Shepard Smith: Fox News opinion hosts 'don't really have rules'

Shepard Smith: Fox News opinion hosts 'don't really have rules'

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/378631-shepard-smith-fox-news-opinion-hosts-dont-really-have-rules

Fox News anchor Shepard Smith says opinion programming on his network doesn't "really have rules" and exists "strictly to be entertaining," in an interview published Thursday.

"Some of our opinion programming is there strictly to be entertaining," Smith told Time Magazine's Daniel D'Addario in a piece titled, "Shep Smith Has the Hardest Job on Fox News."

“We serve different masters," Smith, 54, added when discussing the difference between the opinion side of Fox News, including shows such as "The Sean Hannity Show," and the network's news division. "We work for different reporting chains, we have different rules. They don’t really have rules on the opinion side. They can say whatever they want. If it’s their opinion."

Well that explains why they've gone full Infowars on us. Glad Shep is still there to give them a sliver of credibility.

We need a new word for these outlets. Newsertainment? Mock News?

What does the Onion call itself?

They definitely have a type: old white male. Average age of viewer is 66, male, and white.

They sit in their retirement homes with this on the TV and watch it all day, just pumping fear and paranoia and false information into their brains.

And, sadly, this age group votes. Every time. All the time. These old farts are the ones making policy. And it's not so much that I think they should vote less, I just think the other demographics need to vote more.

Are they really there to entertain? Shows like Daily Show and Colbert Report and Bill Maher are political entertainment. Conservatives typically go out there and try to scare the shit out of everyone into their way of thinking.

Shepard Smith is a good news anchor. He must be somewhat of a masochist to work at Fox though.

Totally agree. I think he's actually pretty good.

Actually he's surprising considering he's on Fox.

Yup, he certainly isn't a purveyor of fake news unlike others on the network.

Im suprised he still has a job. You wouldnt think they would want a free thinker.

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/378843-shepard-smith-announces-previously-planned-vacation-amid-hannity-ingraham-spat

rofl.

Fox News chief news anchor Shepard Smith announced Friday afternoon he was taking a "previously-planned one-week vacation" and joked that when he returns "everything will be peachy-keen & hunky-dory."

The announcement comes just hours after fellow Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham slammed Smith as "clueless" about what the opinion side of the network does and for making "inconsiderate and inaccurate" statements about prime-time Fox programs.

You think any of the other media outlets are any different? If it comes as a shock to you, i have a small bridge for sale, you just have to come pick it up yourself near London.

@Jacanuk: I lol at these morons who think CNN is any better.

Yep, these 24/7 news channels have maybe 15% real news the rest is opinions there to entertain people.

Yes, many other media outlets are better. That doesn't mean they are good though. Being better than FOX isn't exactly a high bar.

CNN is better. Just not by much, sadly. They don't really have their full Alex Jones mode cartoon characters like FOX does. This is the issue at hand. They also make a higher amount of inaccurate statements as well. Their viewers are less informed. They are less trusted.

False equivalencies are bad, mkay?

I personally use BBC, NPR, PBS, The Guardian, WSJ, WaPo, and NYT.

@zaryia: Saying CNN is bad isnt a FALSE equivalencie. Its everybit as bad from false statements to Don Lemons meltdowns. Its horrible.

I never said this. Straw-man arguments are bad. Don't be Shapiro.

I'm saying CNN isn't as bad as FOX.

I'm really surprised he hasn't been fired yet. He's called his own network out for fake news so many times. He's a good reporter and Fox news needs a lot more reporters like him.

This. SO MUCH THIS. We MUST vote. All age groups. I truly believe it should be a class c felony not to vote. So much of our country is apathetic when it comes to the polls but so boisterous when it comes to opinions.

One thing I will give Pres. Trump's base credit for... they go to the polls.

funny. the people with the most say in the policies affecting the future of the country are those LEAST likely to be around to see them come into fruition..

maybe at age 70 your vote should get cut in half?

If we were smart about it, yeah, but that is also soulless. There are a lot of things we "should" be doing because it sounds like a good idea on paper, but there are better alternatives that don't require us losing our humanity and compassion.

And not just voters, but lawmakers and so forth are old, too: average age of congress is 57; average age of the Senate is 61. These are people nearing retirement. And while I do believe in respecting our elders, I don't think that is an unconditional thing as it is in other cultures.

In this case, just get out and vote; I would like to think we would try to get voter participating up to or beyond 90% before we start saying "maybe these old farts don't deserve a full vote" :P

Hmm....a lot of the policies affect you more as you age. Also if you do that then you can't tax them. Isn't the rational for our break with the UK representation? You can argue any demographic isn't going to have the same concerns as others. That doesn't mean we silence them.

not silencing them, just dialing down the volume :)