Fox News: Fair & Balanced

[deacon blues]

Just watched a segment with Fox and Friends anchors Brian and Gretchen interview a Hofstra professor who was there to defend that Bill Ayers is a respected educator and that he had little bearing on the Obama campaign. The characterization that Fox is one-sided is a bunch of hooey. They simply bring the media coverage to the middle giving equal time to both sides something the rest of the mainstream media fail to do.

CNNs best shows, Crossfire and The Capital Gang, shows that offered balanced views got axed years ago. MSNBC got rid of Tucker Carlson and added Rachel Maddow to the Matthews and Olbermann line up. The only balanced show on MSNBC is Morning Joe. Joe and Pat Buchanan balance out Mika and Mike Barnacle or Andrea Mitchell.

FNC has Hannity and O'Reilly (although I have seen Bill skewer conservatives) on the right. They have Colmes and Geraldo on the left. Greta Va Sustren is middle of the road. Brit Hume and Chris Wallace are fair and obejctive journalists. Their panels include people from both sides: Bill Kristol, Fred Barnes, Charles Krauthammer on the right, Mort Kondrakie in the middle, and Juan Williams, Mara Liason, and another lady whose name I cant recall on the left. Karl Rove is a contributor as well as Hillary's former campaign manager (Atkinson?).

Fox would not even receive as much as a recognition that they existed if they weren't #1 on cable and sometimes even beating CBS in the ratings. The monopoly that NY media elites had forever continues to crumble b/c of the "new media" which includes talk radio, the internet and Fox. Fox's approach of fair and balanced journalism has proven to be a winning strategy, something that CNN, MSNBC and the networks would do well to learn.