Posted on 01/10/2002 8:16:03 AM PST by Jean S
Should conservatives start worrying about the Fox News Channel?
Throughout its five years on the air, the Fox News Channel has been singled out by the media elite as uniquely biased to the right. Right off the bat the network became suspect when Roger Ailes was hired to run it. He worked for Nixon and the elder George Bush, countless establishment media types huffed, conveniently overlooking that the resumes of the Kennedy and McGovern and Gene McCarthy groupies could paper entire walls at the rest of the networks.
Not much intimidates Ailes, and this didnt either. He launched his network with a full broadside at the competition by introducing the We Report, You Decide and Fair and Balanced slogans. This merely confirmed the suspicions of the liberal media who sneered at such sophomoric nonsense. To the consciousness-raisers who cut their teeth on civil rights protests and Vietnam, these were mantras and mottos that belonged in a museum, not bouncing off a satellite dish.
Well, theyre not laughing anymore. Fox has left MSNBC and CNBC in the dust while pulling virtually even with CNN. Fox did it with hard work, gutsy journalists, and a refreshing outlook on the world.
So why are the folks at Fox now messing with that formula? Recent hires indicate a new direction: glitzy star power over quality. Conservatives are concerned, and Fox had better be careful.
First, Fox grabbed the glamorous, and historically liberal Paula Zahn away from CBS. Those conservatives who were wary of this move (like me) were pleasantly surprised when she delivered a truly fair and balanced product; indeed, some were actually saddened (me again) when she was lured away by CNN.
Then Fox hired Geraldo Rivera away from CNBC. Much bigger alarm bells went off this time. Geraldo?. And this time the suspicions about this reporter were justified. Ultra-patriotic though he was (a nice twist for the aging hippie, that), within weeks Geraldo was embarrassing his new bosses. The Baltimore Sun's David Folkenflik exposed that a Rivera report from the "hallowed ground" where U.S. soldiers fell in a friendly-fire incident was nowhere near where Geraldo was standing. War correspondent Geraldo was recalled from the war before Christmas. What Fox will do with him now or he will do with Fox is uncertain.
Now Fox has recruited CNN host Greta Van Susteren, counted by most as a counter-coup for CNN stealing Fox's Paula Zahn. Greta will fill Zahn's old hour-long slot at 10 PM. I can tell you there is most definitely displeasure in Conservativeland over this move.
Lest anyone forget, Greta was, like Geraldo, a full-time Clinton cheerleader during that crazy year of 1998. Within weeks of the Monica Lewinsky revelations, she was anchoring a two-hour special ripping into Ken Starr for his abuses of power and his suspect "religious and Republican roots." (Which was rich coming from Greta, who never wants anyone to talk about her fervent belief in Scientology.)
By May of that year, she was sitting next to Hillary Clinton at a White House state dinner. She argued that Bill Clinton should fight any attempts to make him testify and take it all the way to the Supreme Court. Her trial-lawyer husband, John Coale, represented former Kathleen Willey buddy Julie Hiatt Steele in her attempts to belittle Starr as a vicious, out-of-control prosecutor. Coale had also given thousands of dollars that year to the budding Gore campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
What's going on here? Is Ailes capitulating to the barrage of liberal accusations and trying to make his network look more like the rest of the major media? I doubt it. This man is too much the warrior to be cowed by the opposition, especially now when his gamelan is working so well.
Is he trying to tweak his competitors and drive up the ratings appeal of Fox by hiring away their big-name stars? Maybe thats the answer, but if it is, it is worrisome.
Theres an underlying message here, one conservatives have heard before, unfortunately, and it is this: Conservatives have nowhere else to go and will just have to accept this broadening of the message. It had miserable results in GOP politics and could have similar consequences with Fox.
Nowhere else to go overlooks one very important player in this drama: CNN capo di capi Jamie Kellner. Call him a dyed-in-the-wool liberal Democrat all you want, but this man is first and foremost a hardnosed businessman. If he has accepted (and who cares whether he says so or not publicly) that a major reason for CNNs ratings free-fall is the loss of its conservative viewers, he will do what it takes to regain them. In truth, there are plenty of signs at CNN that is intent on doing just that.
Fox is going to have to be careful. The biggest mistake it could make is to take its conservative audience for granted.
That was exactly the point I made to Roger.
Fox built its name on no-name journalists of integrity and as they succeeded, so did Fox. What did Fox do with that success? Ailes took millions of dollars to buy big name Clinton/OJ apologists! Why didn't he continue the successful business model of simply finding no-name liberal journalists with integrity (like O'Reilly)if he's so concerned about "right wing" condemnation from the liberal media?
I am interested to see if they will force Greta to toe the "fair and balanced" line. If she does, fine. If not, she will be given the late Sunday slot and marginalized.
Also, I really want to see how good the Fox make up people can make her look. HAR!
Enough said about Greta.
I get up to date news right from this forum.
Try:
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Just hit the button
Hiring Whorealdo & Van Cistern are not moves that appeal to me.
Isn't choice wonderful? This I think is the most useful observation here.
Thanks for the tip. I too will be checking out that option.
FOX should be, too! They had the bull by the horns and now they have grabbed it by the tail by hiring unabashed Liberals for major slots.
It was bad enough having a substantial number of very liberal commentators and analysts, plus "equal balance" from people the likes of Alan Colmes. Why watch a featured news show with a Liberal flake like Greta when you can turn to Keyes or just read a book?
I will not watch Liberals hog the limelight again and control the discussions - FOX or no FOX. I will turn it off, go to another channel or do something else.
FOX better wise up or it will start into a free fall like CNN and just be another member of the same old, tired Liberal crowd.
My favorites also, I'm still disturbed that they don't replay Bulls & Bears on Sunday like they used to before 9/11 at around 9 am EST. Now it's on at 7 am EST, too early on a Sunday for me.
I'll watch Alan Keyes at 10 on the 21st, but I'll have to flip back to Greta during commercials just to see how nauseating she is.
Their a bit 'rough around the edges' and far as facilitating the dialogue (newbies to the 'talk' format), but they have been lining up some pretty good guests.
Check them out if you get a chance...
She certainly has the teeth for the part, also.... LOL!
As far as Greta is concerned, as a bad as she is, I really cannot stomach her husband. He looks like he could pass for one of the Rodham boys.
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