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Fair and balanced

Fair and Balanced was a slogan used by the American news channel FOX News Channel, intended to promote the claimed neutrality of the network in comparison to the claimed "liberal bias" of traditional news sources. The slogan was originally used in conjunction with "Real journalism", though that slogan has now fallen out of favour, most likely due to the the derision heaped upon it by those (mostly of a liberal persuasion) who claim FOX is heavily conservatively biased.

Al Franken used the slogan in the subtitle for his book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them (A Fair And Balanced Look At The Right) on the subject of media bias, especially that allegedly present at the FOX News Channel. FOX immediately sued, claiming that it had a trademark on the phrase. FOX News dropped the lawsuit, after Judge Denny Chin refused Fox News' request for an injunction against author and comedian Franken's book.

In December, 2003, FOX News found itself on the other end of a legal battle concerning the slogan, when Alternet filed a cancellation petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to have FOX's trademark rescinded as "notoriously misdescriptive". Legal proceedings relating to Alternet's petition continued throughout 2004. Alternet included the documentary film Outfoxed as supporting evidence in its case.

The slogan most recently used in its place is "We report, you decide", a slogan which has also been criticised.

Last updated: 11-04-2005 03:22:58