University Students Told FOX is Not a Valid News Source

A professor drops the prohibition on citing the network after being criticized for bias

The kids at a West Virginia college being told that the Onion is not a valid source for research assignments can live with that. But FOX News?

West Liberty University political science professor Stephanie Wolfe has been criticized for prohibiting her students from utilizing the country's foremost conservative news network in their coursework. And while the ban has since been lifted in light of that criticism, the act is seeing students and parents alike accusing Wolfe of blatant bias.

"Fox News makes me cringe," says the professor, allegedly, in her assignment criteria. It's an admission that's unbecoming of a representative of West Liberty University, claimed campus president Robin Capehart.

"Any attempt to limit the breadth of a student's ability to investigate is obviously something at which we have a concern," said Capehart. "One of our values at West Liberty is to encourage students to go out and inquire and gather information, and look at as many different sources as possible on any side before you reach your opinion."

Via WTOV.

Is blatant political bias a big problem on university campuses?

[jessejaymes]

The man is on the money. He could have also said the same thing about MSNBC. What's the problem here?

[One_and_Only]

Exactly

[drpeeper]

And watch ABC NBC CBS CNN PBS- All are left bias with TONS of examples on a day to day basis.

They play us all for fiddles. Or Fools.

[drpeeper]

If you want examples of liberal media bias, Newsbusters.org . All there in context. Quite entertaining.

Yes, there's Mediamatters..who's only job is to attack Rush & Fox. Newsbusters has to go after the rest.

[CPT_Ethanolic]

There is no "liberal bias" in the media. What there is is a tendency to report the easy and the inflammatory and to let 2 people yelling at each other substitute as debate.

[bsking]

@drpeeper they're only doing what they're told the White House

[jessejaymes]

Sorry, the woman is on the money.

[mtkopf]

Its like using the National Enquirer as a legitimate news source.

[Medicinebow]

@mtkopf Yeah, that MSNBC and the rest of the MSM is questionable. One thing is for sure....they ALL slant the news in one fashion or another.

[InjusticeSucks]

@mtkopf Hahahha But every Knuckle Dragging Hubba says their Americas only true News Agency...Always Fair and Unbalanced.

[Calfkiller]

@InjusticeSucks Every whiny liberal starts screaming fascism everytime Fox is brought up in a discussion. They are more fair and balanced than CNN or MSNBC. Any one with any common sense would not allow themselves to be limited to one source, it almost always slants one way or the other eventually. Humans aren't capable of being un biased in my opinion.

[frigginhell]

@Calfkiller No, they are not more fair and balanced than CNN. They are about the same as MSNBC and marginally better than Mother Jones or the National Review. Go ahead and add all of those along with the dailykos and w/e other rags you can think of. CNN might suck but it has less slant than Fox. They just don't say exactly what you want to hear. MSNBC is exactly like FOX. What do you expect from a news corporation built by a guy who got rich selling tabloids.

[Realthinker]

The issue is easily settled. Watch Fox, then switch to one of the other networks and compare the coverage. Make up your own mind. If Fox is lying, as some claim, identify the lie. The professor should have nothing to worry about if Fox is as bad as she says.

[harold_lloyd]

Watch RT, then watch the same story on another network. See if RT tells actual lies, or just shades things to make the US look as bad as possible.
RT is the Russian version of Fox, and they don't know the cold war is over.

[methinks]

Perfect example is the MSLSD over reaction buffoonery coverage of the Marco Rubio's water drinking. Rachel Mannow and Rev Al were all over it...in fact, they showed that clip on MSLSD 155 times in one day, compared to Fox with only 12.

The MSM is trying to do to Rubio what they did to Romney, overplay a clip and marginalize the person in an effort to deflect away from the real issues of the BS from the POTUS at the SOTU.

[Realthinker]

@methinks I think the White House has ordered the msm to destroy Rubio, and he isn't the only target. The Democrats have an entire list of conservatives they intend to ruin.

[methinks]

@Realthinker Just wait for the fat attacks on Christie...oh wait, the Clinton's WH doctor already fired the first shot...he might die in office.

Attack and marginalize.

The 2016 election will be uglier than this last one! Just wait and see.

You haven't seen how much they'll be foaming at the mouth!

[cpeter133]

@Realthinker Even if that were true, how the hell would that differ from the GOP's (especially the teabagger's) efforts to destroy democrats since obama started running in the first election?

[mimi57]

HAhahahahahahahaha!!! FOX NEWS # 1 for 11 years straight...too bad the radical
professors can't change it, it's not because they aren't trying, that's for sure.

[marine1]

exactly why they don't like fox, they feel the pain ($$$$) of being #2,3,&4

[Fishbone345]

There are a lot of things that are #1. There is no accounting for taste. I still think the Net is the way to go for news.

[dances-weebles]

most people who listen to faux do so for the laughs. they don't do news... they are a commentary station.

[harold_lloyd]

@dances-weebles
I sure wish that were true, but most of them are old folks who have their TV tuned to Fox all day long. They don't have exposure to anything else, so guiding their perceptions and opinions is pretty easy to do.

[harold_lloyd]

Fox News does as well as it does in the ratings because a bunch of retirees have it on all day. It's sort of a subliminal assault on their weakening minds.

[mimi57]

LOL...and from West Virginia, the state the Libs make fun of for being 'red neck
hillbillies', Gee, I wonder what they'll have to say about it now...will they put it up
there with Harvard?..Ummm...

[methinks]

Funny you say that, Mimi. Dr. Funklestein is from WV! Too funny.

[bsking]

@methinks you better be careful he's no coward.. REALLY HE'S NOT A COWARD..lmfao ;-O «««« ( that's my Cory Booker impression)

[Rocker]

For the little while I was in college (70's), we were not allowed to use any television as a source of information. The source had to be published, reputable, and recognized. Has things changed since then?? Unless it is something of a Journalism class or something. They still can't use cartoons though..... right??

[mimi57]

@Rocker I don't know, isn't Chris Matthews a cartoon character?..

[Rocker]

@mimi57 - I'm probably showing my red neck but I don't even know enough about the guy to respond. I watch precious little TV and certainly not from those who attempt to steer me which way to think. Like I suspect you are - just give me the facts and I'll think for myself. Bear in mind that I don't have that much to work with in that department. LOL.

[Jim49418]

So,.......they can only use MSNBC as a valid news source?

LOL

[marine1]

valid would be an inappropriate word..:-)

[Thunderchicken]

I've been a news junkie for a long time. What I see in Fox's news shows is more straight forward reporting than I've seen since Walter Cronkite retired. Admittedly Fox's opinion shows are biased but that's why they are opinion shows. However America Live, The Fox Report or Fox News Sunday are head and shoulders above what I've seen on any other network.

[Waynestew]

ALL Fox show are opinion shows. Lmao @ U

[MikeC]

haaaahaahahahahaaaahaaaaaaa! Stop it! Stop it please....you are so damn funny. Please tell us another joke!

[PoliticalSpice]

I'll give you Fox News Sunday is informative, but it isnot reporting anymore the face the nation or meet the press. But most of fox mews hannity, oreilly, etc. is trash...

[Thunderchicken]

@PoliticalSpice

O'Reilly etc are opinion shows. As is the second half of Sunday. But Fox's real news shows have little opinion to them unless it's a debate.

Want a laugh? Watch any Fox show and then read the reviews on Newshounds.

http://www.newshounds.us/

[PoliticalSpice]

@Thunderchicken Not so. When they ran footage of that pedophile congressman foley from florida and the story of the idaho senator craige arrested in the mens room they ran a (D) next to both names until forced to correct them. That is disinformation, a technique recommended by gobbles. Fox does not run news, it runs a propaganda operation. I have watched it (presently I have no cable news stations, but I did watch it in the past).

[FollowTheMoney]

Well, it's not a valid news source. But then, none of them are. Unless you witnesses the news yourself, you can't know if what you hear is true. Myself, I check several different sources, then try to read between the lines. It sucks because I've become such a cynic. I've found that if I follow the money, It usually leads to the truth. Hence, my moniker. ;-] Profit motivates, and power equals money.

[jessejaymes]

Follow the money, always follow the money.

and

RE-ELECT NOBODY 2014

[harold_lloyd]

You probably have a fairly objective view of the world, and that's good.
The problem with Fox isn't that they are biased, because any news source is biased in some way, but that the bias of Fox News is no accident, it a plan.

[FollowTheMoney]

@harold_lloyd Oh sure it's a plan, they target a demographic. A demographic that they feel will give them the highest share of the market. But then, they all do. It's all about the money, the truth is secondary.

[harold_lloyd]

@FollowTheMoney
Not in every case.
Check out BBC, VOA, and PBS. Also France 24 and NHK World.
None of them are compelled by a need to make a profit.

[harold_lloyd]

@FollowTheMoney
Oh, and when I say a 'plan', I don't mean an ordinary business plan, I mean a nefarious plot to steer public opinion according to the wishes of their owner, Rupert Murdoch.

[tomincali]

my grand son has only one professor who is not a lib his business class.

[AceLuby]

That's because in your narrow view anyone who disagrees w you on anything is automatically a 'lib'. No surprise there...

[WMCOL]

Easy to tell FOX News is not fair and balanced by how popular it is. Real news cuts both ways and alienates both sides equally. It's just the way real news is. Fox has a little real news but not enough to attract serious news viewers.

[OhWiseOne]

MSNBC and CNN both employ racists. Fox does not. MSNBC and CNN both push a radical agenda that is far from America's traditional values. Fox pushes a more traditionalist agenda. O' Reilly and Hannity frequently have guests that disagree with them. Ed Schultz and Randy Maddow rarely have guests on that disagree with them. Fox is by far the most fair and balanced of any news network.

[Fitz]

Fox News is fair and balanced. they tell both sides therefore creating derision. People love seeing fighting , arguing etc.. therefore showing why it is so popular.

[WMCOL]

@Fitz
What confuses some folks, and one has to watch carefully, is Fox gives both sides of an issue by telling the viewer what Fox says is the other side, not how the other side defines itself. And Rush is a master at describing the other side inaccurately, same as MSNBC and FOX---misrepresenting who and what the other side believes. CNN does not put words in either sides mouth, the sides define themselves and CNN just reports it.

FOX also tends to broadcast only that which shows conservative side position and ignores the liberal side. Unfair and unbalanced by omission, and to the uninitiated listener who believes the same way and does not question EVERYTHING, no matter where it comes from, it all sounds very credible..

For example, conservatives started the lie that national debt when Obama took over in January 2009 was $10.7-trillion when in fact the actual official documents and records show it was $13-trillion. Then the right AND left report the lie and finally most of nation believes the lie that was designed by the GOP with a 2008-2009 Spending Measure in lieu of budget for specific purpose of demeaning and hurting Obama.

You'll hear both sides reporting the LIE of $6-trillion Obama debt, which is actually a little over $3-trillion, which is highest of any President because Obama took over highest obligations of any President.

But who's gonna research official documents and records? That's boring. Repeating someone's lies is more fun, and no one sells those lies better than FOX News.

[Fitz]

@WMCOL what I attested to illustrate was the ratings are high due to the Jerry Springer effect when both sides sort of collide.

[WMCOL]

@Fitz
Yeah that too, but I was comparing "hard news" to "hard news" and the subjectivity in choosing what and how to report. There is much less fair and balanced on FOX and much more fair and balanced on CNN. FOX has more opiinion/commentary shows than CNN. Hannity, O'Reilly, Fox and Friends type shows are not news shows. Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper type shows are news shows, as is Turning Point with Soledad Obrien Shep Smith on Fox is probably mostly hard news. CNN has few non-news shows compared to FOX, Piers Morgan is one of them. Brit Hume definitely gives a conservative view point with his reporting.

[2b1ask1]

I guess MSNBC is valid....You know, with the "tingle up the leg" and all....

[WMCOL]

MSNBC shill for the left and FOX shill for the right.

[harold_lloyd]

@WMCOL
What kills me is the number of people who believe half of that, but not the other half.

[DARSB]

There sure is a lot of sound and fury over a syllabus we haven't seen.

[PoliticalSpice]

Well I can see telling students fox news is not a valid news source. But as a class in political science they could use it to teach about contemporary political propaganda. Maybe even analyse it as compared with gobbels...

[DARSB]

@PoliticalSpice Have to invoke Godwin's Law on this statement. And it started out so well, too.

[PoliticalSpice]

@DARSB Ahh, your just being a nazi! LOL. True to the educator in you, I was forced to look up godwins law. Touche'

[marine1]

If not for fox, where would conservative news come from

[harold_lloyd]

If Fox were only a conservative news outlet, there would be no problem. But when you cross the line between information and propaganda, you lose your credibility and rightly so.

[marine1]

@harold_lloyd they do news AND op-ed both serve different purpose.

[harold_lloyd]

@marine1
What Fox calls news is what RT calls news. The rest of us call it propaganda.

[marine1]

@harold_lloyd how would you classify the view and oberman?

[harold_lloyd]

@marine1
I don't know for sure, I've never watched either one.
Actually, I guess that's an answer too.
I'd classify MSNBC as not a reliable news source.
Just like Fox.

[Dan_Tien]

I would discount all news agencies as valid sources for research assignments. At best, they might be used as signposts to look for valid sources.

[TheJimmy]

Sadly, this Wolfe woman is extremely unattractive which is exactly why she has a beef with FOXY news and it's fine stable of hotties in heels.

[Fishbone345]

Have to agree with that. The latter part, I can't judge this woman, I haven't even seen her.

[TheJimmy]

@Fishbone345 here 's your chance then:

http://chuckslowe.com/...

[Hireman]

FOX is definitely not news... But then again, I'm hard to find another network that IS nowadays.

[Vance1]

political science professor Stephanie Wolfe has an agenda, That agenda is to liberal indoctrinate young people, The agenda is to get young people to adopt the Gay is Ok and socialism is better than capitalism, Global warming is real,.Tax the Rich, Welfare State Police State.....Liberal agenda.
This is why the media doesnt report on the real news in the country, They give The Obama or any democrats a pass.
Until people realize that this is a problem, They surely will not hold these anti American leftist radicals accountable.

[jessejaymes]

Nice rant. But you left out the warning that true Patriots need to check under the bed for socialists before retiring for the night.

[creegah]

All these things that you mention ARE American. You are the one who isun-American

[harold_lloyd]

She's not trying to indoctrinate, but to vaccinate. She's helping them to see how biased news functions. That experience will serve them well to immunize them from the effects of propaganda designed to confuse and neutralize them.

[Starsplash]

This clown is turning into Neo. Someone stop the spread

[harold_lloyd]

Fox News is the propaganda arm of the Republican party, not a source of unbiased news coverage.

If you think otherwise, then Rupert Murdoch owns your brain and you don't have a clue.

Nothing in the foregoing makes any statement about MSNBC.

[creegah]

Everytime Hannity or O'Reilly are critisized for being untruthful they claim that they are ENTERTAINERS and not pure news people.

[AlexMIA]

They are! They are called pundits!

[Real4WheelDrv]

Exactly, sort of like a Politix poll several months ago, that lumped Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in with a list of "who's your favorite political pundit?" When everyone who defends every anti-Republican/anti-conservat ive word they say insists every time they're mentioned that "they're only entertainers it's not fair to include THEM as sources of political discussion" and in the same breath crowing because of a different poll that shows their viewers are some of the more informed voters out there. Can't have it both ways...on EITHER side.

[wonka45ACP]

America ! we finally know the truth about why our society is going to
"Hell in a handbasket" our educational system is teaching it. they are
teaching our children, how not ! to think for themselves. teaching them
its wrong to have their own opinion !!!

[harold_lloyd]

And Fox is different how?

If you want truth, watch the Daily Show. They are at least as unbiased as Fox, and a whole lot better at pointing out hypocrisy.

[wonka45ACP]

@harold_lloyd I Didn't defend fox, but now we see where it all starts.
let the students Define ! based on their own thoughts...

[harold_lloyd]

@wonka45ACP
The test of information is how well it helps you to predict the future.

The test of an information outlet is how closely what they tell you conforms to objective reality and helps to predict the future.

Students are being taught to apply those criteria to any outlet, and make up their own minds.

[wonka45ACP]

@harold_lloyd Ok the reality of an information outlet is a matter of ones individual
opinion.

[harold_lloyd]

@wonka45ACP
No, not true.
If unemployment goes up by .1%, that an objective fact.
If your outlet says that unemployent is up and it's Obama's fault, that's not so objective.
If you give me enough objective data, I'll be able to figure out if it's someone's fault for myself.