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Fred Thompson Charges Bias with Fox News and Rudy Giuliani

Are Mr. Ailes and Rudy Giuliani Too Cozy?

By Bobby Tall Horse, published Dec 03, 2007

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Is Fox News biased against GOP presidential candidates? Has Fox News "picked" the next GOP candidate to run for the White House? Fred Thompson says yes.

In an appearance on Chris Wallace's show Sunday, Fred Thompson more or less called Fox News biased. Thompson was the one that finally put words to what the other GOP candidates must surely be feeling.

Is there anything behind the bias charge? Mr. Ailes runs Fox News and has a 20-year relationship with Rudy Giuliani. Mr. Ailes, 67, was the media consultant for Rudy Giuliani's mayoral campaign in 1989. Likewise, Rudy Giuliani officiated Mr. Ailes wedding. Rudy also intervened on Mr. Ailes behalf in a dispute with a cable station involving securing Fox News Channel.

So there is not much doubt that Mr. Ailes and Rudy Giuliani are friends. But, does this automatically mean that Ailes would use Fox News Channel to give Rudy Giuliani an unfair advantage?

Rudy Giuliani seems to get a lot more airtime on Fox News Channel than the other GOP candidates. It is estimated that Rudy gets 25% more airtime than Mitt Romney and close to 50% more airtime than John McCain and Fred Thompson.

The majority of time Rudy spends on Fox News is with Sean Hannity. Hannity who in years past has seemed to be a very conservative republican, is now full force behind Rudy Giuliani. Hannity makes no bones at his intentions of wanting to see Rudy Giuliani, a not so conservative republican, in the White House.

Fox News seems to be losing support from its once ravenous conservative viewers. These same viewers are voters that do not see eye to eye on Fox News' choice for president.

How does this give Rudy Giuliani an advantage? Many "free" minutes of airtime are awarded to Rudy by his appearances on such shows as Sean Hannity's. When this happens Rudy's "plans" for the U.S. are told over and over. Meanwhile, candidates like Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter go virtually unheard unless you are lucky enough to go to a campaign stop to hear their message.

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Comments

Comments 1 - 12 of 12

mwtsaginaw

As an aspiring journalist 40 years ago, I submitted my first article to the teacher. It was a football story. I wrote that a player made a "great catch." The teacher asked, "Who said it was great?" This is the strict objectivity that I learned. Does it exist now? Depends on the reporter, depends on the source. As a member of the print media, which I perceive as far more professional than TV, it is highly disturbing that TV's excesses have caused citizens to also not trust print. -- Mike

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Posted on 12/22/2007 at 11:12:42 AM

kelly m.

BTW - Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Frank Reynolds, Edward R. Murrow, etc. never "picked a candidate" to give airtime to on the nightly news and did not participate in Sunday morning opinion shows while also reading the network news at night. Fox has never observed the line between factual journalism and opinion. We should never have Republican news channels and Democratic news channels.

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Posted on 12/19/2007 at 5:12:48 PM

kelly m.

Good story. In his defense I think Fred Thompson wouldn't mind if Fox covered all the candidates equally (including the Dems) and he may be late to the party because he's now experiencing the bias first-hand. Fred Thompson is more independent than the other Republican candidates (as is not swayed by the powers that be and king makers). Guess that really irks king makers like Fox. This comment is not an endorsement of Thompson, it is a rebuke of Fox...

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Posted on 12/19/2007 at 5:12:55 PM

tasloi

The fact that Fox is throwing themselves behind only Republican candidates and giving one the most face-time suggests their problem isn't with a non-conservative bias, but a bias in general. For "should" I guess the question comes down to what one believes the role of news is -- it's never going to be impartial so is it better to have that bias obvious? Or strive for more inclusion of different viewpoints? Frank Rich once noted that no matter how objective a media outlet is, they will still report what they think is important; so even if you get both sides, it's still somewhat limited. That's the way it works. The solution? Look at a variety of news programs. :-)

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Posted on 12/18/2007 at 10:12:21 PM

Phil

I think Fox's slightly left of center leaning makes it look right biased when compared to ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, CNN, and MSNBC. But making a big to do about Iowa congressman Steve King's impending endorsement, the the next day, updating the previous days story when the endorsement is made for Fred Thompson after speculation that it would be Romney proves wrong? That's in-your-face bias toward the center if I ever saw it. What to make of it? Simple, Fox is in a suicide pact with Rudy McRomnebee.

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Posted on 12/17/2007 at 11:12:47 PM

Winghunter

Here's additional information on the situation at FOX News; Rupert Murdoch Picks Liberal Son As Successor By Cliff Kincaid December 12, 2007 http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/ckincaid/2007/ck_12121.shtml

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Posted on 12/17/2007 at 3:12:23 PM

FRedStates

I wrote a similar article about this Fox News Bias on 11/29. You can find it here... http://www.fredstates.com/fred_thompson.html It is very obvious... and lately... Bill O'Reilly is running a poll to find out who your favorite GOP Candidate is... and he doesn't even mention Fred Thompson. Thank you for the article.

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Posted on 12/15/2007 at 11:12:16 PM

J fraser

Well done, fine article and so on target--Fred let them hang out in error, and then he said clearly, it had been occurring for over 4 months, which is correct--I have written 4-5 times to little avail. They have their "cliff-jumping orders" which is a travesty in this day and age! SHAME on fox! Thank you Bobby Tall Horse for the facts--spread the word!!

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Posted on 12/15/2007 at 11:12:25 PM

Jeff Musall

Everything about faux news is biased...it tilts dramatically to the right. I think it's funny that some of the right are calling faux what it is, because they aren't the "chosen one." We need to make sure and challenge them. The last thing we need to do is put our heads in the sand as Charlotte suggests...

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Posted on 12/12/2007 at 10:12:20 AM

Jack Oceano

Once again it seems Fred Thompson is late to the party. These allegations began months ago. They do help to explain Giuliani's lead in the polls, which seems to be diminishing by the second. Of course, Rudy has been getting a lot of press from other stations too lately, because of all his scandals and screw-ups, which he seems to think are hilarious.

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Posted on 12/12/2007 at 9:12:37 AM

Charlotte Kuchinsky

Interesting. I've stopped watching all news. None of them are balanced or unbiased.

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Posted on 12/05/2007 at 3:12:00 PM

Molly T

Good, Good. Good piece..hope it gives others pause for thought... Thanks for it.

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