PJ: Britain has freedom of the press just like in the US but with a marked difference: the media in the UK can face 'censure' for inaccurate or untruthful reporting and the media must respect law enforcement during investigations. (In this case the Daily Mail was required to print the entire ruling against it which hurts the credibility of the paper: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/article-2072163/PCC-Adjudication-Upheld--Amanda-Knox.html)
In the US, there is not an official censure; the closest thing that they have is toothless 'fact checking' organizations and a few independent blogs that exist just to call out the media on their biased or inaccurate reporting such as News Hounds http://www.newshounds.us/ and Media Matters http://mediamatters.org/ who both focus on Fox News. It is true that most media outlets have an editorial bias but Fox is different because Fox pretends to be 'fair and balanced' which makes them quite different than The Nation (liberal) and The Weekly Standard (conservative) who make no excuse for their bias.
Fox News has promoted propaganda for their conservative cause to an extent never seen outside of state controlled media in totalitarian regimes. Without exception, they have become an unapologetic front for conservative talking points by promoting (not simply supporting)The Tea Party movement and by giving a platform for 'birther' conspirators (Donald Trump appears daily). Their hosts have said that the President of the United States (whose mother was white) hates white people (watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgpVQvqD1vQ) and (via Fox contributer Sarah Palin) that his 2011 SOTU address before Congress had many "WTF" moments. They falsely reported that the President "lied" about troups in Libya (see Fox's story about Libya: http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/09/13/fox_news_scoop_obama_lied_us_troops_are_on_the_ground_in_libya) and on numerous occasions they have insisted that his policies are destroying the country (http://nation.foxnews.com/mark-levin/2011/02/15/mark-levin-goes-nuclear-over-obama-destroying-country ). And they have repeatedly accused him of being a 'socialist' which ludicruously strikes the fear of an looming totalitarian regime in the hearts of their loyal viewers (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20048382-503544.html). What takes the cake is that they have falsely accused him of raising taxes when, in fact, he lowered them for about 90% of all Americans (http://mediamatters.org/research/201112210009).
Fox News has hired every Republican presidential wannabe they could find who uses its airwaves to disparage every policy, program and proposal that the President and First Lady have proposed from fighting obesity to helping working families to promoting veterans benefits. They have attacked the President's religious beliefs and have promoted people who have suggested that he is not a Christian and is instead a Muslim (as if that should make a differece but to Fox viewers it certainly does).
Most recently, Fox News has attacked the Obama administration, falsely accusing them of strong-arming the car maker Chrysler for its recent Super Bowl ad which praises the American spirit. (See the ad and read the background here: http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/its-halftime-in-america/?hp). The ad comes across as pro-Obama to some since his policies are credited with saving the US auto industry. Crysler and the star of the ad Clint Eastwood say that that simply is not true. They insist that the ad is meant to celebrate the American spirit and nothing more. But to Fox contributor Karl Rove, the positive message of the ad is nothing more than 'Chicago style politics' to promote the President's reelection bid. Would they be censured in the UK for this blantant attempt to defame and mislead? Maybe...maybe not. But one thing is crystal clear, in a world where the media is held to high standards, Fox News would be no stranger to the Censure.
Update: Watch this clip on "Greta Wire" and read the comments to see how 'fair and balanced' this broadcast from Fox News is: http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/video/gov-sarah-palin-on-the-record/
The Guardian
Daily Mail censured for fictional story about Amanda Knox verdict
The Press Complaints Commission has upheld a complaint against the Daily Mail for publishing the incorrect verdict in the Amanda Knox case.
The Mail's website reported that Knox has lost her appeal against her conviction for murdering Meredith Kercher when, in fact, she had been successful.
The article, published on 3 October, was live for 90 seconds, after which it was replaced with an article reporting the correct outcome.
In addition to the main thrust of the complaint - which concerned accuracy - the complainants were also concerned about additional elements of the reporting.
For the rest of the story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2011/dec/09/pcc-dailymail
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