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How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

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Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#41
post #8
post #5

I know this will come across as a bit of flame-bait, but: What is the point in comparing two crappy news sources? Neither is worth spending time on. Also, more on-point: Are they looking only at news, or are they including opinion?

> 60% of Republicans turn to Fox News for political news and 53% of Democrats turn to CNN It'd be nice to see comparisons of all the news networks, but if you're going to start somewhere it seems like the two which have the majority of viewers seems appropriate.

Indeed, the relative numbers are a complete misrepresentation of the image. You need to see nominal viewers to understand just how absolutely crushing Fox News' dominance has been, not just of CNN, but of all the Leftist media. The second most viewed news source (and most viewed Leftist one) isn't even CNN any more, it's been MSNBC for a while now:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/373814/cable-news-networ...

And it has continued to get worst for the Leftist mainstream media.

Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#42
post #5

I know this will come across as a bit of flame-bait, but: What is the point in comparing two crappy news sources? Neither is worth spending time on. Also, more on-point: Are they looking only at news, or are they including opinion?

What are good news sources? I guarantee you that for any news source you pick, there are people who will argue that it is crappy and/or biased.

follow the money and find sources funded by the kind of people you would also fund.

unbiased news is as meaningful as speaking without an accent. everybody has one. so follow the money and pick ones that are funded by people that have ethics which match your own.

Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are good news sources? I guarantee you that for any news source you pick, there are people who will argue that it is crappy and/or biased.

Reuters, the AP, and Bloomberg are my go-to news sources. People who are paid a lot by a few customers to produce accurate news, rather than people who are paid a little by a lot of people to produce an entertainment product.

I’m not sure if Reuters, company known for hiring ex-CIA officials, is a good example of a reliable source.

Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they're the two biggest news sources?

Combined? Nope. CNN is chronically last. FoxNews is invariably first.

On websites, CNN is 4th (43%), Fox is 8th (40%). https://today.yougov.com/ratings/media/popularity/news-websi...

On TV (amongst the big three news channels), Fox is first, then NBC, then CNN. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/124-cable-channels-ranke... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Three_(American_television...

Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#45
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have particular examples of identity being a core part of the issue? I see people complain about identity politics all the time, but when it comes down to it, the individual issues that fall under that umbrella are things that people deeply care about and can’t just be dismissed.

People voting D or R because that’s their tribe rather than because they want those policies is an example. I know a lot of people who vote without even really reading what’s on the ballot. They just go with whatever option has D next to it. Others do the same but for R. Personally I can’t vote so it’s mostly an interesting phenomenon to observe

I feel like calling that “identity” muddles the term, as identity politics generally refers to categories like race and gender, and maps to feelings on issues such as abortion and the Black Lives Matter movement.

To attempt to be helpful, I’d suggest that what you’re referring to is more of an issue of uber partisanship than identity per se.

Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#46
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have particular examples of identity being a core part of the issue? I see people complain about identity politics all the time, but when it comes down to it, the individual issues that fall under that umbrella are things that people deeply care about and can’t just be dismissed.

People voting D or R because that’s their tribe rather than because they want those policies is an example. I know a lot of people who vote without even really reading what’s on the ballot. They just go with whatever option has D next to it. Others do the same but for R. Personally I can’t vote so it’s mostly an interesting phenomenon to observe

The D vs. R tribalism is super visible if you're a G(reen).

The Ds assume I'm an R, and the Rs assume I'm a D. My voter registration says "Pacific Green" and I vote Green/Independent most of the time when possible.

Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#47
post #5

I know this will come across as a bit of flame-bait, but: What is the point in comparing two crappy news sources? Neither is worth spending time on. Also, more on-point: Are they looking only at news, or are they including opinion?

What are good news sources? I guarantee you that for any news source you pick, there are people who will argue that it is crappy and/or biased.

> What are good news sources?

I would first begin with categories. On the bottom is video/TV news. Radio can be OK. Print is usually far ahead of the other two.

I don't think there are any good sources on an absolute scale. Some sources are better than other in certain arenas, etc. I am willing to look into comparisons/analyses of things that have significantly higher signal to noise ratio. But comparing two news sources that are poor in almost every criterion is pointless.

It's like comparing VB[1] with early PHP. They're both poor languages.

[1] Once one of the top used programming languages in the world

Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#48

I "really hate" how some "news" sites like to, "quote excessively" in headlines. If you want to call some nonsense, or a bold face lie, have the damn courage to just call it that. Don't air-quoting some nebulous entity to make it sound more official.

It's slightly better than an editorialized summary.

I disagree, one/two word quotes can be used to drastically spin what a person said.

/u/legister: Headlines with mini-quotes are "better" than the alternative, since they aren't "editorialized."

Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#49

I "really hate" how some "news" sites like to, "quote excessively" in headlines. If you want to call some nonsense, or a bold face lie, have the damn courage to just call it that. Don't air-quoting some nebulous entity to make it sound more official.

Journalists have done this for centuries. They're making it clear that they're reporting that someone else said that, and it's not the journalist's words.

Re: How does Fox vs. CNN compare in topic/event coverage over the last week?

#50
post #5

I know this will come across as a bit of flame-bait, but: What is the point in comparing two crappy news sources? Neither is worth spending time on. Also, more on-point: Are they looking only at news, or are they including opinion?

CNN is not a crappy news source. It's mostly above board, if biased. The non-opinion parts of Fox are not that bad but it's more rare. My bet is they are looking at headline coverage both news and opinion. I think this is a really worthy excercise so that we can see a bit more methodologically what kind of bias happens with selective coverage. The tone and content of the coverage matters a lot. Almost all of the edit…

> It's mostly above board, if biased.

Above board does not equate with quality.

CNN is pretty crap compared to most big print newspapers.

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