April 20, 2005
Rupert Murdoch
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Fox Broadcasting Company
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036-8799
Dear Mr. Murdoch:
I was intrigued to read your recent statement to World Screen magazine about alleged conservative bias at the Fox News Channel. "We are fair and balanced and we challenge anyone to show Fox News has any bias in it," you said.
My organization, Media Matters for America, has been monitoring the U.S. media, including Fox News, for nearly a year. We try to avoid using the term "bias" in describing news coverage, preferring to focus on the observable content of news stories, rather than try to discern the private attitudes of those who produce them, which amounts to speculation. Still, we can't help noticing a pronounced rightward tilt in your channel's news programs.
Attached you'll find just a few of the many examples that Media Matters has compiled, which demonstrate that conservative voices on Fox far outnumber progressive voices; that Fox anchors, reporters, and ostensibly non-ideological guests routinely inject pro-Republican opinion into "news" programs; and that even Fox's "hard news" anchors and reporters regularly distort the news to further the GOP agenda.
Many more examples of Fox News' promotion of conservative misinformation can be found on the Media Matters website.
Finally, Media Matters responds with a challenge of its own: Because we suspect your challenge was rhetorical, rather than a reflection of a sincere desire to assess Fox News' "balance," I suggest submitting these examples to a mutually-agreed-upon panel for review. Let's let a neutral body, rather than the CEO of Fox News' parent company, decide if Fox News "has any bias in it."
Sincerely,
David BrockPresident & CEOMedia Matters for America
cc: Roger Ailes, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Fox News Channel
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