Fox News Watch

Last updated
Fox News Watch
Foxnewswatch.png
Former logo of Fox News Watch
Genre Current events
Debate show
Presented by Jon Scott
Starring Howard Kurtz
Jim Pinkerton
Cal Thomas
Ellis Henican
Judith Miller
Kirsten Powers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production location New York City
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time60 minutes
Original release
Network Fox News Channel
Release1997 (1997) 
August 31, 2013 (2013-08-31)

Fox News Watch was an American current events debate show on the Fox News Channel hosted by Jon Scott focused on discussing media bias. The show ended on August 31, 2013. News Watch was then replaced by the hour-long news program, MediaBuzz .

Contents

Format

Fox News Watch featured a panel composed of two conservatives and two liberals, moderated by Scott. Similar in premise to CNN's Reliable Sources , the panel discussed how the media portrayed certain news stories from the previous week. Panelists also discussed the overall condition of the American news media, such as the newspapers, cable news networks, broadcast networks, and other popular news outlets.

Departures

On February 2, 2008, then-host Eric Burns announced that Neal Gabler had left the show to work for PBS. It was also announced that Jim Pinkerton had left the show to work for former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

Burns' contract was not renewed and expired in Spring 2008, reportedly saying in an interview that, "Fox News has told me that my contract will be terminated within the next 2 months, perhaps sooner. I was given no reason. It certainly has nothing to do with ratings; the last episode of Fox News Watch was the second highest-rated weekend show on all 3 cable news networks, and the program has almost been in the top 4 or 5. I have no theory, none, why they are getting rid of me. Although I heard rumors, I have never heard reasons." Fox News responded by saying Burns' contract was a contributor agreement rather than a talent agreement. [1] Burns was replaced by Jon Scott.

The final Fox News Watch program aired on August 31, 2013.

Howard Kurtz hosts the replacement program MediaBuzz . [2]

Personalities

Hosts

Panelists

Former panelists

Reception and criticism

Left-wing media critics and bloggers argued that Fox News Watch perpetuated the myth of liberal bias in the mainstream media, while ignoring conservative bias by Fox News. [3] [4] Fox News Watch has been accused of ignoring or dismissing controversies concerning Fox News' parent company, News Corporation, such as when an outtake was leaked online showing the program's panelists refusing to discuss News Corp's phone hacking scandal. [5] [6] However, the issue was later discussed in-depth (and without further refusal) during a broadcast on July 16, 2011. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox News</span> American conservative cable news channel

The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owned by the Fox Corporation. It is the most-watched cable news network in the U.S., and as of 2023 generates approximately 70% of its parent company's pre-tax profit. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan. Fox News provides a service to 86 countries and territories, with international broadcasts featuring Fox Extra segments during advertising breaks.

The Media Research Center (MRC) is an American conservative content analysis and media watchdog group based in Herndon, Virginia, and founded in 1987 by L. Brent Bozell III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Stewart</span> American comedian and television host (born 1962)

Jon Stewart is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor and television host. The long-running host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2015, Stewart returned to the satirical news program in 2024. He hosted The Problem with Jon Stewart on Apple TV+ from 2021 to 2023. Stewart has received numerous accolades, including 22 Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and five Peabody Awards. He was honored with the Bronze Medallion in 2019, and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Colmes</span> American broadcaster (1950–2017)

Alan Samuel Colmes was an American radio and television host, liberal political commentator for the Fox News Channel, and blogger. He was the host of The Alan Colmes Show, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show distributed by Fox News Radio that was broadcast throughout the United States on Fox News Talk on Sirius and XM. From 1996 to 2009, Colmes served as the co-host, along with Sean Hannity, of Hannity & Colmes, a nightly political debate show on Fox News Channel. Beginning in 2015, Colmes supplied the voice of The Liberal Panel on Fox News Channel's The Greg Gutfeld Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brit Hume</span> American political commentator (born 1943)

Alexander Britton Hume, known professionally as Brit Hume, is an American journalist and political commentator. He had a 23-year career with ABC News, where he contributed to World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Nightline, and This Week. Hume served as the ABC News chief White House correspondent from 1989 to 1996.

<i>Outfoxed</i> 2004 documentary film

Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism is a 2004 documentary film by filmmaker Robert Greenwald about Fox News Channel's and its owner's, Rupert Murdoch, promotion of conservative views. The film says this bias belies the channel's motto of being "Fair and Balanced".

Mary Alice Mapes is an American journalist, former television news producer, and author. She was a principal producer for CBS News, primarily the CBS Evening News and primetime television program 60 Minutes Wednesday. She is known for the story of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal, which won a Peabody Award, and the story of Senator Strom Thurmond's unacknowledged biracial daughter, Essie Mae Washington. In 2005, she was fired from CBS for her part in the Killian documents controversy.

John David Gibson is an American radio talk show host. As of September 2008, he hosts the syndicated radio program The John Gibson Show. He formerly co-hosted the weekday edition of The Big Story on Fox News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Kurtz</span> American journalist and author (born 1953)

Howard Alan Kurtz is an American journalist and author and host of Media Buzz on Fox News.

Jeff B. Cohen is an American journalist, media critic, professor, and the founder of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a media watchdog group in the US. He is a retired associate professor of journalism at Ithaca College, where he was an endowed chair and founding Director of the Park Center for Independent Media. He was formerly a lawyer for the ACLU and authored or coauthored five books that criticize media bias, mainly written with 2012 California Congressional District 2 candidate, Norman Solomon, who missed the "top two" runoff by only 174 votes. Between 1997 and 2002, Cohen was a regular commentator for Fox News Channel's Fox News Watch, for MSNBC and CNN. He appeared in Outfoxed, a documentary critical of Fox News, and other documentaries.

Eric Burns is an American author, playwright, media critic, and former broadcast journalist.

Jonathan Arthur Scott is an American television news anchor who hosts Fox Report Weekend on Fox News. Also, Scott is the lead anchor for any breaking news each weekend. Jon Scott longtime co-anchored Happening Now on Fox News until the network expanded America's Newsroom from 2 hours to 3, ending the show in June 2018 after 11 years of being on air. Scott was also the host of Fox News Watch, a program that in September 2013 was replaced by the similar format Media Buzz, which is hosted by Howard Kurtz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox News controversies</span> Allegations of bias at Fox News and other controversies

Fox News is an American basic cable and satellite television channel currently owned by Fox Corporation. Since its inception by Rupert Murdoch's original News Corporation in 1996, it has been the subject of several controversies and allegations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Pinkerton</span> American writer and political analyst

James "Jim" P. Pinkerton is an American columnist, author, and political analyst.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neal Gabler</span> American journalist (born 1950)

Neal Gabler is an American journalist, writer and film critic.

In mid-2011, out of a series of investigations following up the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal of 2005–2007, a series of related scandals developed surrounding other News Corporation properties—where initially the scandal appeared contained to a single journalist at the News of the World, investigations eventually revealed a much wider pattern of wrongdoing. This led to the closure of the News of the World on 10 July 2011, an apology by Rupert Murdoch in an advertisement in most British national newspapers, and the withdrawing of News Corporation's bid to take over the majority of BSkyB shares it did not own.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media coverage in conjunction with the news media phone hacking scandal</span>

This is a chronological list of key newspaper articles that made significant new public disclosures about the illegal acquisition of confidential information by news media companies.

Media Buzz is an hour-long news media criticism program hosted by Howard Kurtz. The show airs live on Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM and generally discusses politics and pop culture issues from a moderate perspective.

<i>Infamous Scribblers</i> 2006 nonfiction history book

Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism is a book by Eric Burns, a journalist and historian, about the American press in the country's early history. The first edition of Infamous Scribblers was published in 2006. Another edition was printed in 2007.

References

  1. SteveK (February 8, 2008). "Eric Burns Out at Fox News Watch". TVNewser . Mediabistro Inc.
  2. Stelter, Brian (June 20, 2013). "Howard Kurtz, CNN's Media Critic, Leaves for Fox News". The New York Times . Retrieved June 20, 2013.
  3. Burns, Mike (July 24, 2010). "Fox News' media critics deflect blame from Fox News on Sherrod story". Media Matters for America.
  4. Gertz, Matt (April 18, 2010). "Fox News' media critics ignore recent Hannity, O'Reilly scandals". Media Matters for America.
  5. Neiwert, David (July 11, 2011). "Fox's 'News Watch' program discusses everything BUT the Murdoch phone-hacking scandal". Crooks and Liars.
  6. "Fox News Watch Does Damage Control For Parent Company, Blames Phone Hacking On "Tabloid Culture"". Media Matters for America. August 7, 2011.
  7. "FOX News Watch : FOXNEWSW : July 16, 2011 11:30am-12:00pm PDT". July 16, 2011.