Here's one.

my educated guess is that the Commission will have to solicit public comments first.  they did the same thing wit the russian propaganda channel.

I don't believe in banning something, even RT.  I would be okay with disclaimers on channels like these explaining what viewers will see.  I still want to see it because its good to know what other people consuming.

If Fox News was banned here, Pierre Poilievre and the convoy crew would be on 5 minutes later talking about tyranny under Justin Trudeau.  If you don't like something, just watch something else.  It's very simple.
 

paterson1 wrote:

I can change up to 10 channels anytime without any difference of rate, and I have picked up Fox News Channel and MSNBC on occasion.  Don't really like either of them.  Too one sided, too repetitive, too much opinion, and not much news.  Both are preaching to the converted.  However of the two Fox is absolutely the worst. It is about time that someone took them to court. 

CNN is in last place in the US for a group of news channels that all have lousy ratings. To me they seem to be the only news channel that is trying to be closer to the middle.  CNN also has by far the best special programming and documentaries.
 

If you're referring to flex channels at Rogers, give CNN International a try instead of CNN.    It's really good compared to the rest of the US news stations because during the daytime it has it's own feed from Europe etc. so all the US political clap trap is missing.    Note that they return to CNN's feeds during the evening.

As for Fox News?    I say keep it because as far as I've heard in the past, their ratings suck big.   They're miniscule in Canada.    The good thing about the CRTC reveiw is that Fox should be put on notice by as many broadcasting authorities as possible regarding their proliferation of fake news and deceptive content.   They were shown the door in the UK some time ago.

Last edited by SpinningWheel (May 5, 2023 9:06 am)

SpinningWheel wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

I can change up to 10 channels anytime without any difference of rate, and I have picked up Fox News Channel and MSNBC on occasion.  Don't really like either of them.  Too one sided, too repetitive, too much opinion, and not much news.  Both are preaching to the converted.  However of the two Fox is absolutely the worst. It is about time that someone took them to court. 

CNN is in last place in the US for a group of news channels that all have lousy ratings. To me they seem to be the only news channel that is trying to be closer to the middle.  CNN also has by far the best special programming and documentaries.
 

If you're referring to flex channels at Rogers, give CNN International a try instead of CNN.    It's really good compared to the rest of the US news stations because during the daytime it has it's own feed from Europe etc. so all the US political clap trap is missing.    Note that they return to CNN's feeds during the evening.

As for Fox News?    I say keep it because as far as I've heard in the past, their ratings suck big.   They're miniscule in Canada.    The good thing about the CRTC reveiw is that Fox should be put on notice by as many broadcasting authorities as possible regarding their proliferation of fake news and deceptive content.   They were shown the door in the UK some time ago.

Thanks SpinningWheel, flex channels, that's the term.  Yes I have notice CNN International and will check them out.  Didn't know that Fox News Channel was pulled in the UK,  I was trying to find what countries carry FNC and it was confusing.

A lot of postings seem to get blurred by Fox News Channel the one that everyone here knows and Fox News International which is an app and I assume is something else altogether.   So articles or information will say something like Fox News is available in 40 countries but it doesn't say if it is in fact the yappy mouthpiece channel or what they refer to as Fox News International which is not available in the US.  Maybe with Fox News International you also get the US news channel?

Generally I am not in favour of pulling the network here, simply because they have been available for decades and likely a more moderate version will come about as the lawsuits pile up and the elder Murdoch leaves this world. But if the public comes out strong in favour of yanking them from cable, most people likely won't miss them.

Has the FCC ever said anything about them?  They must receive a lot of complaints about FNC content from the US public.  Have they ever been fined for anything by the FCC?  Seems odd if they haven't.  Even though cable channels can get away with things like swearing and nudity if they wish, outright lying about news and making comments that many feel borders on hate speech should be at the very least be a big concern for the FCC.  They certainly aren't afraid to fine OTA radio and TV if they cross the line.. 

The air may belong to the people, but so does the internet

 

SpinningWheel wrote:

paterson1 wrote:

Thanks SpinningWheel, flex channels, that's the term.  Yes I have notice CNN International and will check them out.  Didn't know that Fox News Channel was pulled in the UK,  I was trying to find what countries carry FNC and it was confusing.

A lot of postings seem to get blurred by Fox News Channel the one that everyone here knows and Fox News International which is an app and I assume is something else altogether.   So articles or information will say something like Fox News is available in 40 countries but it doesn't say if it is in fact the yappy mouthpiece channel or what they refer to as Fox News International which is not available in the US.  Maybe with Fox News International you also get the US news channel?
 

To be more precise, Fox News itself made the decision to pull out of the U.K due to a lack of viewers.   A later idea in 2021 to create a Fox News UK channel was canned as well in favour of a streaming variant.

 

Interesting.  I remember when Sun News Channel was taking to the air, there were rumours that Fox was going to have a 20% interest in the channel and partner with programming but this also didn't happen. 

When the trucker convoy was in Ottawa, Tucker Carlson naturally made a big deal about this.  He went on and on welcoming all the new Canadian viewers that were now supposedly subscribing to FNC.  He even went as far as to encourage them to tell friends how to get the channel in Canada. 

It would still be interesting to see how they do rating wise here or how many subscribers they have.  

  Sorry but getting sick of the so called "woke" generation.  A few people want to run (ruin) the world and are given more chances than any other organization without a lot of merit.  Just change the channel.

MJ Vancouver wrote:

I agree. I don’t subscribe to the channel and I personally wouldn’t watch it, but we are a democracy and our government shouldn’t be censoring media.

Banning certain news sources just because some people don’t like it is a terrible precedent, and it’s a slippery slope. It’s the kind of thing I’d expect from North Korea or China, not a democracy like Canada.

re: "Banning certain news sources just because some people don’t like it is a terrible precedent"

BUT .. isn't there a difference between opinions/views one doesn't like, even detests .. vs .. knowingly broadcasting/reinforcing blatant lies "portrayed as news" for months/years? 

Very good point g121.

Where is the FCC in all of this.  Why do we never hear anything about the FCC commenting or being concerned regarding Fox News Channel and their proven deliberate lies and misinformation?

Surely the public has complained and voiced concerns to them like we see with the CRTC.  Turns out there is a reason why the FCC never says or does anything... More from NPR..
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/16/1163505593/tucker-carlson-regulate-cable-jan-6-security-tapes

Yes Obama had an executive order for a government wide review of regulations already on the books to eliminate unnecessary regulations.  More than 80 rules and regulations were struck from the Federal Registrar.  The FCC formally eliminated the Fairness Doctrine at this time.

As the NPR article says, another government agency, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is free to sue broadcasters/companies including those on internet, cable, even print and billboards for misleading advertising or outright lies on an ad.  So any company that broadcasts advertising in violation of the rules can be taken to federal court and sued by the FTC.  This is under the umbrella of truth in advertising.  

So it seems odd there is a real attempt by one government agency (FTC) for accuracy and truth backed by rules that apply to all media, including internet and cable. Those that violate the regs can be taken to court and sued with severe consequences.   But similar violations on cable channels or internet with lies and misleading news or opinion programming are ignored by another government agency, the FCC since they have no authority over cable.... Strange.

 

I use Clear This Page myself, thanks to finding out about it here, but unfortunately their version of newspaper items doesn't include info about the writer. So I think it's worth noting that this opinion piece was actually written by Star columnist Andrew Phillips. At https://www.thestar.com/authors.phillips_andrew.html, the Star states that he was once the editor of their editorial page, but that he is now a staff columnist for their Opinion page. I think that's an important distinction, in that he may now be expressing opinions there that could be different from the editorial position of the Star itself.

Last edited by Lorne (May 9, 2023 2:20 pm)

RadioActive wrote:

A fair point. Clear This Page usually cuts out the byline, although the URL clearly shows it's an opinion piece. But I'm sure most people don't look at that. The fact a Star writer takes the position is what's interesting to me. I'm sure no one at the paper supports anything about Fox, nor should they. It has proven itself to be anything but a "news" network.

But the fact at least one scribe at an admittedly very Liberal paper there thinks it should be left as a cable choice is a very good sign in these polarizing times. 

I think it is wrong to say "I'm sure no one at the paper supports anything about Fox."  Everyone that works at the Star is not Liberal or left leaning. The same with Fox not everyone is necessarily right or likes how the network covers the news.  Fox has had many high profile journalists like Chris Wallace and Shepard Smith leave since they couldn't handle the company ethics and direction any longer.  Even Rupert's son James quit the board because of this.    

The article in the Star presented a strong case why Fox News Channel should remain on cable.  And since the paper printed the piece and the comments are mostly in support of the article proves that The Star like all companies has different points of view. Personally I don't think the network should be banned either.  But if it is, I don't really care, and the network has no one to blame but itself. 

Fox News Channel will start to tone it down because at some point it will have no choice. It actually is not that popular.  The population of the US is 336.5 million.  Tucker on his best night could scrape together about 3.5 million viewers.  In the daytime Fox would struggle to hit 1.5-2 million people watching.  So in other words about 333 million American viewers were not watching Tucker on his best nights.

Fox News Channel's influence is diminished and will continue, especially when Rupert leaves.     
 

Last edited by paterson1 (May 9, 2023 11:29 am)

Vinay Menon in the Toronto Star has a good point, I think, as CNN may have gone too far in trying to turn its moribund ratings around. Talk about a deal with the devil...

CNN giving Donald Trump a town hall is a nightmare for journalism
https://clearthis.page/?u=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/opinion/2023/05/09/cnn-giving-donald-trump-a-town-hall-is-a-nightmare-for-journalism.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=thestar_entertainment 

RadioActive wrote:

Vinay Menon in the Toronto Star has a good point, I think, as CNN may have gone too far in trying to turn its moribund ratings around. Talk about a deal with the devil...

CNN giving Donald Trump a town hall is a nightmare for journalism
https://clearthis.page/?u=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/opinion/2023/05/09/cnn-giving-donald-trump-a-town-hall-is-a-nightmare-for-journalism.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=thestar_entertainment 

Unless Kaitlin Collins rips Trump to shreds, and she has the ability to do it, if they let her, we'll truly know what a farce and sham CNN has become.