No, I'm not ingesting a narcotic. It is a rational argument. My argument does not try to justify any of Fox News' journalistic practices. It merely intends to explore why Fox might be able to use such a statement and how the network can get away with it.
Most importantly, Fox News wants you to believe that all of its reporting is fair, balanced, and just. Reporters are supposed to be flies on the wall, waiting for news to happen. They report on the events when they do materialize. They tell us the fallout of the event any other relevant information. To keep their objective position in the news world, Fox proclaims that "We report, you decide." That statement gives Fox some buffer room to say whatever they want to say. As a viewer, I decide whether the story is true, whether the facts are accurate, and whether I want to believe what I'm being told. On this statement alone, Fox lets go of some of their authority or integrity and places it upon the viewer. If viewers don't like what Fox told them, well it was up to the viewer in the first place to decide if the facts were correct. It keeps the fly on the wall effect if you will.
A perceived liberal bias in the mainstream media may also drive Fox to declare themselves fair and balanced. It is quite clear that their stories are not fair and balanced. More often than not they leverage the republican or conservative cause and dismiss the democratic or liberal one. The liberal point of view may not even get airtime, but if it does, the story is framed in a manner to undermine liberalism and praise republicanism. Fox may do this to counter its competitors which it views as liberal. Therefore, Fox News is balanced... it balances the other networks, but it does not balance its stories. Thus, it is also fair. If other networks can "do" what they "want," why can't Fox, it's only fair.
Historically, journalism was NEVER ever objective. It was ALWAYS biased. Newspaper barons like Hearst and Pullitzer developed a mainstream newspaper market in order to increase circulation. If you didn't offend anyone, you might get more readers. It also meant more advertising dollars because there are more readers. Journalism was political before that newspaper revolution. Perhaps Fox news is returning to a time when news was not an objective source of information.
In a nutshell, that is my argument for Fox being a fair and balanced network. It doesn't mean that Fox is a genuine source of news, it just means that the network may be trying to tackle a larger issue instead of making sure each and every story doesn't offend anybody.
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