Media Critic Bias at the TCA…
The Miami Herald’s Glenn Garvin has an interesting angle to the coverage of Roger Ailes’ appearance at the TCA… (via Romenesko)
Ailes made his comments during an appearance Monday evening before North American television critics, a hostile audience that generally makes no secret of its contempt for his network. Fox News panels here have often been something closer to hand-to-hand combat than to news conferences, and this one was no exception.
About two-thirds of the 150 critics left the room before Ailes took the stage, several of them openly voicing their scorn for what they say is Fox News’ conservative spin.
Ailes quickly returned their fire with a brief promotional film featuring blurbs from critics and TV writers (Bill Carter of The New York Times wrote that Fox News Channel was created ‘’to give Mr. Ailes a toy to play with, though, given the current state of Fox News as described by some insiders, it may be less a toy than an imaginary friend'’) predicting a quick and painful death for Fox News when it first went on the air in 1996.
Unbelievable. You’d think they would want to stick around to hear the remarks of a man who has led a cable news network to unprecedented success in the last ten years.
The fact that 2/3 of them left before Mr. Ailes spoke says a lot about their pre-conceived ideas and how they want to spin the stories they write. Now I know how they can spin the “success” of the cable news programs they write about - they simply take Fox out of the equation.
What a great idea. If you don’t like the story, just ignore it. Great journalism, isn’t it?
Comment by Missy — July 26, 2006 @ 9:53 am
Wonder if anyone has a count of how many critics stayed for CNN and MSNBC presentations?
Comment by Scott — July 26, 2006 @ 10:13 am
What CNN and MSNBC presentations, Scott? Did they even present? I’m asking because I don’t know - the only thing I’ve seen covered here and at TVNewser is Fox.
Comment by Arthur — July 26, 2006 @ 10:49 am
Arthur: Didn’t Keith Olbermann, complete with Nazi salute, do the MSNBC presentation? :)
Comment by Ira — July 26, 2006 @ 11:53 am
Olbermann did a nazi salute DURING A WAR IN ISRAEL. Does nobody else understand the seriousness of this?
Comment by Staycee — July 26, 2006 @ 12:08 pm
Yet another example of that much lauded liberal tolerance! Is it any wonder there are now speech codes on college campuses and a COMPLETE lack of intellectual diversity? So much for the free exchange of ideas.
Comment by spiffo — July 26, 2006 @ 12:24 pm
Arthur: I went back and checked. KO’s presentation was at the critics meeting for MSNBC this past weekend. I haven’t seen anything about CNN. I stand corrected. But, my main point is that I seriously doubt you saw the mass exodus for the doors at MSNBC; it is also unlikely to happen whenever CNN takes the stage. IMHO, this speaks more about the elitist biases of the critics than it does about the quality of news coverage on Fox.
Comment by Scott — July 26, 2006 @ 12:37 pm
Aw, shucks. The bobble-heads are upset at the success of FNC.
Tell it to someone who cares.
Comment by cella — July 26, 2006 @ 12:52 pm
I am so delighted to hear that so many critics walked out on Ailes. Glad to hear that they, too, are finally sick of the sham that is Fox News. If that’s “elitism,” Scott, give me elitism! Personally, I don’t think it is, though. You don’t need to be elite to hate Fox News, all you need is a brain and a sense of fairness.
Cella, maybe the so-called “success” of Fox won’t last forever…maybe its sun is setting. I can only hope.
Guess what, Staycee…your own personal Ailes-like spin isn’t going to work. Nobody cares that Keith Olbermann did a Nazi salute during a war in Israel, because it had nothing to do with the war in Israel! It was meant as a comment on Bill O’Reilly, who still has not apologized for saying American soldiers slaughtered Nazis at Malmedy in World War II instead of vice versa. Perhaps you should direct all that anger at Mr. O’Reilly “DURING A WAR IN ISRAEL.” It looks to me as if he is the one sticking up for the Nazis.
Oh, and spiffo, you’re wrong about college campuses. Trust me on that one. Last thing I saw, conservative campus organizations were alive and well.
Comment by tanne — July 26, 2006 @ 7:51 pm
Mr. Ailes is clearly a talented executive who knows what people want. Lets not forget that he was largely responsible for establishing CNBC also. The liberal press will NEVER give him his due and in listening to some of his interviews of the past i dont think he gives a darn..
I personally believe he loves going to these type of events just to torment the liberal media….
Comment by JR — July 26, 2006 @ 8:34 pm
Tanne, as always,you missed the point. Get real! Why are there virtually no tenured Conservative professors? Speech codes ARE becoming the norm at college campuses. Just because there are conservative student groups means nothing. Academia is overwhelmingly liberal, increasingly anti-semitic, and has become an indoctrination center for radical left-wing professors preaching to a captive audience. They scream tolerance and diversity, yet all they tolerate is their own viewpoints. Anyone who denies this is living in La-La Land.
Comment by spiffo — July 26, 2006 @ 11:47 pm
JR, I associate Roger Ailes with one thing: “Willie Horton.” Yeah, he knows how to scare and intimidate people, and to pander to the lowest common denominator. However, that’s a “talent” I have no respect for at all.
And no, I did not miss the point, spiffo. You say “there are virtually no tentured conservative professors.” First, you need to prove that, and second, if you do, you have to ask yourself why: is it because tons of conservative professors aren’t getting tenure, or is it because there aren’t that many conservatives in academia because they tend to go to the private sector where the big money is? And the claim that Academia is overwhelmingly liberal, increasingly anti-semitic, and has become an indoctrination center for radical left-wing professors preaching to a captive audience” is just evidence that you live in La-La Land yourself. The very idea that “liberal means anti-semitic” is absurd–unless you are a conservative nutjob who thinks that any time anyone says anything against what Israel may be doing at the moment, it means that they hate Jews. Please…spare me the idiocy of THAT thinking…
Comment by tanne — July 27, 2006 @ 7:03 am