Democrats — REAL democrats — should not go on FOX. There’s no point. There’s nothing to gain — and a hell of a lot to lose.
First, when democratic candidates appear on FOX, that creates the impression that FOX is actually a news organization when it isn’t. FOX is the republican propaganda/softcore porn/tabloid channel, and no democratic candidate should feel any obligation to be on a propaganda/softcore porn/tabloid channel.
Chris Wallace’s whining about Obama and Edwards not appearing on his show is like Access Hollywood getting huffy that Mitt Romney won’t come over for a chat or Girls Gone Wild being mad that Hillary Clinton won’t be in their videos. Calling FOX a legitimate news organization is like calling professional wrestling a sport. Actually, FOX is an awful lot like Access Hollywood, Girls Gone Wild, and pro wrestling put together. That may be something, but it sure isn’t news — and if you aren’t news, you shouldn’t expect to get the newsmakers.
If you need proof that FOX isn’t a news channel, just watch Fox Attacks: Edwards and Obama. Would any self-respecting news organization act like this? Calling people names and saying that Al Qaeda and Iran are rooting for democrats? Would a real news organization put George W. Bush's cousin in charge of calling the winner of the 2000 presidential election? Would they make Carl Cameron their main campaign correspondent, despite the fact that his wife was campaigning for W Bush?
And, most importantly, wouldn’t a real news organization engage in the gravest of soul searching when a study was released revealing that those who received the majority of their news from them were the most ass-backward wrong of all news consumers when it came to the reasons surrounding the invasion of Iraq, the most important story of our generation?
But that didn’t happen. Actually, the people at FOX were patting themselves on the back, giving themselves promotions, and crowing over the successful duping of their viewers, which led to the election of the Worst President Ever and the Biggest Foreign Policy Clusterfuck of All Time. Mark Mellman writing for The Hill nails it:
Conservatives counter, citing CBS’s report on President Bush’s National Guard service, based on documents that were likely forgeries. However, the test of institutional bias is not whether mistakes are made, but rather how the organization responds to those errors. CBS launched an investigation, led by a former Republican Attorney General, while dismissing one of America’s most respected journalists and four others.
What evidence, forged or otherwise, did Fox rely on in asserting that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) attended a Muslim madrassah? If CNN could go to the school and give the lie to the report, why couldn’t Fox? What outside panel was empowered to investigate how Fox could have aired such an outrageously inaccurate report? Who was fired for the inflammatory falsehoods? –snip-
Instead of providing “fair and balanced” reporting, Fox has created an audience ignorant of the facts, but fully supportive of management’s ideology.
More to come…
I think the main point is being missed by most here.
Democrats and republicans alike should not go on Faux, as it is not a legitimate news channel. When your time is limited you should choose to spend your public time being taken seriously.