The network best known for taking the phrase, “fair and balanced,” and draining it of all meaning is looking for more ways to upgrade their partisan message machine. The just published Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll (pdf) contains questions that might charitably be considered unconventional. More objectively, they could only be viewed as bizarre and manipulative. After the routine queries about candidate favorability and voting preferences, the poll devolves into questions like these:
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34) Do you think a television network that is hosting a presidential debate can influence the outcome of that debate?
35) If a political party agrees to participate in debates hosted by one television network but refuses to do debates hosted by another network, do you think it is fair to say the party is picking the network it believes is more aligned with its views and so would ask easier questions during the debate?
It’s almost irrelevant what the responses to these questions are. For the record, majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all responded affirmatively to both questions (all responses are in the pdf link above). So the public is suspicious of the motives of both the networks and the parties. However, it should be noted that the first question is simple and straightforward, but the second adds conjecture that is openly biased. It implies that the only reason a party would discriminate between networks is to seek favorable treatment. It ignores the possibility that they may just be seeking to avoid hostile treatment by a network that is committed to their electoral defeat.
But what is really of interest is that Fox is attempting to use their poll to develop strategies for further exploitation of their audience and the media. These questions have no usefulness to the public and, indeed, Fox didn’t even publish them in their story devoted to the poll’s results. The questions could only have been included to help the network define their reaction to recent criticism about the proposed Fox-sponsored Democratic debates that were later canceled due to opposition from grassroots party members.
And there’s more. The next question is virtually dripping with the sort of prejudice that steers Democrats away from Fox in the first place.
36) After the 2004 presidential election, the president of the left-wing Moveon.org political action committee made the following comment about the Democratic Party, “In the last year, grassroots contributors like us gave more than $300 million to the Kerry campaign and the DNC, and proved that the Party doesn’t need corporate cash to be competitive. Now it’s our Party: we bought it, we own it and we’re going to take it back.” Do you think the Democratic Party should allow a grassroots organization like Moveon.org to take it over or should it resist this type of takeover?
Here Fox is using a controversial remark by a political activist that has not been validated in the electorate or by the party. In fact, Fox’ own poll reveals that only 63% of respondents have even heard of MoveOn. Still, Fox extends the impact of the remark to imply that the party is actually at risk of being “taken over” by a left wing PAC. In the context of this question, I doubt that a majority of MoveOn members would respond affirmatively. The question also succeeds in subtly demeaning the legitimate role of Americans to guide the actions of their representatives. Exercising the Constitutionally protected rights to free assembly and petitioning for redress of grievances, is not akin to a political takeover.
Fox is clearly upset that an association of peasants (i.e. citizens) successfully denied them a platform from which to assault the Democratic field of presidential candidates. And the inclusion of questions like these in their polling is evidence that they intend to do something about it. They have already issued veiled threats to John Edwards for being the first to decline Fox’ invitation to debate. Their intention to retaliate is clear and the answers to these questions will be useful for that purpose. But they aren’t even waiting to parse the poll’s results to launch their attack. Just look at the first paragraph of the article reporting the results of the poll:
“The latest FOX News poll finds that Americans think the next person to move into the White House will be a Democrat, and while many voters would be enthusiastic or pleased if any one of the current front-runners were to win, one candidate scares more people than the others – Sen. Hillary Clinton.” [cue ominous music]
This is a poll that shows President Bush with the highest disapproval rating he has ever received. But Bush’s record breaking achievment doesn’t appear until the third paragraph. It’s the chilling visage of Hillary Clinton with which Fox chose to lead the story. What they do not report is that the number for Clinton is skewed by the high number of Republicans (50%) that find her “scary.” Only 7% of Democrats thought so, which is in line with the number of those afraid of any of the candidates by voters of their own party.
It is this kind of blatant hostility that proves that Fox is not an impartial news network. And the questions they ask in this poll show that their bias is not accidental. They are engaging in a coordinated plot to manipulate public opinion just as Rupert Murdoch admitted in February, and they are conducting audience research to learn the best way to do it.
And Fox still wonders why Democrats don’t want to play in their yard?
