Fox News is not fair and balanced; many people on campus have made that much clear to me. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard Fox News named as the best example of a biased news network on the air.

Unfortunately, the trend among most students and faculty on campus is to dub Fox News as the only biased network. People seem to forget about NBC, CNN, MSNBC, ABC and CBS, among others – not to mention almost all the major newspapers and magazines. Where do they fall on the political spectrum?

The answer is not very complicated: More often than not, these media outlets are examples of the liberal media defending itself and other liberals defending it.

Whether it’s Brian Williams of NBC’s Nightly News implying that several of the first presidents were terrorists or CBS’s Lee Cowan saying that Bush’s tax cuts make welfare agencies prove that their cause is worth it, the majority of media – other than Fox News – seems to be able to get away with being biased.

After Sept. 11, 2001, several of the major news networks accused Bush of possibly failing to take advance intelligence about the attacks into account. Similarly, in the wake of the devastation in New Orleans, several networks showed conflicting stories about whether Bush was warned about the levees breaking. These accusations were all unproven and produced by the media to taint the Bush administration’s image. It seems that the media is able to mix speculation with facts.

Such examples are too numerous to name. Even the choice of stories the newscasters run has become a joke; they are all tailored toward making Bush look bad. Stories of deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan plague the news, while the democratic elections and other positive events were almost completely forgotten.

I’ve heard the argument insisting that the media is not liberal and the denial that the newscasters themselves have liberal views. Ironically, some of the most diehard liberals I’ve come across won’t even admit they hold liberal views. Former CBS news producer Mary Mapes insisted that, “Well, I’m not sure what a liberal is. I’m more liberal than some people.”

People forget, or just didn’t know to begin with, that Fox News was created by Rupert Murdoch in 1996 allegedly to counter the increasingly liberal mainstream media. I believe Murdoch has accomplished his task.

Many people insist, however, that Fox News is outrageously biased but, again, these people fail to provide substantive proof. Fox News has aired interviews with people such as Rosie O’Donnell, who commented, “This President invaded a sovereign nation in defiance of the [United Nations]. He is basically a war criminal.”

In an age in which we have a Republican-dominated government, the liberal media has been trying increasingly hard to make the president look hypocritical and incompetent.

Is Fox News fair and balanced in respect to the other networks? No, it’s not – but the conservative bias of Fox News hasn’t even come close to compensating for the liberalism of the rest of the media.

Fox News is merely one small alternative to a large array of liberal news networks. While television stations are, in actuality, dominated by a leftward bias, conservative media finds its haven on the radio, which boasts many true sources of conservative news.

While I encourage those who view Fox News as a biased network to seek other media options, one must realize that the left-leaning majority that influences the lives of many Americans every day dwarfs the influence of Fox News. I think Army Cpt. Sherman Powell put it best when interviewed by NBC’s Today Show.

When Powell claimed morale was high for the troops in Iraq, his interviewer replied that there were “people at home wondering how that could be possible with the conditions you’re facing and with the attacks you’re facing. What would you say to those people who are doubtful that morale can be that high?” Captain Powell’s response was, “Sir, if I got my news from the newspapers also, I’d be pretty depressed as well.”

Michael Birrer is a sophomore in the College.