I guess it depends on
who you ask:
RIGHT BIAS
These media sources are moderately to strongly biased toward conservative causes through story selection and/or political affiliation. They may utilize strong loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by using appeal to emotion or stereotypes), publish misleading reports, and omit information reporting that may damage conservative causes. Some sources in this category may be untrustworthy.
See all Right Bias sources.
- We rate Fox News strongly Right-Biased due to editorial positions and story selection that favors the right. We also rate them Mixed factually and borderline Questionable based on poor sourcing and the spreading of conspiracy theories.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating:
RIGHT
Factual Reporting:
MIXED
Country:
USA
Press Freedom Rank:
MOSTLY FREE
Media Type:
TV Station
Traffic/Popularity:
High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating:
MEDIUM CREDIBILITY
History
Fox News is an American basic cable and satellite news channel founded in 1996 by
Rupert Murdoch. The Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of
21st Century Fox, owns Fox News.
FNC is available in 90 million homes, and it operates the Fox Business Network and Fox News Radio. Fox also owns the
National Geographic Channel. Fox News broadcasts from
New York, NY.
Roger Ailes is the founding CEO. Roger Ailes resigned in 2016 after many accusations of sexual harassment.
Jay Wallace became president of the network, and
Suzanne Scott, the CEO of FNC, as of May 2018. She will report to Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch.
Lachlan Murdoch is the executive chairman and co-chairman of
News Corp and 21st Century Fox (
FOXA). On May 7, 2018,
Comcast announced a potential bid, making a $65 billion cash offer challenging Disney’s offer for Fox.
In October 2018, Fox News added to their
terms of use, “Company furnishes the Company Sites and the Company Services for your personal enjoyment and entertainment.” This has led some to declare that Fox News is now an entertainment company and does not have to uphold journalistic standards.
This is not true.
On 6/13/2020,
Fox News ran digitally altered images in coverage of Seattle’s protests, Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.
On 12/12/2021 – 18-year veteran journalist Chris Wallace
resigned from Fox News and joined
CNN+.
On 12/13/2021, it was reported that on January 6th, 2021, several Fox TV personalities texted Trump’s Chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to encourage Trump to stop the Capitol Riot, which contradicted their reporting later that evening that Antifa was involved in a false flag.
Read our profile on the United States government and media.
Funded by / Ownership
Rupert Murdoch is the owner and a board member of News Corp 21st Century Fox. According to
Reuters, James Murdoch (son) is chief executive of 21st Century Fox and recently left in May 2018. Lachlan (the other son of Murdoch) and Rupert Murdoch will serve as the new Fox co-chairman. Revenue analysis can be found at
Investopedia and income reports
here.
Fox News Bias
According to a Pew Research Center
survey, “Fox News was the main source for 40% of Trump voters” during the 2016 election. Further, another Pew
Survey indicates, “When it comes to choosing a media source for political news, conservatives orient strongly around Fox News. Nearly half of consistent conservatives (47%) name it as their main source for government and political news.” Further, a
Reuters institute survey found that 35% of respondents
trust their news coverage and 46% do not, ranking them #11 in trust of the major USA news providers.
Fox News typically looks at the issues from a conservative perspective. Also, it has several on-air personalities that are strong supporters of Trump, such as
Sean Hannity,
Tucker Carlson,
Laura Ingraham, and
Dan Bongino; thus, during the Trump Presidency, FNC typically skewed conservative as there was less criticism of Trump.
In review, FNC publishes stories with emotionally loaded headlines such as
“’They Wanted It to Blow Up’: Limbaugh Says Success of Trump-Kim Summit Caught Media Off Guard” and
“Tucker: 2016 Russia Collusion ‘Witch Hunt’ Now Extends to Jill Stein.” When it comes to sourcing, they typically utilize pro-Trump pundits such as Rush Limbaugh, who has an abysmal
record with fact-checkers and credible sources such as the
Wall Street Journal. Fox News is also known to publish
right-wing conspiracy theories, although they retracted the story after being sued. FNC has also been deemed the
least accurate cable news source, according to
Politifact.
Failed Fact Checks
Overall Bias and Credibility Rating
We rate Fox News strongly Right-Biased due to editorial positions and story selection that favors the right. We also rate them Mixed factually and borderline Questionable based on poor sourcing and the spreading of conspiracy theories. (7/19/2016) Updated (
M. Huitsing 07/27/2022)