The White House’s War Against Fox News

Nile Gardiner has an excellent article in The Telegraph about why the White House will ultimately lose its war against Fox News. He argues that by openly declaring war against Fox News and accusing it of opposing the administration, the White House will only succeed in drawing even more viewers to the cable news channel.

I have long argued that Fox News’ success does not only stem from it’s alleged ideological leanings. Okay, I’ll admit, the network is right-leaning, but they are also fair and balanced. Daytime news reporting is unbiased and includes guests/pundits from both sides of the political spectrum. Yes, Glenn Beck’s political leanings are clear, but Special Report with Brett Baier (6:00-7:00), The Fox Report with Shepard Smith (7:00-8:00), and yes, even The O’Reilly Factor are all politically balanced shows. (Note: I won’t contend with accusations that O’Reilly is acerbic, rude, pretentious, etc., but if you actually think he is a conservative cheerleader, you really have not watched his show in the last five years.) Hannity is a conservative cheerleader, but he always has liberal guests on the show to debate the other side of the issue. Like Gardiner points out in his article, Fox News is not successful because of the political views of the people it puts on television, but because it “is not afraid to challenge the status quo, and take on the power of big government.”

He continues to say that “Fox benefits from an extraordinary level of professional management that sets the gold standard for cable news organizations.” This point I could not agree more with. The reason I watch Fox News for afternoon and morning news is not because I’m tuning in for a conservative twist on the day’s events, but because the quality of their programming is so much better than than CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, etc. The colors and graphics are better, the dialogue with guests is more entertaining, and, I’ll admit it, the weather girls are hotter!

There’s no question that Fox News is more popular and powerful then ever because of Obama’s declared opposition to the network. But why do they oppose it so much? Fox News is a scapegoat, and as Obama’s refusal to go on Chris Wallace’s Sunday morning talk show demonstrated, it is nothing more than a scapegoat. You see, the Obama administration was not worried about the President being treated unfairly on Wallace’s show. Quite the opposite, actually. Had Obama appeared on “the opposition network” and received a good slate of constructive questions, along with due compliments and fair criticisms, Fox News would have been exposed for what it really is: a right leaning but fair and balanced network. And if that truth was exposed to the skeptics, to all those who actually do think that Fox News is responsible for Obama’s sliding poll numbers, then they would have to face up to their own truth: the only thing that is responsible for Obama’s mounting failures and growing opposition is his own administration. That’s a tough admission for those who are still banking on the audacity of hope.