Thursday, March 29, 2007

Why I don't read Fox News

Unlike most of the people who do not like Fox News, my problem lies not with its political leanings (slightly to the right of center), but with some of the less-polished productions it offers.

Take, for example, this story, about a pair of unusual weather features recently discovered on Saturn. The article is interesting, but two phrases struck me as inappropriate for a straight news article, especially one dealing with scientific issues.

Instead of the normally sinuous or circular cloud structures seen on all planets that have atmospheres, this thing is a hexagon.

"Thing"? I suppose that is better than "whatchamacallit", but not any more appropriate.

At Saturn's south pole, Cassini recently spotted a freaky human eye-like feature that resembles a hurricane.

"Freaky" is a word I could accept in a high-school newspaper, but not something produced by (and for) adults.

CNN, AP, AFP, Reuters, et al have their shortcomings (left-wing and/or anti-Israeli bias runs rampant through their political reporting), but sub-par writing is not one of them. They may miss the story or distort it beyond recognition, but their misreporting is at least well-written. I hope Fox gets with the program, because they are not yet ready for prime time.

posted at 11:38 AM | permalink | Comments (0)