Hearst, Kane or Rupert: Which One Has Given Us the Most Biased News Coverage?

Hint: It's Neither Hearst Nor Kane

Frederick Remington, the famous sculptor of cowboys and horses, once worked for William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. Remington was commissioned to sketch scenes of the Spanish-American War, but after several weeks in Cuba, Remington saw no war to sketch and wired Hearst with the request to return home. Hearst wired back:

"You provide the pictures. I'll provide the war."

Some people might think that George Bush provided the media with Iraq. He did. However, which media accepted his views unconditionally? Behold:

While promoting his memoir, What Happened, Scott McClellan, former White House Press Secretary (2003–2006) for President George W. Bush stated on the July 25, 2008 edition of Hardball with Chris Matthews that the Bush White House routinely gave talking points to Fox News commentators in order to influence discourse and content. Though it is not uncommon for White House officials to provide press releases to the media, McClellan stated that these talking points were not issued to provide the public with news, they were to provide Fox News commentators—not journalists—with issues and perspectives favorable to the White House and Republican Party. McClellan later noted on the O'Reilly Factor that Fox News commentator, Bill O'Reilly, was not one of the individuals receiving said talking points from the White House.

O'Reilly must have been crushed! Spurned! Insulted! Actually he was lucky, considering what's coming out about the White House today. McClellan was being very kind.

Yes, it's running joke about Fox News making things up as they go along. Who do they have as an investigative journalist? Geraldo? Although Rivera wouldn't admit it, he hasn't done much of anything as an unbiased journalist since, well, "Al Capone's Vaults." Fox News concentrates more on the salacious than the meaningful:

This is ThinkProgress.com's take on what Fox decides to report on:

Fox News has decided which story is worthy of more coverage. Today, host Gregg Jarrett interviewed PBS’s Bonnie Erbe. “We have these huge stories going on like the one you’re reporting in Georgia,” Erbe noted when asked about Edwards. Jarrett, however, completely ignored Erbe’s comment on Georgia and continued to talk about Edwards, offering praise for the National Enquirer:

JARRETT: You know, his excuse for lying is absolutely stunning. He claims he denied the affair because the reporting by the National Enquirer was “99 percent wrong.” Well, so far, they’ve been about 100 percent right.

Throughout the segment, Jarrett refused to talk about anything except for Edwards’s affair:

ERBE: The American public have told pollsters, this political season they want substance. Both these candidates have expressed support for allowing Georgia into NATO. … We could have been on the verge of nuclear war. Those are the kinds of the things that the American public wants to see discussed.

JARRETT: Right. You know, but getting back to Edwards, during the Monica Lewinsky affair, Edwards absolutely ripped into Bill Clinton.

Murdoch has certainly made his conservative point of view - and voice - more prominent. Fact: The Wall Street Journal has changed significantly since Murdoch took over.. It's edging towards politics. Then what? A tabloid format? "What Does Hostess REALLY Put In It's Twinkies? If It Sells, Who Cares?" But does he actually tell everyone what to think?

Ratings. Viewers. Readership.
Look at them. Then look at them again.
Then decide.

Just a thought.


Watch the following: a Fox reporter argues the point that a 15-year-old "maybe deserved to be tortured."