CNN: Why do Fox News viewers distrust all other news sources? David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Monday August 13, 2007





Print This Email This Enjoy this story? Get our breaking politics news feed . CNN's Howard Kurtz reported Sunday on a new Pew research poll which shows not only that Democrats have a much more favorable opinion than Republicans of network tv news and national newspapers but also that, even among Republicans, those who watch Fox News are more likely to have an unfavorable view of other news sources. "Does all the media-bashing on Fox convince viewers that news organizations are basically populated by liberal Bush-haters?" Kurtz asked Jim Garaghty of the conservative National Review. Garaghty suggested it would be more appropriate to blame Dan Rather and the flap in 2004 over the allegedly-forged Bush Texas Air National Guard memos. "I think the more offended you are by an incident like Dan Rather," he said, "the more you say 'well the hell with them, I'm not going to pay any attention to them' ... and Fox News is there to fill in the gap." Kurtz then asked Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune, "Is it possible that Fox is influencing its viewers in what they think of the media, or do they already distrust the media and that's why they gravitate towards Fox?" "I find this whole poll to be remarkably unsurprisng," Page replied. "Roger Ailes ... launched Fox News with the marketing idea that 'we are the alternative to all that' ... and obviously that's having an effect." Kurtz concluded by turning for comment to Brooke Gladstone of National Public Radio, who pointed out, "There's a media phenomenon called 'incestuous amplification,' where if you only talk to the people who already agree with you ... then the more extreme positions get noisier and noisier." The following video is from CNN's Reliable Sources, broadcast on August 12.





