Former NYT editor asks the question that ALL real journalists should ask. Why is Fox News considered a legitimate source of news?

Here just an excerpt from Howard Raines ballsy opinion piece from the Washington Post:

Why has our profession, through its general silence -- or only spasmodic protest -- helped Fox legitimize a style of journalism that is dishonest in its intellectual process, untrustworthy in its conclusions and biased in its gestalt? The standard answer is economics, as represented by the collapse of print newspapers and of audience share at CBS, NBC and ABC. Some prominent print journalists are now cheering Rupert Murdoch, the head of News Corp. (which owns the Fox network) for his alleged commitment to print, as evidenced by his willingness to lose money on the New York Post and gamble the overall profitability of his company on the survival of the Wall Street Journal. This is like congratulating museums for preserving antique masterpieces while ignoring their predatory methods of collecting.

Why can't American journalists steeped in the traditional values of their profession be loud and candid about the fact that Murdoch does not belong to our team? His importation of the loose rules of British tabloid journalism, including blatant political alliances, started our slide to quasi-news. His British papers famously promoted Margaret Thatcher's political career, with the expectation that she would open the nation's airwaves to Murdoch's cable channels. Ed Koch once told me he could not have been elected mayor of New York without the boosterism of the New York Post.

These are very obvious questions which should have been asked way back when Fox News started blurring the line between news and opinion. You know I do believe that was the day of their premiere.

Maybe the real journalists thought that the American people would catch on. That they would not be so easily seduced by salacious stories delivered by large breasted blond women accompanied by state of the art graphics and catchy background music.

Apparently these journalists gave their fellow Americans way too much credit.

The first time that Fox News definitively demonstrated to the world that they were a propaganda arm of the GOP was during the 2000 election when they helped George Bush steal the election.



Since then they have been instrumental in helping George Bush fabricate the lie of WMD's in Iraq to justify the invasion, made up falsehoods about presidential candidate John Kerry, openly attacked the science behind Climate Change, and are currently working non-stop to put a halt to Obama's Health Care reform.

Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, can seriously call what Fox does "reporting the news". Personally I think their slogan of "Fair and Balanced" was always supposed to be ironic. I have little doubt it still causes Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch to giggle every time they hear it.

So far the only cable news (or fake news) people to consistently take Fox News to task has been the amazing Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert of Comedy Central, and of course THIS guy.



You know if tomorrow EVERY OTHER news outlet suddenly decided, in unison, to call Fox News out on their bullshit, that audiences all across the world would have their eyes opened and that Fox would lose a huge section of its audience in one fell swoop. I mean if CNN took one of their broadcasts on Global Warming for instance, and pointed out all of the made up data and inconsistencies contained with in it, that would have an impact. And if ABC did the same with their coverage of the health care debate, and NBC revealed the manipulations behind their coverage of elections, and CBS spanked them for misrepresenting poll numbers, just think how quickly people would turn a critical eye toward this "cable news source".

I mean it is not like they are going after a colleague. The people on FOX are not "journalists" they are performers. It would be like if a ballet company called out a strip club for promoting their workers as classically trained dancers. Nobody would accuse the ballet company of being jealous or petty, they would just be pointing out the obvious.

But you know they won't do it. Because they are afraid.

They are afraid that Fox New will use its money, and its easily manipulated audience, to attack and punish the other news networks. And they are afraid to stand up to that kind of a backlash.

And to that I say, "What a bunch of pussies!" Are the other networks so afraid of losing viewers and sponsors that they would refuse to do their duty to inform the American people that they are the victim of a fraud? They have reported when cars are unsafe to drive, when foods may cause our children to be sickened, and when scams are being perpetrated on the elderly, how is this any different?

Sometimes it is important to defy a powerful enemy and take a stand for your profession, for your country, and for the truth. After all being attacked by Fox News is not the end of the world.


And I should know.