I admit that I rarely have much nice to say about Fox News Channel, or indeed any of it's sister operations. However, I find myself saying some very positive things about the Fox News Radio bulletin podcast, available on iTunes and also here. Unlike it's TV counterpart, the Fox News Radio bulletins are nowhere near as overtly political. These bulletins do seem to just report the news rather than the standard Fox News TV style of incorporating commetary into the news.
The bulletins are made up of 2 x 2 minute news segments, separated by 1 minute of ads, which seems quite usual for Amercian radio news. The bulletins are updated every hour, and the updates seem to be consistent. If nothing else, it is worth listening to, to hear a different perspective on the news.
I give the Fox News Radio podcast a credible 6.5 out of 10.
Sunday, 21 January 2007
Fox News Channel turns into Fox Propoganda Channel!
Fox News Channel has released some new promos for the channel, and in my view, the promos cross the line into propoganda. Inside Cable News has screenshots of one promo which says "Iraq. Immigration. Katrina. America Has Problems. The Problem Is Not America." and Newshounds has screenshots of another promo which says "The Only Cable News Channel That Does Not Bring You The Usual LEFT WING BIAS."
Actually, that last one has a point, as Fox News actually brings you the usual RIGHT WING BIAS that you and I have come to expect from them and their staff of Conservative talk show hosts, such as Sean Hannity, John Kasich, John Gibson and Bill O'Reilly. They continue to claim they are fair and balanced, yet there continues to be evidence that proves otherwise. So, in some ways, Fox News Channel has long been the Fox Propoganda Channel...
Actually, that last one has a point, as Fox News actually brings you the usual RIGHT WING BIAS that you and I have come to expect from them and their staff of Conservative talk show hosts, such as Sean Hannity, John Kasich, John Gibson and Bill O'Reilly. They continue to claim they are fair and balanced, yet there continues to be evidence that proves otherwise. So, in some ways, Fox News Channel has long been the Fox Propoganda Channel...
Priorities on Sky News???
Now, usually, I do not criticise 24 hour news channels for their choices of stories. There are thousands of stories out there every day, and each channel has to decide how they are going to fill the airtime, and it's not an easy decision.
But I do have one big criticism to make here, and it involves the Celebrity Big Brother racism row, which I believe Channel 4 and Endemol manufactured, with the help of Jade Goody, in order to get ratings for a programme which otherwise was failing this year.
Some background first though. Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon from 2pm to 5pm, Sky News do a rolling news format of news, sport and weather every 15 minutes, in much the same way the ITN News Channel used to.
For the 4.45pm segment of News, Sport and Weather, as it is labelled on the EPG, Sky went through the main top stories of the day in the first two and a half minutes, all except for one story, which they then spent the next five minutes on. Now this was the lowest ranked of the top stories. They then spent two and half minutes on Sport before going to ads. Which one story justified half the airtime in a 10 minute segment? Jade Goody breaking down in tears to a News Of The World reporter, on video.
The other stories, Changes at the Home Office, dangerous chemicals washing ashore in Devon, British soldier killed in Iraq and the amazing video of marines attempting to rescue a dying colleague, all those only merited 2.5 minutes, whilst Jade Goody merited 5 minutes? I think not.
But I do have one big criticism to make here, and it involves the Celebrity Big Brother racism row, which I believe Channel 4 and Endemol manufactured, with the help of Jade Goody, in order to get ratings for a programme which otherwise was failing this year.
Some background first though. Every Saturday and Sunday afternoon from 2pm to 5pm, Sky News do a rolling news format of news, sport and weather every 15 minutes, in much the same way the ITN News Channel used to.
For the 4.45pm segment of News, Sport and Weather, as it is labelled on the EPG, Sky went through the main top stories of the day in the first two and a half minutes, all except for one story, which they then spent the next five minutes on. Now this was the lowest ranked of the top stories. They then spent two and half minutes on Sport before going to ads. Which one story justified half the airtime in a 10 minute segment? Jade Goody breaking down in tears to a News Of The World reporter, on video.
The other stories, Changes at the Home Office, dangerous chemicals washing ashore in Devon, British soldier killed in Iraq and the amazing video of marines attempting to rescue a dying colleague, all those only merited 2.5 minutes, whilst Jade Goody merited 5 minutes? I think not.
Wednesday, 17 January 2007
A hope for treating cancer, but pharmaceuticals may pull plug!
I don't normally write about developments in health and food, simply because you can never get experts to agree on anything. However, this article was passed onto me by a Canadian friend of mine, and I am astonished by the thought that pharmaceutical companies may pull the plug on this potentially ground breaking research, simply because there is no profit in it.
Surely, to deny potentially life saving research to continue, because of there being no profit in it, would be criminal, would it not?
Surely, to deny potentially life saving research to continue, because of there being no profit in it, would be criminal, would it not?
Monday, 15 January 2007
One from a bored story writer???
Okay, I admit, the Weekly World News is not your most trusted source of news. It is however quite often a good source for stories to go the Ridiculous News File. However, this one is refused entry to that file, on account of the fact that it goes beyond ridiculous, to somehwere around the "You Cannot Be Serious!" file.
According to the story, a parent disappeared during a game of peekaboo with her 10 month old son. Now, the location for this story is Worson, Delaware. That is kind of appropriate, because this is the WORSt ONe that I have ever seen from any of these Amercian tabloids. I am utterly convinced that some bored writer at the offices of Weekly World News made this one up. Then again, they always say the truth is stranger than fiction...
Friday, 12 January 2007
Graphically Unbalanced??? Looks like it.
Fox News Channel constantly advertise themselves as "Fair and Balanced", but the reality of these chyrons, or lower thirds, is quite different. Newshounds has the screenshots.
We Report, You Decide!
We Report, You Decide!
Wednesday, 29 November 2006
The battle heats up in US Cable News
I have been following the ratings battle between the major US cable news channels, and I have to say, I have never seen a night so competitive as Sunday 26th November 2006. The numbers as reported by Inside Cable News and TV Newser are incredible.
In what is usually refered to as the "money" demo, Adults 25-54 years old, in PrimeTime, MSNBC beat Fox News Channel tied for the number 1 spot by just 3,000 viewers (163,000 to 160,000) and CNN was just 28,000 viewers behind.
Looking inside to the individual hours, the picture is even more interesting in the 'money' demo. MSNBC won the 5pm hour with 164,000 viewers, compared to FNC's 137,000 and CNN's 132,000. The next hour was won by CNN with 208,000 viewers, compared to MSNBC's 111,000 and FNC's paltry 86,000.
Fox News took the 7pm hour, but the biggest surprise is that MSNBC won both at 8pm and 9pm. MSNBC had 186,000 and 192,000 with Fox getting 157,000 and 140,000, and CNN getting 73,000 and 162,000 viewers in each respective hour. This means that Planet Mancow ended up in 3rd place!
Fox then took the 10pm hour but the 11pm hour went again to MSNBC, and by quite a margin. 226,000 viewers watched MSNBC in that hour, compared to 137,000 watching Fox News and 92,000 watching CNN.
Even in total viewers, the ratings battle was closer than normal. FNC took the 5pm hour there by just 25,000 viewers (581,000 to 556,000). CNN took the 6pm hour by 115,000 viewers over Fox News (581,000 to 466,000). Fox took the 7pm hour emphatically (570,000 to CNN's 408,000) and held onto that through the 8pm hour (720,000 to MSNBC's 578,000).
However, they were beaten into third place by CNN (531,000) and MSNBC (499,000) in the 9pm hour. Fox restored their lead for the 10pm hour (491,000 to CNN's 409,000), but MSNBC took the 11pm hour (416,000 to FNC 336,000).
Even the prime-time total was closer than normal, with Fox winning by just under 50,000 viewers from MSNBC who were just 5,000 viewers ahead of CNN.
The Monday numbers are back to relative normality, although in the money demo, MSNBC was second to Fox News in primetime, with Headline News thrid and CNN relegated to 4th place. MSNBC came second in the 8pm, 9pm and 11pm hours with Headline News taking second in the 10pm hour. The total day money demo numbers were close too for the minor placings, with less than 25,000 viewers separating CNN, MSNBC and Headline News.
There's little doubt in my mind that the ratings in this particular race are going to be very interesting to watch and read. Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC are definitely going to be duking it out over the following weeks and months for dominance, and I will definitely be following developments in this story.
In what is usually refered to as the "money" demo, Adults 25-54 years old, in PrimeTime, MSNBC beat Fox News Channel tied for the number 1 spot by just 3,000 viewers (163,000 to 160,000) and CNN was just 28,000 viewers behind.
Looking inside to the individual hours, the picture is even more interesting in the 'money' demo. MSNBC won the 5pm hour with 164,000 viewers, compared to FNC's 137,000 and CNN's 132,000. The next hour was won by CNN with 208,000 viewers, compared to MSNBC's 111,000 and FNC's paltry 86,000.
Fox News took the 7pm hour, but the biggest surprise is that MSNBC won both at 8pm and 9pm. MSNBC had 186,000 and 192,000 with Fox getting 157,000 and 140,000, and CNN getting 73,000 and 162,000 viewers in each respective hour. This means that Planet Mancow ended up in 3rd place!
Fox then took the 10pm hour but the 11pm hour went again to MSNBC, and by quite a margin. 226,000 viewers watched MSNBC in that hour, compared to 137,000 watching Fox News and 92,000 watching CNN.
Even in total viewers, the ratings battle was closer than normal. FNC took the 5pm hour there by just 25,000 viewers (581,000 to 556,000). CNN took the 6pm hour by 115,000 viewers over Fox News (581,000 to 466,000). Fox took the 7pm hour emphatically (570,000 to CNN's 408,000) and held onto that through the 8pm hour (720,000 to MSNBC's 578,000).
However, they were beaten into third place by CNN (531,000) and MSNBC (499,000) in the 9pm hour. Fox restored their lead for the 10pm hour (491,000 to CNN's 409,000), but MSNBC took the 11pm hour (416,000 to FNC 336,000).
Even the prime-time total was closer than normal, with Fox winning by just under 50,000 viewers from MSNBC who were just 5,000 viewers ahead of CNN.
The Monday numbers are back to relative normality, although in the money demo, MSNBC was second to Fox News in primetime, with Headline News thrid and CNN relegated to 4th place. MSNBC came second in the 8pm, 9pm and 11pm hours with Headline News taking second in the 10pm hour. The total day money demo numbers were close too for the minor placings, with less than 25,000 viewers separating CNN, MSNBC and Headline News.
There's little doubt in my mind that the ratings in this particular race are going to be very interesting to watch and read. Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC are definitely going to be duking it out over the following weeks and months for dominance, and I will definitely be following developments in this story.
Sunday, 26 November 2006
Time to have some fun.
It's not all about politics and media here, we do like to have some fun, and WNBC New York have a couple of fun things on their My Weekend section.
Two particular slideshows caught my attention. One was the most annoying songs of all time, and the other was the most annoying celebrities. View both and see what you think.
Two particular slideshows caught my attention. One was the most annoying songs of all time, and the other was the most annoying celebrities. View both and see what you think.
Media Research Centre shoots itself in foot!
The Media Research Center says on its mission statement, "The mission of the Media Research Center is to bring balance to the news media." Then in describing their history, the say... "On October 1, 1987, a group of young determined conservatives set out to not only prove — through sound scientific research — that liberal bias in the media does exist and undermines traditional American values, but also to neutralize its impact on the American political scene. What they launched that fall is the now acclaimed — Media Research Center (MRC)."
What they really want is a media with a conservative bias, like that of Fox News Channel. The trouble is, they don't seem to know how to present that. On their front page today (Sunday 26th November 2006) is a story with the headline, "Rather: FNC Biased, Gets White House Talking Points". However, what they have written below it, comes across as a slip up on their part, and really rather funny.
'Dan Rather, who doesn't recognize any liberal bias in himself or the mainstream media, was quick to see it on Fox News Channel, telling HBO's Bill Maher: "Fox News operates in at least a somewhat different way than every other news organization that I know” and “we know that they get talking points from the White House."'
Dan Rather, seeing Liberal bias on the Fox News Channel??? I don't think so...
What they really want is a media with a conservative bias, like that of Fox News Channel. The trouble is, they don't seem to know how to present that. On their front page today (Sunday 26th November 2006) is a story with the headline, "Rather: FNC Biased, Gets White House Talking Points". However, what they have written below it, comes across as a slip up on their part, and really rather funny.
'Dan Rather, who doesn't recognize any liberal bias in himself or the mainstream media, was quick to see it on Fox News Channel, telling HBO's Bill Maher: "Fox News operates in at least a somewhat different way than every other news organization that I know” and “we know that they get talking points from the White House."'
Dan Rather, seeing Liberal bias on the Fox News Channel??? I don't think so...
Wednesday, 15 November 2006
Al-Jazeera English (formerly International) launches.
So, we finally have it, the launch of the English language version of Al-Jazeera. The website has been updated with a new look as well.
My early judgements, based upon what I have seen? Well, I can't say too much yet, as it is only the first day. But my first impression after watching the news, was that, whilst I felt informed and updated about certain stories, it didn't leave me feeling briefed.
Fox News leaves me the same way. I tend to feel like ormed about the current Republican/Conservative talking points, rather than briefed on the news.
On a related note, the anti-Fox News website Newshounds highlights the fact that AJE is available in the UK on Sky Digital, which is part of News Corp which also owns the Fox News Channel. The report alledges hypocrisy by News Corp, supplying the channel to the UK and Ireland on Sky Digital, whilst at the same time using Fox News to villify it and brand it a terrorist network.
Whilst the allegation might not be without some degree of merit, the truth of the matter is rather more complicated.
In the UK, Sky Digital is not allowed to refuse anyone carriage on their platform should they be asked to carry a channel, as long as the relevant fees are paid. So whatever Rupert may feel about Al-Jazeera, there is nothing that he can do to prevent it being broadcast in the UK.
Whilst the majority of Americans polled do not want the channel, there is nothing that says that couldn't change. I wonder when we will see the first cable operator decide to carry the channel in the US.
My early judgements, based upon what I have seen? Well, I can't say too much yet, as it is only the first day. But my first impression after watching the news, was that, whilst I felt informed and updated about certain stories, it didn't leave me feeling briefed.
Fox News leaves me the same way. I tend to feel like ormed about the current Republican/Conservative talking points, rather than briefed on the news.
On a related note, the anti-Fox News website Newshounds highlights the fact that AJE is available in the UK on Sky Digital, which is part of News Corp which also owns the Fox News Channel. The report alledges hypocrisy by News Corp, supplying the channel to the UK and Ireland on Sky Digital, whilst at the same time using Fox News to villify it and brand it a terrorist network.
Whilst the allegation might not be without some degree of merit, the truth of the matter is rather more complicated.
In the UK, Sky Digital is not allowed to refuse anyone carriage on their platform should they be asked to carry a channel, as long as the relevant fees are paid. So whatever Rupert may feel about Al-Jazeera, there is nothing that he can do to prevent it being broadcast in the UK.
Whilst the majority of Americans polled do not want the channel, there is nothing that says that couldn't change. I wonder when we will see the first cable operator decide to carry the channel in the US.
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