Details on the ITC’s Decisions Re: Fox News and “Due Impartiality”…

Do you recall seeing a small article in the British press (see mediafrenzy posts of June 20 and June 26) indicating that the Independent Television Commission cleared Fox News of charges that it was not broadcasting with the requisite ‘due impartiality’ during its coverage of the Iraq War?

I just got off the phone with an ITC official and received the following details on the Fox News decisions:

Fox News basically met the due impartiality test because it is a ‘rolling news channel’ (unlike, for example, a half-hour news program) and included other points of view. The 9 complaints about Fox’s coverage were very specific, but generally did not take into account that, for example, a few minutes earlier or later, Fox gave coverage to a peace march (albeit with wry comments), or similar anti-war story. Even in situations where there was only one person being interviewed by Fox, the network usually challenged any speaker, thus implying that there are other points of view.

Fox did not give opponents of the war ‘an easy ride’ but did cover their views. Similarly, while Fox’s anchors tended to be more opinionated about the war, and the network often displayed the U.S. flag, ITC took those factors into account primarily as cultural variations, and did not believe that it would be fair to ask Fox News to amend its style (aimed primarily at a U.S. audience) to account for its few thousand British viewers.

I was also told that ITC believes that television news viewers are getting more sophisticated with media literacy and tend to ‘know what they are getting’ from their news sources. ITC takes this social factor into account. The recent precedent of Med TV was distinguished because, according to the ITC, that network was basically inciting racial hatred and had become a mouthpiece for a political organization.

I’m just paraphrasing the ITC official, of course, but I thought the agency had a very enlightened approach. I don’t like this form of content regulation to begin with, but if it must be done, then this approach seems logical and fair.