"Fox" and "News" should not be placed in succession of one another...

Okay, I have to ask this, why do so many people trust "Fox News" as a credible source for news? Why? I'm not saying there aren't other biased news networks. MSNBC, especially in their late night programs, have an obvious slant to the left of center. However, they also carry with them Republicans Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan. That's not much, but that's still better than Fox, whom carries with them Shepard Smith and that's about it as far as "fair and balanced" reporting is concerned.

Infotainment, as I like to call it, is huge in this day and age. It's like an extreme version of a creative non-fiction book, where an individual takes facts and adds attractive fictional elements to make it more exciting and entertaining. In filmmaking, we have Michael Moore, but even Mr. Moore can't equal the level of "infotainment" that transpires at Fox and does so in a very slanted fashion.

There's: Megyn Kelly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Brit Hume, Neil Cavuto, Chris Wallace, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Greta Van Susteran, Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade just to name a few. If I've forgotten anyone's name, I apologize. That's 13 hosts and/or contributors whom all lean to the right on some level, from slight (Wallace) to extreme (Hannity) to crazy (Beck).

Now, I'll be the first to admit that Fox had a good gameplan upon their network's inception. What is this gameplan, you ask? Fox wanted to stand out from the rest. That's what a lot of entertainers do. In order to get noticed by the mainstream, to garner good ratings, to make more money, they have to try and stand out from the rest. This is why we have shock rockers. Generally speaking, this is why we have controversial entertainment. That's what Fox wanted to do, to differentiate themselves from CNN, PBS, CBS, NBC and ABC, among others. So, they took that idea and ran with it. They then decided to run their "news" in an extremely slanted fashion, toward the far right of the political spectrum. Instead of admitting this bias, since they were far different from any other "news" network, they decided to try and implant the message into citizens' minds that they were the only unbiased network. This can be clearly seen in the network's slogans, such as "Fair and Balanced" and "We Report, You Decide". This gives viewers the impression that the network is central, unbiased, with their only intent being to report the news and allow the public to draw their own conclusions. They then spouted to their viewers that all other networks were biased toward the left and through this manner of thinking, it made them appear unbiased. Through this, Fox has told their viewers, "No other news network is reliable. Fox is the only place you'll hear of this story, the only place you'll get this kind of reporting. Every other news network is liberally-biased. We're not." Through this, many viewers wind up believing they can't trust any other news channel and end up not listening to any other outside of Fox. Their views then coincide with what Fox preaches and no one else.

Like I said, as much as I don't want to admit it, it was a clever way to manipulate the masses and that is exactly what they've done for the past 14+ years.

Now, it's highly debatable whether ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and/or PBS have any actual or significant bias overall. However, it is not debatable with Fox. I'm sorry. I don't care what anyone tells me. I don't care if they pull one unbiased report in the 14+ years of Fox's existence. It's not going to convince me. Just as I can admit that MSNBC is biased toward the left, Fox is biased to the right.

For regular Fox viewers, try to watch CSPAN, CNN, PBS, ABC, CBS or NBC for a week. Just watch. Watch as they relay the news unto you without much opinion. From Brian Williams to Katie Couric to Diane Sawyer to Wolf Blitzer to Charlie Gibson and beyond, pay close attention to the ratio of news they spew in comparison to opinions. Remember what facts and opinions are. I think many regular Fox viewers have forgotten the difference. Facts can be backed by credible sources. Facts can back a person's opinion, but opinions are not the equivalent of facts. It is my opinion that the death penalty is wrong and we'd be better off as a country if we abolished it, but this is not a fact. This is an opinion. I can find sources to back up my opinion, but once again, that does not make it a fact. Just because Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck say they believe something to be moral or immoral, it is just their opinion. It is not a fact. If Brian Williams relays a story about the war in Afghanistan and doesn't state what he thinks, he is relaying news, facts, that which is backed by reliable sources.

So, give these other channels a gander, a fair look and then go back to watching Fox and ask yourself what the differences are. Honestly, what are the differences? When Sean Hannity bashes on Democrats, on Barack Obama, etc., is what he is reporting factual? Or opinion? When Katie Couric reports on a trip Obama makes to China without mention of how she feels about the trip or the money that was spent, again, is what she is reporting factual or is it opinion?

The fact is (yes, fact) Fox News is biased. How biased they are is debatable, but they are biased. I see their slogans as false advertising, because outside of Shepard Smith, they are anything but "Fair and Balanced". They also don't give viewers an accurate reflection of the facts, so "We Report, You Decide," once again, is not an accurate representation of how the network conducts itself.

Listen to Bill O'Reilly and how often he bashes Republicans compared to Democrats. Listen to Sean Hannity and make a similar observation. Do the very same with Glenn Beck and other Fox personalities. You'll find that they don't criticize the Republican Party or any members of it very much. They will continually bash on the Democratic Party and its constituents, however.

These aren't gentle pokes at the Democratic Party either. Often times, these are very divisive, angry, hate-filled statements. Whether they compare President Obama to Adolf Hitler, Democrats to Nazis or they claim that Obama is a tyrant, trying to strip Americans of our rights and is leading us to a dictatorship, these are extremely slanted exaggerations and hyperboles, stated only to catch a person's attention and present a "wow" factor. That's all it is. It's about ratings.

The fact that Fox is the most watched cable news network is irrelevant when speaking of bias. Just because an Adam Sandler comedy hits number one and sets records at the box office, doesn't mean it's one of the top comedies of the year, let alone all-time.

Fox has manipulated the masses for over 14 years now and unfortunately, so long as people buy into their slanted message, they will continue to do so. Unfortunately, the saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" presents a dual-sided element in the case of Fox. On one hand, ratings wise, Fox obviously isn't broken, so there's no need to alter their ways. However, on the other hand, from a bias perspective, it's been broken since the network's inception and needs to change its ways in order to give American citizens an accurate representation of daily news. It's about time Fox lived up to their slogans and presented Americans with "Fair and Balanced" coverage and allowed people to decide for themselves, based on this unbiased coverage, what to believe.