NEW YORK –– Fox News Channel is anything but fair and balanced when it comes to political guests, a watchdog group has charged.
Fifty of 56 partisan guests interviewed on Brit Hume's daily news show over a five-month period earlier this year were Republican, and only six were Democrats, the liberal group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting said.
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Read the FAIR Report:
FAIR's report, published in the August 2001 issue of Extra!, is in three parts:
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In an admittedly more subjective analysis, FAIR said 65 of the show's 92 total guests were conservative politically.
"Fox portrays itself as fair and balanced, as straight news," said Steve Rendall, a FAIR senior analyst. "It's media consumer fraud."
Hume said he would look into the group's findings, and correct it if he noticed any imbalance.
Executives at the cable news network, which has been gaining on rival CNN in the ratings over the past few years, have repeatedly denied any right-wing tilt in news coverage. Its slogan is "fair and balanced," although founder Roger Ailes has called Fox an alternative to what he regards as a left-leaning CNN.
FAIR said it purposely chose to look at Hume's news report instead of more commentary-based shows like "The O'Reilly Factor." Rendall said the differential between Republican and Democratic, conservative and liberal guests was "breathtaking."
"There's nothing wrong with it," he said. "They can be proud of it. But I don't think anybody is served by mislabeling a conservative news product as fair and balanced."
Hume said FAIR's view of political bias may be different than most. And he said news factors – FAIR watched during the first few months of a Republican administration, at a time the GOP also controlled Congress – played a part in bookings.
"We don't strive for mathematical balance," he said. "We strive for an overall balanced outlook."
Hume also said his is not a political debate show, and he often doesn't know the leanings of his guests.
FAIR also studied Wolf Blitzer's news program on CNN during the same period and found that of 67 partisan guests, 38 were Republicans and 29 were Democrats.
FAIR's founder, Jeff Cohen, appears regularly as a commentator on Fox News Channel. The group said he played no part in the study.
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On the Net:
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting: http://www.fair.org/
Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/
© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
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