You may not have heard that Fox News released a poll yesterday. The reason for that is that Fox News barely made any mention of it themselves. And when they did bring it up, it was to trumpet results that advanced their partisan agenda. Here is a selection of what Fox considered to be the pertinent headlines from their survey:

Fox News: Nearly two-thirds of voters say government is the problem
Fox News: 37 percent of voters say they are better off than four years ago
Fox News: Voters pick Condi Rice as Romney running mate
Fox Nation: 37% of Voters Say They Are Better Off Than Four Years Ago
Fox Nation: 64% of Voters Say Government is the Problem

Notice anything missing? How about:

If the presidential election were held today, how would you vote?
Obama 45% / Romney 41%

That’s right. Fox decided to bury what any other news enterprise would regard as the lede. And it’s not the first time they’ve done this either. In fact, the only time Fox ever publishes the result of any Obama/Romney poll is when Obama is behind.

Another interesting question in the poll that Fox swept aside was this curiously phrased inquiry:

“Some people support a tax increase on high-income earners because they believe the country needs more revenue to reduce the national debt and the better-off can afford it. Others oppose tax increases on high-income earners because they believe high earners are the people who own small businesses, create jobs and spend a bigger share of the money to keep the economy going. Which do you agree with more – those who support or oppose tax increases on high-income earners?”

That is not exactly a testament to fairness and balance. First of all, it makes those who favor higher taxes appear to be interested only in gouging the rich. The truth is that higher taxes for the wealthy is actually aimed at reversing a trend wherein the middle class has been burdened with more and more of the nation’s debt over the past thirty years. It’s an acknowledgement that an equitable nation does not tax the most fortunate at a lower rate than everyone else.

Secondly, the question falsely characterizes the rich as “job creators” (click image to enlarge chart). However, most independent economists agree that jobs are created by consumer demand, not the wealth of entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the assertion that the rich spend a bigger share of their money is utterly absurd. Poor and middle class citizens spend nearly 100% of their earnings on trivialities like rent and groceries and medicine. The rich put far more of their funds into savings, retirement, and investments.

Despite the grossly biased phrasing of the question, a clear majority, 52 percent, of the respondents said they support tax increases on high-income earners, with 42% opposing. Imagine how much more support there might have been for raising taxes on the rich if the question had not been so biased. And imagine how upset Fox must have been to see the results after working so hard to produce the opposite.

It’s no wonder that Fox has tried to sweep their own poll under the rug. These surveys are expensive and they aren’t undertaken for recreation. The fact that Fox would shell out for this data and then downplay it shows how desperate they are to skew their reporting to advance their conservative agenda. And that goal far outweighs any sense of duty to be ethical journalists.

Update: To elaborate on the tendency of Fox News to only report polls that are unfavorable for Obama, This morning they published the results of a New York Times/CBS News poll that had Romney leading 45-43 (within the margin of error). But they still have not reported the results of their own poll showing Obama ahead 45-41.