-Caveat Lector-
Fox News Channel Said Unbalanced
NEW YORK (AP) - Fox News Channel is anything but fair and balanced when it
comes to political guests, a watchdog group has charged.
Fifty of 56 partisan guests interviewed on Brit Hume's daily news show over a
five-month period earlier this year were Republican, and only six were
Democrats, the liberal group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting said.
In an admittedly more subjective analysis, FAIR said 65 of the show's 92
total guests were conservative politically.
``Fox portrays itself as fair and balanced, as straight news,'' said Steve
Rendall, a FAIR senior analyst. ``It's media consumer fraud.''
Hume said he would look into the group's findings, and correct it if he
noticed any imbalance.
Executives at the cable news network, which has been gaining on rival CNN in
the ratings over the past few years, have repeatedly denied any right-wing
tilt in news coverage. Its slogan is ``fair and balanced,'' although founder
Roger Ailes has called Fox an alternative to what he regards as a
left-leaning CNN.
FAIR said it purposely chose to look at Hume's news report instead of more
commentary-based shows like ``The O'Reilly Factor.'' Rendall said the
differential between Republican and Democratic, conservative and liberal
guests was ``breathtaking.''
``There's nothing wrong with it,'' he said. ``They can be proud of it. But I
don't think anybody is served by mislabeling a conservative news product as
fair and balanced.''
Hume said FAIR's view of political bias may be different than most. And he
said news factors - FAIR watched during the first few months of a Republican
administration, at a time the GOP also controlled Congress - played a part in
bookings.
``We don't strive for mathematical balance,'' he said. ``We strive for an
overall balanced outlook.''
Hume also said his is not a political debate show, and he often doesn't know
the leanings of his guests.
FAIR also studied Wolf Blitzer's news program on CNN during the same period
and found that of 67 partisan guests, 38 were Republicans and 29 were
Democrats.
FAIR's founder, Jeff Cohen, appears regularly as a commentator on Fox News
Channel. The group said he played no part in the study.
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