Fox Business Network will downplay opinion

John Rash, who writes a weekly column for the Minneapolis Star Tribune on the media, writes that Fox Business Network will downplay opinion — something that is used to attract readers at the Fox News Channel.

Rash wrote, “When News Corporation’s Rupert Murdoch was buying the Journal, critics said they feared that Murdoch’s mostly conservative views might color the news columns. As for whether the Fox Business Network will have a partisan persona, the nature of the content may mitigate against it.

“‘This is about investment, as opposed to politics,’ said Mark Bergen, professor and chairman of marketing at the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. ‘The finance community has a playing ground that is exchange-oriented, which is rational and has a set of rules. The market mechanism is faster than the broader social mechanism.’

“In other words, political arguments are often unproved. Financial ones have an objective balance sheet.

“Which network to watch will be up to viewers. Whether to watch just one is another matter, with many key financial players cautious about relying on only one information source. ‘I like to diversify my information portfolio just as we advise people to diversify their investment portfolio,’ mused Art Rolnick, senior vice president and director of research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.”

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