Where does blogging fit in a world outfoxed?

This is a response to the movie Outfoxed. It is for class. I think I say a few interesting (and unexpected?) things about Fox News and its place in contemporary media. I have a pretty accepting view of salacious media. I think, generally, news media needs to become more relevant to people and their lives. Divisive politics in news media is its tradition and my favourite period is the abolitionist press and political newspapers of yore. Just what I think.

Outfoxed is of course a slanted liberal documentary committed as much to the “fair and balanced” doctrine as its subject. It’s interesting to judge the documentary on the same terms as Fox News: both are biased news sources presenting usually one side of an issue, using interview subjects that are friendly to the cause, and with little regard for what is the ultimate truth. The difference lies in reception.

Biased news sources are not abhorrent in and of themselves. Journalism’s strongest and proudest era was its partisan press, where abolitionist interests (for one) funded their own politically biased newspapers for political end. The difference was the audience’s understanding of these texts. At the time, newspaper subscribers chose publications that agreed with their sensibilities. Editorials made absolutely clear what the political leanings were. There was no misleading commitment to the kind of “pure objectivity” that defines modern journalism.

Today, Fox News’ famous slogan, “Fair and Balanced,” is its biggest criticism. If it were an admittedly partisan press, Fox News could feasibly exist in the modern news media landscape. Instead, it misleads its audience about the motivations behind its reporting.

Blogging experiences the same problems. Without a mandated commitment to either partisanism or objectivity, bloggers must make clear what kind of product they intend to produce. While most of our class blogs are trifling personal accounts, real political blogs carry tremendous weight in the modern media landscape by presenting personal or partisan analysis of mainstream news reports. The degree to which these reporters are misleading anyone is ultimately up to the readers.