I have to say that I'm very disappointed with Fox News regarding their coverage of the Japan earthquake and the resulting nuclear crisis.
First of all, let me say that I'm a fan of Fox News as they seem to be the one news channel that "gets it." As a conservative Republican, they best match my political ideology but, more importantly, they seem to be the one channel that is "fair and balanced" just like their motto says. They seem to bend over backwards to bring in people with different political viewpoints and have a balanced debate on whichever issue is top of mind. They clearly have an agenda, but so does MSNBC who could care less about bringing in different viewpoints. CNN seems to be in the middle and not taking sides with anyone. I watch them second if I'm not watching Fox News.
My complaint about Fox News centers around their evening prime-time lineup. Of their three major night-time shows, only Greta Van Susteren is actually in Japan and reporting on what is happening there. Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are staying in-studio, but refer to Japan in passing. They are concentrating more on their usual political reporting, specifically NPR, the Wisconsin union debates and the budget impasse. These are all important topics -- and would be important to discuss in "normal" times -- but the Japan earthquake and tsunami are major international events with repercussions for all of us. The news crawl at the bottom of the screen is about the only earthquake news they show. To be fair, the Fox News daytime lineup is covering the earthquake and they have many reporters in Japan reporting on it. However, people who work during the day don't see this coverage and want to know the latest when they are home. Instead, they see John Stossel in front of the Capitol Building pulling a stunt that seems petty in light of the nuclear meltdown that may be happening overseas.
CNN has many reporters in Japan as well as two of their main anchors and seems to be providing the most informative coverage ... at least for these eyes.
I'll be curious to see the ratings over the next few days.
