Fox News -- Where's The News ?

I have to hand it to CNN. They have shown themselves to be a news organization that can be depended upon to cover the real news. They were broadcasting about the Haitian disaster just minutes after it had happened, and by the next morning they had several reporters on the ground in Haiti. Their coverage has been excellent, and it would not surprise me to see some awards coming their way for the great (and very tough) job they are doing.

MSNBC has not equaled the excellent coverage by CNN, but they have also done a credible job of covering the tragedy in Haiti. They can also be proud of the coverage they are providing. But there is one self-proclaimed "news" organization that has virtually ignored the terrible story in Haiti -- Fox News.

Speaking of the lack of coverage Fox has given to the Haitian story, professor of communications at Indiana Wesleyan University Randall E. King said, "When a real crises comes and there's an opportunity to really serve as a leading news organization, to make a conscious decision not to cover this is an abandonment of journalistic responsibility."

Mr. King is absolutely correct, but what he doesn't seem to realize is that Fox News has never had any journalistic responsibility. The truth is that they are not now, and have never been, a news organization. A news organization covers news, ideally in a transparent and unbiased way.

What Fox News is really is the propaganda arm of the ultra-right and its bastard child -- the Republican Party. The only "news" that Fox covers are stories that can be twisted to make right-wing Republicans look good and liberal Democrats look bad. For them, if a story cannot serve that purpose (like the Haitian tragedy), then they have no use for it.

This should end the ridiculous fallacy that Fox is a news organization.

(A tip of my hat goes to Jolly Roger of Reconstitution 2.0 for bringing attention to this.)