Unsettled Christianity

Fair & Balanced graphic used in 2005 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So, FoxNews is all up in arms about the “liberal media bias” in this election cycle. I guess they aren’t hearing what many on the right are saying as well.

Odd… because in 2003, Fox News Corp. won a lawsuit filed by a former employee, Jane Akre, claiming that the FCC policy that news cannot be made up is not really a law or regulation.

FOX appealed the case, and on February 14, 2003 the Florida Second District Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the settlement awarded to Akre. The Court held that Akre’s threat to report the station’s actions to the FCC did not deserve protection under Florida’s whistle blower statute, because Florida’s whistle blower law states that an employer must violate an adopted “law, rule, or regulation.” In a stunningly narrow interpretation of FCC rules, the Florida Appeals court claimed that the FCC policy against falsification of the news does not rise to the level of a “law, rule, or regulation,” it was simply a “policy.” Therefore, it is up to the station whether or not it wants to report honestly.

During their appeal, FOX asserted that there are no written rules against distorting news in the media. They argued that, under the First Amendment, broadcasters have the right to lie or deliberately distort news reports on public airwaves. Fox attorneys did not dispute Akre’s claim that they pressured her to broadcast a false story, they simply maintained that it was their right to do so. After the appeal verdict WTVT general manager Bob Linger commented, “It’s vindication for WTVT, and we’re very pleased… It’s the case we’ve been making for two years. She never had a legal claim.”

In other words… Fox News went to court and admitted that they have the right to lie, and then to present that lie as real news. Real News.

REAL STINKING NEWS!

So, when you hear about the “liberal media bias” – just remember, Fox News said it was okay to not just be biased, not to present lies as news.

By the way, many in the conservative press criticized Romney’s campaign – not just the liberals.

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• Dems Cheer Obama’s Whistle-Blower Persecutions (sgtreport.com)
• Psych Basics of Cognitive Biases (dranilj1.wordpress.com)
• Gingrich cites 2 weeks of ‘most intensely’ biased media (grumpyeditor.typepad.com)
• Megyn Kelly Panel Tears Into Media’s ‘Biased’ Narrative About Romney’s Egypt Response (mediaite.com)

Post By Joel (9,250 Posts)

Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).

Website: → Unsettled Christianity

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