Fox News claims to be “fair and balanced,” so why do they consistently under-report gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender-related stories? Is it corporate policy, or, did they just forget the LGBT community exists — as they “forgot” 9/11 happened on George Bush’s watch?
Or does their bias run deeper, like when they falsely claimed the California LGBT history law will force schools to teach that “George Washington was a homosexual?” Or when they liken being called “homosexual” to a “smear?”
Should we be surprised to learn that when Osama bin Laden was killed in May, a local Fox News anchor actually announced, “President Obama is in fact dead.†We shouldn’t be surprised when we see a Fox News “typo,†where they “accidentally†spell Osama bin Laden as “Obama bin Laden,” saying, “Reports: Obama bin Laden dead,” should we?
How about when Fox News “accidentally” switches poll numbers so they represent the result they prefer?
It’s no wonder Fox News viewers are consistently mistaken about news facts.
(See: here, here, and especially here, for starters.)
So, we shouldn’t be surprised at all to learn that Fox News drastically under-reports stories on LGBT issues.
In “CNN And MSNBC Reported DADT Repeal’s Certification More Extensively Than Fox News,” Equality Matters finds, “CNN covered the administration’s certification 26 times, MSNBC covered the story 11 times, and Fox News covered the story 5 times, including a 2 a.m. rerun of an earlier mention.”
And then there’s the major story covered around the world, of New York same-sex marriage. Equality Matters reports, “while New York’s first same-sex weddings were taking place on Sunday, June 24, MSNBC and CNN covered the event extensively. Both networks ran multiple segments featuring married gay and lesbian couples and prominent New York politicians, including pro-equality Republican State Senator James Alesi. Fox News didn’t dedicate a single segment to the story, only briefly mentioning the weddings in news alerts.”
Yes, there should be no surprise when it comes to Fox News reporting. After all, it’s a Rupert Murdoch enterprise.
In a 2006 interview in The Independent, a U.K.-based publication, Murdoch was asked about gay marriage.
“I believe it is wrong. I’m considered homophobic and crazy about these things and old fashioned. But I think that the family – father, mother, children – is fundamental to our civilisation.”
Any questions?