Fair and Balanced, My Ass!: An Unbridled Look at the Bizarre Reality of Fox News

Fair and Balanced, My Ass!: An Unbridled Look at the Bizarre Reality of Fox News
by Joseph Minton Amann, Tom Breuer

Fair and Balanced, My Ass!: An Unbridled Look at the Bizarre Reality of Fox News
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Book Summary Information

Author: Joseph Minton Amann, Tom Breuer
Edition: Paperback
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2007-04-05
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Nation Books

Book Reviews of Fair and Balanced, My Ass!: An Unbridled Look at the Bizarre Reality of Fox News

Book Review: Fox News Isn't Fair and Balanced? No Way!
Summary: 4 Stars

Written as a response to the supposed "Fair and Balanced" nature of Fox News, this book offers a humorous look at the strange and unusual galaxy known as Fox News. As many already know, Fox News likes to promote itself as an unbiased news network that presents all sides fairly. But as anyone can see with minimal effort, the various programs on Fox News are anything but fair and balanced. They feature guests who are partial to the Republican position on the issues; openly state their preferences for conservative positions; and corner guests who try to express an opposing opinion by refusing to let them state their positions clearly. The world of Fox News is a world tainted by bias, even though the network swears the opposite is true.

Authors Amann and Breuer have been hot on the Fox News trail for some time and they have contributed to other publicans about Fox News and its interesting personalities. In this book, they take direct aim at everyone on Fox News, from Sean Hannity to Geraldo Rivera to John Gibson. Each of these individuals is responsible for contributing to the Fox News culture, and each is examined in this book. The authors talk about the techniques used by Fox News to get the answers they want and to make certain guests look foolish. They talk about the constant use of religion and other taboo subjects to get the attention of viewers and how many of these methods demonstrate the hypocrisy so common on this network.

This book is at its best in Part 2 when it offers its take on the different people who host the programs on Fox News and some of their more outrageous opinions. This part of the book examines the television anchorsds and some of the sillier statements they have made over the years, letting the reader hear the actual words spoken by these guys as they press forward with their respective agendas. The inclusion of quotes and interviews between Fox News personnel and their guests are quite revealing, and they demonstrate not only the bias on Fox News but also the weirdness, the arrogance, and the offensive nature of all things Fox.

Authors Amann and Breuer are quite funny men, and they include humor throughout the book. Some of their humor hits a little below the belt and might be considered over the top by some readers. I found it entertaining, but I also got a little tired of it from time to time. What I don't like is the book's tendency to add a lengthy humorous introductions and endings to so many of the books sentences. It makes the book seem too cluttered after a while. It would have been better if the humor had been a little more limited, because the overall message of this book is a serious one even if it is drowning in sarcastic humor.

Fox News is an interesting phenomenon and this book offers a humorous look inside the popular news network with all its various biases and agenda- driven strategies. I will still watch Fox News periodically when I'm in the mood for a good laugh, but not when I want to hear some serious news. This book offers some funny anecdotes to the Fox News method and its interesting personalities, complete with quotations and explanations of the more ridiculous incidents that have taken place on Fox over the years and the more extreme positions held by the men who call the shots as hosts. It's a fun book that exposes the irrational world of Fox News and how it uses specific techniques to give its viewers what they want, rather than providing objective, unbiased news.

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