"Fair and Balanced" (Issue Revisited)

Oh boy. I have been struggling with this journalistic idea of fairness vs. balance.  As I suggested in my last blog post, I value fair reporting over balanced reporting.  There are just some issues that don't need a balanced report (ie, global warming or HIV-AIDs association) because of the overwhelming and majority evidence.  The motto Fox News anchors claims to live and report by is "fair and balanced".  However, a study which aimed to "isolate the effects of each type of news source" reports that those who view Fox News regularly are actually less informed on current events than those who do not watch news at all.  A Fox News subscriber would be expected to answer 1.04/5 domestic questions correctly compared to 1.22/5 for those who did not watch news.  Subscribers of media outlets such as NPR (1.51/5 questions answered correctly) and the Daily Show (1.42/5 questioned answered correctly) much out-performed this "fair & balanced" news source.  This makes me wonder what the problem is (beyond the worrisome fact that it is expected most people can only answer less than 2 out of 5 questions current event questions correctly).  Is the problem fair & balanced news or the fact that Fox News does not present fair & balanced news?  Or is it something else?

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I have a hard time believing actual fair and balanced reporting would lead to the results of the study.  And since I myself am not an advocate for Fox News, the problem probably lies in the fact that Fox News does not present fair and balanced news.  However, I think it may be slightly unfair to say that's the case for only Fox News - no media outlets are completely fair and balanced.  Some do a better job than others, but media outlets are biased and severely affected by political and economic concerns.  They generally report information in a way that appeals the majority of people in that demographic.  Media outlets don't want to report things that the viewers will vehemently disagree with and at the same time, viewers don't want to listen to media sources that are not in line with their ideals.  We must accept the fact that these media outlets' survival is based on their viewership and how much influence they can create.  Essentially, certain media outlets appeal to certain people and that's what you end up supporting.  I don't watch Fox News because I don't agree with a lot of the views Fox News presents whereas I do find myself more inclined to and learning from NPR.  Fox News may be bad at presenting "fair & balanced" news but as far as Fox News viewers' current event literacy goes, it's not completely Fox News' fault - it's partly the viewer's own fault and that's just something we must accept.