The 'no spin zone' is particularly interesting from a Public Relations perspective. Often Public Relations has been seen as 'spin' by numerous people. Bill O' Reilly himself describes the 'no spin zone' as a segment of his news show in which 'lies are rejected and equivocations are mocked'. He goes on further to state that 'all i ask for is powerful people to respond honestly to the questions, and if they can't, explain why.' So far, this sounds like any news' channels aims and objectives i.e. to seek out the 'truth' and report it thusly. However, Fox News has come under increasing scrutiny, especially about it's journalistic record. The most famous example was it's story in early 2015 regarding 'no go zones' in France and the United Kingdom, declaring that certain areas of major cities could not be entered if they were non-muslim. Then they interviewed an 'expert' who turned out was not an expert at all and having no credible sources to go with the story.
It seems surprising then that Fox News proclaim to be 'fair and balanced' when no sources are used and facts are not propperly checked before being published. Croteau and Hoynes believe that news media is full of spin. News on the television, radio and online includes political pundits who will offer different interpretations of the same events. The 'no spin zone' is notorious for the host's highly partisan perspective on political events. As a result, this makes it almost absurd that Fox News uses the slogan 'fair and balanced' as well as the 'no spin zone' Indeed, as we have already established, it is extremely difficult to be completely fair and balanced.
However, from a Public Relations perspective, Fox news tries to control this and frames itself as a fair and balanced news channel. When examples keep being presented of this not being the case, however, then the PR does not help the news channel. The frame of being balanced simply doesnt align with the public's perception of their fair and balanced reporting. The question should be that does this slogan help? Or should Fox News place more resources on marketing itself as what it actually is, a right-wing news channel giving off the charade of a balanced news outlet. Perhaps by doing so, the public will at least feel as if the news channel is being honest to it's intentions. Or maybe they could at least get rid of the segment titled the 'no spin zone', which is quite blatantly deceitful and dishonest, the exact opposite of what the channel describes itself as: 'Fair and balanced'.
Andrei Rydzkowski
I have a very good example here off Bill O'Reilly his need to spin the truth. First he discussed Amsterdam his show, which was then called The O'Reilly Factor but was also aired on Fox News. He brought Amsterdam in the discussion as an example of how the socialist (!) politicians in the US would create the same 'anarchy' as we have in Amsterdam, since we are off course a clearly socialist country. But the situation is clearly insane here in Amsterdam as the result of our drugs and sex policies, as he respectfully shows us.
ReplyDeleteLook at the clip here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRAlejn5gcQ
Then someone responded on his ungrounded opinions, with a video based on facts and numbers. Look at it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTPsFIsxM3w
Then the most amazing thing is said by Bill O'Reilly in reacting to this response video. When you watch the next video, he says at the 1:30 mark: "The way they do the statistics in the Netherlands is different. Plus it's a much smaller country, it is a much smaller base they do the stats on".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpU0NxPhA78
Uuuhhhmmmm....He is clearly lucky to work for Fox News, because I don't think he would make it as a scientist, or in the world of banking, or even as a cashier in the Albert Heijn.
So yes, I think O'Reilly has embarrassed himself and the network enough, to know not to call his segment the "no spin zone". However, he has a large amount of followers that find his views very believable and praise him for telling the truth. This is why for Fox News and Bill O'Reilly himself, the name is perfect, because their target group actually beliefs that he is truthful and factual.
I agree with Nine that a lot of viewers of Bill O'Reilly probably do think that what he says is true and might not have a problem with the slogan ''fair and balanced''. The slogan might even give Bill O'Reilly more credibility. If the program was labelled ''right wing- oriented news'' viewers might be aware that this show does that present the absolute truth, and therefore they might stop watching. However, Bill O'Reilly's slogan is all the more frustrating for people who do not think this show is balanced and truthful - everyone who has ever been to Amsterdam for example.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Nine and Lotte that a great number of viewers of Bill O'Reilly really believe him and frame many news subjects as he does. Therefore, I don't think that Fox News want to change its slogan or the name of Bill O'Reilly's segment because these slogans represent the truth for a great part of its audience. Indeed, given the importance that the network gives to Bill O'Reilly, it seems that Fox News is more interested in reinforcing the relationship with that type of audience than framing news in an actual "fair and balanced" way.
ReplyDelete