While at clients, I really try to avoid political discussions or even talking about subjects that divert sideways into politics. It's not because I'm not passionate about politics or that I feel people shouldn't give their views. It's because I believe the exact opposite. I am afraid if somebody asks me point blank about some issue, I will not be able to stop myself from offering an opinion. And because of where I live, there is a high probability that my client is a conservative. While I don't care if they have a differing viewpoint (everbody's money spends the same), I can't rely on them being as understanding.
Anyway, we were talking about a seemingly innocuous subject, high-definition televison. He had mentioned that our local NBC affiliate, Channel 12, had recently started broadcasting in HD. I said that was cool but I hadn't had a chance to check them out because I rarely watching network television. Like a true Republican, he immediately took this to mean that I didn't watch it because network news has a "liberal bias". It's funny how most conservatives automatically believe everyone believes the way that they do. They are genuinely surprised when someone has the audacity to disagree with them. While I don't necessarily feel that network news has a "conservative bias", I do feel that by not asking the probing questions, they have have inadvertantly become mouthpieces for the administration. That is why I don't watch, but I kept that to myself because I didn't want to start anything. So, he takes my silence as agreement and gets confident he has a captive audience. He then says that the only unbiased news you can get is on FOX News. After audibly choking, I had to compose myself. Under my breath, I said something about FOX News being the MOST biased news source and quickly tried to change the subject. At that point, he understood he didn't have a disciple and he was anxious to change the subject also. I have known him and his wife for a long time (she was the realtor that handled a couple of our home sales) and we have a pretty good relationship. Neither of us wanted to mess it up with a silly political disagreement. But I can't assume that other newer clients of mine would look at it that way. So, I try to be careful.
I'm not going to "dance" for anyone. I've left jobs for what I believed in. But by the same token, I'm not going to purposely try to sabotage myself and piss off a client for a throw-away political point.
On the subject of FOX News, this was not the first time that a watcher of that channel has said something that indicated they believed it to be the most reliable source. Hello, people, here's a red sign: if a station has to tell you that it is "fair and balanced", it probably isn't. I'm not sure which is worse, FOX for saying it or the vast legion of automatons for believing it. If you need any more evidence of FOX's bias and eithical sliminess, look no further than these recent events:
"Fox memo is 'smoking gun' proof of bias against Dems"
Murdoch scraps OJ Simpson 'confession' show
1 comment:
Like you, I really have to watch what I say. Thankfully at work, most people are like-minded - because I work in the liberal, mind-polluting field of higher education. But around my family, I have the same problem as you.
If anyone told me they thought FOX news was the most reliable, I think I would not be able to contain myself. I don't watch much network TV at all. I don't envy your position at all.
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