Week 2: Discussion Question 2

And I think I actually watched two news shows, but unfortunately, as I recall, they didn't provide the detail I wanted so maybe this got a little fictional?  ;-)
I compared Fox News to ABC news.  The differences in their big stories were subtle, but were present.  Their major stories were the continuing scandal with the Dallas Diocese, President Bush's proposed budget cuts, and Texas privatizing foster care.

Similar facts and details were provided by both networks on the Dallas Diocese, with both being slanted against the Diocese, and not presenting the Diocese's side of the story.  Both ABC and Fox spent about equal time with President Bush's proposed tax cuts and how they impacted Dallas but presented in very different ways.  Both networks agreed that it was bad for Dallas, but ABC focused on interviewing local residents as opposed to Fox which focused on interviewing city officials.  Neither station presented any mitigating factors to correspond with President Bush's tax cut, and the audience was left with the impression that the underprivileged were being abandoned.  In the minimum, Fox did a better job with their reporting, by at least interviewing people who could be considered experts.  Both networks again spent about the same amount of time on the issue of privatizing foster care.  Both networks appealed to foster parents in support of the privatization.  Fox news, once again, spent more time with experts in foster care than ABC.  Both networks were biased against the state and Child Protective Services keeping control of foster care, even if it costs more money than to privatize.

Both networks definitely had a very clear bias in all of the major stories that they reported, especially the story involving President Bush's proposed budget.  Overall, Fox presented themselves as a much more credible news source by making a concerted effort to incorporate experts within that field into their program.  While Fox was the clear winner, their reporting should still be continuously evaluated for slant, and bias, which has the potential for affecting the story.

© Erik Smith 2005
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