Sarcastic Headlines-Unbiased?

Fox News sure makes spin easy to find. Here is one of their current top headlines on their front page. Unemployment figures were expected to rise, but the figures showed a slight decrease in unemployment. Instead of reporting it objectively and letting the reader decide, Fox News publishes a negative headline using sarcasm. Sure the unemployment numbers continue to be troubling, but would an unbiased news organization use sarcasm in reporting the latest job figures? Just another sign that Fox News is a partisan organization that aims to indoctrinate its readers into a right-wing ideological stance. Can you trust that their other stories are unbiased? Is it really fair and balanced? Do they really let you decide?

WHILE I WAS GONE...

Fox News was particularly productive in the spin department while I was gone. Here are just a handful of items I quickly put together from the Fox News front page that were published as their top story over the last month or so (Click on any image to enlarge):

The Bow--Absolutely silly, was this story really front page news? The Drudge Report, a known conservative website, made it their front page story as shown below so Fox followed suit. Making it front page news and their top headline story served no purpose other than to embarrass the President. For Fox or Drudge to report a minor protocol infraction as major news is nothing short of an anti-american attack on the institution of the presidency. Sure, report it, but put it on the back pages as an amusing faux pas...unless of course you have an ideological agenda:

                                

9/11 TRIAL--You would think Fox News could find just one counter-view that supports holding the trial in New York for their front page, but it was not to be. I particularly like how they put a picture of Osama Bin Laden in a couple of the headlines...is he standing trial in New York too?

                                                

                                              

APPROVAL RATINGS--Obama's approval rating is higher than Sarah Palin's, but Fox News is expert at skewed presentation. After promoting Sarah Palin with a front page story putting her poll results in the best light possible, Fox News follows up the next day with a front page headline bashing of Obama's poll numbers and highlights it with sub-headlines unfavorable to Obama. I guess you can call that balanced.

Honorable Mention:

An Inconvenient Truth--Believe it or not, this was actually a Fox News top headline story in the last month! Can you picture the Fox News editors deciding on their top headline news story: "Forget the war in Afghanistan or the healthcare debate, let's go with the story about the new movie!" This headline is really nothing more than an advertisement for a right-leaning release of a movie that nobody has any interest in. This is not news, Fox is just helping out their right-wing friends that produced this movie. I mean, Al Gore's movie was released in 2006 so Fox News is trying to make it current to create interest in this new counter-argument movie...pretty silly.

POLL RESULT-Glenn Beck

Thanks to all who participated in this poll. Final tally in this completely unscientific poll: 84% find Glenn Beck to be harmful to the country and 16% find him to be helpful to the country. With objective consideration to the level of straightforward honesty in his presentation of the facts, TSK believes this guy is right there at the top of the heap of supremely talented BS'ers, but love him or hate him, spin or no spin, I think we can all agree that Glenn Beck is an excellent producer of passionate partisanship.

BACK FROM HIATUS

Hello Friends,

The Spin Killer is back from hiatus and he thanks you for being patient. Stay tuned for a resumption of The Spin Killer's ongoing effort to expose the ridiculous BS we are bombarded with on a daily basis from the mainstream media, politicians, etc.

Hope all is and has been well, TSK

FOX NEWS ANSWERS OWN QUESTION WITH PARTISAN ATTACK HEADLINE ON OBAMA

In what amounts to a political attack ad, Fox News will, from time to time, run a headline for just a few minutes and then take it down. These headlines are hard to catch, but when you see them, there is no mistaking the partisanship. The above headline ran for just a few minutes last night. The AP article that they based this headline on clearly says that it is typical of a new president to shore up their base during their first months in office. The article cites George Bush's first months in office as well. But that doesn't stop Fox News from using this information and framing it in a way that makes President Obama look inappropriately selective in his concern for the country.

Referring to the White House claim a couple days ago that Fox News is a partisan organization, one of the sub-headlines above says, "White House Escalates War With Fox News." The sub-headline below that asks the question, "Appropriate attacks on the Press?" It seems Fox News has answered their own question in the affirmative.