Fox News holds back Ron Paul Revolution

Andrew Nenow is a wine and viticulture sophomore and Mustang Daily conservative columnist.

This week’s column may seem a bit odd to some people. It may even seem odd enough that you may check the heading to make sure this is a conservative column. Nonetheless, it goes off of a point I made back in my first article as a columnist: Conservatives are different from Republicans.

It also has to do with my continued belief in the media’s inability to produce unbiased news on television. The more I watch all news channels, the more I see the angles being worked, and it is simply not fair to Americans who are simply trying to be up to speed on what is occurring in this crazy world.

My most recent annoyance in the media may come as a surprise — it was not CNN. Nope, this time it was Fox News that messed up. In a way, Fox News’ rhino, neo-conservative ways are hurting the right in ways they may not understand.

In many respects, Fox News and I see much more eye-to-eye than other news outlets such as NPR or CNN, but I still have my problems with Fox and how bullheaded it is on specific issues. The most recent annoyance has to due with possible U.S. presidential candidate Representative Ron Paul.

In the 2008 Republican primary, Paul gained a substantial amount of support behind his “Ron Paul Revolution.” Although he did not win the primary, he gained significant name recognition and supporters for the 2012 elections.

This momentum has continued to grow, giving the moderate Republican an even better chance to win the primary this time around. The only problem is Fox does not seem to believe in the Ron Paul Revolution.

At the 2011 CPAC straw poll, Paul was announced the winner of the debate by the judges. Those who watched Fox News’ footage of Paul’s victory heard a myriad of boos and were convinced the crowd was unhappy with the decision. In reality, Paul was given a standing ovation for his victory.

Fox News deliberately played audio from the 2010 debate in place of the 2011 results. Instead of the cheers of 2011 Paul supporters, the boos of 2010 Mitt Romney supporters were heard, causing a misleading perception of Paul’s support.

So why did Fox do this? Paul may be what they need to take on Obama and the Democratic party. The truth is Paul does not fit in Fox’s narrow vision of what it means to be on the right.

For this very reason Fox continues to leave Paul out of the discussion as a potential candidate in the Republican primary. A couple of weeks ago I turned to Fox for a list of potential candidates in the primary, but found a list that excluded the representative from Texas.

Fox, much like other news outlets, are narrow-minded rhinos that make getting unbiased news terribly difficult in this country. It is frustrating for people like me, but it also creates a great rift within our society.

By not providing news as raw facts, people are forced to pick a side. They have to choose either Fox or CNN (to speak in general terms) and eventually learn to despise the other side.

I urge everyone reading this to seek news from a variety of sources and form your own opinion on the issue. A multitude of opinions and angles are put into every story, but this American believes you should not be told how to think about something.