Posted by
Jennine on Friday, June 19, 2009 12:02:23 PM
I have become increasingly sullen as I listen to "journalists" demean and ridicule Fox News and by association, it's viewers. For several years, I have been apologetic for my viewing habits. I have seen the barely hidden pity combined with condesencion from my visiting liberal friends and family when I quickly change the channel to something more socially acceptable or politically correct. I have suffered discomfort in hotel exercise rooms when someone enters the room and catches me watching for fear that I will suffer disapproval from total strangers. Well, I'm out of the closet. I watch Fox News and I am proud to be one of the majority of Americans who do so.
Why do we watch? Because we are tired of being made to feel provincial and unsophisticated by the mostly smug and out-of-touch network reporters. And the petty jealousy of CNN is just embarrassing. The main reason we watch is that we see a superior product. The shows are well produced. And this must be galling to the rest of the pallet of news organization, Fox really is fair and balanced. They carry President Obama's endless speeches and news conferences, which tend to be undistinguishable. Fox almost always presents a representative from both sides of any issue they present. If a comparison were to be made between Fox and the trying-to-be's, the ratio of conservatives to liberals interviewed on issues would be fascinating to see. What's more, they let both sides talk. I have heard as much liberal drivel on Fox as is presented on any other channel. Do other channels give Conservatives equal time? Hardly ever. When they do have Conservatives on, they frequently feel quite comfortable treating theses guests as hostile witnesses and cutting them off when the reporter disagrees with the answers.
The ridicule of Fox by other news organizations has been an irritation I have endured for years. The whining of our President has driven me to go public. I found his public complaints about Fox to be disturbing on several levels. First of all, Mr. President did you really expect the whole world to fall at your feet in constant adulation? I'm afraid you did. Your predecessors took their lumps from various news organizations but did not feel the need to publically shun those whose reporting cut too close to the bone. President Bush continued to go on NBC when he certainly knew he would come out of the experience on the losing end. Your refusal to appear on Fox makes you look petty and small, and at the same time arrogant. Not a look you should be going for. I know there was a belief on the liberal side that your election would mark the decline of Fox news. How disappointing for you that this did not occur.
In addition to the pettiness of your public complaints about the network, the fact that you would single this organization out for criticism on more than one occasion is dangerous. There is the appearance that you are using the power of your office as well as your own personal popularity for the purpose of damaging one specific news organization that doesn't conform to your own agenda. A case could be made that this is one flank of your campaign tactics to take out Conservatives. I see the ghost of Richard Nixon in the White House, with a new enemies list which includes the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News. Equally frightening is the blurring of the line between network news and your Administration. Sometime during your campaign a bloodless coup took place and now it appears the State owns the media.
Finally, your ridicule of Fox News is insulting to the millions of loyal and educated viewers. Fox News viewers tend to be politically informed and engaged. I understand that it is much easier to ram your agenda through Congress when you aren't pestered by citizens who might have actually researched issues and arrived at an entirely different conclusion than yours. However, you are the President of each and every citizen, including we pesky Fox viewers. The arrogance of your refusal to appear in person, or to provide spokespersons to represent you, is also a huge missed opportunity. As you said, Fox has a pretty big megaphone. You could be using that pulpit to get your message across. The message that's coming across now is that you dismiss Fox and everyone who watches it. There could be some pretty negative outcomes in the next election as a result of this disrespect.