

Those Iraqis who are fighting are fighting for possession of their country. You don't seriously think they're doing it for the Nielsen ratings, do you?

I can see TV Quick magazine getting alot of new subscriptions from Baghdad.

[biturbomunkie]

good o' fox.

[Queso]

No matter who their audience is dominated by, I think everyone is sick of the "war" by now. Perhaps if more TV stations moved onto something a bit more cheerful, the terrorists would realize they have no more audience, and thus have to find another way to be heard.
A bit more cheerful? I sincerely hope you're kidding with this post.

[Swarmlord]

It's all about quality over quantity.

[Ugg]

It's all about quality over quantity.

Ha!!!!

Know I now you're either playing devil's advocate or are simply a troll.

[Swarmlord]

Ha!!!!

Know I now you're either playing devil's advocate or are simply a troll.

Report the news and then move on. The alphabet networks have conditioned the public to equate droning on about topics and hand wringing with the value of a given news topic.

I do agree that they should spend more time interviewing the troops and discussing the successes they've had.

[Queso]

I do agree that they should spend more time interviewing the troops and discussing the successes they've had.
Well that ought to increase their war coverage by a huge amount, maybe even thirty seconds a month!!

[atari1356]

Report the news and then move on. The alphabet networks have conditioned the public to equate droning on about topics and hand wringing with the value of a given news topic.

I do agree that they should spend more time interviewing the troops and discussing the successes they've had.

Yeah, because it's good to free up time to cover more important things, like the dangers of polished fingernails catching on fire. :rolleyes:

(seriously, that's the kind of crap FOX news reports on here)

[Swarmlord]

Yeah, because it's good to free up time to cover more important things, like the dangers of polished fingernails catching on fire. :rolleyes:

(seriously, that's the kind of crap FOX news reports on here)

I wouldn't miss Greta and some of the other shows they carry during prime time, that's for sure. That tabloid stuff should be canned.

[Ugg]

Well that ought to increase their war coverage by a huge amount, maybe even thirty seconds a month!!

You're being awfully generous, IMO!

[SMM]

No matter who their audience is dominated by, I think everyone is sick of the "war" by now. Perhaps if more TV stations moved onto something a bit more cheerful, the terrorists would realize they have no more audience, and thus have to find another way to be heard.

No, they are sick of the war, not hearing about it.

[Swarmlord]

No, they are sick of the war, not hearing about it.

Because they want to return to pretending that what happens on the other side of the world is none of our business and concern themselves with who's sleeping with whom in Hollywood.

[leekohler]

Because they want to return to pretending that what happens on the other side of the world is none of our business and concern themselves with who's sleeping with whom in Hollywood.

Or could it be that Bush wants us not to concern ourselves with the war?

[mattscott306]

Duh, we have to make time for the Paris Hilton updates.

[Ugg]

Because they want to return to pretending that what happens on the other side of the world is none of our business and concern themselves with who's sleeping with whom in Hollywood.

But that's exactly what Faux news is doing. Pretending and obsessing about paree h.

Is that why you watch it, to pretend that the illegal war doesn't exist?

[hulugu]

Report the news and then move on. The alphabet networks have conditioned the public to equate droning on about topics and hand wringing with the value of a given news topic.

I do agree that they should spend more time interviewing the troops and discussing the successes they've had.

It would be nice to see any kind of in-depth story about the war from Fox News, but that might take time away from the apparatchiks.

[solvs]

It's all about quality over quantity.

You mean like Anna Nicole and Paris, which is what this article is referencing? To be fair, it's not just Fox. Was it CNN or MSNBC that cut away from the general quiting to cover Paris?

But yeah, we're sick of the war happening, not being covered... just look at the polls.

[Peterkro]

Because they want to return to pretending that what happens on the other side of the world is none of our business and concern themselves with who's sleeping with whom in Hollywood.

There in a nutshell you have it.What happens on the other side of the world is none of "our" business.Listening to the rest of the world and pissing off back to the US and tackling "your" internal problems would be a major step forward.

[MacNut]

The problem with cable news is that it has turned into 30 second sound bites rather then quality reporting.

[cycocelica]

The problem with cable news is that it has turned into 30 second sound bites rather then quality reporting.

I watch CNN for 1 hour and I see the same story 4-5 times. I wish there was some substance for these stories. :rolleyes:

[Dont Hurt Me]

Sound Bites. = Cheney,Bush,Rove,Libbey,and lots of draft dodging B.S. Iraq = Disaster for American foreign policy and the Fox Spin is the emperors clothes.

[obeygiant]

Here (http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6730/1181680001643up9.jpg) is a still I grabbed during a show on Fox. :)

[it5five]

That picture would be complete with a "Mission Accomplished" banner across the bottom.

Fox is a joke. If anyone here hasn't seen Outfoxed, you need to. Especially you hard-line right wingers. But you probably think that complete domination, control, and destruction of the media is a good thing.

[FFTT]

Well Fox helped sell this fooking war big time and now the results of this misguided Neocon disaster stands to threaten the stability of the entire Middle East region including Israel and Saudi Arabia.

We'll ALL pay a heavy price for what they've done over the next few decades.

[MacNut]

Well Fox helped sell this fooking war big time and now the results of this misguided Neocon disaster stands to threaten the stability of the entire Middle East region including Israel and Saudi Arabia.Yes cause I was so looking to planning a vacation to the Middle East before this war broke out but now its ruined.:rolleyes:
Were things ever "stable" there.

[FFTT]

This is different.

We are talking total anarchy over there right now and the hard cold fact is that we are not the only one's who want that oil.

There is no way we are willing to commit enough troops over there to
stabilize the situation, so it will get worse and worse yet.

We are now left with a choice of bad and really bad.

If the Saudi Monarchy falls or if Israel is attacked again, there is going to be a last ditch power grab for that oil and it won't be pretty.

[solvs]

Were things ever "stable" there.

Not really, but somehow we actually found a way to make things far worse.

[Queso]

Yes cause I was so looking to planning a vacation to the Middle East before this war broke out but now its ruined.:rolleyes:
Were things ever "stable" there.
What? Have you never heard of Dubai, Sharm-el-sheikh, Eilat, or Abu Dhabi? Is this another one of those "Been to Vegas, seen the world" American attitudes that assume just because you lot don't go there nobody does?

[hulugu]

Yes cause I was so looking to planning a vacation to the Middle East before this war broke out but now its ruined.:rolleyes:
Were things ever "stable" there.

Yes, this is widely known as the strategy "things are bad, we can't possibly make it worse" that is the hallmark of all great thinkers.

Given the right historical context you can say that about nearly any place on Earth, there was a period where Americans didn't exactly vacation in Europe, and I'm not sure how many Germans visited Scotland hoping for a get-away.

The Middle East has not been stable because of a confluence of events and people, but the botched invasion of Iraq merely created yet another source of strife, rather than the beacon of freedom a few powerful crackpots dreamed up.

[mactastic]

It's all about quality over quantity.
Ah yes, and an increase in violence means we're winning in Iraq.

I suppose you missed the part that said that FOX filled the gap left by their lack of coverage of what we in the reality-based community like to call "the most important issue facing America today" aka the Iraq war, with extra in-depth reports on Anna Nicole Smith.

Or are you calling her "quality"?

[solvs]

Or are you calling her "quality"?

She is if FOX says she is apparently.

[Peterkro]

This is different.

We are talking total anarchy over there right now

If only we were things would be so much better,what's happening is the opposite to Anarchy.:confused:

[skunk]

If only we were things would be so much better,what's happening is the opposite to Anarchy.:confused:Polyarchy?

[Peterkro]

I guess so, that would mean many rulers I think,pretty much a good description of what's happening,a struggle between many people to be rulers.:)