Posted on 10/01/2006 7:03:31 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
October 1, 2006 - 09:39
Being a regular Fox News Watch viewer, there was nothing surprising, tuning into this evening's discussion of the Clinton-Chris Wallace dust-up, in hearing lefty panelist Neal Gabler take his employer and colleagues to task.
Among his moves, Gabler:
- Claimed "this network's reputation [presumably as right-leaning] precedes it."
- Asserted that Chris Wallace "did not frame the question properly. He asked why didn't you do more? Which is like asking 'will you stop beating your wife?'"
- Defended Wallace only at the expense of other Fox colleagues: "He is not a Hannity, he's not an O'Reilly he's not a Brit Hume, Cavuto, Gibson." Hume of course is not merely an on-air personality but also the powerful FNC managing editor.
- Spurned host Eric Burns' entreaty to add someone from another network to his list of partisan TV personalities.
- Later, amiable liberal Jane Hall chimed in - after smilingly mentioning that she was glad she had recently re-signed with FNC [and thus presumably was not vulerable to recriminations] - claiming that "this network's commentary beat up on him, beat up on Clinton, and did not beat up on Bush."
I wasn't surprised by any of this because it is far from unprecedented for the liberal panelists on the show to bite the hand that feeds them. Gabler took that to extremes back in December, when he said: "let's talk about the elephant in the room: Fox News. O'Reilly, Hannity and Gibson are demagogues."
But then, something occured to me. FNC is regularly accused, from all corners of the MSM, of conservative bias. Yet, to my knowledge, it is the only network that regularly offers its paid employees a forum to criticize it. Now, I have to acknowledge that I rarely watch 'Reliable Sources,' CNN's counterpart to Fox News Watch, hosted by Howard Kurtz. It's possible that its in-house people regularly take shots at CNN, but if so I can't recall such criticism making its way into the news. Certainly when it comes to the broadcast networks, no such criticism occurs with any regularity. Only broadcast news refugees - such as former CBSer Bernard Goldberg - seem free to speak truth to MSM power.
So let the liberal media accuse FNC of having a conservative slant. But let's give Fox News credit for having the self-confidence - and 'fair & balanced' journalistic standards - to regularly invite its own employees to bash it, with the only 'reprisal' being a contract renewal.
Note: NewsBusters is looking for a few good men - or women. NB is seeking: 1. military, ex-military and former intelligence community members to write about the media's coverage of military and intelligence issues; and 2. an experienced MySQL and PHP programmer (especially those who know about Drupal.org's software) who wants to help out the conservative cause. If interested, contact newsbusters@mediaresearch.org
Finkelstein lives in the liberal haven of Ithaca, NY. View webcasts of Mark's award-winning TV show 'Right Angle' here. Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net
What's with the new bleached blonde with beaucoup pancake make up and Dem spin? She's bad.
O'Reilly can be a pompous bore, but he's no liberal.
Agreed. The uniform common denominators amongst liberals are amorality and cowardice. Morality and fortitude are O'Reillys strong suits.
Same here.
Please note that it wasn't I who claimed BOR's a liberal, it was, as mentioned in #17, a reader of my NewsBusters column who emailed me.
I noticed....in fact I suspected it might have been YOU who added the question marks after O'Reillys name...
Thanks.
We're focusing on the errors in the list. But the more important point is everything that the person who put the list together got RIGHT! The fact is that FNC does employ lots of liberals, far more than the rest of the broadcast networks combined employ conservatives.
I noticed that you didn't claim he was a liberal, your emailer did.
Thanks. I'm a little touchy on it because BW2221 responded by telling me to "get a dose of reality."
I appreciate the clarification.
I wonder where Ceci Connelly is, I haven't seen her obnoxious face on either Brit's All-Stars or the FNS panel in awhile. Maybe she was sent to the re-education camp to get the DNC indoctrination for the mid-terms.
The author of this list pretty much nails it, but he did screw up with O'Reilly. Sure he's a windbag, but liberal? More like a muddled moderate(is there any other kind?) And if he made the list, where's Mort Kondracke?
You're right, Ceci seems to have disappeared, apparently replaced by Nina Easton. And the unwatchable Julian Phillips [though not on the list] has been taken off Fox & Friends Weekend, though last I read he was still in FNC's employ. Must be working on some very special, "special projects" ;-)
"And if he made the list, where's Mort Kondracke?"
Good catch. Kondracke has mastered Dale Carnegie techniques and put them to good use so as not to "appear" liberal, but a thoughtful watcher notices. Incredibly, both Barnes and Krauthammer allow him to get away with it almost every time.
Kondracke is in every way as disarming and appearing to be what he is not as Vladimir Posner was.
At least Nina is easy on the eyes. Ceci has a sort of snarky sneer that makes her even more unattractive than she already is.
Watching that interview the only thing I could think of in seeing Clinton's response was Capt Queeg in the Caine Mutiny trial
Spare me. Bill "I did not have phone sex with that Fox employee" O'Reilly thought Clinton had to vigorously defend himself in the Wallace interview because he was frustrated--just like Bush. Sorry, I see neither morality nor principled fortitude by BOR. Instead, moral equivalency is BOR's strong suit.
Andrew Napolitano??? If you are talking about the Judge, then he is a Libertarian. He is certainly not a liberal.
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