"You've Just Entered the No-Spin Zone"- Looking at American Politics through the Eyes of a Different "News"

After watching 19 installments of The Colbert Report's 434 part series- Better Know a District, I couldn't help but wonder where Colbert gets his inspiration. Shortly thereafter, I learned that his highly successful satire is actually aimed at Fox News correspondent and top-rated personality, Bill O'Reilly. When Colbert asks, "George Bush- great president? or the greatest president?" he is making an attack on O'Reilly's obivious preference of the Republican party. Colbert's not the only one- people all over criticize O'Reilly's hit show, The O'Reilly Factor, and Fox News in particular for its conservative perspective. Ideally, we want our media to be unbiased, but part of the Daily Me that Sunstein describes in Web 2.0, suggests we actually seek out news programs that cater to our beliefs. The reality is that no news program, or any media outlet, is really unbiased. Fox News happens to get a lot of heat because it opposes the established liberal bias in the media. We live in a world where bipartisan politics dominate the conversation- it's much easier to choose one side than to get caught in the middle. Bill O'Reilly and Steve Colbert each present the issues, but it's hard to overlook their subliminal agendas. O'Reilly uses intimidation, Colbert uses humor, but both get their point across to the people that want to hear it. The fire that Fox has come under for its support of O'Reilly is explored in an article posted on politico.com in late November, entitled "Murdoch 'absolutely despises' O'Reilly" http://www.politico.com/blogs/michaelcalderone/1108/Wolff_Murdoch_absolutely_despises_OReilly_.html. Murdoch, the global media mogul and Chairman of News Corp. (in charge of Fox News), "despises the bullying, mean-spirited, hugely successful evening commentator". Even the CEO of Fox News disproves of O'Reilly- so the obvious question is: Why is he still on the air? One word- money. O'Reilly's show is the #1 cable news show and is responsible for bringing in a remarkable 4 million viewers on an average weeknight. That translates to a lot of advertising and a lot of exposure for all of News Corp's subsidiaries. Born a businessman, Murdoch knows this, and his belief in a reasonable rate of return trumps any tastelessness that might come from Fox News through Bill O'Reilly. Fiorina looked at the big picture- only 3% of Bush voters in the 2004 election actually watched O'Reilly. This suggests that his influence isn't that far reaching. Still, his biased reporting turns heads in the public sector since Americans still hold onto the fallacy that the news is objective. Murdoch alluded to something that has changed in the past few decades. News has become a business. When there's money to be made, antiquated values are easily compromised. Would you rather make millions of dollars or promote fair journalism? O'Reilly is virtually untouchable because of the revenue he generates and the personality that even those people at Fox seem to hate, is responsible for all that. His willingness to endlessly defend his conservative beliefs about immigration, religion, left-wing politicians, etc. in "The No-Spin Zone" puts him in a love/hate relationship with America public. In addition to becoming a business, the news has also become a form of entertainment. O'Reilly's fiery temper is undeniably entertaining- much like Colbert's ability to convey satire through humor. People look at the news differently, and it is impossible to overlook the effect that this shift is having on American politics.