In a surprise move, the two researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, who were brought on CNN to criticize Fox News by the lefty host, and chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, ended up bashing CNN for bias as well.
Stelter is obsessed with Fox. His book “Hoax” delves into the network’s bias and pro-Trump programming, while his “Reliable Sources” Sunday show, a newsletter and a CNN+ show — cover every Fox News scandal.
The researchers, David E. Broockman and Joshua L. Kalla, conducted a study where 700 Fox News viewers were paid $15 an hour, up to seven hours a day, to watch CNN for a month to analyze their reactions. The results, not surprisingly, showed that the Fox viewers were surprised by the news topics they had not heard about on Fox or the way they were covered.
However, when Stelter tried to pound that theme home, his guest flipped the script by criticizing CNN as well. This left Stelter sputtering.
As The Washington Post reported:
“You call this partisan coverage filtering,” Stelter told Kalla. “And basically, you’re proving what we’ve sensed for a while, which is that Fox viewers are in the dark about bad news for the GOP.”
Kalla confirmed the Fox News coverage model but put a stop to the victory lap:
“On the flip side, CNN engages in this partisan coverage filtering as well as that we find. For example, during this time, the Abraham Accords were signed, and these were the agreements where Israel, the UAE and Bahrain signed a major peace agreement. And we see that Fox News covered this really major accomplishment about 15 times more than CNN did. So we established both networks are really engaging in this partisan coverage filtering. It’s not about one side, it’s about the media writ large.”
The Blaze continued describing the engagement on CNN:
“I think you’re engaging in some both-sides-ism there, Josh,” Stelter admonished him.
“Not trying to lay out a moral equivalency,” Kalla replied. “It’s not about what an objective standard is. It’s really about how all networks do engage in this. And in order for viewers to get a realistic picture of the world, we need viewers to see all types of information. And unfortunately, what we find in the study is that the viewers don’t want to engage in watching both sides.”
While most people understand that Fox News, like other conservative media, focuses on stories and angles not reported by the liberal establishment media, hence has a bias, most liberals continue to believe their media is fair and balanced.
Which it clearly is not. Both sides live in bubbles.
As Kally noted, to properly inform the public, all news outlets need to do a better job of presenting all sides fairly. We all benefit when we are fully informed. That means maybe Fox News viewers watching some CNN, and CNN viewers watching some Fox News.
READ NEXT: Senior White House Official Preparing to Leave for Cable News Gig >>
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
Paul Crespo is the Managing Editor of American Liberty Defense News. As a Marine Corps officer, he led Marines, served aboard ships in the Pacific and jumped from helicopters and airplanes. He was also a military attaché with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at U.S. embassies worldwide. He later ran for state and federal office, taught political science, wrote for the editorial board of a major newspaper and had his own radio show. A graduate of Georgetown, London and Cambridge universities, he brings decades of experience and insight to the issues that most threaten our American liberty – at home and from abroad. To read more go to: paulcrespo.com.
Were these researchers invited onto Fox News, OAN or NewsMax? If someone is aware of it, please post here.
If the researchers were not invited onto those channels, it’s very telling.
In any case, CNN was willing to face the criticism!!!!! I suspect this will be a very glaring distinction……correct me if I’m wrong.
Um – you’re wrong. For the “study” to be anywhere near viable, they would have needed to put CNN viewers in front of Fox News for a month. This joke of a study was clearly set up with a predetermined conclusion in search of some data to back it up.
That said – all media is biased. Period.
Please don’t sidestep the question…..were the researchers invited on Fox, NewsMax or OAN? Or…..are you aware than they appeared on those channels? That’s my specific question.
My point is that CNN had the guts to have them on…..and directly received criticisms from the authors for not covering the MidEast agreement nearly as much as Fox. I’m betting that the above outlets did not address the study.
I agree that CNN is also biased, but at least they addressed the study.
We need to bring back the Fairness Doctrine so that people just listen to outlets they’re comfortable with.
I guess Vic didn’t read the first paragraph of the article. These guys, from what would have to be one of the leftist of the left universities in the country, were brought on to work over Fox. CNN had the guts to bring them on because they figured they were going to support their pre-planned conclusions. The article is to point out that that didn’t go completely as they would have liked. I guess Vic had to make sure everyone got the “correct” message. Fox bad, right Vic.
You apparently didn’t notice that the researchers showed a graph that documented the airing of the MidEast agreement, showing that Fox aired it 15 times more than CNN. That graph didn’t pop up at the last second…..CLEARLY the CNN producers had it ready to present as the on-air discussion went in that direction. CNN clearly knew that that point would be discussed, and they did it anyway. There was no ambush.
Finally, would you please answer the original question?……or are you flying without data?