www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/01/31/fox_news -> www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/01/31/fox_news/
Fox News guru Roger Ailes has been reaching for the Tums more often than usual early in the New Year, and there are lots of reasons for the hovering angst. Right now, which of the following topics is likely causing the discomfort inside Ailes' Fox News empire? A) CNN's resurgence as the go-to cable destination for election coverage. B) The unmistakably sunken candidacy of Fox News' favored son, Rudy Giuliani. C) The still-standing candidacy of Fox News nemesis and well-funded antiwar GOP candidate Rep. D) The Democratic candidates' blanket refusal to debate on Fox News during the primary season.
Barack Obama and then had to be calmed down by Secret Service agents. F) Former Fox News architect and Ailes confidant Dan Cooper posting chapters from his wildly unflattering tell-all book about his old boss. ") G) The fledgling Fox Business Network, whose anemic ratings are in danger of being surpassed by some large city public access channels. H) Host John Gibson's recent heartless attacks on Heath Ledger, just hours after the young actor was found dead. I) Fox News reporter Major Garrett botching his "exclusive" that Paul Begala and James Carville were going to join Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, and then refusing to correct the record.
George W Bush and became a broadcast partner with the White House. Filmed in HD and featuring "unprecedented access," according to the Fox News press release, the show was pure propaganda. ") The point is that Fox News years ago made an obvious decision to appeal almost exclusively to Republican viewers. Meaning, when the GOP catches a cold, everybody at Fox News gets sick. As blogger Logan Murphy put it at Crooks and Liars, "Watching FOX News getting their comeuppance has been fun to watch. They made their bed, now they're having to lie in it and it's not too comfortable." The most obvious signs of Fox News' downturn have been the cable ratings for the big primary and caucus votes this year, as well as the high-profile debates. With this election season generating unprecedented voter and viewer interest, Fox News' rating bumps to date have remained underwhelming, to say the least. For instance, on the night of the big New Hampshire primary, CNN, which habitually trails behind Fox News in the prime-time race, attracted nearly 250,000 more viewers than its top competitor, marking a changing-of-the-guard of sorts. The turnaround was striking when you consider that in 2004, even with no Republicans running against Bush, Fox News was still able to draw 200,000 more viewers than CNN on the night of the New Hampshire Democratic primary. Yet in 2008, with a very competitive GOP field, CNN was the ratings winner from New Hampshire. In the past, Fox News would have absolutely owned that night of coverage, as conservative news junkies flocked to their home team -- Fox News -- to see the results. CNN grabbed nearly as many prime-time viewers for the Republican South Carolina returns as did Fox News. The problem for Fox News is that it's the Democratic race that's creating most of the excitement, yet Fox News has been forced to mostly watch the race from the sidelines. That's because last winter, after the network tried to smear Obama for purportedly attending a radical Muslim school as a child, liberal bloggers launched an initiative to get Democratic candidates to boycott a debate co-sponsored by Fox News and the Nevada Democratic Party. The point, instead, was to begin chipping away, in a serious, consistent method, at Fox News' reputation. To spell out that Fox News was nothing more than a Republican mouthpiece and that Democrats need not engage with the News Corp.
Bush's delusions die in Gaza The mass jailbreak of Gazans into Egypt revealed the bankruptcy of both Israel's policy of collective punishment and Bush's attempt to make Mideast peace.
There's no taking sides Contrary to what many readers think, I am not endorsing Clinton or Obama for president -- and have spared neither candidate my criticism.
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