In my geekier moments, I like to research things. You know, things
like "facts," which can then be used to demonstrate, or "prove," other
things.
Today, I decided to tackle again the task of finding facts to prove that Fox News Channel is not news.
I think I have succeeded. But you will have to go below the fold to see how.
[
Note: The original idea for this diary was hatched in the summer
of 2007. In conjunction with the launch of DK4, I decided it was time
for an updated and more comprehensive look at the issue.]
I am not an expert in journalism. So I decided to use the most
prominent honors and awards in journalism as the criteria for comparing
several news organizations, including Fox News Channel. FNC launched in
October of 1996. To level the playing field, I have only included
awards since 1997, FNC's first full year as a "news" organization.
(Where noted, records for some awards were not readily available back
to 1997.)
The
Peabody Awards have been given by the University of Georgia since 1941, and are the oldest honors in electronic media.
The George Foster Peabody Award recognizes distinguished and
meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks,
producing organizations and individuals. Reflecting excellence in
quality rather than popularity or commercial success, the Peabody is the
industry’s most competitive honor.
Since 1997, the Public Broadcasting System is the king of the Peabody,
with 50 awards for education and entertainment, and 19 more for news and
public service programming like The News Hour and Frontline. Local
public television stations shine, like WGBH-TV in Boston with 33, and
WNET-TV in New York with 17. For the major news providers, it is CBS
with 16, BBC 14, ABC 12, NPR 12, CNN 8, and NBC 7.
More interesting is the names towards the bottom of the Peabody list.
You know who has a Peabody Award? Comedy Central. In fact, they have
five, including two for Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" and one for Stephen
Colbert's "The Colbert Report". KHOU in Houston and WFAA in Dallas each
have three, as does sports network ESPN. Nickelodeon children's
network won a public service Peabody in 1997. Channel One Network, the
in-school news station for secondary school kids, won a Peabody in 2004
for coverage of Sudan.
Even conservative group Focus on the Family has a Peabody. How many Peabody Awards say "Fox News Channel" on them? Zero.
If you think the Peabody Awards are too elitist, then what about the
Emmys, the most well-known awards for broadcasting excellence?
The News & Documentary Emmy Awards
is a major national broadcast journalism competition. It promotes
journalistic excellence by awarding the coveted Emmy to the very best
news reports and documentary films aired on national television or
streamed over the Internet each year.
PBS wins again, with 88 total Emmys for business and financial
reporting, and news and documentaries. CBS has 73, NBC 40, ABC 36, CNN
and HBO with 17 each, CNBC 11, and MSNBC 10. VH-1 won an Emmy for a
documentary involving adoption and rapper Darryl McDaniels from
Run-D.M.C. fame. How many Emmy Awards read "Fox News Channel" on the
base? Zero.
The Pulizter Prizes are a household name, but they do not cover
television broadcast journalism. But their approximate equivalent can
be found in the duPont-Columbia Awards.
The Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards
honoring excellence in broadcast journalism were established in 1942 by
Jessie Ball duPont in memory of her husband, Alfred I. duPont. The
duPont Awards, administered since 1968 by Columbia University's Graduate
School of Journalism, are considered to be the most prestigious
broadcast journalism awards and the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prizes,
which are also administered at the Journalism School.
Once again, public broadcasting is the cream of the crop. PBS has 23,
WBGH in Boston has 21 (many shared with PBS), and National Public Radio
has earned 17. CBS and ABC each have 13, NBC 7, and CNN 6. MSNBC and
Court TV have two, and National Geographic , CNBC and Current TV all
have one. Fox News Channel? Zero.
Let's look at some smaller prestigious and specialized awards.
The George Polk Awards
are conferred annually to honor special achievement in journalism.
Winners are chosen from newspapers, magazines, television, radio and
on-line news organizations. Judges place a premium on investigative and
enterprise work that is original, requires digging and resourcefulness
and brings results.
ABC News leads with five Polk awards since 1997; CBS has three; NPR, NBC
, CNN, Bloomberg, and BBC each have two. Yes, ProPublica and Talking
Points Memo each have a Polk Award, so this argument may not be very
persuasive. Still, Fox News Channel? Zero.
The Gerald Loeb Awards
were established in 1957 by the late Gerald Loeb to honor journalists
who make significant contributions to the understanding of business,
finance and the economy. He intended to encourage reporting on these
subjects that would both inform and protect the private investor and the
general public.
These awards have been dominated by print outlets like the New York
Times and Wall Street Journal. CBS, NBC, and Bloomberg each have four
Loeb awards, followed by CNBC with three, ABC with two, and CNN with
one. Fox News Channel? You guessed it – zero.
[Radio Television Digital News Association] has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards
since 1971. Murrow’s pursuit of excellence in journalism embodies the
spirit of the awards that carry his name. Murrow Award recipients
demonstrate the excellence that Edward R. Murrow made a standard for the
electronic news profession.
CBS News leads with 25 Murrow awards. NPR news and ABC each have 11;
NBC 10; the Associated Press seven; ESPN four; and three for CNN. Fox
News Channel? Zero.
The Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award
honors those who report on issues that reflect Robert F. Kennedy's
concerns including human rights, social justice and the power of
individual action in the United States and around the world. Entries
include insights into the causes, conditions and remedies of injustice
and critical analysis of relevant public policies, programs, attitudes
and private endeavors.
NPR news and WGBH-TV each have seven RFK Awards. ABC has six, CBS
three; and NBC, HDNet and PBS have one each. Fox News Channel? Zero.
The annual Investigative Reporters and Editors Awards
recognize outstanding investigative work in several categories. The top
award given is the IRE Medal. The contest also helps identify the
techniques and resources used to complete each story.
NPR and CBS each have five; ABC and NBC have four each; Bloomberg and MSNBC have two each. Fox News Channel? Zero.
In summary, we are dealing with over one thousand of the most
prestigious awards in broadcasting journalism excellence. CBS, NBC, and
ABC news divisions have won all ten awards. PBS news and CNN have won
eight of the ten awards. NPR news and KHOU-TV in Houston have won seven
of them. Fox News Channel has not won a single award, not even once.
Furthermore, Republican threats to slash public broadcasting are a
threat to the highest quality programming on television and radio. PBS
has won 183 of these awards; WGBH-TV in Boston has 62; NPR news and
entertainment has 64; WNET-TV in New York has 20.
There is no longer a need to bemoan the fact that Fox "News" is
really faux news, or to wish that their talking heads would explode.
Instead, just cite these facts as proof that no respected members of the journalism community view Fox News Channel as news.
If Fox News Channel has won any of these awards in the time studied,
and I have overlooked it, not only will I eat my hat, but I will also
happily correct the record.
Apologies for the fomatting issues. I'm not sure if it's me (likely) or DK4 (possibly), but I can figure that out later.
Fox is more a throwback than an innovation, bringing to mind the partisan press of the late 19th century. Fox may call itself "fair and balanced," but it's not hard to find a conservative tilt to what detractors call "Faux" News. What Ailes created was a channel with a clear identity and plenty of attitude, aimed directly at viewers fed up with what he calls the liberal slant of the mainstream media. While his competitors stuck to a broadcast model and tried to appeal to the widest possible audience, Fox found its niche by narrowcasting to viewers who wanted news from a particular perspective. Thirty years ago, the brilliant screenplay for the movie "Network" was a satire. Today it seems almost prophetic. News as a profit center. Infotainment masquerading as news. An anchor ranting on the air. What seemed shocking and outlandish back then is now commonplace. Somehow it's not hard to envision Bill O'Reilly as the heir of fictional anchor Howard Beale, who told his audience, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
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