You Can’t Criticize FOX News Without Also Having To Criticize CNN/MSNBC
How many times have you gotten into an argument with a conservative friend or family member about FOX News? I’m willing to bet that the person you were arguing with instantly trotted out the “Yeah, but what about CNN and MSNBC? They’re just as bad as FOX” card.
But the thing is, CNN and MSNBC aren’t even in the same league of awful as FOX News. CNN and MSNBC are both passively incompetent at worst, while FOX News is literally dedicated to being a right-wing conservative propaganda machine.
Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch actually hired Roger Ailes to subvert journalistic principals in an attempt to gain his preferred party more political capital.
And yes, media has always had implicit and willful biases. That’s not unique to FOX News or conservatives. Personally, I’m willing to bet the fact that Time Warner is both the owner of CNN and a major Hillary backer may have a lot to do with the recent CNN poll that suggests Mrs. Clinton was the winner of the recent Democratic debate.
But even with that possibility, CNN is still more trustworthy than FOX. FOX News has dedicated the entirety of their programming to pushing conservative political ideology without regard to actual facts. NBC almost canned Brian Williams for a single lie because he’s expected to actually behave like a journalist.
Democrats Are Just As Bad As Republicans/ Every Politician Is the Same
Conservatives have shown time and time again that they’re willing to not only ignore the issues posed by income inequality, police brutality, and lax gun control, in the latter two cases they deny that there’s any issue at all.
What is the biggest rational complaint anyone could have of the average Democrat’s platform or behavior that is exclusive to the Democratic party? How many times do you hear of Democratic officials hosting pro-gun rallies after a school shooting, or preaching “pro-family values” and then hooking up with strangers on Grindr? You would be hard pressed to find a legitimate, rational complaint.
“Blank” Is A Slippery Slope
I can kind of see where people on the right are coming from, even if I don’t agree with them. If someone is already mistrustful of the government and that government starts trying to regulate healthcare or control how weapons are distributed among the populace it’s not all that surprising that they would be alarmed.
However, that does not excuse willful ignorance or purposefully spreading misinformation. It’s not that much to ask that people who criticize a bill or the actions of an elected official base their complaints in reality (looking at you FOX News) and make an effort to understand the forces at work behind the scenes.
The worst part about it is that even conservatives know it’s a weak argument. The majority of conservatives who are worried about gun legislation are more worried about the government limiting the enjoyment they receive from their hobby rather than a true fear that the government is going to maliciously disarm them.
In Conclusion
These arguments are used so often because they’re easy for conservatives to rationalize, as well as being hard to completely discount because they’re either speculative or opinion-based.
And you know what? That’s okay. Anyone who consistently uses these arguments isn’t interested in discussing anything, they just want to easily win a debate.
You’ll save yourself a lot of time and energy if you just do what I do – just don’t bother trying to sway the opinion of someone who is only interested in reaffirming their own world views, as well as being a happier person because of it.
Featured image by Marlo Piperni via Flickr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
