Posted on 06/14/2017 4:43:21 PM PDT by bimboeruption
Fox News is “Fair and Balanced” no more.
In the latest sign of change at the cable news network, the “Fair and Balanced” motto that has long been a rallying cry for Fox News fans — and a finger in the eye of critics — is gone. The channel confirmed on Wednesday that slogan and network have parted ways.
“The shift has nothing to do with programming or editorial decisions,” the network said in a statement. Instead, the slogan was dropped in part because of its close association with Roger Ailes, network’s co-founder, former chairman and the originator of the phrase, who was fired in August in a sexual harassment scandal.
The network said that “Fair and Balanced” was shelved as a marketing tool after Mr. Ailes’s departure. In its place is a new motto: “Most Watched, Most Trusted.”
Another Fox slogan, “We Report, You Decide,” also has been retired, although the network said that it returns occasionally.
Some viewers may be surprised. Several Fox News personalities still toss the phrase “fair and balanced” into on-air conversation, though it no longer appears in onscreen graphics. Gabriel Sherman, the longtime Fox News chronicler, reported on New York magazine’s website that the motto was gone for good.
The new motto, “Most Watched, Most Trusted,” mimics the firm cadence of the previous slogans, but lacks their Ailes-tinged tone of defiance.
For conservative-leaning viewers, “Fair and Balanced” was a blunt signal that Fox News planned to counteract what Mr. Ailes and many others viewed as a liberal bias ingrained in television coverage by establishment news networks.
But the slogan also caused conniptions among liberal critics of Fox News, who viewed it as an intentional needling of anyone who might question the network’s view of the news.
Mr. Ailes, who died in May, created the slogan with both of those purposes in mind. He coined the phrase when he and Rupert Murdoch founded Fox News in 1996, and it stuck.
Executives at Fox News acknowledge that it is rebuilding.
This year, Fox News has continued its yearslong streak as the top-rated cable news station over all, beating rivals MSNBC and CNN in total viewership.
But the loss of the anchors Megyn Kelly and Bill O’Reilly has taken a toll in prime time. In May, MSNBC was the highest-rated network in a key industry category, weeknight viewers 25 through 54, for the first time in nearly 17 years.
On Wednesday, executives at Fox News sought to play down the shedding of “Fair and Balanced,” saying the move was strictly a marketing decision and that the network’s approach to news coverage had not changed.
One senior network official emphasized that the slogan was officially dropped last August and virtually no one had noticed.
Some viewers may be surprised. Several Fox News personalities still toss the phrase “fair and balanced” into on-air conversation, though it no longer appears in onscreen graphics. Gabriel Sherman, the longtime Fox News chronicler, reported on New York magazine’s website that the motto was gone for good.
The new motto, “Most Watched, Most Trusted,” mimics the firm cadence of the previous slogans, but lacks their Ailes-tinged tone of defiance.
For conservative-leaning viewers, “Fair and Balanced” was a blunt signal that Fox News planned to counteract what Mr. Ailes and many others viewed as a liberal bias ingrained in television coverage by establishment news networks.
New Slogan idea for FOX:
LESS FAKE THAN THE REST
Definitely more truthful than “fair and balanced”.
Their new motto is, “We’re done with conservative news, making money, and having high ratings. If we preach the liberal line, we will get invited to cocktail parties with trendy people, which is worth billions of dollars to us, even if nobody watches us anymore.”
Hannity and Lou Dobbs. Fox & Friends are still fairly sane but likely not for long.
Bought and Paid For.
I guess it was either drop shep smith or drop “fair & balanced”
With their ratings drop, maybe they can use "Somewhat watched, somewhat trusted".
One America News (OAN) - you won't regret it.
Reminder, show your wife this post tonight. Fox is dead to us, except for Tucker. Also, Except for Fox Business. Lou Dobbs has great panelists, everyday.
New motto should be We pretend to be what a One America News really is.
Wife?! Dang it, they told me to lay off the shots last time I was in Vegas...
Did anyone ever trust Chris Matthew’s imitation of a conservative?
That was the first step towards Evil.
It is deceptive advertising to call it
“Most Watched, Most Trusted.” It is neither.
Most days I have OAN on one TV and sometimes FOX, most times something else, on the other TV.
OAN, still emerging, does not yet have FOX’s breadth and depth, but it’s getting there. And most of the anchors and reporters, as in the picture you provided, really are easy on the eyes!
For the moment, OAN offers itself as a viable news alternative, but I look forward to the day when it is a lot more than just “viable”!
CA....
Leni
I liked FNC better when their motto was “We Report. You Decide.”
~Freeper formerly known as bushwon ;)
Fox News drops ‘Fair and Balanced’ slogan!:
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