Fox News drops ‘fair and balanced’ slogan after twenty-plus years
As first reported by New York Magazine, the cable news network is dropping “fair and balanced” as one of its primary slogans, and has done so over the past several months. The network proclaims in a statement that “the shift has nothing to do with programming or editorial decisions.” It appears to be more so the result of the association that is there between the statement and network founder Roger Ailes, who boasted about the slogan for many years and viewed it to be one of the main calling cards for Fox and who they are as a network. This said slogan came under fire many times over the past twenty years, with many feeling as though “fair and balanced” was not actually an accurate depiction of the network’s right-leaning viewpoint on many stories. Nonetheless, they often chose to stand by it as some sort of defense.
Now, the network seems to be shifting more towards the “Most Watched. Most Trusted.” moniker that it has sported in the past and the present. One part of that is inarguable — when looking at their broadcasts over the course of a full day, there are not any other networks out there in cable news that generate the same sort of ratings.
Ultimately, does the name really matter all that much? We don’t quite think so, since what this really does more so than anything else is rotate the tires. This is such a divided time for America and the world that there is probably not a single person who is going to start watching Fox News because they are using a different slogan. Meanwhile, there won’t be any viewers who depart over the slogan, either. Their viewership is what their viewership is, and the only thing that could probably alter it at this point are some changes to the overall roster.
What do you think about the change in slogan, or do you really care about such things when it comes to the network at all? Be sure to share some of your thoughts in the comments. (Photo: Fox.)