Fox News Moves From the Margins to the Mainstream

New York Times ^ | Dec 01 2002 | Alex S. Jones

[PianoMan]

The juggernaut continues to roll...

(Only the NewsMax summary of this Article was posted earlier I think???)

[ewing]

And the New York Times has successfully moved from the Mainstream to the fringes!

[madprof98]

It has won a huge audience in a centrist nation where a majority favor stricter gun control and 80 percent think abortion should be sometimes or always legal, according to recent Gallup and CNN/USA Today polls.

What on earth does this mean? "Even though almost everybody really agrees with us, they still watch the news on Fox"???

[Restorer]

80 percent think abortion should be sometimes or always legal

Typical distortion. I'm very pro-life, and I think abortion should sometimes be legal.

The only time I would consider it permissible is when a woman is incapable of carrying the baby to term, as in an ectopic pregnancy, or when the pregnancy is almost certain to result in the death of the mother. My rationale is based on the obvious principle that it's better to lose one life than two.

I hardly think that's a "liberal" position.

[lelio]

"On Fox, you can actually get a debate on abortion," Mr. Kristol said.
I would like to find such a "debate" on FOX. While I'm a big fan of FNC their 'debates' are just a joke and usually involve yelling by the host (BO'R) at a guest. What's debating about that?
I've also noticed that their weekend programming is terrible. I used to think it was that "Stock Pickin" show that seems to be on whenever I turn on the TV, but its grown to the Laurie Dhue show. They had another "The Economy is Fine!" Cheerleader on that offered no facts on why the economy is supposedly picking up, just her "feelings" on why people are spending more. Yeah I get more information at the corner deli, thank you.

[demkicker]

"It has won a huge audience in a centrist nation where a majority favor stricter gun control and 80 percent think abortion should be sometimes or always legal, according to recent Gallup and CNN/USA Today polls"

He just HAD to throw that in, no matter that CNN/Gallup/USA Today polls are considered cr@p by conservatives.

[Karsus]

And Fox News is going to lose it high ratings if the do not stop having 'alerts' for every stupid thing that happens in Hollywood. It has gotten bad enough that I don't watch Fox as much as I use to.

[goldstategop]

I am pro-life. I believe abortion should remain legal but be hard to get. I'm not that different from most Americans in holding this view. Those who would be out of step are the pro abort extremists who think that just cause abortion is legal means it should be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, no questions asked.

[goldstategop]

I don't think 80 percent favor a strict gun control. I think the 80 percent meant strict crime control. I guess Gallup goofed with the spelling here.

[Calpublican]

It has won a huge audience in a centrist nation where a majority favor stricter gun control and 80 percent think abortion should be sometimes or always legal, according to recent Gallup and CNN/USA Today polls.

Haven't seen these polls. Would love to know how the questions were phrased.

[Batrachian]

I believe it was the New York Times that said that voters handed GWB a huge victory in the recent election even though they disagree with him on most issues. It's more of the same kind of nonsense. They're not even trying to make sense. And notice how they quote from some character from the CFR saying how much he likes Fox, knowing full well how conservatives dislike that organization. A very childish piece of reverse psychology there.

The NYT is not to be trusted. But they're right about one thing: Fox is eating the lunch of the other organizations because it's not a mouthpiece of the left, like the New York Times.

[byteback]

Glad to see the NYT figuring this out. Fox news has been gaining market share? really? I never would have known this without the NYT.

[Bob]

"Blitzer and Russert and Schieffer are trying to cut it down the middle," Mr. Rosenstiel said. "Fox is not."

Yep, right down the middle. To this guy, the middle seems to be just a little to the left of Chairman Mao.

[McGavin999]

They just can't figure it out can they? FOX IS fair and balanced. Yes, you have O'Reilly (who's not conservative, he's sort of middle of the road conservative on some issues, liberal on others) but you also have Greta and Geraldo who are both acknowledge died in the wool liberals with their own programs. You have H & C where both sides are presented and receive equal time. Special Report has two liberals and two conservatives during the talk segment.

The problem is these liberals can't see the truth when it stares them in the face. Oh well, if they don't get it, then they can just continue to their slide into the ratings pit all the way to bankruptcy.

[Diogenesis]

FOX BUMP & 2 QUOTES:

Charles Krauthammer noted that he does not practice psychiatry on the air,
but the Democrats' behavior recently has been,
"the edge of looniness".

Tony Snow later remarked that,
".. decency and good remain our (American) taproot"

[mewzilla]

Speaking of FOX, did anyone catch Mansoor Ijaz's appearance a minute ago on FOX? I just caught the last couple of minutes. He was talking about some nuclear scientists who've gone missing in Pakistan in the last two or three weeks. And about concerns that al-Qaeda may try to fly a plane into an Indian nuke plant in order to foment a war between India and Pakistan. Anyone catch the whole interview?

[Cicero]

You are not pro-life it you think abortion should be legal.

The legalization of abortion was forced on the country by an imperial Supreme Court, against a 2,000-year-old tradition. Legalized abortion means legalized killing. To say that abortion should be legal is much the same as saying that bank-robbery or arson should be legal--only worse, because a human life is involved.

Abortion should only be legal in cases where the baby is killed as a necessary and unintended side-effect of saving the mother's life, as in an ectopic pregnancy, where there is no chance that the child would survive in any case. Rape and incest are not the child's fault; if the mother understandably doesn't want to keep her child in those terrible circumstances, it can be adopted.

[goldstategop]

We don't really disagree do we? I have never said I favored abortion on demand nor do most Americans. I don't think we can realistically get abortion outlawed in the country without driving droves of women to the Democrats but what we can and should do is make abortion difficult to get. That's where the country is. Its obvious that NOW and PP have a vested interest in abortion on demand for both ideological and financial reasons but the country doesn't want easy access to abortion. The best way to advance the pro-life cause in this country is to offer alternatives to women without making them feel like we're taking away control over their bodies. I'll leave it up to NOW and PP to argue how that approach is anti-choice.

[seenenuf]

Can someone enlighten me, re the NYT, please. Why does my local paper (The Orange County Register) print so many of
their by-lines? Does the NYT sell them cheap? Also, I'm curious about the headlines over a NYT's article -- does the
NYT retain any control over the content of the headers?
I cancelled my 20 year subscription to the Register, when that paper reported a slanted NYT's poll, (which distorting the Davis/Simon race),on the front page - over the fold! I
no longer get the urge to throw something, while eating breakfast, when reading the Register. Even the LA Times
seems to be getting more fair in the non-editorial pages.